It was a very short night. We got up at 9:30 am and had to be checked out of our room by 10 am. After gathering our stuff together we sat downstairs in the Bistro area again for coffee and breakfast pastries. We got another day pass for the tram then moved on to our next hotel, the Holiday Inn Express City Center which was at the Mr Visserplein stop closer in towards the middle of the city. Our room here wouldn't be ready until 2 pm but they were happy to store our luggage so we could go sight seeing for the day.
Today Hubs and I had booked a canal boat tour with PureBoats. There are a multitude of canal boat tour operators in Amsterdam. Some of the larger boats are "Hop On, Hop Off" tours which stop at the major landmarks with audio commentary. What appealed to me about this tour was that it was a small boat that would offer a more personal experience and it included snacks and drinks.
We took the tram again a couple more stops towards Centraal Station and got off at the Dam stop. We then wandered through the Jordaan neighborhood before finding our boat.
Chris was our skipper as well as our guide. He was excellent! He was an interesting person himself, born in Malaysia to Kiwi parents, he attended grade school in New Zealand, high school in the Netherlands, university in Great Britain, the worked as a cheese seller in France before coming to the Netherlands. He was planning to move to Australia but his girlfriend didn't want to move so, instead, he bought a 100 year old sailboat which he restored and now lives on. His love is boats. He commented that the boat we were in was the oldest boat of its kind on the canal right now. The current owners restored it and it's lovely except that it won't go in a straight line.
Including ourselves there were 9 other passengers - a couple from Moscow, a couple from Munich, and a family of 3 from Minneapolis.
Rather than pointing out the local attractions Chris told us more about the history of the city and some amusing stories.
We passed a houseboat that had been an Airbnb... that is until a group of American teenagers threw a party and tipped it over! You can see the waterline on the outside of the boat where it had been submerged.
...then there was the spot where, just the week before, a "talented" French woman had accidentally driven her rental car into the canal, sinking BOTH her car as well as the boat that was tied up on the canal. There are areas of the the canal where there are no barriers, just sidewalk, then canal.
There are Dutch elm trees which line the canals on both sides. The city founders planted them to there 400 years ago because their roots go straight down and stabilize the banks.
The Dancing Houses of Amsterdam
They tilt as the foundation shifts
By the time we were done it was early evening. We checked in with G to see how her first day had gone and asked if she wanted to hang out with us before we left town in the morning. She did. We went back to the Hostel and met up with her, then back into town for dinner.
We found a restaurant on the square at the Rembrandtplein stop. We sat outside which was a mistake as we got too cold. Hubs and I both got grilled meat items. Quite frankly, my dinner of lamb chops was horrible. Dry and over cooked. We wandered around a bit more after that and found a little bakery for dessert.
The building in the background is home of the Dutch National Ballet
where G danced while she was in Amsterdam
Again, it was 10 pm by the time we got back to our hotel. We had a nice surprise waiting for us in our room. I had let the hotel know that Hubs and I were celebrating our wedding anniversary in Europe.
The view from our room...
Amsterdam is beautiful!
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