If it's Spring on the calendar, but still really Winter according the number of layers of our clothing, then it is absolutely time for a Palermo getaway. But where to go? Fortune had smiled upon us in the form of a 2-for-1 coupon for a Rhine River Cruise. We had hoped a leisurely tour of The Netherlands (which isn't as dirty as Auburn first hoped), Germany, France and Switzerland would be far enough away to let things calm down at home before we returned. So we jetted off separately into the night. Mickey had booked a luxurious Business Class seat, complete with slippers, delicious food and room to stretch out for a nice nap. Meanwhile, Auburn had booked through the ship and ended up crammed into the overhead compartment of a charming 300 lb Albanian Monk. But on her last flight, Auburn had a lovely view of beautiful tulip fields during a pristine morning descent into Amsterdam. We had planned to rendezvous at the ship's swanky first class lounge. However a series of unfortunate events changed our dreams. Skeeziks Palermo was "detained by certain agencies." Her "detention" or as she called it "work commitments" voided our coupon while Mickey played the Dutch version of Hide & Go Seek featuring a taxi and our ship. As a result unable to make the precision timing of our mission to secure unlimited quantities of Wine, retirement Castles and Chocolate, so we ended up in a charming compartment named "Le Broome Closet."
By the time the Dos Palermos had unpacked, we were able to lunch aboard our Viking longship. Never ones to pass up a free (well, included) meal we made sure to fill our plates and double up on caffeine as we'd need it to stay awake the rest of the day.
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| A parking garage - for bicycles! |
We'd signed up ahead of time for a canal sightseeing cruise so we set off in search of the correct dock. We improvised a tour of the waterfront and the train station, when we had been unable to find the shortcut through it. We miraculously avoided cars, trucks, buses, and zipping bicycles to finally locate the ticket office and queued up in line for another 45 minutes before boarding our tour boat.
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| Centraal Terminal & canal tour boats |
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The tour was in English after the recorded messages in Dutch and German. We did learn some things and it was very peaceful. Both Dutch and German languages are known for their lilting qualities. So tranquil that both of us nodded off at various times. While we enjoyed the tour perhaps a nap would have been a better use of our time. We'd tentatively planned to visit the Anne Frank house but that wasn't going to happen on this trip. Amsterdam is a lovely blend of Old European charm mixed with the calming romance of the Canals of Venice and the unique individuality of Seattle that requires more than a sleepy afternoon to appreciate fully. So it has been added to our list of places to revisit and explore more fully. Regrettably out of energy, we headed back to the ship to meet up with the rest of the gang, err group.
The rest of the group included several we'd cruised with before including Il Padrino & his wife, our cousin Sneeky Palermo and cousins Snappy, Sleenky and Sandy, as well as Curmudgeon and Blondie & Dagwood.
It turned out that this was our ship's maiden voyage and the rest of the group had arrived so early in the morning that they were the ship's very first guests! We were all given certificates to indicate we didn't sink and destroy it, so it must be true. We settled into our cabins had dinner and we all turned in early, ready for a good night's sleep serenaded by a propeller lullaby.
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| Our brand new ride - the Viking Bestla |
