Day 15 – First Day in Amsterdam: Canals, Cappuccinos, & Laundry

On Day 15 of our vacation, we woke to rain and mist on our first morning in Amsterdam.

After a lovely breakfast and farewells to new friends, we disembarked from the Viking Alruna, and our Viking river cruise ended.

Disembarking the Viking Alruna on a rainy morning as our Rhine River cruise came to an end in Amsterdam.

Of course, I felt ill.

If you read Day 14 of our 33 Days in Europe, you know I had stayed in my cabin the whole day because I wasn’t feeling well. By this point, I was fairly certain something was wrong, but traveling has a way of consuming your mind and body as you take in all the wonders, almost anesthetizing any reason you might feel poorly. It becomes easy to keep going when there is so much to take in and cherish.

Our first stop after leaving the ship was not a museum or a canal tour.

It was the laundromat.

After seven nights on the ship, it was time.

We stepped off the longship and walked directly to the laundromat — about 0.2 miles, roughly five minutes from the dock. Easy, even with luggage.

And once again, Europe impressed me.

No matter where we travel in Europe, laundromats are clean. Not “seem clean.” Clean.

In this case, the woman running the business cleaned constantly while we were there. She wiped machines, polished surfaces, and clearly took pride in the place.

A typical super clean laundromat in Amsterdam where we stopped to wash clothes after leaving our Viking river cruise. The owner is spit-shining the place with careful attention to everything. So refreshing!

We always plan laundry times and locations at the beginning of our trips. We build them into our schedule, noting their location and hours. Viking river cruises do not offer passenger laundry service onboard (the ocean cruises do), so hitting up the laundromat after a week becomes a necessity. Besides, it’s easier to get it done before arriving at the hotel early in the morning anyway. Check-in wasn’t until the usual 4 o’clock, so this worked out well.

Ron and I call these Travel Days.

My favorite travel ritual — a cappuccino after arriving in a new city.

And lest you think it a waste of sightseeing time — or distracting in any way — I assure you, it is not. Doing the ordinary task of laundry in other countries teaches you about everyday customs far more than postcard destinations ever could. The conversations can rival those in a pub — friendly chatting, neighborly advice for weary travelers, and the realization (or longing) for such wonderful laundromats at home.

The safety and cleanliness of laundromats we’ve visited in many countries simply don’t compare to the laundromats I’ve personally encountered in the U.S. Travel alerts you to these differences and encourages reflection — or quite possibly activism (as in the case of U.S. bathrooms, but that’s a rant for another time).

While the clothes whirled away, I relaxed as best I could in the hard plastic chair and waited.

I felt feverish.

Once we finished and stowed our luggage at the hotel, we went in search of my favorite delicacy in all the world.

A cappuccino.

Where We Stayed in Amsterdam

From the laundromat, we walked about 0.4 miles — maybe eight minutes — to our hotel.

The Times Hotel
Herengracht 135–137
1015 BG Amsterdam

The hotel sits along the Herengracht canal, one of the three main canals that form Amsterdam’s famous canal ring.

This area is part of the Grachtengordel, the historic canal district built during the Dutch Golden Age of the 1600s. Today, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and part of Amsterdam’s old city center.

We were also very close to the Anne Frank House, about a six-minute walk away.

So when you see the walking video later in this post, you’re looking at streets in the historic canal district — narrow streets, leaning canal houses, bicycles everywhere, and bridges crossing the water every few blocks.

I chose a room that was slightly below street level, mostly because it offered a great price, and the hotel itself had excellent reviews.

The room was lovely — at least by European standards.

American travelers sometimes expect larger rooms and bigger windows, but in older European buildings, rooms can be smaller and more compact. Still, the hotel itself was beautiful and comfortable, and we really enjoyed staying there.

If I were choosing again, I would pick a room on a higher floor for more natural light. That said, being slightly below street level gave us a sense of seclusion, and the bustle of foot traffic outside the windows still stoked our enthusiasm.

I actually tried to book this same hotel again for our 2026 trip, when we’ll embark on our Viking Ocean Cruise to Norway and Sweden, and it was already sold out.

So clearly, I’m not the only one who likes it.

Once inside, I hung several pieces of clothing to dry using my travel clothesline. Many — okay, most — of my clothes require air drying, so the bathroom quickly became a miniature laundry room.

