A very nice breakfast on board before we headed out to explore Amsterdam this morning by ourselves. Most of the passengers went to Keukenhof, but we’d already been a few days earlier. It was nice to just wander the streets, spend some time at the antique market and the red light district with women in the windows wearing bikinis – although Sunday morning is probably not their busiest time, so not much to see although we did get a feel, visually.
We made it back to the boat for lunch which was pleasant, before boarding a bus for a tour of Amsterdam. Again we had an interesting and forthright guide, who is also a geography teacher and been to Australia twice. She was An Amsterdam native, and obviously loves her city, although critical of some government, especially central government, decisions. The guides have both been very proud of Amsterdam’s history and its place in the history of Holland. 
Part of the tour included the Rijksmuseum, known the world over for its collection of Dutch art, including masterpieces from artists such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Vermeer. She also pointed out that, due to bureaucratic bungling, a 5 year renovation has taken 10 years, and may still take another 5 years. Consequently only a few rooms were open to the public, and a number of artworks are on loan to places like Quatar who will pay well to host exhibitions. Nevertheless we did see some absolutely fantastic works by Rembrandt which, with her accompanying commentary, made the visit worthwhile.
We then boarded the bus again to travel to Utrecht - to meet the boat which had been traveling upstream during our tour. We passed through our first lock which raised the boat about 1.5m before exiting the other side. The river was not really as I expected. There were kilometres of tree-lined banks with low fields behind them, and only a few houses to be seen. Later, further upriver, the banks consisted of sandy embankments, with the odd group of young people enjoying the evening.Shortly afterwards it was dinner time (again) which was nearly as good as the previous night. Won’t bore you with the menu details, except to say Frances enjoyed both her, and my, pickled herring entrée.
