I’m sitting at the desk in our cabin on the Monarch Empress. We’re heading for Antwerp. In the full-wall mirror before me I spot a barge barreling past us. At first impressed by its speed, I am slow to realize it’s only a reflection. The barge is moving in the opposite direction at a more conventional speed. Some days I can be a bit slow.
But not quite as slow as this morning, when Frances and I spent several hours walking around old town Amsterdam—without my iPhone/camera. I’ll have to “borrow” a few photos to reflect our sights during the walk.
Let’s back up in time first.
Our experience at the restaurant Fosco was excellent. We were the only Americans there and likely the only non-locals. It’s advertised as a neighborhood bar and eatery, which proved to be true in the most positive sense. The food was enjoyable and the ambience even better. The fries were “Belgium fries”, meaning served with mayonnaise. The burger was a cod patty. It was worth the trek to the restaurant and back to the hotel.
The pre-cruise group of us who came to Amsterdam several days ago numbered about sixty. We spent the second morning touring more of Amsterdam by bus. However, the majority of the mid-day we spent at the Rijksmuseum. It’s a repeat visit from one nine years back, but museums this great are worth an encore.
It’s worth (well, at least to me) spending a paragraph or two contrasting Gate1 to other companies we’ve patronized. Gate1 has the reputation of being much less expensive than many of its competitors yet delivering a high-quality product. How do they do it?
First, unlike Regent, Scenic and other “higher end” companies, tips are not included in the cruise fee. For meals, there is a multi-course menu, but with limited alternatives. Our first two suppers comprised five excellent courses each, but with two choices of soups, three for the entrée and two for dessert. Breakfasts and lunches are partly buffet and partly special order. Free drinks are limited to dinner only, but the wine flowed liberally then. For Frances and me, this is enough and the wine quality is good.
There are only a limited number of excursion options at each stop, sometimes just one. And, finally, most of the cabins are relatively small, but not unreasonably so. We, in fact, upgraded to one of the larger cabins and are very happy with our situation. (Curiously, when we first arrived at our cabin we were disappointed that our double bed was just two twin beds pushed together. When we complained, they immediately converted the bed into a true double, albeit with a split mattress.
The passengers are on average a touch younger than those we’ve traveled with on other ships, fifty and sixty and early seventies being the common age. (OK, maybe we’re ignoring the fact that we ourselves are moving past the average traveling age.) As with most cruise lines and land travel companies, many passengers are true loyalists. One of the passengers is on her 23rd Gate1 cruise and land trip.
Our tour guide, Bart, a Dutchman by birth, is outstanding. We just finished attending his talk on the Netherlands and he was terrifically funny. The ship’s captain is Ukrainian and his second in command Polish. A majority of the crew are Eastern European and Asian. As with all the ships we have sailed on, all the crew and staff are friendly and helpful.
Dress is very casual, even for dinners. I won’t be unpacking my blazer or dressier shirts.
We did have one disaster befall us, but nothing to do with where we are. For 556 straight days, Frances and I have successfully solved the online Wordle game. Even while in Botswana, with no internet, we picked up a single bar of Zambian cellular, enough to access and play the game. Yesterday, in a hurry, I carelessly typed a final word I did not mean to enter and we broke our string. Frances has forgiven me, despite having told me the correct word to enter.
Back to our itinerary. We waited for the rains to pass before heading back into town (as mentioned, sans camera). Our ship was moored near the Amsterdam train station, which itself is adjacent to the “old city” section of Amsterdam. We accidentally wandered into the red light district of the town for a street or two, but mostly we strolled through other parts of this historic city, ducking the bicyclists as necessary. There are more bikes in Amsterdam than people, most residents owning more than one.
Having forgotten my iPhone, I’ve had to “borrow” pictures representing our long stroll through the Old City. I tried to select pictures close to what we saw.
Tonight we depart for Antwerp, Belgium. I haven’t been to Antwerp since 1979. Mussels, Belgian waffles, Belgian fries, lambic beer and chocolates await.