Amsterdam to Utrecht and beyond

There's no point in trying to put a positive spin on it. The weather when we woke up was absolutely foul, with heavy rain and strong winds. It was far from ideal for sightseeing, but it was a matter of taking whatever opportunity one can to see whatever sights one can.

We had the choice of either going on an Amsterdam canal cruise on an enclosed glass-topped boat or of visiting a touristy Dutch village. We chose the former. It was a great way to see this interesting and beautiful city, even though what we mainly got were tantalising glimpses of highly photogenic scenes. After the hour long boat trip we were dropped off in the museum district and told that we had an hour of free time before we'd be picked up and taken back to the Amaverde. We'd like to have visited the Van Gogh museum but our guide told us that tickets are hard to come by at short notice and that they're available always only for specific time slots. Besides, we decided that a one hour time slot really wasn't enough for a visit to that or any other museum. Instead, we headed back to the Rijkmuseum and spent the time in the gift shop and foyer area.

During the Spanish leg of our trip we got into the habit of having a large buffet breakfast and then skipping lunch. Generally we'd then have a nice big dinner. With so much food and wine on our boat one would require far more self-discipline than we have in order to stick to such a routine. However, we did stick to having salad and fruit for lunch. At least that was the case until we discovered the raspberry ice cream dessert...

APT are evaluating a new system whereby every cabin gets issued with a mobile phone which is pre-loaded with their software. Aside from the phones having GPS and touring guides they also offer unlimited messaging and phone calls to anywhere in the world. Were it not for the fact that we had already bought a European SIM card for use throughout Europe we would have found this to be an excellent arrangement. In the afternoon there was a briefing and help session given by the company supplying the special phones. We chose to attend, though Brian couldn't help himself. With his Brisbane Seniors Online hat on, he found himself helping several of our fellow passengers. The system is excellent, but given the age demographic, it may prove too challenging for many people.

The rest of the afternoon was free, after which we attended the Captain's Welcome Cocktail and Gala Dinner. Given that there were 140 passengers on board it was a bit of a ritualised occasion. We joined a couple for dinner who are former dairy farmers from Canterbury, now living in Christchurch. They were good company and we spent a very pleasant evening.Read more