The flight from Manchester to Amsterdam takes just 50 mins; just enough time to enable the attendants to serve us lukewarm tea and biscuits. We were picked up at Amsterdam airport and taken to a hotel on Dam Square, right in the middle ofthe city. With a couple of hours to spare before we join the boat on the journey from Amsterdam to Budapest, we grabbed a map and walked. The centre of Amsterdam is well suited for sightseeing on foot and it's difficult to avoid the scenic, canal side walks even if you wanted to.
We soon found ourselves in that most famous of tourist areas; the Red Light District. Women of varying appearences displayed themselves in their rented shop front windows. There's a lot to be said in favour of legalising prostitution, however, the overriding sentiment I felt was the dehumanisation of the scantily clad women plying their trade in front of the leering tourists (including me) who shuffled past in an endless stream.
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After a sandwich and a coffee we walked back to the hotel, sat in some comfy chairs and promptly dozed off. When we woke, it looked like most of the 160 passengers on the ship
had gathered round us and at 3pm we boarded coaches to make the 15 minute trip to the boat! |
The Ruby is 140m long and has 85 cabins spread over three decks. The top of the ship is one large open space broken only by the bridge quite near the front. The ship is relatively new, very clean, and our cabin was slightly bigger than those on other boats we have been on. |
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| This being an Australian run ship, the majority of passengers were from Down Under. I think the only other nationalities were Kiwis, UK and a couple of Canadians. |
The large double bed dominates the space and the good sized bathroom had a powerful shower. A large sliding glass door opens out onto a balcony just large enough to fit a couple of chairs and a small table.
The first evening's dinner was quite early, but it looked like we we the last to arrive when we went down at 19:01.
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During dinner the ship repositioned to a wharf just behind the railway station very close to the centre of the city. After dinner, we went on our first escorted trip. About 100 of us trailed behind a guide as we walked to, then through the Red Light district (again!) This time though, we had the benefit of someone who could point out the many interesting bits of knowledge en route.
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Up at seven for breakfast before boarding coaches for the short trip to the wharf where we boarded boats for the hour long trip through the canals of Amsterdam with the major sights such as Anne Frank's house and Rembrant's house being pointed out as we passed them. |
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| We then reboarded the coach for a further city tour but I don't remember much about it because I kept nodding off. Back on board we had lunch and watched as we pushed off for the start of our voyage across Europe. |
| This really is nice way to travel even if the weather is a bit grey at the moment. There was lots of room to sit on deckchairs and watch the scenery slip by - that is, until it started to rain! But no matter, we retreated to our cabin to read and watch the various sights slide slowly past our large patio windows. |
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Captain's dinner was a very leisurely two hour affair; a six course feast that set the standard for the following two weeks. We had entered one of the biggest problems with cruising - how to resist the non-stop food on offer! |
After coffee we went to our cabin, turned off the lights and sat back to watch one of the best electrical storms I have ever seen. Time and time again the darkening sky was lit up by bright flashes of light and the forked lightening strikes were enduringly spectacular as they arced earthwards to strike the ground. A truly awesome show of power! Eventually we turned in and were lulled to sleep by the low throb of the ship's engines.
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