Disembarkation day!
Back a few years ago, cruise lines would try to schedule your departure time either by deck or loyalty status or their whims. On the last few cruises we’ve been on you can choose when you would like to leave the ship and pick up the appropriate luggage tag for that time period. I’m sure it cuts down on a lot of complaints.
Today we didn’t have to make a choice because we decided to take an excursion and then get dropped off at the airport. We’re staying at the Hilton at Amsterdam airport so that worked out for us.
It was a cold windy morning and as I’ve said before we have a number (large number) of people on this cruise who brought clothes for the Caribbean rather than the Baltic. It was a long walk from the gangway to the port building and Fred and I saw some very cold people taking that stroll this morning.
When we got off we saw that there was a long line (outside in the cold) snaking into the building. Apparently, customs was taking quite a long time. We don’t know if another person showed up or what but the line moved much quicker as we got up to it. I did notice that people were asking for a stamp in their passports (rookies). When we got up to the desk they did thumb through the pages before handing it back. They spent a little longer on Fred’s, he’s got an older passport and they might have been looking at his stamps from Jordan, the UAE and Israel that were in the same area. Who knows? We got through found our luggage and went to the tour bus.
Unfortunately, we were late leaving because of a family group that had two scooters. There was no room in the undercarriage of the bus for them, not with all the luggage down there. I don’t know who screwed up there. The cruise lines are usually so accommodating, it could have been the tour company’s bad planning. In the end we had to leave them but it did cut into our time for the tour. I'm sure they made it to the airport okay, but we never saw them at the tour site later on.
We went to Zaanse Schans Windmills about 15km north of Amsterdam. First, I want to show you that Fred is indeed alive and well, he even managed a smile.
This location has a number of working windmills, the foundation of the industrial revolution as they claim. Windmills do more than pump water, they can produce power to run machines and produce products.
At this site they had a cheesemaking windmill, a wooden clog windmill and a saw mill. The saw mill was really interesting. Below you can see the power of the wind run the saw that cut the trees. Once they are cut, they are left out to dry as the next picture shows.
I was so glad to come here today. A few years ago we spent some time in Amsterdam and I had planned a day trip to this site but we never went. Our tickets to the Anne Frank house came through and really there was no competition between those two choices. After all these years I finally got here and it was more interesting than even I thought it would be.
After our too short of a visit to the site we went on our way to the airport where we’re staying at the Hilton again.
Before we had lunch at the airport we went to see where the Jetblue check-in would be. That was an adventure. There is only one terminal at the airport but it’s divided up to three ‘departure zones’. Unlike US airports where the check in counters are forward facing, the ones we’ve seen in Europe are not. They are set up like long rows perpendicular to the main hallway. It’s hard to see to the end of the row and catch all the airline names. Jetblue only has two flights a day so once they are done, the personnel are gone. Long story short we found where it usually is and also how to figure out where it will be tomorrow morning when we have to check in.
This is a Saturday and the airport is packed. It was difficult to get around. I was glad to get back to the peace and quiet of the hotel.
We fly home tomorrow so the last post will be after that.
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