Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Amsterdam

As we plan for next summer's cruising, we need to consider Schengen (how long we can stay in some countries), VAT (charged by EU countries if the boat stays there too long) and, finally, where we will winter next year. Amsterdam has been recommended by other cruisers we have talked to so we decided we should jump over and take a peak....6 months can be a very long time to sit in one place. Hard to resist Easy Jet for £39 so we packed our backpacks....luggage is extra.....everything is extra, and zipped off to the Netherlands. The plan was to make Amsterdam our base with a day trip to Rotterdam. Despite nearly being mowed down by a zillion bicycles, we made our way successfully to the hotel near Dam Square. The trip to Rotterdam the next morning took about an hour by train. No tulips but you could envision what the vast fields might look like in the spring. We even saw a few windmills.

Our destination was the Rotterdam City Marina. King negotiated buying us a tram pass and we hopped on the #35. The tram arrived at the end of the line before we discovered we had gone the wrong direction. Not to worry. We just stayed on and rode it back in the opposite direction. Not the first time we have taken the scenic route.

The Rotterdam City marina looks fairly new and is surrounded by several restaurants, a grocery, and a bit of shopping therapy. Showers- check, Laundry- check, near public transport- check, can handle a catamaran- check. Downside, Rotterdam just doesn't have the charm of Amsterdam. Amsterdam on the other hand has several marinas. The Sixhaven is located directly across from the Central Train Station and has easy access to the free ferry that transits the IJ every 15 minutes. It's a bit tight for us there and somewhat dreary in January but there are live aboards during the winter. A brand new marina is in the works but its doubtful it will be completed by the time we need it. I'm thinking a casualty of the economy. We also searched up and down the canals, accosting folks as they walked toward their boats for information on other options. A few leads but nothing to hang your hat on.

While our 3 day trip left little time for sight seeing, we did make time to walk around to get the feel of Amsterdam. Well, to be honest, we had to eat so finding a restaurant each night was about the extent of it. I had chosen our hotel carefully to ensure we were not in the Red Light district. You can imagine my surprise as we walked through a residential section and looked up at a large picture window to the vision of a young woman in a corset and high boots posing for us. Yikes! Overall, food was good, wall hangings a bit strange (see cow below), the architecture was beautiful, the bicycles were lethal and we left undecided.
The London Boat Show began the day after we returned from Amsterdam on January 12. Our neighbours on Lazy Tern had their car so we hopped a ride. The 4 of us arrived before it opened and shut it down at the end of the day. A small show but King managed to find boat goodies that we just couldn't live without. The 4 of us barely fit into the car for the trip home. Our friend Jerry from Cork joined King mid week to do a 2nd run through resulting in my attendance only being 2 days instead of 3...thank you Jerry! I tried several times to get a picture of Jerry. He remains the elusive Irishman but always the best of company.

Just as our friend Suzy was due to touch down at Heathrow from south Florida it began to snow, and snow, and snow! She made it in just before the airport closed but we were not so lucky on the tube getting her home. 4 tube changes (with luggage) and 2 hrs later we arrived at the boat. It appears that London trains and the underground don't care anymore for the snow than Heathrow does. The snow was beautiful. Snowmen of all shapes and sizes popped up everywhere. It seems to bring the 5 year old out in everyone.



Tea with Suzy

In addition to doing "Tea", we wanted to see The Phantom of the Opera while Suzy was here. The goal was to snag decent seats that wouldn't break the bank so we arrived at the box office two hours before show time. We hit the jackpot and found ourselves sitting in centre seats in the the Royal Circle. King did not fall asleep once! As they like to say here "It was brilliant!"

Before Suzy's visit, I scoured all the "Things To Do" sites. A favourite is the FREE lunch time classical concerts at St Martin in the Field. This week they were also doing one of their Jazz Nights in the Crypt. Not FREE but £5 for an unreserved seat. Sounded like a perfect night out so I invited the boat neighbours to join us. The advertised performer was an Italian pianist and accordionist ....."combining minimalist jazz with tango and rumba"......hmmmm. Ok, for £5 we could be daring. Now, in my defence, I'm reading "Pianist". I mean really. I simply could not imagine a jazz accordionist. My mistake. If there was a piano, it was played long after we could no longer tolerate one more pump on the accordion. Judy noticed there were finger nail scratches down the sides of one of the crypt columns and suggested they were from one of the full time residents of the crypt expressing their opinion of the concert. We soothed our ears at a hidden away Port and Wine bar which was so crowded we had to join the crowd at the outside tables.....in 30 degree weather. The port helped.....but not enough. We drank fast. Still not a true Londoner.





Pick up right at the airport



First Easy Jet flight - 39 pounds!




The view from our hotel in Amsterdam

This was hanging on the wall of the restaurant that we visited the first night.
No, it was not McDonalds

Bicycles everywhere!

Ostinato's first snow



Snowman in front of Dicken's Inn at St. Kat's





Snowmen were popping up everywhere!  This one was on the walking bridge looking over the West basin.

