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AMSTERDAM - DAY THIRTEEN - FIFTEEN |
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Previous Blogs: Day 1-3 Queen Mary 2 | Day 4-7 Queen Mary 2 | Day 8-9 To Belgium | Day 10 Brussels | Day 11-12 Gent | Day 13-14 Amsterdam | Day 15 Amsterdam
Click on pictures for larger version |
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DAY THIRTEEN - TO AMSTERDAM |
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Once again Didier came to the party and offered to drive us to Amsterdam instead of taking the train. What a guy! It's about 3 hours to get there so a 6 hour round trip for him. Thanks, Didier you are a ROCKSTAR! We owe you! He dropped us off right outside our houseboat. |
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 Not that pretty on the outside |
 But you can't put down the view! |
 Looking forward - note wood stove with tons of wood included |
 Looking aft, kitchen in the stern with full stove, fridge and dishwasher |
 King bed, huge bedroom |
 Large bathroom with big shower |
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We stayed in for the evening cooking our own dinner as there was a
grocery shop a short walk away and sitting next to the fire.
Cold is one thing - but freezing rain and cold is another. The fire felt fabulous!!! We're positive this boat is larger than our home in Florida!!!
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DAY FOURTEEN - HOP on HOP off |
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We woke up to pouring rain - AGAIN. We bought a second umbrella and decided
to take refuge in the hop on hop off bus only not hopping off, just
looking through the windows. It was very dull and grey not really suitable for great pictures. |
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After the bus tour we moved over to the hop on hop off canal cruise boat. Conditions improved slightly with some breaks from the rain but still pretty dark and dank. |
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The canals are beautiful but in this rainy weather photos are not
the best.
We retired to our houseboat for another night by the fire with home made Gluhwein>>>>> |
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DAY FIFTEEN - RED LIGHT DISTRICT |
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The weather improved significantly - no rain but still cold and overcast so we explored the red light district and the area in between. Here's what we saw and I apologize in advance because there are no picture of ladies in the windows - photos are strictly VERBOTEN and I did not want to get my ass kicked by some muscle bound Dutch bodyguard!! |
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 It looks like any other area in Amsterdam |
 Then you see signs like this... |
 We expected this... |
 But not THIS!! WTF??????????? |
 Wendy wanted to buy THIS for me!
>>>> No secrets here, you know what you get! |
 Nice name for a shop. Wonder what they sell?
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 Smokables, chewables, sniffables whatever ya need. |
 Just in case you don't have enough cash for the show, they provide an ATM! |
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We found the narrowest road in Amsterdam - and its pretty busy with just enough room for people to pass. |
And we found the narrowest house in Amsterdam - barely wider than the door itself! I believe the house gets wider toward the back! |
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While not as extreme as the house above look at these two homes. One
is only 2 windows wide (and 7 floors high, incl basement) The other is 3 windows wide, but look closer, there are TWO front doors, meaning that this is TWO homes. Bottom 3 floors (including basement) one house, top 3 floors another. Either way, you know there is NO elevator and I am sure it sucks to go to the top floor and realize you left your phone by the front door! And the reason Amsterdam homes are so narrow??? Back in the day you were taxed o the width of your home, not the depth or height!!!! |
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And finally...
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This strange contraption on the street, believe it or not is a public urinal! |
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When your day starts like this you know it's not gonna get better!!!
Yes those were beer bottles that got smashed! |
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Just when you thought a "Smart" car was the smallest car you could buy.... try this instead! |
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Part two of our great day in Amsterdam later. It's off to the airport tomorrow and headed home. |
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