Peering out from the cabin curtains this morning saw us motoring down a long canal to Amsterdam. Docking was accomplished whilst having Brekky and involved some skilful manoeuvring. Our tour today started out at the Hermitage Museum, a satellite museum of the one in St Petersberg we visited a number of years ago. Sadly one wing was closed, the cafe was closed, and the feature film about the 6 Rembrandt’s they have on display was in Dutch. So not a brilliant start, though I loved the giant tiger!

Afterwards got better, with a great cruise along the canals. An extensive variety from private dwellings along tiny tree lined ones, to the large rivers fronted by modern museums. Some of the old houses were leaning on their neighbours as their foundations gradually give way.

Of course there was a large variety of boats, from elegant Dutch barges to floating houseboats in various states of disrepair.

The many intersections and bridges produced wonderful perspectives, but were hard to catch in a moving boat behind glass. Overall an interesting place, especially for boaties! Tomorrow we have a day at sea, so I’ll blog about the ship internet permitting.