VIKING TIR: We left Amsterdam, stopped in Kinderdijk, and are on our way to Cologne, Germany

 Amsterdam:

• 
  Is a city of canals with 90 islands and 1500 bridges.
• Coffeeshops are big for tourists, but not as much anymore, as many other locations have legalized this weed.
• This is the term used for smoky rooms buying and smoking marijuana.  
• They also sell coffee.  
• Most are located in the Red Light District.
• They can sell a maximum of 5 grams of cannabis twice a day to the same person.
• Cannot sell cigarettes or alcohol.
• 
  Smartshops sell psychoactive and related substances.
• Here you can buy magic truffles and cacti.
• Interesting that those are legal, but magic mushrooms (psilocybe cubensis) aren't.
• They are rapidly being replaced by online retailers.
• Read my posting 2011 providing details, for nothing much as changed.
• Another one of 2014.

The Netherlands is called the land of windmills.  From the Viking Daily.

• Records indicate that China was the first to use windmills, to pump water in 200 BC.
• Some say they were first invented by a Greek engineer called Hero, living in Roman Egypt in the 1st century AD.

• 
  Persia and India developed the technology.
• The Dutch people used windmills to rescue land for farming and homes, and in combination with dikes, made the country what it is today.

Our first stop was Kinderdijk, meaning children's dike.  We were here earlier this year in April, when it was sunny and beautiful.  Today, rainy and temperatures close to freezing.

A final item about the Netherlands, Dutch cheese.

• Goes back to the 12th century.
• Edam and Gouda, named for two Dutch towns, are the most popular.
• Young Gouda (less than 6 months age) works as a sandwich topping.

• 
  Mature Gouda (older than 6 months) for eating.
• Edam has been exported since the 14th century, and was the most popular cheese for 400 years.
• Softer and milder than Gouda.
• Good with fruit.
• A country less than half the size of New Jersey, the Netherlands, is the largest exporter of cheese in the world.
• Gouda now is at #12 and Edam #23.  #1?  English Cheddar, with Parmesan #2 and Roquefort #3.

You would think that the water falling on mountains in mid-Europe flows unrestricted into some sea or ocean.  Not so, for on our Viking Tir Christmas River Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest, we will need to traverse 68 locks.  Watch this You Tube explanation.  

Flood and drought conditions can be troublesome.  From September 17-24 of this year, a flood alert cancelled some cruises.  The reason why we are on the Tir instead of the Vali is that the ships got stuck on opposite sides of the problem near Budapest.  We will cross each other in a week as Vali returns to Amsterdam, while we head on to Budapest.

The Rhine River passes Amsterdam and empties into the North Sea.  Some facts about the Rhine:

• The Upper Middle Rhine Valley provides the picture-book setting for river cruises, with castle-topped hillsides, ancient towns, terraced vineyards and medieval ruins.
• It was thought that the river was 764 miles long, until in 2010 an error was discovered, and it is now 820 miles long.
• Germans refer to their country's longest and most important river as Father Rhine.
• The Rhine begins as a small stream at the foot of the Swiss Alps, pssing through Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, France and Germany, ending in the North Sea at Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
• Historically, denoted the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire.
• Provides much drinking water.

It was 61 years ago today that John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

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