Cruising on the Norwegian Sun

This is the fifth day of our cruise which began in Copenhagen, Denmark, and will end at Port Canaveral, Florida.  During the first week, we have scheduled stops at several ports before we sail across the Atlantic.  We first sailed north from Copenhagen to the North Sea, where we turned south.  I was surprised that this part of the voyage was so smooth.  I always thought of the North Sea as very turbulent.  I guess it is sometimes, but it was calm as we sailed over wavelets of only .5 to 1.5 feet.

We have gone through the English Channel to the Atlantic.  Here’s a map of where we were this morning…off the coast of France.

Since entering the Atlantic, the waves have gotten higher.  You can see the effect by looking at this wave in the aft deck pool.

Amsterdam and Environs—September 22, 2011

Our first port of call after a day and two nights of cruising was Amsterdam.  I had chosen to go on a full day excursion which included a walking tour of an outside museum of wind mills in Zaanse Schans, a typical tourist visit to a wooden shoe maker, a walking tour of Edam, a stop and lunch in Vollendam, and then a combined driving tour and walking tour of Amsterdam.

What a great day!  We had picture perfect weather (literally)—sunny with temperatures in the low 60’s.  More importantly, we had a fantastic guide whose love of his country and city was evident as he described history, buildings, culture of the various places we visited.

Zaanse Shans

Zaanse Shans is a delightful old hamlet a few miles outside of Amsterdam on the banks of the River Zaan.  It is now an outside museum which gives the feeling of  stepping back in time.  Over the centuries, more than a 1,000 little windmill factories flourished along the River Zaan.  The windmills were used to saw wood, mill grain, crush oilseeds for linseed oil, and many other uses.  Here are three that served the purposes just listed:

Others, like the smaller windmill below, were used to pump water out of the lowlands to provide drain the land.

While at Zaanse Shans, we watched a demonstration of how wooden shoes were made, not by hand, but by using power lathes that follow models to carve shoes.  The one on the right carves the outer shoe from a block of wood, then the one on the left cuts out the interior wood.  It took only five minutes to make a shoe.  Of course they sell these shoes and other souvenirs.  Plus they charge 50 Euro cents to use the bathroom. The money from all of these ventures is used to maintain the outdoor museum and to preserve wind mills.

Edam

Edam was the next stop.  For most people, Edam is synonymous with cheese, as the popular round cheeses have been exported to all corners of the world for centuries.

But this town has much more to offer than just cheese.  It is a town with a rich history, lovely facades, squares, bridges, canals, and dogs.  Here’s a sample:

Vollendam

A few short miles away was Vollendam where we went mainly for lunch.  It has a place to park buses, many restaurants, and souvenir shops. None of which Edam had.  Some people just have to shop these junk shops.

I didn’t buy any lunch or junk.  I had brought my lunch, so I walked out on the dike and had a picnic.

I share my lunch with several little birds like this one.  I’ve never seen a bird with a polk-dotted breast.  Can anyone identify this bird?

While there, several boats came and went in the little port, some of which moored right in front of me.  Some were ferries that were going back and forth to Marken Island, just off the coast from here.

This cute little dog was being walked (yanked) along the dike. 

Just so you can picture how small he was, here he is next to his owners’ legs.

Amsterdam

After a refreshing break on the dike, we then drove back to Amsterdam to tour the city.
Of course we saw the ubiquitous bicycles everywhere, and beware if you get in their way.  Cars will stop; bikes won’t if you are in the bike path.

We also crossed over the canals with their tour boats, house boats, and lovely bridges.

We passed by Dam Square where street entertainers were gathering a crowd.

We passed by elegant shops and stores…and not so elegant ones like this one:

.

We also passed by apartments that have been taken over by squatters. These abodes are distinguished by colorful graffiti.

We also went by crazy sexy district…or red light district where there are red lights and girls in the windows.  If their curtains are drawn, they may be busy entertaining/working.

We passed many coffee shops. Our guide told use that coffee shops are really places where you can buy and smoke pot. The signs are always green and yellow. And, even though illegal, they are licensed by the city and are given a green city seal for coffee houses to show that they are legally illegal

We then did a walking tour through the University district to go to a surprising place called, “The Begijnhof”.  Under the guidance of an unmarried woman, other unmarried women came together to live in community. They were a quasi-religious community, vowing chastity and obedience to the head woman, but not poverty.  They lived in these magnificent apartments, and if they should take a lover or decide to get married, they had to leave.  They were not officially recognized by the Catholic church (I learned about a similar community in Bruges [that’s for tomorrow]).

We wandered through interesting streets, through inside passages where courtyards appeared, like this one, which was once part of an orphanage, but now is part of a museum.

One person on the tour who had worn her pedometer informed me that we had walked 6 miles today.  I can’t believe I did that!! Over coble stones, no less. But it is easier to do when it isn’t 90+ degrees souped up with 90+ humidity.

Since we have a sea day tomorrow before we arrive in Lisbon, I will catch up with a description of the visit to Bruges.