Day 1 addendum

Just got back. Took a nice tour of the canals via boat and then we walked about five miles exploring the city. Strange but most of the boat traffic was tour boats. We saw no pleasure power boats cruising or canoes or kayaks. We saw a magnificent church, St. Nicolas. Lisa had talked with Father Stitt and he recommended that we see a certain church but he could not remember the name. Hope this was it. Photoed the Anne Frank house. Many of the canals are lined with retired canal boats turned into housing. Kind of neat but some are run down, trailer park types. Amsterdam is the Venice of the North for sure. Big difference is that Venice has no automobiles and few wheeled vehicles but A-dam is bustling with cars and more bikes than you can imagine. We overheard a tour guide claim there were 22 million bicycles. There were enormous parking areas full of bikes. They have their own roadways and no hills so it's ideal for bikes. Most people look to be in good shape but the bikes are mostly junk due to the cobble stone streets and the salt air. A-dam is notorious for its red light district and legal marijuana use. We were walking in the middle of the day and saw no overt sexual advertisement other than paraphanalia shops. I spotted a few women “on the way to work” but Lisa says she did not notice them. Could not smell MJ but there were plenty of coffee bars which is where you can order your choice of weed and lots of head shops and MJ seed stores.

A word about the boat. Since Lisa and I returned from A-dam shortly before dinner, we left our room a shambles when we went to dinner. When we returned from dinner someone had straightened out our stuff and turned the bed down. There is a style of luxury to which I am not accustomed. Lisa is, of course, used to excellent meals but I am not used to someone else preparing them. The food is first class. For lunch I had the best mushroom soup I have ever tasted. For dinner there were six of us at a table and, as you would have in the finest restaurants, waiters brought our entrees to our places simultaneously placing the plates so that none was served first. The wine steward was also at elbow to top off. Wine and beer are complimentary. Prior to the dinner, the chef had explained the six choices of entree and how the specialty of the night had taken three days of marinating. At dinner the chef came to each table to explain the entree specialty for tomorrow night. The maitre'd, Paul, came to each table inquiring if any one was celebrating a special occasion during the cruise. One of our couples was celebrating 29^th wedding anniversary so Paul explained that there would be a special surprise waiting in their cabin.

The passengers are almost totally retirement age. There are a couple young guys, scruffy looking, whose parents probably dragged them along but Lisa is the youngest attached person on board. It's a slight bit uncomfortable but we are sort of used to being the odd couple so no worries.

Tomorrow is windmill tour day. Good night.