Footprints to the head 





Is The Tube Really Free If Its Closed?

Following our Wed morning get together of St Katharine's cruisers, King and I hopped a train and headed for Ashtead. We had been invited by a couple who live there to visit their home and learn more about cruising in the Netherlands. David was one of several presenters at an all day seminar held at the Cruising Association by the Inland Waters Division. He spoke on the Standing Mast Route which was great since we are seriously looking at Amsterdam or Rotterdam for next winter. After his talk, King and I followed him into the lunch line like puppy dogs and wore him out with questions throughout lunch. His lovely wife, Margaret suggested we come to lunch at their home in a few weeks to continue the conversation. Smashing! Arrangements were finalized over email and off we went. What wonderful people. While the London skyline, it's theatre, museums and its history will always be special, it's the wonderful people we have had the good fortune to meet that has made it truly memorable.

Our little international three boat neighborhood, Australian, British and American, has been busy. We have been to see Shakespeare and the musical We Will Rock You (not so good) and Christmas pantomime, Dick Whittington and His Cat...I had no idea what a pantomime was but apparently a Christmas tradition so off we went. We even had box seats! For those like King who thought there would be no vocals, it is actually a musical spoof.

What a stitch....a women played Dick....a man played his mother. And there was a pudgy Indian Fairy who flew about the stage. The audience participated. We got to boo at the bad guys, awe at the love scene, and say "hello" to Dick each time he (she) arrived on stage. The best part was the Cat Scratch Dance (led by Dick's Cat, of course) that all the audience stood up to do....yes, even King! It was so fun, we did it twice.

Christmas Eve we stood in line at Westminster Abby ...in the rain. When we got in, the voices of the boys in the choir were like angels.....and David Suchet, aka Hercule Poirot, read the fourth lesson. Then back to the boat to begin preparations for Christmas dinner. Christmas dinner was on Ostinato for a few of us that didn't go home for the holidays. I was a bit nervous about the Turkey fitting into the oven but she slid right in. Judy and Merv, our Aussie neighbours, brought dessert, a Christmas Pudding. My first. The best part was the brandy sauce. Just give me a spoon and sit me in a corner.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! As previously planned over several bottles of champagne on New Years Eve 2012, Kate and Jay (friends from Tallahassee) arrived December 31 following a whirlwind tour of Scotland and Wales. Just enough time to uncork bottle of champagne to celebrate their arrival, a quick nap for the guys and instructions on how to use the head before we were off to Quaglinos where we would bring in the New Year. The band was appropriately danceable and the food was perfect, including something green that came in a tall shot glass. Yep, King drank it. He says it was pea soup.

The couple at the table next to us...we decided she was an escort..great leather dress...anyway, she sent her steak back once and apparently didn't think much of it the second time. I suggested King should ask for hers in a doggy bag but although he lusted after it, he decided it best to pass it by.

Two bottles of lovely champagne later we strolled out the door to begin the trek home. For New Years Eve, riding the tube is free. However, we did not realise that also meant the entire city of London was closed to traffic and its entire population would find their way to the streets and eventually, also be determined to ride the free tube.

Our first clue should of been a line at 1:30 a.m. outside of the tube station we had arrived by 4 hours earlier. Someone, lets say King, suggested we walk to the next station. The 2nd clue should of been that we were beginning to walk through massive crowds in the middle of the streets heading the opposite direction. The good news is it was one of the happiest mobs I have ever seen. It appeared the tubes were closed! We walked past 2 more closed tube stations, each more crowded than the one before. Cues to enter were several blocks long and no one knew when or if they would open.

About this time my feet suddenly decided that while they were up for dancing in pointy toed heels, they were not up for a 5 mile hike. Each began to scream at me.....And then.....the rain began to fall. Kate was searching for a taxi but we had not seen a car since before we arrived at the restaurant. Somehow we found ourselves at Trafalgar Square with 50,000 other very happy people all trying to find a way to get in the tube. We walked on...my feet cried. The rain continued to fall.

Next station, Embankment. Closed, but rumours were circulating rapidly through the crowds that it would open soon. We staked our spot in line. It began to grow rapidly. Kate and Jay were concerned the crowds were getting too big and wisely recommended we walk on to yet another station. My feet cried NO! So King and I were carried away by the crowd into the station when it opened, wishing with each step that I had worn tennis shoes. What was I thinking ....high heels! We finally made it to Tower Hill and I limped towards home chucking the shoes the last 50 yards to arrive back at the boat in my stocking feet....in the rain at 3:30 a.m. Kate and Jay arrived an hour later and then spent another 15 minutes trying to get our attention to open the gate....while we had given great instructions for operating the head, we had not bothered to give them the gate code to get back on the dock. They finally did what resourceful people do....reached over the locked gate and opened it.




Judy, Liz and Sue enjoying our box seats

Judy, Merv and David at the Hackney Empire Therater

Dick and his cat

New Year's Eve at Quaglinos!

Kate & Jay dancing the night away