Today was an early trip to Keukenhof Gardens. The weather has been beautiful. It has been near 70 for the last few days and everyone is outside. The tulips are beginning to bloom and the fields are amazing. I took lots of pics with more on my camera. While we were in Keukenhof I ran into a couple of wolves – see pic. We got back to the ship and ate lunch (of course). Then Marsha and I headed into Amsterdam to find a post office to mail a package to Germany. We are now very good in post offices, but as usual the staff was very helpful. Tonight is our last night and we are going out at 8:30 to see the nightlife in Amsterdam. Our suitcases need to be outside our door at 5:45am and we need to be on our way to the airport by 6:15am. Will let you know about the nightlife later.

There are a few more pictures after we passed thru the lock. Then there are pics of us at the Cocktail party. After dinner there was entertainment – a men’s choir that sings sea chanties. They were a great deal if fun. A lot of people left to get some sleep, but Marsha and I hung in there to the bitter end. The shop was docked in Rotterdam – see pic. It is a pretty city at night, but we stayed on board since we were not there very long.

We got back on board and had lunch (eating again!). Then we entered a lock. I took a lot of pics, many on my camera because it was amazing. There were 2 Viking cruise ships, a freight barge and 4 other ships in the lock with very little clearance. It was a sight to see. We were talking to the people on the other ship- they were so close. After we passed thru the lock we went for a wheelhouse tour and then to a tea with many pastries from the Netherlands. The person in the wheelhouse pic is the captain. Tonight is the Captain’s cocktail party and dinner. Help, I’m going to explode!

Last night we were in the lounge dancing. There is a picture of some food and of the port we were in.
Today we boarded buses at 8:30am and the ship left to meet us at the next docking station. We first went to the town of Veere, a charming little town with a few small shops. To get there we drove on the top of the dykes. As I said before everything is below sea level and you get a clear picture of what a battle it is to keep the North Sea from reclaiming the land.
We then went to the Delta Works. This is the giant flood control system that prevents storm surge from flooding the Netherlands. This project was started after a flooding storm killed 1,835 people in 1953. The project was finished in 1986 and is still considered an engineering marvel. We drove across these gates to get to the Watersnood Museum which has lots of documentation of the flood and the Delta project. Then we drove to the next port to catch up with the ship.