Then, a boat ride.

[fbhjr]

So, when I exited the Rijks museum I was tired, hungry and thirsty.

I had looked at the menu in the museum cafe and could not find anything without cheese, yogurt or milk in it. Being allergic to them and not confident of explaining that in Dutch, I decided to look elsewhere.

Across the street from the museum was a canal. (Across the street from almost everywhere in the Netherlands is some body of water...)
There was what looked like a little connivence store there, so I went over to look.
It turned out it was a booth to sell canal rides, but happened to have some snacks and drinks too.
The canal rides looked cool.


This company had all of them go past the train station. And, you could buy a ticket that let you get off any boat and onto any of their other boats. There were 4 routes through the city that ran all day.


So, I bought a ticket, a snack and a drink and hopped on the next boat to arrive.

At that point the driver got off for a half hour lunch break. I thought that was sort of ironic for me, but I ate my snack and drank my drink while on the boat and waited.

The boats are quite low to the water as the bridges are not very high.


I'm sure the canals are safe. Boats never sink there, right?


You do get a nice view of a lot of the houses along the canals as you sail along.


And, the canals are very pretty.


I mistook this for a clock on the side of the building. But, it is wind direction. I guess for a city that made its money in ocean trading, everyone wants to know which way the wind blows...


The boat captain said the canals are 3 meters deep. 1 meter of water, 1 meter of mud and 1 meter of lost bicycles.
Given how many there are, that isn't hard to believe.
They have a parking garage for them next to the train station. It holds 2500 bikes, and is only about 1/4 of the size needed for just that train station.


The canal tour goes out into the harbor where there are ocean going ships like this cruise ship with lips on it. Very strange.


This is the Nemo building. I guess it is some sort of children's museum with some sort of entertainment on the roof.


They have a reconstruction of a warship from the days of naval greatness.


And, one lone windmill left in the city.


There is some rule about what kind of tree you can plant near the canal so this doesn't happen.


As we reached the city hall, I saw on the route map we were near something I had heard about from my work contact here. So,I jumped ship and went to look for it.


I've heard it is bad luck to walk under a ladder. I don't know about big cranes. It worried me a bit, but it was the only way by.


In Rembrandt square is a statue version of his nightwatch painting.



So, I hung with the night watch for a bit.


Then, I hopped a tram back to the train station rather than do another boat.


The tram went by the royal palace, which the boat didn't, so I guess that was nice.


I got back to the train station 6 minutes before my train left. So, it worked out quite well.


It was a fun day. I'm glad I did it. It is like going to New York, but where you can't read the street signs or ask for directions. So, it's a bit more stressful than New York for me. But, I managed.
I am sad my wife wasn't with me as I'm sure she would have loved it.

Comments

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

Cool! Hanging with Cocq and his men, I hear they're nice company.

Haha get it?

[endlessblush.livejournal.com]

Oh Frank! What a wonderful post! So many fantastic photographs :). I'm so glad it was some play with your work with your trip. I know you missed sharing this day with your wife but having all these beautiful photographs to share with her is fantastic.

I lol'd about the 1 metre of bicycles in the canal :) I wouldn't doubt it to be true either.

[manintheboat.livejournal.com]

It looks like a wonderful country!

[brickhousewench.livejournal.com]

I am really enjoying my vicarious trip to the Netherlands! Thanks for sharing. =D

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I did take a photo with you in mind on today's adventures...