We have been Mercury Wine CRU wine club members since ... the dawn of time? I don't know exactly how long, but it's been a very long time. So when winemaker Brad Beard sent out an email way back in January 2023 announcing that he was going to be the featured winemaker aboard an AmaWaterways Captivating Rhine River Wine Cruise scheduled for July 2024, we promptly wrote back to say, "We're in!"
From there, we set out to plan an extended itinerary that would allow us to spend time exploring Switzerland at the conclusion of the journey in Basel. Exactly where in Switzerland was a big question as every time I read about a new destination I said to myself, "We should go there." Ultimately, after much hemming and hawing, we did an extra night in Basel, two nights in Wengen (at a hotel that was a last-minute booking because we took too long to make up our minds and hardly anything was available), and a night in Zurich before boarding our plane home (more about that later).
Day One
We arrived in a rainy Amsterdam after an overnight flight and promptly made our way to Hotel Estheréa, the same hotel where we stayed when we first visited Amsterdam in June 2016. It's a beautiful townhouse style hotel right on the Singel canal in the center of the city (it's also right around the corner from our favorite craft beer bar in the world, Cafe Gollem). It was still pretty early so our room wasn't ready yet, but we were able to drop off our bags, grab our jackets, and head out exploring. Our first stop was the Rembrandt House Museum, which was very interesting and informative. If you're planning to visit Amsterdam and are at all interested in art, old houses, or architecture, I strongly recommend it. One of the most fascinating aspects of our visit was we were shown how they made paint from pigment and linseed oil in Rembrandt's era, as well as an etching demonstration.
After the museum, we made our way over to an adorable little gourmet food shop called Gastrovino to meet with our food tour. Food tours are one of our favorite ways to get to know a city and learn about its culture, and despite the absolutely terrible weather, this tour did not disappoint (the only recommendation I would make is that at the end of the tour they hand out a list of the places they took you to as I'll never remember all their names so in some cases I wouldn't be able to pass along the recommendation). One of the things I'm forever nervous about with food tours are my many allergies (I carry an epi-pen), but our guide - a young university student - was fantastic about making sure that I was well looked after.
Our second to last stop was at a wine & spirits store in the Jordaan neighborhood with a very charismatic proprietor. He was so funny and welcoming. From there, we stopped in to a cafe around the corner where we found out a couple on our tour was in town for the Taylor Swift concert. We knew she was performing because half of our plane was filled with Swifties, but didn't really think anything of it. But then someone mentioned that tickets were still available, and Alan said we could go if I wanted to. And I did - badly. When I say that 98% of my music listening is devoted to Ms. Swift, I'm not using hyperbole. But I was also really, really tired and wasn't in the right head space to make a night of it so I decided to pass on the opportunity.
After the food tour, we headed back to the hotel to find our room ready ... and oh what a room it was! When I tell you we have never stayed in as large or as opulent a room as this, I am not even kidding - and we've stayed at Ashford Castle!
We were cold, wet, and dragging buns by this point, so we showered and then took a nap before heading out to explore Amsterdam a bit more on our own. We were still full from our food tour so we didn't need to worry about dinner. Also, thankfully, the weather improved and we finally saw a bit of sun!
We closed out our night at Gollem. It's a super tiny space so not a lot of tables. At first I was worried, but then someone left and we found ourselves miraculously at a table for five. A few minutes after we got our beers, a few expats came in and asked if they could join us. We spent the rest of the evening talking with them and sharing stories. The funniest part was when we learned one of them was from the same small Northern California town where Alan grew up! It truly is a small world. As it approached 10 p.m., my eyelids started drooping so we closed out our tap and headed back to the hotel to crash. Tomorrow we board our ship!
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