Waterways of Holland & Belgium (Day 6)

Monday, May 7: Giethoorn & Kampen

Another room workout and a plate of breakfast to enjoy in the lounge during the third and final lecture by Stephen. This presentation focused on Dutch Golden Age painting and provided a very interesting and helpful overview of the primary painters of that time whose work influenced the development of what we might now consider modern painting.

We then headed to the coaches for our morning excursion to Giethoorn, a town of about 2,600 residents that currently receives nearly 1 million tourists each year. Yikes! The town is built around a series of small canals, linked by lots and lots of bridges, and has very limited vehicle access of any kind. 

We were distributed among three canal boats for a cruise through the area and onto the man-made lake nearby. The tour included a stop of about 45 minutes in the town itself so that we could walk around a bit and browse some of the shops. The weather was beautiful for this tour, and we were lucky that our excursion was during the week as our guide described how crazy-busy the weekends can be.

Everyone returned to the boat for a traditional Dutch food lunch buffet, which included lots of different types of sausages as well as a carving station with a roast pig, prime rib, and chicken. Luckily, there were also some vegetables available in addition to all of the meat-focused dishes. And the dessert station included waffles with various toppings. In mid-afternoon, I joined the short guided tour of Kampen, where we were docked for the day.

I then explored further on my own, taking care of a few errands and almost buying some warm-weather clothes, since the weather had been turning unexpectedly warmer than what had been forecast when I was packing last week!

When I got back to the boat in time for our late afternoon departure, I relaxed for a bit in my room and then headed up to the Panorama Lounge for some blog work and planning for the next two days in Amsterdam. I had no desire for another long dinner experience, so I had grabbed some Wasa crispbreads and peanut butter from breakfast, which was totally sufficient for a light snack, along with the white wine that had been waiting in my room when we arrived (still don’t know why, but I’m not complaining!). Mom ended up joining me in the lounge after she got the first course salad from the restaurant, and it was quite lovely to have such a nice quiet and peaceful dinner together while we sailed. We both headed down to our cabins before 9pm, where I did my yoga practice and then went to bed.