Amsterdam

6th September 

First light, moving into the berth for us for today

As we slowly cruise on up the deep water course toward the central area, I couldn't resist the Botel.

After a short sailing and cruising at an average of 12 notts, our next destination is Amsterdam. We each pay a tax to enter the city which is good, because it contributes to the waste management costs we incur whilst there.

Why should they pay for everything when we contribute nothing for the maintenance of such an amazing place?
Well if I didn't walk it, I cruised the canals. It certainly is a place to come with plenty of time and good walking shoes!!
I can recommend the City cruises and the Hop on Hop off red bus group have excellent rates for cruise and bus combination. I did just the cruise and that was only €16 for an hour with commentary.
It was really good, but €1.4 million for a houseboat! Ouch! I think London prices are easier and you don't need scrub the bottoms!
By comparison with Bruges there is no doubt in my mind which would attract me to return for a longer stay.
The architecture and layout of Bruges is for me the overall winner, but you never know til you look do you?!
The weather has been kind and we haven't experienced the rains we could have had, but let's see what the journey to The Orkneys has in store. I'm really looking forward to the trip I've booked. For me visiting Skapa Flow is something I have had on a bucket list since I was very young.

One of the aspects of Amsterdam which impressed me the most was the extent to which the waterways were utilised. I saw barges carrying everything from bicycles to scrap metal, from coal to cement. The port is huge and ships of varying types seem to fill the sky-line. What also amazed me was the way in which new office and apartments were constructed straight into the water.

Once I had walked over the bridge and entered the first square, I came across the cruise boats which offered 30 minutes along the main waterways with running commentary of the history and interesting facts of the places we past. The boats were comfortable and with the half covered system, we remained dry when other canal boats went passed, to me rather quickly and created high bow waves.

Fancy a house boat? If you have about 1.4 million then you could snap one up today (2019 that is). Properties are very expensive, here in Amsterdam which is why there are so many new apartments being erected outside the central area. If a house boat is that price, I can only wonder at the asking price of the three storey homes which line the canals.

The commentary told us about this particular row of homes. They are called the "Dancing Houses" because they lean one way and another. Basically they are sinking. We were assured this had been stopped now and the Dancing houses were no longer 'dancing'. The captain of the barge told us his house has a list to it which meant one side was 16 cms higher than the other. He just shrugged, "This is quite common," he said.

It took a few hours to sail down towards the sea and this was our final obstacle, a large set of locks maintaining the sea/fresh water difference. When we entered the first lock it was still daylight. We still had a further 30 minutes to go after this photograph was taken.