Around the World: Part Eleven

Cruising in the City of Canals

11.05.2019: Tour Day 5, Country 4, City 2

So far, we flew across the continent, revolved in an observatory wheel, went up an iron lattice tower, drove on the roadways crossing countries, and now it was time for cruising through the city of canals.

Amsterdam is the city of canals; capital of Netherland. It is also called the Venice of the North. There were n numbers of bridges connecting the concrete landscape. There was a path especially for the bicyclers. We drove towards Amsterdam for a city orientation through the Canal Cruise. We reached the Lovers Canal Cruise Boating Point at 02:30pm. The Canal Cruise is a kind of boat with the upper glass surface and three seats on either side. We plugged in the earphones to listen to the information. Cutting through the waters of river Amstel, the cruise passed under various bridges highlighting the monuments and architectures of the city. We viewed an ancient ship, witnessed the opening of a bascule bridge, titanic look-a-like glass ship board and many more things. A lot of fellow cruises were moving in the waters and a lot were decked to the harbors. There was a market area bordering the canals.

Having browsed through the city of canals, we drove towards our next country. On the road journey, we played Antakshari. Many old Hindi songs and Marathi songs were sung along with sipping Chocolate Caramel Juice. The topic “Love Story ki Kaande Pohe” was initiated and ladies narrated their love stories. Kaande Pohe stands for the first meeting in case of Arranged Marriages. Geeta spoke about her teenage love story while Kiran Nagarkar described about her Two States love story. Sangeeta Mhatre, Rashmi Savant, Minoo also added their stories. I too wanted a love story! Not all wishes are fulfilled. But those which are fulfilled should be lived to the fullest. And I was living this tour to its fullest. Many others spoke about incidents from their married life. Sujata spoke of the bunch of male cats’ when she visited her in-laws native place for the first time. We just got a trailer about Akhilesh’s love story wherein he met Manasi on a South East Asia Tour. Geeta had a never-ending stock of hilarious jokes while Jyoti was called the Expressions Queen. It is a blessing to be a part of such a lively group. And we crossed the Netherland – Germany border in the evening.

Read next: Around the World: Part Twelve