My first and not last
I’ve finally cut my teeth in traveling to Europe. There are a couple of countries that piqued my interest but I’ve hadn’t gotten around to planning a vacation “across the pond”.
My host agency hosted a symposium on the Amawaterways AmaMora river cruise. Not only had I not been to Europe before, this was my first river cruise as well. Amawaterways is a luxury river cruise line that has several itineraries, mainly with European countries. However, they are branching out to other rivers outside of Europe with new itineraries in Egypt, Cambodia, and Southern Africa. When the announcement was made in early Fall about the symposium, I cannot say I jumped at the opportunity. I knew I would be coming off of my Ghana experience and finding time would be a little difficult. It wasn’t until a month before departure I reached out to the office to see if there was still space, and lucky for me there was availability. I locked in my stateroom/ conference package, booked my flight and then breathed relief…for the moment.
Europe was out of my comfort zone….let alone river cruising. For pre-cruise travel, should I stay closer to the ports or near central area of town? Oh I haven’t mentioned where the cruise was porting from….Amsterdam, Netherlands!! Only thing that came to mind were the beautiful tulip gardens that you see in the pictures. Then it hit me…it will still be winter in Amsterdam when I get there, will I even see tulips?!?! Regardless, I was determined to find something to do prior to embarkment for the symposium. With a professional background in transportation engineering, a guilty pleasure of mine is taking public transportation when I go to a new city. Sometimes I like to manuver the city like a local. Lucky for me Amsterdam (really Europe) has a robust and developed public transportation system. In my research of finding things to do, I came across a daily transit pass which allows for trains/metro/buses to “tour” the city. It comes with a map (I love a map) of all the tourist locations like the Anne Frank House, Royal Palace, Van Gogh Museum, and more. I was set…my flight would land around 7:30AM and I would have the day to sightsee.
Well little did I know that would all change because of a 5 hour delay. This is why it is stressed to arrive at your embarkment location at least 24 hours in advance. You never know what might happen to your flight. I still got the transit pass (because it was pre-paid) but the adventure to tour the city quickly changed once I got on the train to my hotel. The map and hotel information said it was a 5-7 min walk from the train station….they did not account for a roller suitcase and the brisky winds off of the canals in the winter. There was no snow but I had to pull out my gloves during my walk. By the time I got to my hotel it was nearly 2PM and all I wanted to do was eat. I walked to a local Dutch restaurant along the canal and enjoyed a meal. Since the restaurant was close to the square, I walked the couple of block to Rokin and marveled at the architecture of the buildings. Due to the flight delay, I didn’t get to take my “transit tour”, but at least I got a small taste of local transportation.
The next day was time to get on board AmaMora to set sail to other Netherland cities and a couple stops in Belgium. I won’t bore you with the symposium learning parts because I know you want to know about my experience on a river cruise and the destinations.
A river cruise is a different experience than an ocean cruise. The ships are more intimate. If you’ve never gone on a cruise because of the number of people, then you might want to look into river cruising. There are usually less than 200 guests on board, that’s like a tenth of a mass ocean cruise line. The staterooms are spacious, I stayed in a French balcony stateroom. On board there is a sundeck with a walking track and heated pool, a gym, a main lounge with a bar, and dining spaces. Due to the weather, I didn’t get to indulge in the sundeck but I did get some great pictures and videos. Unlike ocean cruises, there are not a lot of “extra” areas for enjoyment, such as casinos, comedy rooms, and theater lounges. The key difference between a river cruise and an ocean cruise is the boat takes you to a destination…the boat is not the destination.
Let’s talk about the destinations, yeah? On this cruise line, excursions are included in the price. They can range from walking tours, biking tours, immersive tours or just venture out on your own. Our first stop was Kinderdijk, the UNESCO world heritage site. This is the area where the windmills are being kept working by volunteers. We got to tour a working windmill and the miller actually had on clog shoes. The second day there were two stops, Bruges and Ghent, Belgium. In Bruges, we took a walking tour of the village and admired the architecture of the buildings. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and local to the area so he had all the insight on the best chocolate shops and beer pubs. Let’s not forget the waffles that everyone loves. The highlight of the Ghent tour was the St. Bravo Cathedral, it was massive. The famous alter piece of Adoration of the Mystic Lamb is located in the cathedral. On our third day, we returned to the Netherlands and the city of Gouda….yep that Gouda….cheese. Even though it was a rainy night tour, the pictures were straight out of a magazine. It was peaceful and quaint. We toured and learned about the “weigh house”, a building where cheese was weighed for taxes. The old courthouse/ city hall is in the middle of town and majestic. Of course, we got to sample some gouda cheese. I didn’t realize it was an art to make cheese and if you don’t adhere to certain guidelines, it cannot be considered authentic/ gouda cheese. On the last day, we took a canal tour in Amsterdam. With canals all through the city, there are quite a few boathouses docked along the way.
That sums up the destinations and trip. It was too early to see the gardens, the site actually opens this week, but Ama made sure tulips were all over the boat for us to admire. For my first river cruise I enjoyed it. I cannot wait to experience as a true guest and not during a symposium.
