Celebrity Constellation Sail Away

My brother and sister-in-law had found out the night before that we would be embarking later than we'd planned in order for the staff to thoroughly clean the ship which had had an outbreak of norovirus. For those who didn't know about the late departure, the ship had food and drink brought in to the Movenpick Hotel and adjoining terminal.
We went to partake of some of the freebies, and we had an opportunity to meet several of our fellow passengers.
At 8:00 PM, we departed Amsterdam at Piet Heinkade Terminal (Googlemap shows it where s100 meets s116 at the water--if you zoom in you'll see a section that says "Passenger Terminal Amsterdam") which wasn't more than a mile from our hotel.
While wending our way to the North Sea, we passed residential areas . . .
A Greenpeace ship. . .

And quite a bit of industry. My brother was particularly interested in the power stations . . .
And the wind turbines.
If you follow the "Kanal" heading in a NW direction on this map, you'll see where we were while sailing away from Amsterdam. I do recall the signs for "Afrikahaven" and "Amerikahaven". You will also see the mounds of coal on that map.

We thought this was interesting since the trees appear to be planted in rows---future wood "crops" mixed in with the turbines.
Our three hour trip down the canal also took us by villages.
If you looked at the map, you'll see an area in which we had to go through locks (see above).
The photo above was taken just before we headed out to the North Sea around 11:00 PM.

Amsterdam July 3

We had learned that our cruise ship had post-poned our departure, so we decided to take a bus/canal boat tour with our extra time.
We noticed many buildings that seemed to be losing a battle with settling soil. They were deliberately built leaning forward a bit so they could haul furniture up through the cranes in the eaves, but that doesn't account for the leaning left and right. I liked how the building on the left spelled "MoM", the little building next to it was a "coffee shop" (AKA marijuana house) and the little blue "house boat" had flower boxes.
We visited a diamond factory where we got a tour.
We saw them polishing diamonds---looks very tedious.
And we got information on color, points, facets of diamonds.
As well as an opportunity for my sister-in-law to try some diamond rings on.
Of course the Dutch cycle everywhere---I liked the pink bike, crate on the front, the flowers and the black dress and boots on an 80 degree day.
We rarely saw helmets, but this was a scene I never thought I'd see.
The Dutch are so relaxed and funny----I think I could live there.
On the canal boat ride, we saw many "house boats"---there are several thousands---I loved the gardens some had. Although there is a moratorium on house boats, now, they do help the housing shortage. The Dutch can't really build higher buildings because the soil structure can't really tolerate the weight of higher buildings.
This is the canal side of a farmer's market.
Everyone asks us if we went to the "red light district." First, WHY? Second, it's against the law to photograph---but I did promise a few people a photo of a "cat house". (Double click to enlarge---I think you can read it---"Boot" in German and Dutch (?) means "boat".
This was built in 1620----one of my ancestors or Dave's might have seen this, too, since we both had ancestors in Amsterdam in the mid 1600's. Mine were French Huguenots looking for religious freedom and Dave's were Dutch who came to the New World and settled around Staten Island and New Amsterdam.

Amsterdam July 2

After we arrived at the Renaissance Hotel in Amsterdam, we went around the corner for a little lunch. Although it was a "perfect summer day" in St. Louis, it was hot for Amsterdam.
We had arrived on the day the Netherlands played Uruguay in the World Cup!
My brother Jim and his wife Deb arrived around 5 PM just in time for the game in our hotel bar.
And, we saw a victory for Netherlands.
The Dutch were literally dancing in the streets. . and on the canals. . .and the festive spirit reminded me of. . .

Christmas and. . .
Mizzou football weekend. . .
Mardi Gras. . .
and Super Bowl even though the game was being played in South Africa.

Even a cannabis shop showed the World Cup Spirit!

Netherlands in 1985

We took our daughters to Europe for the first time in 1985. After driving a rental car for a week (or more) in Britain, we boarded a ship and crossed the English Channel to the Netherlands.

I wanted the girls to experience Europe---so we took a ship overnight (faster ferries were available, but. . .)---the accommodations were a little tight.
Traveling Europe with children 5-11 years old is a different experience than without---we did eat at McDonald's quite a bit. After our experience with drug-users in 1972, we chose not to go to Amsterdam. So, this McDonald's is in Rotterdam.
Then, we went to Maurodam which is a miniature city in the Netherlands.
How many people can say they've been to an amusement park in another country? This is De Efteling in the Netherlands which was a little like Six Flags and Story Book Forest in Pittsburgh, PA.
So, we are now going to Netherlands for a third time---back to Amsterdam, again. Dave and I are all grown up, but I'm hoping we can visit an amusement park I'd wanted to visit in 1985---Tivoli Gardens (in Copenhagen).

Europe in 1972

A year after we were married, we decided to go to Europe for three weeks. Although I had lived there in the late 60's, it was Dave's first trip. First, we went to Switzerland, took a boat ride around Lake Geneva, but the next day we headed to northern Italy.
On our way there, we stopped at the Castle of Chillon---I'm standing next to Lord Byron's grafitti when he'd been there. Although we have lots of slides of Italy, I don't have any snapshots that I can find. We loved the lake district and stayed in northern Italy for four days: Boromeo Islands, Lake Como (yes, where George Clooney has a villa), Bolzano before heading through the Dolomites into Austria---not too far where they found the iceman.
After several days in Austria, we headed to Germany where we saw all of King Ludwig's castles---I'm pictured above in the Moorish kiosk at Linderhof. Below is in Rothenberg, I believe---definitely one of the villages along the Romantische Strasse.
We stayed in Prien, Oberammergau, Lindau, Memmingen (where I'd lived), Ulm, Augsburg, Dinkelsbuehl,Bad Mergenheim (and saw Baden-Baden), Freudenstadt, Oppenheim (where we visited with the uncle of one of Dave's friend who had a winery), Koblenz (where we took a Rhein River cruise).
Here's Dave writing post cards in front of the Cologne Cathedral.
At that time hotels were not like in the United States----we had to go down the hall to a shared restroom, the beds were a little short (note Dave's toes) with us sleeping under feather comforters, and in Amsterdam we had to carry our suitcases directly in front of us to climb the winding steps to our room. After walking around Amsterdam (witnessing a lot of people on drugs), and taking a canal ride, we went to the airport where we found our flight had been delayed. We had such a long delay, they took us out to a North Sea resort (Grand Hotel in Noordwijk aan Zee) where we spent the day and ate lunch.
We'll be returning to Amsterdam, soon, but our hotel won't be as quaint as Hotel Hiller, and we probably won't walk around Amsterdam very much, but we will be taking at least one boat ride and seeing a lot of the North Sea!