Here we are checked into a nice comfortable hotel in Offenbach (“suburb” of Franfurt) after 2 very full days on tour! An early start Tuesday morning – we drove down through Kent to the White Cliffs of Dover – ferry crossing about midday and in Calais, France, a couple of hours later. Cruised on through Flanders fields to Belgium into The Netherlands and checked into our Hotel on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Then into the city for a cruise on a canal boat through the fascinating port and canals ending up at a floating Indonesian style restaurant for dinner. Then a quick walk into the red light district for a bit of cultural education.
The tour is predominantly made of up Kiwis, Ozzies, a couple from South Africa and a couple from Canada. The tour leader is an American from Florida who has been tour guiding for 25 years – he does a really good job conveying a wealth of information and speaking several languages fluently.The driver is Italian and has provided a very safe and comfortable ride.
Today we were up early again visiting a diamond cutting factory in Amsterdam, before motoring down through very pleasant Dutch and German countryside to stop at Cologne to view the Cathedral and then on to the Rhine where the highlight of the day was an hour or so cruising up the Rhine and admiring many fine castles and vineyards – was nicely sunny and warm (has been mostly fine but grey and overcast up till now), The tour so far has set a cracking pace but is due to slow down a bit from now on – just a short hop to Heidelberg and Strasbourg tomorrow.
We are thoroughly enjoying the experience although both been fighting to get on top of colds and flu – has taken a little bit of the edge off so far – but on the whole “all good”.
Comments
Comment by Matt Brown on 2008-08-27 14:45:25 -0700
How were the baked goods in Amsterdam? I hear they make nice cookies.
Comment by Brownie on 2008-08-27 18:49:04 -0700
Good to hear! Has been all sun here for the past 3 days!
Comment by admin on 2008-08-28 22:33:35 -0700
Yes,the smell as they are cooking is quite unique
