Well, I did it. Booked my first ever solo river cruise.

[bubbulz]

On 4/8/2023 at 10:36 PM, Ritabob said:

If you have an extra morning i n Amsterdam you must go to the Aalsmeer flower auction. You will never see so many flowers and plant material in one place anywhere else in the world.

I did ask about the flower auction and I was told that it is not the same since Covid. Since everything had been shut down, they pretty much moved to doing it all online and even now that everything is back open it’s not the same as it used to be. 

[bubbulz]

Photos from my Amsterdam food tour … We started with apple pie at a pub Bill Clinton once visited for several hours and went on from there to chocolate, Brazilian coffee, cheeses, and a stewed meat sandwich (it was described to us more eloquently and was absolutely delicious). We also had bitterballen with mustard and  stroopwafels and fresh sausage from a local butcher. It’s all been wonderful but it’s definitely time to get back into my routine with the personal trainer and fresh veggies for lunch. (Oh, and apple pie isn’t just for dessert here.)

 

The red tulips were vibrant even from the air when flying out. 
 

And that’s a wrap for this time… Looks like I may be doing the long postponed Douro cruise next. 

[jpalbny]

Looks like a fun ending to a great trip! Thanks for sharing and I hope you're back on the rivers soon. The Douro is beautiful; though we have't done the river cruise there (yet) we have visited by land. Welcome home!

[PNFL]

I will be spending a few days In Amsterdam after our river cruise in June.  I am looking into a dinner cruise on the canal.  What company did you book with and did you book it before you went or once you were in Amsterfam?

[bubbulz]

I booked a 2 hour cruise with Pure Boats. I had booked it beforehand based on personal recommendations, and they did have very nice boats. The boats could be completely under cover in the case of rain, but also had sections that could be removed during nice weather. It was an impressive operation, and I would recommend them highly. 

[PNFL]

Thank you so much for that information I will look them up.