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<\/a>Our Room on the River Queen<\/p><\/div>\n
We caught a taxi and headed for the Van Gogh Museum. We arrived shortly after opening and spent a couple of hours viewing the collection, learning about Van Gogh’s use of color and technique and which artists inspired him. We visited all three floors of paintings,<\/p>\n
<\/a>Our Visit to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam<\/p><\/div>\n
watercolors, and sketches. While Van Gogh is not my favorite artist, the collection of this museum is extensive and everybody can find at least one work they like.<\/p>\n
We were now approaching lunchtime and boarding the River Queen was technically not until 3 PM. So we decided to walk from the museum back up to the river and the dock. We took a circuitous route from the Museumplein, trudging up Vizelstradt toward City<\/p>\n
<\/a>Flows along a bridge of the canal<\/p><\/div>\n
center. Our route took us on some streets we had not traveled previously, but on some we had passed before. We traveled through Dam Square in search of a cafe for lunch. Lunch was tostis all around, those toasted sandwiches the Dutch love. And, maybe a beer for each of us!<\/p>\n
After lunch we hit the red light district on our way back to the dock where the boat was moored. Since it was early afternoon, it was fairly sedate and sleepy. We boarded the River Queen a little after 3pm, checked into our cabins, unpacked and stowed our belongings, and explored the vessel to get our bearings. Around the magic evening hour, we went to the bar\/lounge for a glass of wine. At 6 pm we were subjected to the indignity of an emergency drill which was followed by tour rules and a tour briefing.<\/p>\n Dinner began at 7 pm, open seating, no forced friendships. The dinner was wonderfully prepared: a seafood cocktail with shrimp, soup, fillet of sole with tomato polenta, and: for dessert, coffee and either a napoleon or chocolate ice cream. \u00c2\u00a0After dinner we retired fairly early since tomorrow is an early day.<\/p>\n On the upper deck of the River Queen.<\/p><\/div>\n Breakfast at 7 AM, begin the tour at 8:40 am with a canal cruise and a visit to Rijksmuseum. Sleep well!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After breakfast at Hotel Bellevue, we gathered up all our belongings and caught a taxi to the dock where the River Queen had arrived earlier. We knew we would not be able to access our stateroom, but we definitely wanted … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>