Amsterdam - 16th July

Downtown Amsterdam

It had to finally happen, we've reached our destination and our dream trip on the river has come to an end. Amsterdam is a surprising city, often described as the "Venice of the North" because of its many canals. However our guide was quick to point out that Venice's canals are sea water whereas Amsterdam's are fresh water. Apparently in the early years of Amsterdam, property tax was based on river frontage, so what did the people do? Yep, built tall and narrow houses as you can see here.

Bicycle park

Amsterdam runs on bicycles, or as our guide put it so delicately, "psychopaths on cycle paths". We were constantly warned not to loiter in a marked cycle path, because you would literally be mowed down. I witnessed several near misses and the "psychopath" label does fit. Here you can see a multi-story bicycle park and each little bay is numbered so you can find your bike again. According to our guide, most are secured with at least two locks which are worth more than the bike itself!

Leaning towers of Amsterdam

Amsterdam is built on soft, marshy ground and the buildings are built on pylons driven deep into the ground, although not nearly deep enough for the buildings on the right. Some buildings lean sideways, a lot lean forwards to assist with raising furniture up the outside to the windows of the floor they are going to. Either way, it's enough to give a civil engineer nightmares.

Houseboats

Amsterdam has a circle ring of seven separate canals, not including the intersecting ones at right angles. Houseboats are very popular, but some of the prices are astronomical, costing as much if not more than a house on land. All these ones have permanent moorings and are hooked up to electricity, water and sewerage services.

Seven bridges

Here you can see all seven bridges at once that cross all seven ring canals and you can see the quaint bridge lifting mechanisms. An acceptable excuse for being late to work in Amsterdam is "the bridge was up".

Cheese shop

Amsterdam is well-known for its cheeses and after our canal tour we were taken to a cheese shop where this delightful maiden in traditional costume gave us a comprehensive rundown on cheese-making. Afterwards we were allowed to run riot with tasting various samples, which were simply delicious. The walls of the shop were stacked with wax-coated cheeses in various stages of maturation. We bought some.

Marijuana varieties

Lots of things are unregulated and legal in Amsterdam, not only the famous "Red Light" district, but marijuana is legal to be sold in shops. I had no idea it came in so many varieties and we passed many shops parading their wares such as this one on the right. However there is an upper limit that you can purchase before you become a "dealer" and illegal.

String quartet

Finally, it was back to the ship for our last evening meal and our last piece of entertainment, this string quartet  with these four gorgeous girls on the left, who played a variety of pieces all originating from places we had visited. Their finale featured music from all the countries the passengers come from and we Aussies applauded loudly when they played Waltzing Matilda. A fitting sendoff.
Thus ends the river trip. More from the USA.