Europe 2022- May 23 Arrival in Amsterdam

Here are some random pics of our time on the Viking Gymir.  Such a nice ship, crew, food, and service! What a wonderful time and we would definitely recommend this trip! Although it may be best to book the Rhine Getaway tour in the spring like we did, as in August of 2022 the Rhine river levels were so low that our friends had to take a bus tour instead of being on the ship for the first three days.

Approaching a lock

German dinner onboard

Viewing 20 castles from ship in one day

We had to put our luggage outside our room by 8 a.m. so then we went to eat our last wonderful breakfast onboard. Then we waited in the lounge until 9:30 when our huge Mercedes van taxi arrived. We arrived at the Chasse' Hotel in Amsterdam about 10:00, dropped off our luggage and walked 1/2 mile to the tram stop.  The hotel was in a converted church- we had rooms on the second floor overlooking a courtyard. Very nice and quiet neighborhood. 

Chasse' Hotel entrance

Took the tram to the central train station where we got off and took a one hour canal boat tour ($10 each) which was great, then ate lunch at the cafe next door under the info center. The sandwiches and service were mediocre- we were so spoiled by Viking!

After lunch we walked through the Red Light District, and ran into Marilyn and Larry. Very unique sights in a very small area of the city- women sitting in windows who were "selling" themselves. No picture taking allowed! Also, many shops selling pot and drug stuff.  

Afterwards we took the tram back to the hotel to check in.  Marilyn and Larry are staying at Okura Hotel as part of their post cruise tour.  We went online to schedule our co-vid tests for tomorrow- what a pain!  It started to rain and we walked to a pizza place near the hotel that was closed, so we found Cafe' Thuys which was really a little corner pub where we all had great cheeseburgers and a drink.  Got back to hotel at 7:30 and went to our rooms. We skipped the evening canal tour with Marilyn and Larry and their Dutch friends- just too tired to go out again!