So we found the replacement bus to Harwich Pier at the Liverpool St. Station. There were about 50 to 100 people waiting for the bus. The trip was 1 hr. 50 min. and very relaxing. We got on the ship, RCCL Vision of the Seas very easily and took off at 5:00. BTW, this isn't a cruise ship report so suffice it to say, we like RCCL. The room, service, food and entertainment made it a short fun way to get from 1 city to another, and I'd do it again in a minute.
We got to Amsterdam the next morning and had a big breakfast and went straight to the Anne Frank House. The line was exactly 45 mins. long. It was a little windy, but sunny and with jackets it would have been perfect. We came without. Everyone should see Anne Franks and I have a feeling everyone who goes to Amsterdam does. It's a great museum. Afterwards we had lunch across the street on the corner, don't remember the name, but it had traditional dutch food advertised. We decided to have pancakes instead. Large crepes left unrolled with different toppings. Unexpensive and really good. We decided to just stroll around Amsterdam and walk towards the Central Station, because it was starting to get colder and the ship was docked behind it, and we knew we had to get back and get our jackets. We stopped in a cheese shop and bought and went into a grocery store. We love checking those out for products we don't get here in the US. After retreiving our jackets we headed out again to the Portugeuse Synagogue and Jewish Historical Musuem. WE saw the synagogue, but missed the Musuem by 5 or 10 minutes. The Synagogue is very interesting in that it doesn't look at all like the rest of the buildings in Amsterdam. We then took a Canal cruise for an hour. You have to do it, when in Amsterdam, but except for seeing all the building leaning every which way, it was kind of lame.
So by now it's almost 6:00 and we are in Amsterdam! What do people do when in Amsterdam? You know what! My kids had given me the names of a few "nice" coffeeshops we could go to. Whats nice, you ask? Well, the 1 we visited was decorated with low velvet sofas and beaded Indian scarves. The staff knew we were, well newbies, except, we'd all had a real good time in the 60's!!! We all decided to split a brownie and spent the next few hrs. laughing and just really enjoying our visit! There were also cupcakes, muffins and something called "spacecake" that I thought maybe we should not try. The guys bought a joint, but we ended up losing it at the Van Gogh Musuem the following day.
After the coffeeshop we figured the next logical stop had to be the Red Light District. We saw lots of women standing in windows. Some were very young looking and that made me sad. Others, I'm not sure were women at all! Anyway, people kept telling us the women are not pimped, they are licensed, work for themselves and are very well paid and live great lives. Whatever. It was certainly as interesting to see as any Museum I've been to and all I can say is seeing that made me realize how far I was from Kansas.
Our 1st evening ended on a unique note. We were there on the Anniversary of the date that Holland was liberated from the Nazis. The Queen was conducting a Memorial service in Dam Sq. So after the Red Light, we decide to go find a wine bar and sit outside before going back to the ship for a late dinner. I can't tell you where we were, but it must have been close to Dam Sq. because the noise, music and people parade was very noticable. All of a sudden a man sitting with his family, probably the Grandpa starts putting his finger to his lips and says SHHHHHsh. Everyone at his table does the same thing and each table starts doing it to, so our table plays along and we're going Shhhsh. We then realize when we stop that the area we're sitting in, (the entire street) has com e to a complete standstill and it's completely silent. The Dutch were commemorating the people lost at 8:00 for 3 mins. of silence. Very moving experience. Especially for me, as a child of Holocaust survivors, and the recipient of more then a few horrible emails telling me how Europeans are so anti-semitic. I was very touched. After that we headed back to the ship. Day 2 in Amsterdam tomorrow.

Just 2 piece of advice for future:

1) it's best to keep your entire trip report under one thread, rather than separating into Part I and Part II etc. It's an extra effort for us readers to find your Part I to figure out what happened prior to this.

2) You said in your Part I response that you will add paragraphs. Yet I don't see any separated paragraphs. You can always use the 'PREVIEW' button here to check what your post looks like, then EDIT, before you SUBMIT.

3) As much as I love reading trip reports, I'm sorry to tell you that I really can't read yours without any separation of paragraphs... I get a headache.

Mary....enjoying your report..must agree with YK...paragraphs, please...good way to remind yourself is to type in "Paragraphs" in bold letters on top of Page 1...and each time you re-post....happy that you are having a good trip..sounds lke your good planning paid off...regards to Rick..zay gezint...we have granddaughter's wedding next week...thrilling occasion...will tell you all about it in email..

stu

Aaahhh...Amsterdam! One of my favorite places to visit. It was probably good that you lost that joint that you bought, because the Dutch roll their marijuana with tobacco. And you know, tobacco can be harmful to your health.

Thanks for posting your trip report. I had to go looking for part 1, to see how your adventures began. Here's a link to the thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ies-part-1.cfm

Robyn

What was the cruise you went on? Do you have more information on this?

Thanks!