After a morning spent exploring the Windmills of Kinderdijk, touring the Museum Windmill and getting our fill of Klompen, it was time to leave Holland and continue on our Viking River Cruise to Germany.
It was a short walk back to our ship. And this cute little house was right across the road from where we boarded.
The crests above the door were interesting, as was the date – 1644!
Here is our ship! And if you look off to the right behind our ship, you can see another. All along the Rhine there are docks for these river cruise lines. Many times we would meet up with sister ships in the Viking Fleet or be docked next door to other companies ships. The rivers of Europe really are quite busy, yet again, the Rhine never really seemed dirty and never smelled. And the scenery along each shore was always beautiful and clean, even when we would pass industrial areas.
While we are looking at the ship, I want to give you an idea of where we spent our time when we were on the ship and not in our room. There are four main areas, the dining room on the main cabin level, the lounge and Aquavit lounge and terrace on the upper cabin level and the sundeck on top of the ship. As you can see, there really isn’t any way you can be on board and not have an excellent view of what is going on while you cruise along.
After we got back on board from our excursion in Kinderdijk we had a safety drill and then lunch, which we ate upstairs in the Aquavit lounge. Every day they would have a different assortment of what they called a light lunch. They also served a much broader lunch menu in the dining room, but after eating here on our first day while we were in Amsterdam, we never tried the dining room for lunch. The Aquavit Lounge would always have some type of sandwich, soup, salad, pasta salad, fresh fruit…there was so much food each day and everything was delicious. I even tried quite a few things that I never would have tried.
After lunch we headed outside to the terrace. On nice days they open the glass doors from the dining area to the terrace so actually it becomes one huge outdoor space. They have a grill where the chef will prepare meals, and the terrace is enclosed in glass, so you are protected from the wind or breeze while the ship sails down the river. It is very pleasant. As you can see, the afternoon journey along the Rhine was sunny and beautiful. We passed lots of farmland, lots of summer cottages or vacation homes, lots of little cities and towns and even industrial areas that serviced the many barges that would float by us along our way.
Here you can see (if you look closely) the glass panels I was telling you about that line the front of the terrace. I was actually sitting in my seat when I took this picture after we passed under a bridge somewhere on the Rhine. And you can also see one of the many barges that we passed during our trip. This one has cars on the roof. Some would have boats, some even had play equipment for children.
Lots of the little towns had parks and greenways along the river. And there were lots of people out enjoying the beautiful day.
There were even more windmills dotted here and there. It really was a wonderful way to experience the cruise that day. And if you didn’t want to sit outside like we were, you could sit in the lounge or the dining room and enjoy the views. Oh, and of course there is the sundeck on top, but it was a little breezy this day, so we enjoyed the protection of the terrace.
I mentioned above that I tried a lot of new things on this trip. Above is one of the new (to me at least) things that I tried. That night was the Captain’s Toast and Dinner. Before the toast, the staff passed out this lovely aperitif of Vichyssoise and Caviar. Well, knowing I may never have an opportunity to try this again, of course I partook! And, it was good! I really did not know what to expect from the Caviar, but it was not salty, and really was good. Of course, I won’t go out and buy any to bring home to Keith, but if I am ever presented with an opportunity to try again, I will. After the Champagne Toast for the Captain and Crew, it was time to head downstairs to the dining room for the captains dinner.
Dinner in the dining room was formal in the sense that you were served each course (of a three / four course meal) and it lasted a long time. And the food was amazing. There were not any seating assignments, and you could sit anywhere you liked. Our first night in Amsterdam we opted for dinner here. And it was wonderful. But tonight we did not feel like sitting through a long meal so we decided to try the Aquavit Lounge. And we were not disappointed.
The atmosphere was more casual and quiet, which was another plus. And all of the tables have a wonderful view. It is a much smaller area (the dining room is designed to seat all guests at one time) so you can have more intimate conversations and we really got to know some of the staff on the ship this way. In fact, the rest of our dinners on board were here. By the end of the cruise others were joining us in our own little private dining area. At least that is the way we felt! Anyway, Betsy and Jerry had hamburgers that night.
June had Shrimp and Pasta.
I ordered the Steak Caesar Salad. I was expecting a salad with steak strips or something like that, not an entire steak. But, it was superb! And one thing I really liked, all of our food was prepared fresh each day. And the vegetables and fruits were fresh. The food really was a treat. Our chef was the best.
After our tummies were full, we hit the bed, anxious to see what would be next in Cologne!
This is not a sponsored post. This is my experience from my trip with Viking River Cruises. Email me to find out how you can save $100 when you book your first cruise with Viking through their referral program.
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