Tourist brochures tend to show Amsterdam with deep blue skies and bathing in sunlight. The reality is often quite different — particularly in a month like November.
Cruise Ship Seabourn Sojourn in Amsterdam
The Seabourn Sojourn passes the former Shell HQ tower at Amsterdam harbor on its way to the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam at the IJ — Amsterdam’s waterfront.
Amsterdam welcome some 130 cruise ships a year. Some stay for a day or two, while others are in port for just a few hours.
Falling through the ice
This lady wanted to join her friend on the ice, but she should have done so by way of the boat. The ice at the very edge near the stairs just wasn’t strong enough.
Oddly enough, after she got out she acted like she wasn’t even cold. She and her friend walked off at a normal pace…
If that had happened to me, I would have gone straight to Cafe Papeneiland — which is at the same corner (Brouwersgracht/Prinsengracht — one of Amsterdam’s most picturesque spots).
In fact, after taking this picture I went there myself, and enjoyed a cup of good-quality coffee along with a huge piece of fresh-baked apple pie which — to my surprise — came with a very generous dollop of freshly-whipped cream.
Ice skaters on Prinsengracht, Amsterdam
Ice skaters enjoying the late afternoon sun on Prinsengracht.
In the distance is the Westertoren — the most sung-about church tower in the Netherlands. In the diary of her life during the Second World War, Anne Frank wrote that she could hear the bells of the Westerkerk.
The house where she and her family hid during the occupation is just a stone’s throw away from the Westerkerk.