EIGTH DAY – AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

After leaving early this morning, we crossed the border into the Netherlands. Overcast, cold, drizzly, windy day - kinda like Melbourne!  Had breakfast with two other great couples but I can only remember Barbara’s name.

If you don't already know, the Netherlands is below sea level and there are many, many, many canals.  And I mean many.  According to our tour guide, Simona Kis, the Netherlands has been fighting water ever since its existence, thus the dikes keeping the water away and, of course, the windmills. We'll come back to the whole windmill thing later.

You can almost immediately see the difference between Belgium and the Netherlands - from the green fields to the way the houses and the streets are structured. As we drove into the older part of Amsterdam, the things I immediately noticed were the gorgeous buildings, number of canals, the bridges we passed, and the bicycles.  Many, many bicycles.

Bike parking

As hotel rooms in Europe are not ready until 3pm, we went on a cruise around some of the canals.  Unfortunately, it decided to rain so I couldn't take any pictures, but everything looks exactly like all the pictures I've ever seen. It was at the start of the cruise that we saw a three-storey parking building – only for bicycles. We learned from our captain that if you don’t chain up your bike to the metal bar and lock it, someone else how needs a spot will come along and push your bike into the canal and take your parking! Nice!!

There was also the story of the Amsterdam government trying to put a system to discourage the theft of bikes by putting free white bikes in certain areas where people could pick one up, go to their destination, and return it to the bike stand at their destination. The scheme lasted only 24 hours. Everyone took the free bikes home, painted it and claimed it as theirs!

Our cruise finished off at a major diamond centre. We walked through to a room where they explained how the diamond is made from the stone to the polished diamond.  There was a woman and a man behind a glass wall polishing tiny diamonds.

We were then escorted to a smaller room where we were locked in and actually saw real diamonds - from the tiniest diamond sold for €350, the a larger yellow diamond selling for €3800. Then, of course, out came the diamond jewellery that we could try on and, if we wanted, buy.  Let’s just say, I didn't buy anything.

I was a little disappointed as I really wanted to see how a diamond was made from scratch or at least shown footage or something.



Rembrandt's house

We then had some time to ourselves and most of us congregated at a soup place Simona recommended. I went with Jo and Paul and had a soup called “Forgotten Vegetables” which was like a puree, creamy in colour and we couldn’t quite figure out which vegetables were in it but it was delicious.

Jo, Paul and I took a stroll through the flea market which was nearby but most of the stalls were closed due to the bad weather. We did stumble on Rembrandt’s house though.

Then, it was off to the old town of Volendam, which is about 30 minutes from the city. Our first stop was a trip inside a real working windmill. It was quite fascinating – who knew that windmills had their own language.  Just two of their language is: if the windmill blades are stopped in the shape of an “+”, this means that the windmill has been stopped for a very short time.  If the blades are stopped in the “X” position, the windmill has not been in use for quite a while.

After the explanation of how the windmill works and was built, we were allowed to climb the very narrow steps to the top of the windmill and see the rest of the mechanics.  This windmill we saw today is still used to move water from the farmer’s fields.

Just a little way up the road to the windmill, we went to a little cheese factory and learned about cheese.  We even had a chance to taste some interesting cheeses.

Next to the cheese factory, we had a talk about how wooden clogs were made – from a Peruvian clog maker. I thought he looked a bit South Americanish so, after his talk, I went over to talk to him and found out that he works the “warmer” months in Amsterdam, and as the winters are rather harsh, he then goes home to Peru.

Then, it was off to the main city centre of Volendam. It is a small 17^th-centry fishing village set by a lake.  I walked through the main shopping strip but then, after getting bored, took a little street/lane way off the main street and was thoroughly glad I did. The houses are just beautiful and quaint.  Took several photos.

It was then time to go to our hotel – the Mecure. And we were in luck, we were in the new part of the hotel.  My room is absolutely massive compared to my old room in Brussels.  After not having vegetables other than potatoes since being here in the UK and Europe, I finally had some vegetables for dinner. They tasted sooooo good.

Off to Cologne and a Rhine River cruise tomorrow. Hope the weather is much warmer in Germany – but I’m not holding my breath.