Thursday October 11 (Amsterdam De Poezenboot - Cat Boat)

It was rather cloudy this morning although it did look as if the sun would burn through at some time. I had breakfast in my room and then worked on my computer for a couple of hours. I went out at about 12.15 pm to go and visit the boat which opens from 1.00 - 3.00 pm.

The route that the guide had drawn on the map was brilliant and easy to follow. I found a small souvenier shop so stopped to purchase a couple of fridge magnets and a lovely plastic place mat. help instrutions to Central station  I had a good laugh and stopped to take a photo of a Hemp Shop not very far from the Cat Boat.

There were a few people waiting for the boat to open up. it is quite small inside and they have seventeen cats at present. Capacity is fifty cats and there have been occasions when they have been over that. The cats that are runnning free are generally permanent while those up for adoption are held in large cages.


There are four kittens with the free group at present but this is so they can be socialised as they are somewhat shy. 

They came in as small babies without a mother, they do however, enjoy playing and two of them are more socialised than the other two. 

I also chatted to three young girls, on a post university trip to Amsterdam from Devon in England!! I only stayed for about twenty minutes as there were people queueing up outside, I did puchase a T-Shirt on the way out, lol!

I wandered back towards the boat and decide to stop and sample a Dutch Pancake, I had read about these, at a small cafe beside the water. these pancakes are like a big brother to French Crepe, lol! 

It was absolutely delicious and I washed it down with a latte. The apple slices were very thin and cooked into the pancake, the almond slivers were toasted and spread on top of the pancake. The Apple brandy was mixed in with the whipped cream, yum!

I finished my walk to the boat and decided to go up top for an hour or so to enjoy the afternoon sunshine. It was lovely and warm and very enjoyable! 

Then it was time to shower and get dressed for dinner. I went along to the dining room, at the far end on my deck, and was seated on my own, interesting as on the Alaskan cruise moved people around and no-one sat alone! 

Maybe it is due to the much small number of people, there are about 86 on board, 90% of capacity.

I had a very tender Lambs Shank for dinner and had nearly finished when two of the Americans I met yesterday, Jana and Dale, were seated at the table beside mine. 

I recommended the lamb and Dale ordered it, he certainly enjoyed his choice. We had a really good conversation and a lot of laughs, they are very nice people and very interesting. They both have an FBI background while Dale is a qualified pilot and served in the Marines.

They currently live in Carmel, CA, but are moving to Arlington, TX, due to their thoughts about the way the Governor of CA behaves. New Zealand is on their bucket list, which is good to hear, lol!

I ordered a liqueur coffee with Kahlua but the server did not fully understand what I wanted and the poor sever from upstairs brought a cup with the coffee and a small jug of milk. 

When I explained, he took it away and came back with the glass and the coffee made properly. 


Jana had an irish version, with whisky, after her dinner. Boy did we laugh about that!! She also said she wanted to stay in touch, I will look forward to that!


I then went to my room and finished updating my blog, however all the photos had to wait until tomorrow.