Final Day of Cycling

We knew that it would be too good to be true to have sunshine the entire day!  The clouds started to roll in as we continued after our coffee break.  We pushed on until after 1pm, to get to Muiden to visit the castle.  We had a guided tour of the castle at 1:30 so we ate our sandwiches as we walked from our bikes to the castle.  We enjoyed our guided tour of the castle and then had some free time to explore more on our own.  While we were in the castle the rain poured down for about 20 minutes. It stopped just in time for us to continue on.

At this point we had about 20 km to go to get to Amsterdam so we pushed right through.  As we approached the city we had to ride up and over a huge bridge, our final big challenge for the trip.  Navigating through Amsterdam was also a bit challenging but we all made it to the boat in one piece.

We arrived at the boat at 4pm with mixed feelings.  We were happy that we had accomplished our mission but also sad to think that we were finished our cycle tour!!

I had a personal adventure when I set out with the tour guide into the heart of Central Amsterdam at rush hour.  It was Friday,after work and there were people EVERYWHERE!  We zipped around on our bikes, I was close on his tail, trying hard not to get lost or run over!! I made some daring moves, following my motto "never let them see your fear, just look them in the eye and go for it"! We eventually made it back to the ship, safe and sound!

After dinner we went on a night canal cruise to see the lit buildings and bridges.  Then we did a short night walking tour through the red light district.  Wouldn't you know it, it started to rain and it poured as we made our way back to the boat.  When we got back, we gathered for a night cap and joke telling session before calling it a night.