Day 2 - Amsterdam and Getting the Boat!

Today started early – at 7AM!  Our plan was to head towards the Anne Frank house and have breakfast on the way.  We left our hotel by about 8 AM and started walking.  For a week day, the streets weren’t too crowded and more surprisingly, NOTHING was open!!  Not a restaurant, coffee bar, deli…nothing!  Finally we passed two places that were open and serving food and only one of them had seating, so that’s where we went!  David and I both had cappuccinos and “ham omelet “.  This was actually scrambled eggs with a slice of ham on a roll.   It was delicious!  There was something in the accent of the woman who served us that sparked a very old, very slight feeling of remembrance.  My grandfather's Dutch accent is stuck in the back of my brain.

Earlier, looking for a restaurant, we passed the Anne Frank house, but it wasn’t open yet.  Now there was a line down the block, and it didn’t open yet for 30 minutes!   The museum was so interesting but sad.  I didn’t realize that the rooms the Franks lived in were on two floors, but they were pretty small and so dark.  In the bookstore at the museum, I bought the book my plane friend had written and told the story about meeting her to the salespeople there. 

Above and below, near the Anne Frank house

After the museum we checked out of our hotel and hurried over to the Central Station and caught the train to Breukelen (for which our Brooklyn is named!).  The plan was to catch a bus or cab from there to Loosedrecht where we pick up the boat.  There were several buses waiting and we determined that we’d take one of them to another town where we’d transfer to another bus to Loosedrecht (bear in mind it’s only about 10 miles away!) Neither the first nor second bus driver knew the place where we were renting the boat and we didn’t have an address.   We did have a phone number but it was to the company’s main office in France!  The bus driver tried to be helpful and dropped us where he thought Locaboat might be.  He was so wrong!  We went into a store that sold boats.  Luckily, the gentleman who worked there had an idea of where the place was and he called over there.  I spoke to whoever answered and then tried to put the boat salesman on but the Locaboat guy didn’t speak Dutch!!  How do you live here and not speak Dutch??  We were fortunate that a lovely woman who worked at Locaboat offered to come and pick us up in her car.  Locaboat didn’t actually open till 2, and it was only 12:30, but there was a nice restaurant right next door so we spent some time there relaxing. 

On the train!

Shortly after, they called us over to tell us that they were ready for us and we got a quick tutorial on the boat.  We were able to easily put away all our stuff as it was roomy with lots of storage.

Our boat - the Oude Rein

Our boat had a cabin up front with three single beds - two could be pushed together and a third that was a bunk.  They offered to remove it but we kept it and used it like a large shelf.  There were drawers and a closet in that cabin.  In the back was another large cabin with a double bed and a closet and drawer space.  There was a bathroom in both the front and back of the boat.  In the center of the boat was a large sitting room with a couch and table.  Also a captain's chair where David could drive the boat.  A few steps down from this saloon (as it's called) is the galley (kitchen) with a fridge, stove and oven.  It's fully stocked with plates, glasses, silverware, cooking utensils, pots and pans.  Outside, up a few stairs is a second, outside captain's chair with a large seating area.  By the way, the name of our boat is Oude Rijn, which means “Old River”.  But I took it as a sign that my grandfather from Holland, is watching over us, because his name was REINdert – “Old Rein”??   

Looking towards the galley from the saloon

The galley

Back cabin

Front cabin

Bicycles on the deck

Then we were off.  About 5 minutes away, we encountered our first lock.  The rule is to honk 3 times and they opened.  Well, we did but they didn’t!  It was pretty windy and the boat was blowing and hard to control. At one point we got close to shore and I jumped off and tied us up and then went to find out how to get the lock open.  It was now 3:20.  The lockmaster said it didn’t open till 5:30, but we could wait.  I said, “you mean wait two hours??!!??”

 “No”, he said, “one hour”. 

“But it’s only 3:20” I complained.  Then he said, “Oh! Well then it can open now”, so he opened it and we were on our way.

The trip was beautiful and we took pictures of the many gorgeous homes along the river.  I even took a turn driving the boat!  We came to the town of Maarsen and had to wait because an opening bridge didn’t open again for half an hour.  We tied up the boat to wait and then decided to go to the local supermarket for supplies.  We came out a short while later and the bridge was open.  A few minutes later we found a good spot along the canal in Maarsen to stop for the night.  We had dinner and then enjoyed some pastries back on the boat. 

A boat garage!

Another typical house that happened to be having a wedding as we passed.

Our boat docked for the night at Maarsen.