We
slept in until 7:30 and went down to the first floor to the guest kitchen/dining
room, clutching left-over fish and roasted veggies from last night. I made
scrambled eggs with the veggies, toast, fresh OJ, and great
decaf.
We
set out at nine in cool sunshine, past a carousel at the end of our street and
several people crossed-dressed and/or just costumed! Next Tuesday is Queen's
Day when the whole city goes wild and parties in the street. Also this is the
last Queen’s Day for a while as Queen Beatrix is handing over the throne to her
son, Willem-Alexander, so festivities will be extreme. Already we can see ferries
festooned with orange bunting and shop windows featuring everything orange! Bob
is relieved that we are leaving on Monday just before things really get
going.
We
thought taking a city canal tour would be a good way to get an idea of Amsterdam
and so walked back to the Central Station where on the large canal, there were a
cluster of long boats with glass-covered seating run by different companies -
rather confusing, but we got tickets for the “Lovers” boat and joined a crowd on
a narrow pier with no railing which looked a little risky. We waited for 20
minutes until a boat arrived, but it already was ¾ full so only a few people got
on. It looked like at least an hour’s wait coming up. RRZ was irritated and
tried to get a refund which wasn’t allowed so we left, with me rather upset. We
walked across the large canal where there were more boats moored one of which
was also a “Lovers” boat and we were able to climb right aboard, much to RRZ' delight! The inside
seats were full but the stern area was empty and uncovered, much better for photography, so we sat there.
We
took right off, circling around the harbor and under a bridge into the canal
rings. We passed many house boats, shops, beautiful buildings, churches, and
Ann Frank’s house, weaving among the three canal rings that run through the
city. The tour took an hour and was really great.
 |
| Dim Sum Sampler |
We walked to the Western
Canal Ring looking for a light lunch and stopped at Nooch Café and split a dim
sum sampler with couple of glasses of white wine. Thus revived we returned to
Tulip and dozed and caught up on the snooker championship.
At
5:30 we set out again for Van Kerkwijk restaurant about 20 minutes’ walk away.
It is the highest rated restaurant in the Trip Advisor's Red Light District
section, and is located on a quiet side street. It looked very unimpressive
from the outside, but was completely full when we entered. We sat at the bar
where I had a Campari and soda, but shortly we were seated at our table. The
restaurant is tiny, seating about 50, plus a bar, both of which are served by
two incredibly competent people! The woman came over, recited the menu, and
stayed until we placed our order. We got a bottle of red wine and split a
terrific starter of bacon-wrapped dates with Stilton cheese pate and some
balsamic-dressed lettuce. Then I got a steak on goat cheese with strawberry
sauce, and RR got a lamb steak with a lump of honey butter. We were brought a
dish of great French fries and a dish of house salad for the table. Very
simple, but really well prepared.
We
got home at 8:30 - still light, in contrast with Ghana, on the equator, where the sun sets at ~6 PM
every day of the year.
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