DAY 2 - Actually Amsterdam

Welcome back! Thanks for following along on our adventures.

Day 2 was actually day 1 of cruising. We started our day on the boat in Amsterdam, had a great breakfast on the boat then made our way to the first included excursion of the cruise, an Amsterdam canal tour! Going from one boat to another boat ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The canal tour was great as it offered a view of much of Amsterdam that we didn't walk through on our own the day prior! I [Lauren] enjoyed how frequently the tour guide talked about the peat soil in Amsterdam, the driven wood piles used for foundations, and pointed out all of the tilting buildings.

After the canal tour, we went on a guided walking tour, then made our way back to the cruise boat for lunch. After lunch we cut away from the boat (literally as the boat started sailing South towards the Rhine without us and others going rouge for a bit) and roamed Amsterdam for another 2:28ish hours, covering 7.67 miles and taking 15,672 steps (but who's counting...).

We saw some spots that we had seen the day before, and some new spots as well (like the red light district hehehe). We tried to get to the Jordan market, which is open on on Saturdays and Mondays ("lucky we are here on a Monday!!") only to find empty stalls when we got there. In hindsight it might have been better to visit East Amsterdam instead of seeing the same neighborhoods again.

But all was not lost - we made our way to a hole in the wall liquor store to get Nick a bottle of real absinthe. the kind with actual wormwood that makes you go wwwoooooOOOOOooooo~

And on the way back to the bus to take us back to where the boat was stopped en route, I [Lauren], after walking so long a distance in such bitter cold, was rewarded with poffertjes (mini pancakes) topped with chocolate sauce. OH BOY did that hit the spot. It also almost made us late to the bus that we were very clearly instructed would not wait for us should we be late.

The rest of the evening on the ship included happy hour, port talk, viewing of the ship move through lock systems of the canal, a late dinner, and observing trivia (because we showed up too late to participate after arriving late to dinner. Won't make that mistake again.)

We are looking forward to what tomorrow has in store. We will be under sail all night, into the morning, and into the afternoon to get to our next port destination of Cologne to experience OUR FIRST REAL CHRISTMAS MARKET!!!!!!

As always, more to come! Internet is very slow so we will share more photos later.

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