Breakfast at 07:00 and walk up to the coach at half past. I am more nervous about a parking ticket now than last night! With a rising feeling of dread I nervously walk to the front of the coach expecting a fine. Nothing! Good!
We depart at 08:30 today and are going to Amsterdam, firstly to visit the Rijksmuseum and then the Van Gogh Museum. From here we pick up our guide, Nancy, and do a city tour before an hour’s cruise on the canals.
It takes 45 minutes to do the couple of miles to the motorway which puts us behind a little but arrive not much later than our planned 10 0’clock.
I approach the museums and park in the recently opened underground coach park which is directly under the Rijksmuseum.
We are here for about four hours so I decide to go for a stroll before getting down to some work. I wished I hadn’t as it starts to rain a heavy drizzle and I am soaked, and cold!
The rain does eventually stop and the day brightens up although I don’t see too much of it down below the surface!
I nearly never got back down because you need to put your parking ticket in a machine by the entrance to unlock the door. I had left mine on the coach. I buzzed the help button and explained my predicament and the lady said the door is open. It wasn’t. I think she had opened the other side! I walked round the other side and spoke to her again and this time the door unlocked.When the group returned they were accompanied by Nancy, our guide for the next few days.
The parking cost €50! No wonder the Dutch boys come in, drop off and disappear. I didn’t mind as I had work to do and it gave me some peace and quiet.
After leaving here Nancy gave us a short city tour before they went on the canal boats.
I arranged to meet them in an hour and a quarter and went round at the allotted time to wait in the pick-up bay. I was there for about twenty minutes when a couple of coaches had to pick-up and blocked a lane of the road. A policeman was not impressed and moved them on quickly and told me I will have to move. As soon as I pulled out of the bay they turned up. I stopped but was immediately waved on being told I cannot pick-up now! I shout to Neil that I will be back in half an hour and drive off.
At least it gave them time for a coffee before the journey home.
We are back at the hotel by 19:00 and within 45 minutes I had parked the bus, printed off a proof of both the new day excursion brochure and the Autumn/Spring holiday brochure, showered and was sitting in a pub with a lovely pint!
The music was a bit loud (I must be getting old!) as I wanted to read the brochures with little distractions.
I found another pub run by a Dutch lady and her Irish husband. She did the bar he did the cooking. I only went in for a beer and ended up staying for a goats cheese salad and Buffalo steak! Just the type of place I needed tonight.
I finished with an Irish coffee served in a normal sized wine glass! It looked odd but tasted divine.
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