Woke up to another beautiful day.  After cleaning up, we went down for breakfast and my daily Dutch lesson.  We have basically been eating a good breakfast each day and then dinner.  No lunch, just an occasional snack and adult beverages.

We’ve been watching the boats cruising by our hotel, so today we are going to enjoy navigating the open seas.  Ok, the seas are a canal, but we’ll still be watching for pirates!

We started out looking for a boat that would suit us.  We didn’t want one of the big covered boats with a hundred people, we wanted one of the smaller open boats.  We walked in every direction and had a great tour in our quest to find an open boat.  Below are some pictures from our trek.

When we walked down near the train station, we spotted them – Open Boat Tour Company.  Hooray!!

For €21, we took a 75 minute tour in a boat with just twelve people.  Our skipper Saskia, took us on a tour that was a little off the beaten path where there would be less boat traffic.  It was really pleasant and informational.  We learned a few things about Amsterdam and its history while cruising down little side canals that the big boats can’t navigate.

After our ride, we walked back to the hotel where we introduced ourselves to the bartender.   Just a little something to cool down after the walk back.  Like everyone else in the hotel, he was friendly and we chatted about just about everything under the sun.

We made an early dinner reservation for this evening at Casa di David.  We’ve been enjoying all of our meals and thought we would try Italian.  The restaurant is family owned and authentic Italian.  We totally enjoyed our meals – insalata, a shared plate of pasta carbonara.  For our mains, Sue had scallops and ravioli, while I had a veal chop with mushrooms and tomatoes.  We started with a glass of prosecco and then on to a bottle of Avighonesi Nobile di Montelpuciano.  Though I had my eye on it, there was no room for tiramisu.

A nice stroll back and then relaxed in the room.  Early plans for tomorrow.