Monday, November 4, 2024
When thinking of The Netherlands, some of the first things that comes to mind are canals, dikes, and windmills. When walking around in Amsterdam, if there's not a canal in front of you or beside you, you can pretty much turn around and spot one.
Monday morning, despite sleeping very poorly on my first night on the Emerald Sun, I opted to go on the included tour of Amsterdam's canals. After a quick breakfast I joined others in climbing aboard a sleek canal boat that had pulled up to the pier near our ship.
We had a competent lady to pilot our boat around, and a gentleman standing up front with a mic to provide information. Unfortunately, I was in the very back, near the loud motor, so I missed a lot of details.
Additionally, being early in the day it was cold outside, and with so many people inside breathing, the windows fogged instantly. Obviously this was a common problem, so there were small squeegees provided here and there. But swiping the window only kept it clear for about 30 seconds. 
Much of Holland is below sea level. Windmills were built to pump off excess water from low land, then canals were created to draw it away to rivers and the sea. In time they were also used for transportation. In Amsterdam, they are well laid out, and all connected. We chugged along from canal to canal, learning bits about the buildings and landmarks that we passed.
And of course, every canal is crossed by several streets, meaning lots and lots of tunnels for us to go through.
They obviously designed the canal boats to fit through the bridges, but it never seemed there was much extra room.
Back to the foggy windows, I'd been tempted to slide open the window next to me but the slider was on the seat in front of mine. Also, it would have made others cold. But some up front must have requested fresh air, as our guide had opened the sliding portions of the roof. It did help with the windows, but my, it was chilly.
Every canal is lined with houseboats of every style and condition. We were informed that they are all connected to city utilities, and taxed accordingly. Many have been turned into Airbnbs.
Because homes in Amsterdam are taxed by the size of the foundation footprint, most are very tall and narrow. Still, it is a very expensive place to live. So people turned to living on houseboats. Now, however, it's about the same price to buy a city apartment or a houseboat.
Most of the older homes in the city are very tall and narrow. Only two windows wide, or occasionally three. In the picture below there is even one that is a single window width.
So how would you ever move your furniture into such a narrow house? Obviously the stairs have tight turns also. Each home is built with a "hoisting beam" at its peak. Done manually, you would have a rope and several strong friends to help lift items up, to then be pulled through the window. I also saw a scissor-lift being used for this purpose.
After a chilly hour and a half we returned to our waiting ship. There would have been some time to walk back to town to buy a stroopwafel, but I was so cold and tired, I went to my room, curled up in the blankets from both beds, and tried to nap.
Lunch on the Emerald Sun, served in the dining room, has a lavish buffet of hot and cold items. There's also a menu on the table that allows you to order some special items, cooked to order in the kitchen. With about 150 people on board, the majority were couples, with a few groups of ladies and gentlemen traveling together. My adventurous spirit had gotten lost with the short sleep last night, so I opted to take a tucked-away, two-top by a window. At 12:30, right on schedule, we "sailed away" up the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal.
Once done with lunch, I put on my bathing suit and went the back way to the lovely little swimming pool on the third deck. I had it all to myself this time, but found as the trip went on that people came down to just lounge and read the morning paper.
Back in my room, I sat in one of the chairs on my little indoor "patio" to watch the scenery slip by. As there are no ocean waves to contend with, and we move along at little more than a fast walk, the ride is very smooth.
Along this well-used canal there's a lot of industrial areas, but some pretty scenery as well. This charming cottage was probably pretty typical in days gone by, but now it really stands out.
Barges and cruise ships make up the majority of the traffic on the canal. Below, gravel is being unloaded from a barge.
The only windmills in the Netherlands these days are the wind turbines.
Below, sheep graze beneath Dutch Elm trees.
The sun set long before dinner on this beautiful day. Evening light bathed the steeple of a canal-side church and a flock of sheep on the horizon.
I'd need to wait another three hours before joining the others for our special opening night dinner. And then, finally this long day would be over and I could get some sleep.
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