April 1 2013

LAT report

Today we are in Hoorn and it was a nice boat ride down stream from Amsterdam.  It is a quaint fishing town and has lovely quiet streets with nice lovely small houses.  I told Linda I could easily live in this town.  Most people seem to have cars but get around town via bike.  The are restaurants at the end of some blocks and pubs at the end of others.  The houses are like row houses so there is not any yards.  There is a lovely canal that runs down the center of town that adds to the charm.  We started out with a tour guide but after twenty minutes we split off.  She was very nice but she walked two feet and then talked for ten minutes...oh my gosh we knew we were in trouble when the handicap group passed us by.  So we (Linda, Dick, Candy, Danielle and Brian)walked several blocks on our own and then headed for a local pub to warm up!  Oh did I mention it is nice and cold here...had wool coat, gives and hats on!  We then went back to ship for lunch and then took off for afternoon tour to a place where in old days farmers would bring in their produce and auction it off.  That was an ok tour but would not do it again.  We all met for dinner on the boat and had good chuckles at dinner and then came back to the room and turned out the lights.  Ship took sail durning dinner and we looked out the window to a beautiful sunset and we also went thru some locks.

LMR report

Didn't play any April fools jokes on anyone today but plan on one for tomorrow..on Brian our new friend from York England.  Ship movement awakened us this AM as the water was very choppy.  Went from Amsterdam to Hoorn.  Very cute town, had a walking tour which we left early in order to have beer and coffee.  In the PM Linda, Dick, Candy and I took the North Holland tours where we watched an ancient vegetable auction a process from the 16th century mildly interesting.  Durning dinner we were cruising thru locks on our way to Arnheim tomorrow.  Lots of laughs with Brian and Danielle.  This ship is much bigger then on our Vietnam cruise but I am sure the staterooms are smaller.  I can barely turn around in the shower, Linda is having trouble loading the blog. --WIFI is spotty.  No snow today, still need coats and mittens.  Wind was very strong in Hoorn.  Nice town to possibly live in but quite a commute from home.  More tomorrow!!