Amsterdam and joining the Cruise

We skipped breakfast today, and headed straight over to the Anne Frank House Museum for the 9:00 am opening time. It was a very pleasant stroll through the streets and along the canals on a sunny day. The buildings were very interesting, and there were bikes EVERYWHERE! They even have huge parking areas especially for bikes.

There was only a short queue at the museum, but you should have seen it an hour and 20 minutes later when we left! I'm guessing it would have been at least a one hour wait! The museum was very interesting, and very sobering - so sad. It was set in her actual house.

We had some lovely fresh yoghurt and strawberries in the museum cafe, and a coffee. Then we strolled over to the canal near the railway station to book an Ultimate Canal Cruise for 1 pm. Then we headed away to grab some lunch just before that. We found the Amsterdam streets and shops a lot more interesting than Paris, and we were grateful for the fine day after our wet arrival the night before.

The others had paninis and salad and I headed elsewhere in the main street to grab some gluten free friites (chips) in a paper cone, with mayonnaise. It was a case of gobble and go to get back to the canal boat for the 90 minute cruise of the docklands and main canals.

We saw some interesting apartment buildings created from old warehouses and heard about some of the history of the city, but I especially enjoyed cruising along the canals in the older areas. The tour was very pleasant.

Then we called back to the hotel for a quick cold drink, and picked up our suitcases. A taxi was called but the receptionist hadn't realized we wanted a taxi for 4 people, so we ended up leaving ahead of the Barrows who followed close behind in another taxi. We arrived at the HMS Amaverde (a brand new boat this year) just ahead of a couple of tour buses of the main group of travellers who had started the tour originally in Paris and been to the Andre Rieu Concert (mostly Aussies, a few kiwis, and one from the UK) and were shown straight to our cabin. I reminded the management who greeted us that I was gluten free, only to find my name was NOT on their list for this - not a good start and my anxiety levels sure did rise! I have lost count of how many times I had asked if APT had been notified of my GF status, so I was not happy. However they assured me that it would be ok - there appeared to be about 5 other names on the GF list.


The Barrows arrived between buses and were shown to the Lounge with the main group, to wait for their luggage to be delivered to their cabin. We mostly unpacked and met them there. Sandwiches and coffees were being served by waiters. Later we finished unpacking, filled in paperwork, showered (laundry catch-up time - there are no do-it-yourself laundries on this boat) and got ready for the official Welcome Cocktails in the lounge.



We were each welcomed by the Captain and other officers, given a glass of wine, and the women were each given a very long-stemmed red rose. Cocktails were doing the rounds but there was nothing GF - disappointing, but probably just as well!

We had an hour-long welcome, introducing key crew members, and there were talks about safety (there will be a drill tomorrow), and about how the tours work, their system for getting on and off the boat, and what to do if you miss the boat. People with special diets were asked to meet briefly, and then we headed to a dining room (there are 3 restaurants on this boat) where we sat with the Barrows and enjoyed a 4 course gourmet dinner that was beautifully presented, with wine. I had special GF bread that was very nice, and could choose from almost everything else on the menu. Dinner was quite late (8:15 pm) and it was after 10 pm when we finished.

David and I had a quick look on the Sun Deck on top of the boat after dinner and found a huge deck with a large hot pool, a giant chess set, a running track, lots of deck chairs and a big awning. This will be a lovely spot when the weather warms up again, although it was probably around 19 degrees today. We also found the small gym.

We've just returned to our cabins to find the curtains pulled, bed turned down and chocolates on our pillows. I have access to free wireless for my iPad, but the TV screen also acts as a computer monitor if I want Internet access that way.

We remain in Amsterdam tonight, and tomorrow we have chosen to do a tour of the Van Gogh Museum and short bus tour of Amsterdam.