Wednesday July 20—City Orientation
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| The ferry to the city |
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| A canal-side cafe |
We were blessed by good weather on our first full day in town, so after a leisurely breakfast we set off on foot to experience our first free ferry trip. Alighting at Central station, we passed a parking area for literally thousands of bikes on our way along the riverfront in search of the “Westerdok” marina,. Although we located this eventually, there seemed to be no trace of a harbour master.
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| Organ in Nieuwe Kerk |
(We phoned him later—no toilets, no showers, and therefore, for us, no further interest!) Then we took ourselves back on a 3-hour walk towards the centre, along one of the main canals, and had a “sampler” of Amsterdam—its bridges, churches, canals, cafes, tourists (including about 500 queuing the Ann Frank House), shops, and even a quick glimpse of the “red light” district by day
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| Krasnapolsky breakfast room |
—before enjoying a sumptuous late lunch in the main square (Dam Square) in a big hotel, where Gill bought a couple of packs of playing cards to replace the ones we have worn out so far on this trip .
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| A reflected sunset in Amsterdam |
Then back on the ferry for a footbath on board, demanded by weary ankles. No joy so far in locating another suitable berth in town if we cannot remain here, but that’s another day’s job.
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