IJmuiden, Netherlands

Today, we arrived in IJmuiden, with two leading capital letters and not a great deal else going for it.

Breakfast in the Lotus Grill was a little frantic. Although we’ve been impressed by the spaciousness of the ship and its general layout, the cafe area appears to become quite chaotic when there are lots of people all trying to get their breakfast at the same time. It’s the little things that make the difference, like; it might be better than to have something more than a single help-yourself, 4-slice toaster to serve a cafe-full of people, all wanting to make toast at the same time. The restaurant is another option, of course, but we’ve found that most people, even those who mostly dine in the restaurant, will gravitate towards the informal eatery at breakfast time. Just an observation.

Despite the chaos, breakfast was of a high standard. After we’d eaten, we went out on deck to see how enticing IJmuiden is, and to formulate some plan of action. Sadly, it wasn’t very enticing at all.

Shuttle buses to Amsterdam were only available between 9am and 9:30am, which meant, it being almost 9:15am already, we didn’t have much time if that was what we fancied doing. As we stood out on deck, though, looking out at what can only be described as a large expansive building site (I’m sure there’s a city way out there somewhere…), we both came to the conclusion that a leisurely day on board ship might just be the more appealing option, since neither of us felt like dashing around for a 30 minute bus ride into what would be a very busy Amsterdam, where both of us have been before anyway. The idea just didn’t grab us.

So, it’s been an ultra-leisurely day, relaxing, reading and (in my case) working on the laptop.

The Captain is holding his welcome cocktail party tonight, so its formal night (harumph…). Tomorrow, we’re at sea, and I’ll be running the first of my classes; The Building Blocks of Watercolour, as we head north towards the coast of Norway and them there fjords….