After cruising the English Channel past France and Belgium, we docked at the port of Ijmuiden in the Netherlands, in the mouth of the Amstel River. We got into port just after lunch, and everyone spilled out into the terminal to catch buses, taxis and shuttles to their various excursions. Unfortunately, this was the shortest port day of the trip.
We had booked a canal tour of Amsterdam, as the best way to see a city such as this on limited time - from the water. After about a half an hour drive from Ijmuiden, our bus stopped briefly at a windmill on the outskirts of the city. Once in the "downtown" we noted just how green this city really was, with tree-lined streets everywhere. Soon we hit the canals, and boarded our boat for a two hour tour of the waterways of Amsterdam.
Everything was busy on a Saturday, and a national holiday (Memorial Day) as well no less. Kudos to the guide, for managing to get a bus full of people of varying ages and physical ability, across a busy street to the boat dock in one piece.
The boat tour was great, and we got to see a lot of stunning Amsterdam scenery as it is meant to be seen. However, we had hoped for some free time to explore the city on foot afterwards.....but sadly it was not to be. The bus took us straight back to the ship. We commiserated with two women from Florida who expressed similar sentiments.
Lesson Learned - we should have just done our own thing, and relied on the excellent Dutch public transit system to explore.....but we will definitely return!
Once back in Ijmuiden, we went for a walk from the port to a nearby bunker museum, featuring a string of old World War II bunkers spread out in a line along the sand dunes of the coast. It was a sobering reminder of the price others paid for the freedom we enjoy.
The Star pushed off from Ijmuiden in the evening, and we headed back out the narrow entrance to the waiting waters of the North Sea.
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