So, last night we met our cabin stewardess who seems to be a bit of a nervous wreck. It seems she's only on a new one month contract and is worried that she will be sent home. Poor girl.
She asked us if we liked our room, to which of course we replied that we were made up. She said that the last occupant didn't want to sleep in the double bed, and she, (Olena, our cabin stewardess), had made up the sofa bed for her. We thought that sounded a bit odd, but then, there's nowt so queer as folk, eh?
Anyway, last night we found out why this cabin isn't allocated to passengers, and why the last occupant decided to sleep in the second room. (Not that it helped, I checked!)
In the early hours of this morning, a noise filled the cabin that can nearest be described as a foghorn. Maybe not quite as loud, but loud enough and persistent. Neverendingly persistent. It just went on, and on, and on, and on. It must have been a good 1/2 hour before it stopped And then it started again and went on for another hour. Peter managed to get back to sleep as it went on. I didn't.
So it was bleary eyes that greeted Amsterdam this morning. We didn't have a tour because we had to be back in time for Peter's class at 13:30, so we had a nice lazy morning. Breakfast was followed by an amble around Amsterdam.
I've never been, and we headed for the canals and followed the signs to the old church. As we stood looking up at the church, a very loud tapping noise behind me made me jump and look around. I don't know if the nearly naked woman was tapping to tell me to move and stop blocking people from seeing her, or to grab the attention of some guy behind me. Anyway, I now knew I was in the red light district.
After a little more walking we reached the main square and time for a 5 minute sit down. A guy appeared with a carrier bag of grain to feed the pigeons, making me think of Mary Poppins. Except he didn't ask for a tuppence a bag and freely gave handfuls to passers by. The pigeons were happy to feed from the hands of the tourists, including mine.
Odder 'tourist attractions' in the square included Darth Vader, Punch and Judy and a guy playing bagpipes?
As we left the square, it started to rain, prompting a reasonably hurried return to the ship. We had to get back to get the conference room ready for Peter's class anyway.
Back on board ship and in the conference room, it took us a while to work out how to make maximum use of the space, but we were ready in time and the room quickly filled up. I had to stand outside and keep count of the numbers that had to be turned away, but there were only a few and we were pleased as this meant that Peter would only have to run one class per sea day. Bonus!
So his class went well, we cleaned up and then went to sit in 'The Garden' at the back of the ship. We were surprised more people haven't found yet, it was so pleasant sitting there as the ship sailed downriver towards the last lock before open sea.
The deck steward turning up to remove all the cushions from the loungers warned us of the forthcoming bad weather. That, and the Captains voice over the tannoy system warning of force 7 and 8 winds. As usual, my stomach rebelled, and I ended up going for a lie down until the weather calmed.
So Peter enjoyed dinner and the evening show by himself and I slept through the rock and roll cabaret provided by the ship. (Actually, it wasn't too bad, just enough to make me feel queasy.)
So that was our second day on board. Tomorrow in a sea day, so let's see what that brings.
She asked us if we liked our room, to which of course we replied that we were made up. She said that the last occupant didn't want to sleep in the double bed, and she, (Olena, our cabin stewardess), had made up the sofa bed for her. We thought that sounded a bit odd, but then, there's nowt so queer as folk, eh?
Anyway, last night we found out why this cabin isn't allocated to passengers, and why the last occupant decided to sleep in the second room. (Not that it helped, I checked!)
In the early hours of this morning, a noise filled the cabin that can nearest be described as a foghorn. Maybe not quite as loud, but loud enough and persistent. Neverendingly persistent. It just went on, and on, and on, and on. It must have been a good 1/2 hour before it stopped And then it started again and went on for another hour. Peter managed to get back to sleep as it went on. I didn't.
So it was bleary eyes that greeted Amsterdam this morning. We didn't have a tour because we had to be back in time for Peter's class at 13:30, so we had a nice lazy morning. Breakfast was followed by an amble around Amsterdam.
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| Bicycle parking in Amsterdam |
Odder 'tourist attractions' in the square included Darth Vader, Punch and Judy and a guy playing bagpipes?
As we left the square, it started to rain, prompting a reasonably hurried return to the ship. We had to get back to get the conference room ready for Peter's class anyway.
 |
| We loved these wonky houses at the sides of the canal. |
So his class went well, we cleaned up and then went to sit in 'The Garden' at the back of the ship. We were surprised more people haven't found yet, it was so pleasant sitting there as the ship sailed downriver towards the last lock before open sea.
The deck steward turning up to remove all the cushions from the loungers warned us of the forthcoming bad weather. That, and the Captains voice over the tannoy system warning of force 7 and 8 winds. As usual, my stomach rebelled, and I ended up going for a lie down until the weather calmed.
So Peter enjoyed dinner and the evening show by himself and I slept through the rock and roll cabaret provided by the ship. (Actually, it wasn't too bad, just enough to make me feel queasy.)
So that was our second day on board. Tomorrow in a sea day, so let's see what that brings.
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