Not really because the wind was 28-30 miles per hour so what was scheduled to be a warmup ride of eight miles got cancelled. One of our guides was Felix and he met us at the hotel at 9:30 am, helped get luggage loaded, and took us on a brief tour of Amsterdam. In addition to the wind, we were dodging the rain that started and stopped several times. Just down the street from our hotel he stopped to show us a marker above a door.

These were used in the days when people were illiterate to identify who lived in a house. This one was a musician. We go by more canals. Felix also told us that the wind was 80 mph the night of the storm and lightning struck several homes.

He also told us that boat owners not only have to pay maybe $100,000 for a boat but have to pay more than that for the docking space. And no docking spaces are currently available in Amsterdam.

These cars are near the edge and we are told that thousands of bicycles as well as many cars end up in the canals of Amsterdam and have to be cleaned out yearly. The water, however, is very clear.

We walk by some houses with one obviously tipping a bit forward from the next.

We venture on to Rembrandt square where the “Night Watch” painting has been duplicated in statues.

Ross shakes hands with the leader of the militia.

We wander around a local Saturday market – in the rain – and the variety of mushrooms is amazing. Makes me think about the film Phantom Thread.

We also see a small dire wolf and then take refuge from the rain for a quick lunch. Walking to the harbor we see our barge home for the next week, the Fiep.

We also meet our second guide so now we have Felix and Vesna, both from Holland.

Then we go to our appointed room and figure out how to unpack.

We have a nice dinner on the boat, and then dock for the night.