A Summer Cruise Part One: Amsterdam

 Knowing that I wanted to make the most of our time left in Europe, I booked a Rhine River Cruise. It would start in Amsterdam and snake its way down to the Netherlands. The cruise was... not our cup of tea. A bit too fancy and full of elderly people to really be what we were looking for. We also realized that we do not love group travel. It is so much slower and you get to explore so much less when you're with a group and confined by where the ship is and when the coach is leaving. It was an interesting experience. The boat itself was absolutely lovely and one of my favorite parts was our nightly hot chocolate on the sky deck as we sail down the river, seeing great landscapes of Europe. I had a lot of free wine and our room was comfortable. I think we both felt so out of place among these old couples, four-course dinners (honestly, most of them were not that amazing), and travel limitations that I don't think it is something we will be itching to do again. Many of our boat-mates never even went off the boat to eat the local food unless the cruise director arranged it. I couldn't believe how shallow the travel was. We got off the boat to eat and explore every chance we got and I think we made the most of the situation.

However, Amsterdam was probably one of the highlights of the trip. After settling into the boat and our room, we made our way into the heart of the city to explore. There happened to be a huge protest in the city the day we arrived about farmer's rights. The best part was that as our boat-mates were making their way to their first boat dinner, Brandon and I went out to experience Amsterdam's nightlife. First, we waited in line forever for a bowl of ramen. Yes, ramen. It was a very popular local place and it was quite good despite them running out of pork while we were in line. Chicken ramen just isn't the same. We made our way into the heart of the city towards the red light district. The prostitutes hanging out in shop windows was fascinating and there are many bars and strip/sex shows you can visit. We had a great night out and I know we were the last ones on the boat that night!

The next morning we joined our tour group for a cruise through the canals. It was quite gorgeous and we learned a lot about the history of the city, including why so many of the houses are leaning. They were built right by the water and the foundation would be moved by the water as they were building it. The tour ended at a strange place, A Diamond Factory. The presenter was quite dull and their jewelry very expensive. Eventually we snuck away from our tour guide and walked back through the city, stopping to get some delicious waffles, before making it to the boat before it left. We really enjoyed Amsterdam and I'd like to make my way back there again someday.