Tuesday, June 2. Windy and rain earlier.
We intended to do a bike ride starting at noon but the weather forecast and looking outside cast doubt on that idea. We had breakfast in the hotel, [included], and poked outside. A whiff of the air scrapped that idea for sure and we decided to do the Hop On, Hop Off Bus Tour around Amsterdam instead.
4 1/2 hours later we were back in the room fighting off the Sandman to no avail. We had a wonderful walk and I figured that we put as many miles on our feet as we did on the bus. We were on and off a few times wandering through interesting residential streets as well as the Zoo area. We also stopped off at the Gassan Diamond Company where we had a very interesting tour of a small portion of their very impressive facility.
At Gassan, shopping was not our intention and there was no pressure to do so, however I could tell that there were some people who have that weakness and I suppose the stop is beneficial to the company. The polishing process was well explained and it was well worth the time spent. In the same compound was a Delft Blue shop that had a smattering of that product and offered tea, coffee, washroom facilities and a selection of other related souvenir items.
We hopped off in an area that housed a Hard Rock Cafe and we regained our waning strength with a tasty 'Healthy Sandwich' as it stated on the menu and my thirst was slaked by a very cool and tasty Heineken beer.
The final stop was back at our starting point, the Central Station which is a five minute walk to our hotel. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and are getting used to the very intenseness of being a sightseer in Amsterdam. It really is a city where a brief lapse of alertness would cause, almost for sure, a collision between you and a cyclist. They are silent and travel at a pretty darn good clip.
Tomorrow we join the ship after lunch so the morning will be wasted other than maybe going on a walk, the Central Station and all it's activity looks like a likely destination, and we cannot get lost up there!
I just had to take this picture.
That says everything that I don't like about small boats: Rain water, debris, maintenance
and the yuk factor.
A modernistic approach to an old 17th century style of architecture.
An exhibition of Micropia. Not in my dictionary.
What purpose I wonder.
Stealth missiles flying by, don't walk in the wrong path! Note the cel phone user.
An armada of cyclists is search of unwary pedestrian tourists.
Remnant of an earlier era when beauty was of more importance than cost.
Doug is always trying to fix things!
The diamond tour.
That little diamond, bronze in colour, had a price tag of over 20,000 Euros.
Delft Blue collection.
Hop On, Hop Off respite from walking.
On the way to Ireland, so why not?
Preservation of the buildings is enforced, and subsidised here in many cases apparently. That accounts for the reason that practically all the buildings are in such good shape, some over 350 years old. I would say that it escaped series bombing from what we could tell.
What a location and what class.
It looked like a jig-saw puzzle to me.
I don't know the story on this ship.
The Hotel in Amsterdam apparently, The Amstel.
Typical: a cigarette in the mouth and a coke in his hand, I wonder how he handles the phone?
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