Viking Grand European River Cruise: 6/11/2016 - Amsterdam and Boarding the Viking Skadi

6/11/2016 Saturday

Today we board our vessel to begin our trip. We will be transported to the ship at 1200 hours and then, hopefully, be able to put things in our room and get organized there. We are hoping that once we get settled in, we can leave the ship for a bit of a walk-about. We will see!

We do know that our original ship, the Bragi, can't get past one part of the river due to high water levels. So, we will begin on the Stadi, an identical ship, in an identical stateroom (hopefully!), and then at or around Nuremberg on day 8, will leave the Stadi and be transported (we guess by bus) to the Bragi where will continue our trip. High water is much better than low water because in the case of low water, the ships can't go from place to place very easily and trips change to motor coaches and hotels for a few days. So, we'll be grateful for high river levels (we think).

The transfer to the ship went smoothly and we were on-board and in our room by 1230 h. After putting stuff in our room (our luggage wasn't here yet) we had a bite to eat for lunch (yummy salads, smoked salmon, roast vegetable sandwich on a dark bread, pita tuna sandwich, etc.). At 1330 h we caught the shuttle bus in to the Central station where we proceeded to walk to the Bloemenmarkt (flower market) and take in all of the beautiful flowers and bulbs (tulip, dahlias, etc.). There are very plentiful, varied and relatively inexpensive plants and flowers for sale... unfortunately, we really can't bring them back with us.

It was pretty amazing how the size of the crowds changed from yesterday to today (Friday to Saturday) Today the area of central station and the Dam Square were solidly packed with people!
As we walked out of the downtown central area to the Bloemenmarkt, the number of people decreased significantly.

The Central rail station in downtown Amsterdam.

There were a lot more people out and about today.

There were lots of folks gathered around the war memorial.

Dam Square was very busy.

This is the back side of the flower market (Bloemenmarkt) stalls along the Sengil canal.

There were literally hundreds of different kinds of tulip, amarilis and other bulbs, tubers, etc. for sale and seemingly reasonable prices.

Tulip bulbs were very reasonable.

The flowers were beautiful.

You could even buy Cannabis starter kits!

We would have liked to purchase some of the flowers or bulbs but knew we couldn't bring them home.

Sandi is looking in wonderment at a cactus (remember, they live in the desert) that has a list price of 300 Euros.

I don't know if this is the official dress of the cheesy guys but there were there carrying several wheels of cheese-- and it was heavy!

After visiting the Bloemenmarkt, we continued on to try and find the Albert Cuyp Markt. This is supposedly the largest daily street market in Amsterdam. It was indeed fairly large and very diverse.

This canal was particularly interesting to us because it had some garden space between the houses and the water. It was very peaceful looking.

On the way to the Albert Cuyp Markt we found the Heineken brewery. Unfortunately, the lines to get in were quite long and we had to skip that opportunity.

We got to the market without problem and started walking down through the stalls.

There were great fresh produce stalls.

Lots of fresh squeezed juices.

Cheeses galore.

Looking at dish towels.

Looking for a new golf cap.

Lots of great looking meats and fish.

Excellent looking fresh fruit and vegetables.

Some very special and unique chocolates.

After walking through the market for a time, we decided to catch the tram back to the central station. The cost was 3 Euros for a one hour pass. It was very easy to buy a ticket from the driver and then scan it on the readers that were available at each entry door. You also had to scan it when you departed.

Finally, we are back at Central station waiting for our shuttle bus.

After a 15 minute ride, we were boarding the ship and getting ready for out afternoon briefing from the activity director and the director of the hotel.