Wertheim, Main River

It's -2 when we wake up, brr, too cold to sit outside and anyway the sun deck is unavailable for a few days as there are many low bridges ahead. We have a glass blowing demo on board. Kay volunteers to help and is handed a shot glass of jägermeister to lubricate the lungs. Karl (yes Denise same man!) does his magic with the torch and I blow through the pipe as instructed to produce a beautiful glass bauble.
We jump on buses to beat the boat to Wertheim, a small town famous for all sorts of glassware, particularly ampoules and thermometers. The sun emerges briefly then the mist comes back down as we are guided round this lovely village. Its bitterly cold, so hot choc at a warm cafe is very welcome. It's 60's party night tonight.

Rudesheim

More spectacular scenery along the Rhine Gorge this morning, we brave the cold for a couple of hours for an uninterrupted view from the non-sun deck. I go for a warming coffee and find the machine 'out of order'. Several people have gastro and we're in lockdown: no buffet, no self serve so less weight gain till its resolved....
The lack of cappuccino is compensated for with Rudesheim coffee - a local specialty including flamed fruit brandy and whipped cream.
After lunch we choose a wine tour through the incredibly steep terraced vineyards. We're served a variety of delicious rieslings, pinot noir and fruit brandies. Of course after that a cleansing ale in the local pub is in order.

Cologne, Koblenz

It's Karneval! We forgo this morning's guided walking tour around Cologne to wander through the crowds by ourselves, after buying a few colours to better blend in. There's no parade at 11.11 on the 11/11, but everyone dresses up and gathers in squares, in groups, to party and admire each others costumes. Lots of beer and schnapps, lots of noise, and lots of happy people! The tradition seems to be to drop your empties on the ground so also, unfortunately, lots of broken glass....
At 1pm we rejoin our group, board a bus and drive to our boat further upstream. The sun is out and the scenery spectacular so we rug up and and relax on the sun deck while watching the villages and castles float by. Kay discovers that it's warmer in the pool than out.
We moor at Koblenz for the night and after a goumet dinner have a guided stroll round this quirky town, with statues and tales of cheeky characters.

Cruise - Amsterdam 2 nights

Wow, the Amaverde is a beautiful boat. Our bikes are hidden somewhere in the bowels and our cabin is spacious - with balcony - and comfy. Dinner and a quick walk into town completes our first day.
Saturday we wake to neighbours: 3 other boats have pulled in overnight. We select a canal boat and bus tour for the morning and it's great to have lots of information. Who would know that behind the canal houses are gardens (with dope growing?!). And that some houses lean sideways from subsidence but others lean forward to avoid the windows being broken when hoisting furniture up (the stairs are very steep and narrow). That 200,000 bikes get stolen each year and 10,000 of them end up in the canals.
We join the ship in time for lunch, we pass through the first of 68 locks, eat a delicious and gf 5 course dinner, then listen to an excellent violin/cello/guitar combo. They're from Brussels so jumped on board somewhere and will be dropped off somewhere else to get a taxi home by 2 am.
We fall asleep the the gentle hum and vibration of the engines.

Last days at Hoorn

We take a drive across the 27km Houtribdijk which connects western and eastern Netherlands, and separates the 2 huge freshwater lakes which are the county's flood and drought insurance, and the former Zeiderzee. The eastern province is all reclaimed land, amazing stuff.
We wander the streets of Hoorn, drink coffee, clean and pack the bikes and read more books. This has been a great place to explore and relax and get some insight into Dutch lifestyle.
We visit the secondhand shop for another suitcase, everything fits but it's nice to know there's room for further purchases if necessary.
We've ridden about 1500 km and sat on the bike for over 100 hours, piece of cake....
Tomorrow Ian will drive Kay and the luggage to the boat in Amsterdam, about 40mins, then take the car back and return by train - the easiest of the many ways we considered to get us there. Then 2 weeks of luxury on the AmaVerde, woohoo!!

Hoorn countryside west

There's sunshine when we wake up so off we go again, this time on a 40km loop to see some windmills. There are still over 1000 traditional ones, and also many wind turbines. The sun doesn't last long but it's atmospheric riding in the almost-mist, along the canals. Ian gets the first flat of the trip, not bad after about 1400km. We find a snug cafe/pub for coffee and a market in a beautiful old church.
It rains, as forecast, about an hour after we return, so we drink coffee and read the afternoon away.

Amsterdam

Sunshine again on Wednesday so we rug up and head back to town on the train. First stop is a newly renovated maritime museum, with a replica ship and some amazing exhibits. The building dates from 1656 and was built on 1800 piles sunk into the harbour floor.
We return to the pancake place for lunch - they are as big as family pizzas with topping choices from ham and cheese to apple and nutella. GF available and yum. There's lots of quirky shops and beautiful buildings to explore, then Kay goes on a 2 hour cannabis tour. Its another fascinating part of Dutch culture - you can be arrested for smoking tobacco indoors but it's ok to smoke illegal but tolerated marijuana. You can't sell alcohol and marijuana in the same building. A recent federal law to restrict sale to locals and neighbouring visitors has been repealed in Amsterdam, they don't want to stop the millions of cannabis tourists. You don't go to a coffee shop to drink coffee. And you don't order a brownie to take home to your grandma. Like everything there's lots of facts, figures and opinions.
We both wander around the red-light district and ogle the ladies. I wonder if there are men in windows somewhere??