The group, excluding the Bucks, left Amsterdam on an 8:45 flight through Atlanta and we all arrived at our respective destinations between 4:00 and 5:00 in the afternoon on the 6th. We all agreed that the trip was fun and we are sold on the River Cruise as an excellent way to spend a vacation/trip.

All of the photos from the trip taken by LJL have been uploaded to the SmugMug website: http://ljl-photos.llanie.com/browse and the video’s will be uploaded when I have a some spare time to convert them to a file format for SmugMug.

We look forward to our next adventure with friends and family!

The group finally got together on the 4th, minus David who had to fly back to San Antonio. Vicki, Ellen and Larry met the rest of the group at their hotel for an afternoon of shopping in Amsterdam. The shopping was followed by a tram ride to David & Ellen’s Apartment and then dinner at David & Ellen’s favorite Italian Restaurant.
On the 5th, Ellen took a break to get some personal business taken care of and the rest of the group met up at 12:30 at the hotel. Earlier in the day the Hotel Group, Randy & Kathy and Johnny & Kathy visited a Museum.
The first order of the day was to visit the Red Light District (the “District”)! The District was located just a short 5 minutes walk from the hotel. The District was interesting, but I think all of us would describe it as rather “Seedy” and not an areas that we were comfortable visiting. But, to be in Amsterdam and not see the District, would have left a void in our trip! No photos will be found of the District Doors or it’s women as this is strictly prohibited.
After the short visit to the District we spent the next 2 hours in various shops on the walk back to the hotel. By 5:00 PM all of us agreed that it was time to call it a day as our flight the next morning required us to be at the airport very early in the morning. Vicki and Larry returned to Ellen’s and the rest of the group stayed at their hotel for the evening. Ellen made a cab reservation for Larry & Vicki for 6:00 AM!
Check out the photo’s on the SmugMug Website: http://ljl-photos.llanie.com/2015-Europe-RiverCruise/Amsterdam-August-352015/

The group, exclusive of David & Ellen who got off the boat the night before, departed the boat at 10:30 on Monday, August 3. Randy & Kathy and Johnny & Kathy checked into their hotel (the Park Plaza Victoria), which was about a 10 minute cab ride from the boat and located across from the Central Rail Station. Larry & Vicki proceeded to David & Ellen’s home in Amsterdam.
Everyone that heard we were going to Amsterdam told us that two things we had to experience were the Coffee shops that sold Marijuana and the Red Light District. So, in the next two days we did our observations of these two Amsterdam traditions. Our cab driver informed us that Cafe’s were eating establishments were places that one could get food and coffee and Coffee Shops were places that sold the marijuana! More to come on this subject.
The first order of the day was a trip on the bicycle by Ellen & Vicki to the grocery store to get supplies. Check the photo of the two on bikes on the SmugMug website:
http://ljl-photos.llanie.com/2015-Europe-RiverCruise/Amsterdam-August-352015/
We arranged to get together later to tour Amsterdam and planned on getting together later. Larry & Randy discussed communicating via Text Message and never hooked up! Larry, Vicki & Ellen (David had to work) then decided to get a hamburger at George’s, a local cafe that is a favorite of Ellens. On the way to George’s, we heard someone yelling our names and looked up to see Randy, Kathy, Johnny and Kathy waiving as they were trying to find Ellen’s apartment. Think of the odds of this happening in a city of 800,000+ population!
After an excellent lunch at George’s, we ventured out on the tram to explore the local area. Our event for the day was a tour of the Heineken brewery, which took about 1 1/2 hours. On the way to the brewery we walked past the Bull Dog Coffee Shop, which is a local establishment that specializes in the sale of Marijuana. From the smell and the looks in the eyes of the patron’s of this establishment it was quite clear what was being consumed. Unbelievable was our reaction to what we saw!
The brewery tour was interesting as Heineken is a local beer and an Amsterdam headquartered company. The tour was informative and the beer was excellent.
After the tour we split up with the intent to get together for dinner at an Italian restaurant by the name of Spagioni’s, a local favorite of David and Ellen’s. We were unable to hook up with the other 4 members of our group, so it was only a partial success. However, you know it is going to be excellent when your host, David, is known by all of the staff of the restaurant. It was as advertised!

The trip from Cologne to Amsterdam took approximately 18 hours with our arrival between 111:30-12:30. Upon arriving in Amsterdam the group met in the lounge and we faced the second crisis of the trip as the Tour Organizer (Larry) had not made hotel reservations for Monday evening!! Thanks to the Travel Advisor website we were able to book hotel reservations for Monday evening at the same hotel where reservations had been made for Tuesday and Wednesday!
The afternoon was spent by taking a combination of a Canal water cruise, a short walking tour and a bus tour. Randy & Kathy elected to take toe Jewish Heritage tour and the rest of us received a mixed review ot this tour. Kathy did not speak favorably of the tour as the tour director spent a lot of time explaining things in great detail. Randy, on the other hand, thought the tour was good because of the detailed explanation given by the tour director. The rest of the group ended their tour with drinks and food at Freddy’s, a bar that was originally setup by Freddy Heineken as part of the hotel that he purchased for his wife. Ellen was excited as they served Heineken Light, which the bartender told us was the only place that had the Light on tap in the city.
During the weekend, Amsterdam’s population increased by about 100,000 as a result of the celebrations of gay pride week. The normally pristine city was littered with trash virtually everywhere as a result of the celebration. The cleanup was in process led by private citizens taking the initiative as volunteers to clean up the canal.
The evening concluded with the usual fantastic dinner followed by a classical concert by a group named LA STRADA playing in the lounge. Not all of us stayed for the entire concert as we needed to prepare for disembarkation the next morning. And, David and Ellen checked out after dinner to go to their apartment as David had to return to work on Monday morning.
I believe that all of us would rate River Cruising as a “Do-Over” and the AMA Waterways boat with a 4-5 rating. The boat was clean, the staff were very helpful, the rooms were good and the food was excellent!
The last 3 days of our trip will be in Amsterdam where the women promise to shop and the men promise not to complain. Interspersed between shopping might be a visit to several Museums and the Heineken Brewry.