Europe 2019, Cont.: Amsterdam

Amsterdam and Environs, May 29

The Navigator docked at Amsterdam's pier the morning of May 29, giving us a whole day to explore the city before disembarking on May 30.  Having visited the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum on previous trips, we opted for a boat ride through the city's canals in the morning and an escorted bicycle excursion in the afternoon.

Canal and Flower Market

As many know, bicycling in Amsterdam is not for sissies.  Adept riders go as fast as motorbikes, and woe to the visitor who doesn’t know the rules of the road.  Fortunately, we and our three fellow tour members had an expert guide who eased us through city traffic onto a ferry that carried us over the Ij and into the city’s less traveled northern districts.  Before long we were out of Amsterdam and riding through rural villages.  The only “hills” we encountered were bridges over the many canals.

On the ferry

Before a working, but non-commercial windmill,
manned by volunteers

Atop a "hill" in the countryside