There are 600,000 bicycles in Amsterdam - the population is 800,000. Every year 50,000 bikes are stolen - that's got to be a headache for the police right there!
Prostitution is a legal profession with several 'red light' districts. The girls sit in the window of their little stores waiting for their next customer. They have to do the paper work and pay tax just like any other business. I know this has been going on for generations, but to see it displayed this way, well it's just incredibly sad.
Something else that made me sad today was the number of beautiful old churches that are no longer used for services. Instead they are used for community and social activities. While I'm sure some of these programmes are good, God is being left out, as is the case in many places in the world.
My knowledge of history is not great, but after only a couple of days into this tour I am struck by how much Jewish history is everywhere, and as we go on I know there will be so much more.
There are many streets and canals here with houses that are tall and narrow - maybe 4 to 5 stories high. They do not contain lifts and many have very narrow staircases where getting furniture up and down would be impossible. To get around this problem the houses have large hooks on the outside up high near the roof line. These are used, along with ropes, to hoist furniture and large items up and through the windows. You can see in the photos below......
So a day and a half here, while not long, has been so interesting and intriguing, I would love to come back sometime.
At 12 noon our boat the Amadeus Princess pulled away from the dock and we were off on our river cruise through the heart of Holland, Germany and beyond.
I was so excited and went up on the top deck with many others to watch as we pulled away. I was actually excited! You know when it feels like you have little bubbles inside? That's how I felt.....like a big kid! I wanted to jump and and down and shout 'woohoo' but I was restrained and just commented to a couple of people how great it was that we were finally cruising. Lame!
The boat can take about 150 passengers, so with the crew, there are less than 200 people on board. Nothing like a big cruise ship......more like an intimate floating boutique hotel!
Our tour group is made up of 23 people, including our tour leaders, John and Robyn Cooney. I am the youngest one in our group! There are a some others a just few years older than me but the fact remains I am the youngest. It's been awhile since I've been in that situation!!
Our tour group is called Midlife Madness Tours.....and as I get to know more people....I think it's an apt name :-) Having said that, there are some real sweeties and some real characters amongst us.
John was talking to another group on board yesterday, Australians, and had a bit of a bet on who had the youngest person in their group. Turns out they have someone who is 54....so he lost out on that but not by much! Aussies eh?
So we have now been cruising all afternoon and will continue right through the night until about 2:30 tomorrow afternoon by which time we will be in Germany and will dock at Cologne.
It was incredibly interesting this afternoon to go through our first two locks but unfortunately photos don't really do it justice.
This is such a relaxing way to have a holiday.....I highly recommend it people! Put it on your bucket list. Here's a couple of photos of my cabin......
Time for me to sign out and sleep, or maybe I'll just lie in bed and watch the world glide by....hmmm
Till next time............
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