On our next trip, I’m determined to choose function over style (wait, is that even possible?) and bring clothes that do not require hand drying or ironing.

It may prove impossible for me, as I’m a dinosaur when it comes to wrinkle-free travel wardrobes.

I’m a daily ironer, an attribute in my mind, but an affliction to some (shout-out to my friend Debra, who has been poking fun at me for this for years).

Drying clothes in the bathroom is not glamorous. Simply put, I choose travel clothes that (1) fit me at the time, and (2) make me feel pretty. And sometimes that includes silk blouses and stretchy pants. Just sayin’.

But it works perfectly with the right supplies, the right supplies being my favorite travel clothesline. It has stoppers that keep your clothes from falling to the middle. They keep your clothes where you put them.

It’s really no big deal.

Click (or tap) any photo to open the gallery, see the full image, captions, and scroll through the set.

Amsterdam: Canals, Bridges, and Bicycles

Water shapes Amsterdam.

More than 60 miles of canals wind through the city, crossed by about 1,700 bridges, linking its narrow streets and neighborhoods.

Click (or tap) any photo to open the gallery, see the full image, captions, and scroll through the set.

And then there are the bicycles.

Amsterdam has around 900,000 bicycles — actually, more bikes than residents and far more than cars.

They are everywhere.

Parked along railings.

Stacked beside bridges.

Streaming past in steady lines.

And they move fast.

You learn quickly to look both ways before stepping anywhere near a bike lane.

Visitors often worry about the cars.

In Amsterdam, it’s the bicycles you need to watch.

After settling in, we stepped outside to begin discovering the city.

A City That Lives by “Live and Let Live”

One of the things I loved most about Amsterdam is its spirit.

People seem to feel free to express themselves authentically.

That idea — live and let live — has always been a personal mantra of mine, so I immediately felt at home in this city.

That attitude stood as stoic as the canals, and just as defining of the place.

People dress however they like with nary a glance.

Street life in Amsterdam — where creativity and self-expression seem perfectly at home — viewed from inside a café.

Storefronts display strong opinions — popular or not, political or otherwise — and artistic expression. Stances spill into public spaces.

I just love that!

And on the canals, people seem to treat the boats like floating theaters.

We saw several groups singing, laughing, eating, and celebrating in full costumes on boats as they drifted through the canals. At one point, we saw a group of women (I think) dressed like sea creatures, chanting what sounded like a sea shanty as they floated past. I tried and tried to learn what occasion they were celebrating and what “song” they were singing, all to no avail. If you know, please share!

Amsterdam feels like its own little world, where business and fun intermingle with equal elegance and outrageousness. It feels savvy, successful, and free-spirited all at once.

And I absolutely loved that people expressed themselves so freely. Not one angry or complaining person anywhere we went.

Do they exist?

The city operates on an even keel, which made it a comfortable place for us foreigners.

An Impromptu Walk Through the City

This video is simply raw footage of us walking down several streets and over the canal.

It’s a bit long, but it really gives you an idea of what it feels like to be in Amsterdam, at least in this historic area.

There’s no narration, and it’s not polished at all. In fact, I’m bouncing along and panning the camera like the amateur tourist that I am.

But that’s exactly why I like it.

So many travel videos are polished or professionally shot. This one is simply a raw tourist’s perspective — just walking through the streets, hearing the sounds of the city, and seeing what it actually feels like to be there.

If I were researching a destination, that’s exactly the kind of video I would want to see.

One thing I’ve noticed with all my videos from this trip so far is that you always hear the birds sing! I don’t recall hearing the birds sing so profusely when I’m in my own hometown city. In my yard — yes — but not in town. And it is just so beautiful.

Amsterdam, So Far

Amsterdam immediately felt welcoming to me.

There is an openness here — a feeling that people can simply be themselves without worrying too much about what others think.

That spirit shows up everywhere.

And yet not far from where we were staying stands the Anne Frank House, a place forever connected to a much darker moment in the city’s history. (Yes, I went there. Again. It’s dark, but it’s also just too important to ignore.)

The contrast is striking.

But I’ll talk about that more in a later post.

For now, this first day in Amsterdam was simple.

Laundry.

A cappuccino.

A rainy walk through the streets to get our bearings and breathe in a new experience.

And the beginning of our time in one of the most fascinating cities in Europe.

❦