We woke up, had breakfast and left just after 9:15. The first bridge was a very tight fit height wise. No sooner had we got going we tied up in Oude Amstel to do shopping. This old city has historical plaques on buildings of significance. At Slagerij Bart Ridder Mark bought locally made craft beers. We bought a baked sausage for a snack and plain pork sausages for dinner. We did grocery shopping (you can moor right at the store) and left just after 11. We detoured to Oudekerk and in order to get the hand operated lifting bridge to work you have to press a button to call the bridge keeper. The detour was not worth it, but we discovered a bakery at the bridge. At Bakker Out we got tea time treats. Aardbei Schelp for Dave, Roomboter Pecan Koffiebroodje for Mark, and Sacher Punt for me. As we were leaving the bakery the bridge keeper arrived for another boat. Luckily for us he did not mind having to lower it to let us cross and then lift it straight away. I eventually managed to get into the shower just after 12 as the water needed to get hot. There are ferry crossings across the river and one is chain operated which we had to wait for. We are so close to Schipol that we could see planes taking off. We went through a swing bridge and past Uithoorn before tying up for lunch. We got going again at 15:00 through quite a narrow section. We came across lots of people swimming. We had to make a very sharp left turn into a shallow lock. The lock fee here is €1.50. We then stopped so Mark could have a swim. We decided to go into Woerden. You have to make a sharp left turn and the two lifting bridges are worked by the same man, who sits at the first one into the city. This part looks quite run down. The second bridge is manually operated and after it you can moor free of charge along the quay. We walked into the old city to De Reehorst for beers. Dave had Paulaner, I had Brand, a dark blonde, and Mark had an Amstel. We got going and phoned the bridge keeper to come open for us. He must have not understood so Dave called back. The telephone number does not include the international dialing code! There are lovely houses leaving Woerden and we tied up in a quiet residential area just after 20:00. We had the baked sausage on crackers while the sauce reduced. The sausages were excellent and Dave made a leek, tomato and pancetta sauce with cream to accompany them. I made a plain salad of mixed leaves, red bell pepper and vine tomatoes.
Italy and Holland 