To de Fiep

Amsterdam Begijnhof  These are little villages for religious women. Much more of them in Belgium  Bruges had three of them

Begijnhof chapel

Popstar with popcans

lots of cannabis this and that

President Duck Making America quack again   Or croak

We stopped for lunch in the Nieuwmarkt  Quite the assortment of mushrooms. I had a wonderful crepe

Part of the Red Light District

Lots of houseboats. After the war there was a housing shortage and it was cheap to live on a boat. Now there is a limited amount of mooring space and it is now very pricy

De Fiep moored in Amsterdam harbor

Our bedroom. Small but there was a place for everything

we sail past the science museum with its grassy roof that people sunbathe on

my friends

Honor bar and coffee machine. We were provided with wine and apertifs at dinner but we were to purchase extra

Fruit, candy and cookies were always available Lots of flowers 

Captain Harrie, the owner and captain. He named the boat after his daughter Fiep

Shortly after yet another sumptious breakfast buffet, we were met by one of our tour guides to start the 2 mile or so hike to the barge. Our luggage was transported ahead of us. We got to see parts of Amsterdam that we had no time to see before so it was a good tour with perfect weather again. We also got to meet our fellow travelers while we walked. Nineteen of us in all ranging from ages 54 to 75. We were all Americans. Our tour guides were Dutch as were the captain and his main helper. Another of the crew was from Mallorca and our chef was from New Zealand. I became  good friends with him as we were both early risers.

On the way, we stopped in a pretty  courtyard of the Amsterdam Museum for coffee, toured a Begijnhof, and stopped again at a Farmer's market near the Red Light District for lunch. I chose to get a tasty crepe from one of the stalls.

Shanna as part of the preschool's program (where she works) read a bedtime story streamed online to the students at night recently. A little girl adopts a lonely looking monster in the woods. The only sound the monster can make is Fiep.  So it was funny that that was the name of our boat. The owner and captain named it after his daughter. His little dog, who we were not to touch or feed, came with us for the week. After we met the crew, we checked to make sure our luggage showed up and it was bon voyage. We had two outside upper decks with plenty of seats plus a covered lower lounge. The dining room was below deck as were our bedrooms. We sailed all afternoon  until we stopped for our first bike ride.