The Baltic Trip

June 9, 2013 we flew from SD to JFK and then from there to Heathrow. Upon arrival in the UK, we boarded a bus and headed for the port located in Southampton, UK. It was great to see our old friend the Azamara Quest waiting for us to board her. This is the same 'small' ship we took to Southeastern Asia. It was one of those weird things where you leave on the 9th and arrive on the 9th. Already your biological time clock is being  messed with!

Taken at 8:00 pm!

We set sail later that day for Amsterdam and went through a series of locks since Amsterdam, Netherlands is located below sea level. It took us more than a day to get from Southampton and through the locks until we docked in Amsterdam. Amsterdam is known as the 'Venice of the North" because of all the canals and waterways. There are 165 canals with over 1,000 bridges crossing them! There are many museum there, although we did not have time to go into any. It is here that there is the greatest collection of Rembrandt's and Van Gogh's in the world. Unfortunately we did not get to the Ann Frank house either.

Anyway, on our first evening we participated in something called 'AzAmazing' where we went ashore and they took us 'back in time' to the recreated village of Zannse Schans for a walking tour. It was cool to see what life would have been like so long ago. The golden age of the Dutch Renaissance began in the 17th century and grew into a world empire. Remember learning about the Dutch East India Company way back in 7th grade? It was like being in Williamsburg if you have ever been there. The Netherlands has been a part of France, Spain, and Germany at one time or another. Today they are  an independent nation in Europe and use the Euro.

We also walked through some little shops and of course we saw lots of wooden shoes! I love this silly picture of Dan standing in those wooden babies. Look, he is even color coordinated! It was a relaxing evening and a way to adjust to the time change.

Master painter

The following morning we were up early and headed out for a guided tour of Holland. One of our stops was the famous Delft Factory...you know those famous blue plates? Did you know that the paint is actually black and when it is fired it turns to blue? Another factoid is that the painter takes the pattern he will be using and creates a stencil out of it by punching hundreds of tiny holes along the lines. Next it is placed over the item to be painted and then dusted with a fine powder. The stencil is then removed and the remaining faint design is used as a guide for the painting. A lot of work goes into every hand-painted piece!  It takes over 10 years to become a master painter. In the factory we saw tiles, vases, plates, shoes, tableware, bowls, frames, ornaments etc. all in the famous blue design with the flowers. Of course I was fascinated by the rack of porcelain thimbles that were just waiting to be painted and fired. I had to buy one for my collection!
Be warned, this was the first of many thimbles acquired on this trip...it was also one of the most expensive. But what a treasure :)

We also had the opportunity to walk along the canals. You can see that shops and restaurants line the canals and boats are parked along side. There are bicycles everywhere too. They have all sorts of baskets on them for carrying a myriad of things. Some even had metal boxes attached for hauling bigger items. It appeared that bicycles were also the favored transportation for pizza delivery men. People of all ages rode bikes. Since the land is flat, it seemed like an efficient way to get around.

This is a very cool old building that was in a square, but for the life of me I cannot remember what it was called. I remember it was one of the oldest buildings and it is still in use today. Maybe later I will find a picture of it in a guide book and can label it then. We also walked by The Hague and saw many embassies from the street.