Hail, Britannia! and Rembrandt, too

The White Cliffs of Dover

In Dover we chose a trip through the English countryside to visit medieval Rye.

The ancient village of Rye

Those familiar with romance or adventure novels know that Rye was a great hangout for highwaymen and smugglers: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh once rode here. It was also the beloved home of novelist Henry James who lived his last days here. Rye was also one of England's Cinque Ports along the southern coast; an important part of her defenses from the 11th to the 15th century. Warships were constructed here in a shipbuilding program that dates back to Alfred the Great. The town's fortunes ebbed when the sea receded, and today's Rye sits atop a hill overlooking a marsh where the sea once was, and sheep bleat where smugglers' boats once bobbed ashore in the dead of night. (Yes, I stole that last line from a brochure. Good, isn't it?) Speaking of boats, we must return to the Marco Polo for a 7 pm sailing to Amsterdam. I find it difficult to find the words to describe our departure from Dover. As we watched the chalk ramparts of the famous White Cliffs the old song popped into my mind. It was simply breathtaking to see the cliffs shimmer in the twilight. You'll just have to go see for yourself.

We were dockside in Amsterdam at 8 am the next morning. We have been to Amsterdam before, but there is always more to see and do in the great cities of Europe, and this was certainly the case here. Our first excursion in this city of 700 islands connected by 1000 bridges was called City Highlights and Canal Cruise. It was wonderful to return to the Rijksmuseum to see once again the renowned collections by Flemish and Dutch masters, including, of course, Rembrandt's famous Nightwatch as well as many of his other works.

Rembrandt's "Night Watch"

And there it is, my favorite painting in all the world, Vermeer's Little Street. I stood in front of it for quite a while.

Vermeer's "Little Street"

The museum was crowded that day (I think it is always crowded) so we welcomed our leisurely cruise in a comfortable canal boat.

An Amsterdam canal

We glided down graceful tree-lined canals, past burghers' mansions, floating houseboats (where many people live permanently), and warehouses dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. Oh, look! There's the hotel I stayed in in 1988. Canal cruises are great ways to see cities, provided, of course, they have canals.

After lunch on the ship, it was off to see the windmills on our way to Edam. We visited the charming "dyke village" of Zaanse Schans with its windmills, riverside setting, and green-painted wooden houses. It was the Holland of postcards and paintings. We visited a couple of centuries-old working windmills; one was grinding nuts to extract the oil; the other was crushing pigments for paint.

Dutch windmills

We also visited a cheese farm and the ubiquitous gift shop. After that, it was off to Edam, a town famous for its red- and yellow-cased cheese, but Edam is much more. It was once a prosperous shipbuilding community. Henry Hudson's famous Half Moon was built in Edam. Today it is a town with authentic 17th century architecture catering to tourists without the appearance of being a tourist trap.  It's been a busy day, and now back to the Marco Polo for the 6 pm sailing. We will be cruising tomorrow, but it will be different from our ocean-cruising days. Tomorrow we transit the Kiel Canal.

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