We arrived in Amsterdam!

We arrived in Amsterdam! Stayed at a Best Western with a McDonald's in the same parking lot! I have to say, the best Mickey D's we've ever had! We took 2 tours. One was the canal cruise that took us by the old city with its 17th century houses. Most prominent on display were the "Swaying Sisters," 3 houses that are leaning badly from sinking, which makes them look like they are swaying. There were many, many houseboats that we passed and quite a few tour boats and other private boats on the canals.

After the cruise we stopped at the basilica Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of Amsterdam. This basilica is the city's primary Roman Catholic Church. It was completed in 1887. The next tour was a nine hour bus tour to The Hague, Delft & Rotterdam. What a great tour! Our guide, Adrian is native to Holland and speaks six languages! He was a wealth of information. First off we stopped at Madurodam, located in The Hague. Home to a wide range of scale model replicas of famous Dutch landmarks and historical sites. It opened in 1952 and is a must see if your in Holland!

The Hague is a city on the North Sea and is home to the United Nations International Court of Justice, AKA the Peace Palace. We stop for pictures outside the Peace Palace, completed in 1913 and financed by none other than America's own Andrew Carnegie! Then we went to the city of Delft. Stopped for a tour at the Royal Delft museum and factory, which began in 1653! Then on to the Delft medieval market square. We saw the Nieuwe church and tombs from 1381 ad. Across the square is the Old Town Hall from the 13th century. Rotterdam was the next stop and we started with an hour-long river cruise on the Maas River. The two most interesting sights, for us were the "Harp Bridge" a white bridge that was completed in 1996. Also the De Hef vertical lift railway bridge. Built-in 1927, in 2022 Jeff Bezos attempted to buy and dismantle it, and all of Holland told him NO!

 

After the cruise we went to the Rotterdam Markthal food court explosion. There are apartments built into the walls! We also climbed up the stairs to the cube houses, which are next to the pencil Tower apartments!

This was a wonderful tour! Now we are off to Brussels, Belgium!