Carleen's travel blog: Rhein Cruise Tag Neun

Amsterdam. I can truly say we are not in Germany any more. The Dutch language is the bastard child of English and German but when spoken, it is SO guttural! Our day began with a boat ride on the canals, viewing the row houses, many which are sliding forwards, backwards and sideways due to their foundations sinking into the mud. There are “Coffee Houses” where you buy marijuana, but the smell of weed is no more pervasive here than in Seattle or San Francisco and at least it isn’t mixed in the with smell of urine like it is in the states. We went past Ann Frank’s home and Rembrandt’s studio. We walked back to our ship, taking our lives in our hands with the omnipresent bicyclists.
We opted for a tour this afternoon of an outdoor museum where there are working windmills, chocolate and cheese makers and wooden shoe craftsmen. There are a number of old houses lovingly restored so you can see how people lived back in the 1600-1800s. The weather was mercurial - sometimes sunny, sometimes rainy and always windy.
Our last dinner on board as well as lunch was Dutch based and delicious as usual. Sad to say goodbye to some of the friends we have made.