Wait, was I really in Rotterdam?

 

When we went to bed last night we were docked in Rotterdam not to far outside of Amsterdam. During the night we sailed along the Rhine and when waking at 6am this morning we found ourselves again in Amsterdam for one more day of sightseeing.  Our tour this morning will be a boat ride through the canals and a visit to a Diamond factory.

Well, the weather isn’t cooperating and we walk thru a drizzle to get to our tour boat. Once aboard we still have some difficulty with the windows steaming so eventually I just opened mine to get a few shots of travel along the canals.

The houses are narrow ( taxed on the width of the house) usually three windows wide but they were tall and go deep. 

Along the canal were house boats. They came in many shapes and forms, all are hooked to sewer and water and have all the amenities of stationary houses. Most do not move but once a year to be towed ( no engines in them anymore) to shipyard to have the hull cleaned

Between the canal and the houses there is a small narrow car road and a bike lane that will take most of the room.

Every city we have visited on this trip has interesting mural art and Amsterdam is no exception.

Decorated houses

A boat with a garden aboard!

The canals range in size from small to large enough for two boats to pass.

If you look closely, this is the only place in Amsterdam on the canals where you can see seven (7) bridges all line up. It was quite special to see

Even Canals have draw bridges

Bridges do have some art on them also..this one is a ship- front on one side and back of ship on other side.

The dancing ladies.. these houses lean due to settling of the banks. 

Coming up towards the ladies I couldn’t quite see the lean but OMG they really are!

After our canal ride came to an end, the boats conveniently dropped us off at the Cassen Diamond Factory so we could see how diamonds are cut and faceted for sale. Of course I think there were some available to purchase,but since I live in Tucson and can attend the Gem and Mineral show there was no interest on my part to spend my cash. It was interesting to see how the work is done though.

 

  Our guide is explaining how the diamonds are rated

You can hardly see in the picture but this was a 5 carat brilliance cut diamond.. only 130,000 Euros. It did really shine and was really pretty but gosh, I’d be afraid to wear it, it would be too heavy for my finger and the cost would actually pay for a few more cruises .. so NO to purchase.

After the morning of touring we came back to our ship and made it to lunch. Our ship concierge had arranges for a taxi and tickets to the Rijksmuseum for this afternoon for us. It was such a great experience it needs its own blog!