Thursday
June 6
Amsterdam
Cruising along the Rhine
we arrived at Amsterdam just after lunch.
Amsterdam's name derives from Amstelredamme,
indicative of the city's origin as a dam of the river Amstel. Originating as a
small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the
most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its
innovative developments in trade. During that time, the city was the leading centre
for finance and diamonds. In the 19th
and 20th centuries, the city expanded, and many new neighbourhoods and suburbs
were planned and built. The 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th
century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Amsterdam's founding is relatively recent compared
with much older Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In
October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land
around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This
does not necessarily mean that there was already a settlement then since
reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat,
used as fuel.
Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or
1306. From the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely because of trade
with the Hanseatic League. In 1345, an alleged Eucharistic miracle in the
Kalverstraat rendered the city an important place of pilgrimage until the
adoption of the Protestant faith.
We were
planning to go on the trip to Zaanse Schans a village with many old houses that
have been rebuilt on the site; this is surrounded by farms and traditional
Dutch activities. However I felt that my
last blood transfusion had reached its use by date so we went by Metro to the
hospital in central Amsterdam for a blood test.
We only
had to wait about 20 minutes to be seen by a nurse and another 15 minutes to
see a doctor who ordered blood tests and an ECG. I was then seen by a registrar and about 3
hours after arriving was admitted to a ward for a four unit transfusion which
started around 7:30 pm. Ann left at 9:30
to return to the ship as it was obvious that the transfusions were going to
take some time which was just as well, as it was nearly 4:00 am when they
finished and I had to wait for the results of a final blood test before I could
leave.
The night
nurse then advised that the account would be sent to my home, very trusting,
and phoned for a taxi. I arrived back at
the ship at 4:30 am charged up to face the next two weeks.
Friday
June 6
Today
was the end of the Budapest to Amsterdam cruise and all the passengers had left
by 11:30 and the new passengers for the Amsterdam to Basel tour started to
trickle on board, many having just flown in from Australia. This fact became obvious after dinner when
there were only around ten passengers in the lounge the rest have retired to
their cabins.
Sitting
in our cabin before dinner more than 50 yachts motored past together with
numerous small craft of various types.
It is the start of a long weekend and we wondered if they were heading somewhere
for a regatta.
Saturday
June 7
Amsterdam
Today
the tours available last Thursday were repeated for the new passengers, so we
didn’t miss our trip to Zaanse Schans.
As
mentioned earlier this village is comprised of traditional Dutch homes
re-located from around the Netherlands and are still used as residences or bed
and breakfast providers. In the village
and nearby are six traditional windmills, several still in use, the one we
visited is used to grind pigment for paint and other uses and another nearby
was used to drive a saw mill.
From
the windmill we walked to a small cheese factory which produces cheese every
day from cow, goat and sheep milk, after a short talk on cheese production we
were able to taste the various styles of cheeses produced.
Our
next visit was to a clog factory which produces clogs using machines made 75
years ago, the techniques haven’t been improved and these machines still
produce an excellent product. To shape
the outside of the clog the machine follows a clog clamped as a template, in
some way similar to a key cutting machine except it is three dimensional. The inside of the clog is hollowed out in a
similar manner, following the inside shape of a clog clamped beside it.
After
lunch we left the ship to visit the Hortus Botanicus, one of the oldest botanic
garden on the world founded in 1638. It
was founded after the plague to grow herbs which were of vital importance for
medicine and doctors and pharmacists practiced with herbal medicine there.
In the
17th and 18th century Dutch East India Company ships brought
exotic ornamental plants and spices to the Hortus. The gardens are quite small, only 1.2 ha. but
has over 4000 different plants displayed in outdoor gardens and
glasshouses. One small glasshouse also
contained a display of butterflies, nothing as extensive as the butterfly house
at the Melbourne Zoo but the locals are very enthusiastic about it.
 |
| Queen Elizabeth |
Because
of the size of the gardens it only took us two hours to walk around all the
garden beds and glasshouses and we returned to the ship in time to see the “Queen
Elizabeth” depart, she had been moored around 100m. away and it’s size made the
Amalyra look like one of her lifeboats. After
boarding we had two hours to prepare for the Captain’s Cocktail Party and
Welcome Dinner.
After dinner
we were entertained by a violin and guitar duo, La Strada, playing classical
and gypsy music one of the most entertaining performances I have attended and
the hour of the mini concert just flashed by.
We remain in port tonight and sail for Volendam at 9:00 am in the morning, so we can have a
sleep in in the morning.
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