Amsterdam: Avalon Waterways (Illumination)

Amsterdam is fantastic! The city is full of young people (who know english), the "coffee shops" are where they sell weed (not that I smoke...but I like to think this has to do with why everyone's so laid back), and the buildings are georgeous!  Definitely a city I'll have to come back and visit!

We arrived in the city early in the afternoon and boarded the boat before dinner.  I've never been on a cruise before, and so far this one is great!  It's quite small (less than 140 people), and generally the people here are quite a bit older than me, mostly from Australia and New Zealand.  The food is ridiculously good, and there's just so much of it; they literally feed us every three hours, and there's a coffee machine and cookie upstairs!  Our bedroom looks out into a full size window (which currently faces another boat; but once we start moving I think it'll be amazing!).  There's a fitness room which I've already had to visit (ALL THIS FOOD), a lounge, and a great deck with a giant chess game (Harry Potter style) and a mini hot tub.  

On the second day of the cruise we started off with a canal tour where we saw Amsterdam's amazing architecture.  We then had the option for a walking tour, but my sister and I headed off on our own to find the famous "Fault in our Stars" bench.  On our way back to the ship for lunch, we passed the tulip market, a giant food market, we sort of wandered past the Red Light district, as well as Chinatown!  In the afternoon we did a tour of the Anne Frank House before sailing off to Cologne Germany!
 

Floating Flower Market	Chinatown

-M