Shore Leave - Amsterdam

We arrived in Amsterdam on King's Day, a national holiday which saw thousands of people take to the streets of the city. Customs and immigration was very thorough (read: long) and I didn't have much time off so didn't venture far away which was fine with me. Crowded streets with a party atmosphere isn't exactly my defifinition of a good time! Also we docked on the north shore and the central part of Amsterdam is on the south shore. There was a ferry running every half hour but of course this adds to the travel time of getting anywhere. 

The next day I went to visit my relatives and spent the night off the ship! The first time in four months I've been in a house, it was rather nice though a bit odd at first to walk around in socks and sit on a couch and all. 

It was great to have a home cooked meal and catch up with those I don't see very often. The following morning provisioning for the ship was the top priority but I had a bit of time to go for a walk first. Off to see some tulips in bloom:

And although there wasn't time to go into a museum I at least walked by a couple! (Culture by osmosis?)

Monica (my aunt's sister whom I stayed with) took me to Makro, kind of like a Dutch Costco and I loaded up a cart (or two) with food for my "family" of 55. 

It was rather odd returning to the ship, although I'd been gone less then 24 hours I felt like I had missed a bunch and had catching up to do. 

On our last day I had a couple hours free and made it into the city one more time. Found the only (so I was told) quilting store in Amsterdam and enjoyed looking at fabric, bought an English magazine to read on the next sail, stopped off for wifi and hot chocolate at Melly's Cookie Bar and caught the ferry in time to make it back before departure. 

Amsterdam was the first stop on my backpacking trip in 2007 and being back in the city at the same time of year sure brought back memories!