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Saturday, June 1
I had a much better night's sleep – didn't wake up until almost 6 am! Then I lazed for a while before breakfast and packing for the transfer to the ship. We're so efficient, we have an hour and a half to just sit here before checking out...
Memo to self – no more steak. It tastes good, but still knocks the stuffing out of me. Don't want that on vacation!!!
We met up with the Avalon rep in the lobby along with the others who had stayed at this hotel. Since we were ready early, we spent some time talking with a nice couple from Calgary. We would wind up running into them again and again as the trip went on, including staying at the same hotel in Lucerne at the end of the trip!
We all transferred to bus for the very short hop to the ship - in fact, it took longer to load the bus than to drive to the ship. We could have walked it faster than the loading process... Lunch aboard the ship. We met some more of our fellow travelers.
This afternoon, we took our first shipboad excursion to Zaanse to see the windmills. It was a pleasant stop.
We were treated to a demonstration of wooden shoe making. They use a machine similar to copying a key to make the rough shoe. It's then finished by hand.
The photo on the left shows the shoemaker with some of his rough cut shoes. He's working the duplicating machine here.
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The photo on the left above shows a pair of very decorated wooden shoes filled with wooden tulips. This was in the gift shop associated with the wooden shoemaker. The center photo shows Carl "wearing" a pair of oversized wooden shoes that were placed here just for photo ops... The photo on the right shows some old wooden shoes of various sizes nailed to the outside of the building as a decoration.
Then a demo on cheese making, which wasn't very informative. She just stood there and talked and pointed before herding everyone into the gift shop...
The photo on the left shows the cheese making demonstration. She's wearing a traditional Dutch cap.
The photo on the right shows a family of swans swimming past as we waited outside of one of the shops for the group to regather.
Then we went into a windmill that makes paints! They weren't operating today as there was only a light breeze, not a stronger wind. We did climb the steep stairs to upper level to look around up there. Carl spent talked with miller for quite a while. It was very interesting learning how it worked.
The photo on the left shows the gearing mechanism inside the paint making windmill. When the gears are engaged, the wind sails turn the huge grindstones at the base of these gears.
The photo on the right was taken from the upper story of the paint making windmill looking across the canal towards some of the other windmills located in this park. The blade of the wind sail is in the upper left corner of this photo.
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These photos show two views looking down the canal at other windmills in this park. The one on the left was taken from the upper level of the paint windmill, while the one on the right was taken from the side of the canal and shows the paint windmill in the foreground.
It was a nice afternoon
Then it was back to the ship and checked in. We got some stuff settled in. Now to remember where I put it all...
I got the computer set up and it's happy with the wifi. Next up, I meet with the restaurant staff for dietary restrictions.
And that was easy. The maitre d' and head chef talked with each of us personally. They'll set up special menus for those of us with problems. We just have to request them before ordering.
Next up was the safety drill which went well. Considering it was organized chaos...
Then down to the lounge for additional information, champagne, finger food, etc. Then dinner which was very good. Why am I not surprised? We ended up sharing adjoining tables with a couple from San Diego. Congenial. I ate too much. And drank too much. And talked too much... It's past time to crash.