We are enjoying a lazy Saturday morning watching the Netherlands landscape pass us by. It is the last full day of the cruise and we will be running around Amsterdam this afternoon. For now, I rest and try to deal with this chest cold and coughing.Yesterday was quite lovely. Cologne was cool, but we did enough walking to keep warm. In the morning, we boarded small trains and went to the cathedral. The tour guide on the train was interesting, to say the least. She drew out her words and had everyone laughing. When we got off of the train we immediately went to the other tour guide who thankfully had different inflection. Cologne was amazing, because it was built on top of the Roman colony. One of the first things we saw was the tile floor in the Romano-German museum. It really caught my attention. I was even more blown away when our guide took us down into a parking garage and we saw the remains of the old city wall. Apparently, construction takes forever in Cologne, because whenever they try to excavate, they come across Roman ruins and artifacts.After the tour we visited the cathedral and the Romano-German museum. The cathedral was special because it is said to have the remains of the three Magi, or Wise Men, from the nativity story. The remains are kept in the Golden arc like box, and it was definitely impressive. We got a book in the cathedral since we did not do a formal tour. The museum was equally as fascinating. It is always amazing to see how people did the equivalent of modern activities that use particular technologies but using only primitive resources. Aidan pointed out that without shock absorbers, the Romans had used leather straps on their carriages. It was indeed fascinating. What gave someone the idea to do something like that in the first place.We then explored the shopping streets in search for an Internet café -- it had been a week since I cleaned out my mailbox. I was over quota again, so I deleted a lot of junk. I kept my promise and didn't answer e-mails. It has been odd to be literally cut off for two weeks. After cleaning up my e-mail we got a waffle from a street vendor and headed back to the ship for lunch. We came out after lunch with the goal to find the bride's collection of Christmas ornaments. We found a store near the cathedral with handmade glass ornaments and thankfully, we found the collection as well. The items and meanings are as follows:1. Pine cone -- motherhood and fruitfulness2. angel -- God's guidance in the home3. Santa -- unselfishness and goodwill4. flower basket -- good wishes5. House -- shelter and protection6. Rose -- beauty and affection7. fruit basket – generosity8. rabbit -- hope and faith9. Bird -- happiness and joy10. Fish -- Christ's blessing11. heart -- true love12. teapot – hospitalityWe then walked about for what felt like hours, visiting shops and looking at what Cologne had to offer. We got tired and decided to drop the ornaments off at the boat. And then went to visit the chocolate museum. Needless to say, it smelled amazing and tasted even better. It was a great museum and the working factory was fun. We got to taste the chocolate from a chocolate fountain and then we got to purchase chocolate in the shop. We ate way too much chocolate on the way back to the ship -- but it was good. After a nap because my cold was getting worse, we dressed for a concert in lounge. La Strada were a trio from Belgium of two violins and a guitar. It was lovely. They played classical and Gypsy music and were fabulous. We purchased two of their CDs for our collection. We then had the farewell Coctail party and dinner. By the end of dinner my voice was gone. We didn't party with everyone else, because we were both not well – Aidan was sneezing and had a runny nose. We turned in early and hope for good Saturday.
Amsterdam proved to be as interesting as it promised to be. The morning and early afternoon was full of both sunshine and rain. I was sure that we would be running about with raincoats and umbrellas. I was wrong. The remainder of the day was sunny and bright.After our last lunch on board, we boarded coaches to take us to the canal near the central station for a Canal cruise. We learned a lot about the different roof shapes, the laws for canal boat living, and the locks that helped prevent Amsterdam from flooding. I was amazed by the canal boat gardens and the large windows in the houses on the narrow lanes. As usual, I loved seeing everyone riding around on pedal cycles -- even walking their dogs riding the cycles. Amsterdam definitely had the most cycles of all the countries we visited. At the end of the cruise we went to the Ryksmuseum. To be honest, I prefer Van Gough to Rembrant but I was there looking at Rembrants with the most boring tour guide, ever. Feeling as sick as I was, I tired quickly of her and I dragged Aidan off to explore the museum on our own. We enjoyed many paintings as well and pieced together Dutch life and their colonial history.After our final dinner, we decided to visit the red light district of Amsterdam. I had basic expectations of the area but Aidan did not know what to expect. The streets were packed with people of all ages. Aidan noticed that many guys appeared to be from the North of England. Anyhow, we walked up and down each side of the canal. The ladies in the windows varied in shape and state of dress. In the fluorescent lights they looked like mannequins, when they did not move. It was odd when they were negotiating with men outside the window. It was interesting to watch yet sad at the same time. We visited the erotic Museum, on the right bank of the red light district. It housed four floors of the history of erotica -- literature, paintings, ceramics, et cetera. It was definitely fascinating. It even had a floor explaining how the girls in the windows operated. Culture and history in the midst of what appeared to be an area of excess. Fascinating!We've just spent the last hour packing. Were having breakfast at 7 a.m. and have to vacate our room at 8:30 a.m. We may go to a diamond museum at 9 a.m. because we do not leave for the airport until 11 a.m.. Then we're in for almost 12 hours of flying – yeesh!!!
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