26 June 2009
Today we are going to be doing the hop-on-hop-off canal boat cruise of Amsterdam. This is mostly photos so it will be multiple entry. This is the First entry
View from our window
We slept well and got up late. I figured the hop-on-hop-off canal trips wouldn't start too early (they actually started at 0915) so I didn't push too hard to wake up. I had some crackers and an apple that I picked up from the Rotterdam Golden Tuiip and B tried to make coffee in the room. This was a problem because she put the filter and the coffee in the pot and it would erupt coffee all over everything.
Coffee pot
I found out later that she was to put the coffee in the cup, boil water and pour it in. There are no directions at all in this room (even in Dutch) for how to do things. They don't even have the number to dial on the phone for reception. However the personnel are extremely helpful when reached. More on that later.
Granddaughter sitting on the windowsill
The hotel personnel (and indeed everyone) keep telling me that things are 'just a five minute walk'. Well I don't want to walk. I know I will HAVE to walk sometimes, but I'm not going out of my way to walk. I got a large blood blister on my big toe which I've been nursing along since the first day on the boat and it has gone down some but is still tender. So we went out of the hotel and got on a tram that was going to the Central Station where the boats left from.
Oops - I got on the exit door. The conductor reprimanded me, and then apparently felt sorry for us because she let us ride free for the one stop that it would take to go to the Central Station.
Inside the tram
Central Station
Once there, I bought us tickets on the boat. They did not believe that B was only 12 and she did not have her passport with her so I had to get her the 13-17 ticket which was € 8 instead of free. It would have been a lot easier if she had her school ID with her. We got on the boat that was there which was the Green line.
Canal barge
A cat in the window
Mural or graffiti?
Although I expected to visit Anne Frank's house and asked my granddaughter to read the book, Roy (from Virtual Tourist) said that we would wait in line a long time for the Anne Frank house. Plus he also said that it was a bare room and nothing much to see. The stairs would have been a problem for me and I don't like long lines at the best of times, so we just observed the Anne Frank house from the canal boat tour. There were indeed long lines when we passed. I suspect that the value in going to the Anne Frank house is in imagining yourself in her place, rather than actually viewing the little room.
Line from the boat
More of the line?
Westerkerk
"Red Deer" Brewery
Architectural detail
Brickwork
Gymnasium
Today we are going to be doing the hop-on-hop-off canal boat cruise of Amsterdam. This is mostly photos so it will be multiple entry. This is the First entry
View from our window
We slept well and got up late. I figured the hop-on-hop-off canal trips wouldn't start too early (they actually started at 0915) so I didn't push too hard to wake up. I had some crackers and an apple that I picked up from the Rotterdam Golden Tuiip and B tried to make coffee in the room. This was a problem because she put the filter and the coffee in the pot and it would erupt coffee all over everything.
Coffee pot
I found out later that she was to put the coffee in the cup, boil water and pour it in. There are no directions at all in this room (even in Dutch) for how to do things. They don't even have the number to dial on the phone for reception. However the personnel are extremely helpful when reached. More on that later.
Granddaughter sitting on the windowsill
The hotel personnel (and indeed everyone) keep telling me that things are 'just a five minute walk'. Well I don't want to walk. I know I will HAVE to walk sometimes, but I'm not going out of my way to walk. I got a large blood blister on my big toe which I've been nursing along since the first day on the boat and it has gone down some but is still tender. So we went out of the hotel and got on a tram that was going to the Central Station where the boats left from.
Oops - I got on the exit door. The conductor reprimanded me, and then apparently felt sorry for us because she let us ride free for the one stop that it would take to go to the Central Station.
Inside the tram
Central Station
Once there, I bought us tickets on the boat. They did not believe that B was only 12 and she did not have her passport with her so I had to get her the 13-17 ticket which was € 8 instead of free. It would have been a lot easier if she had her school ID with her. We got on the boat that was there which was the Green line.
Canal barge
A cat in the window
Mural or graffiti?
Although I expected to visit Anne Frank's house and asked my granddaughter to read the book, Roy (from Virtual Tourist) said that we would wait in line a long time for the Anne Frank house. Plus he also said that it was a bare room and nothing much to see. The stairs would have been a problem for me and I don't like long lines at the best of times, so we just observed the Anne Frank house from the canal boat tour. There were indeed long lines when we passed. I suspect that the value in going to the Anne Frank house is in imagining yourself in her place, rather than actually viewing the little room.
Line from the boat
More of the line?
Westerkerk
"Red Deer" Brewery
Architectural detail
Brickwork
Gymnasium
- Next entry in the series 'Go to Amsterdam First (1950, 1965, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2022)': #2 Amsterdam - Landing on Museumplein
- Previous entry in the series 'Go to Amsterdam First (1950, 1965, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2022)': Five Bells Pizza in 2009
