Chiara had arranged for a 6:45am wake-up call, and it was a good thing! we had set our alarm for 6:15am, but my idea of hitting the snooze button didn't work too well... the alarm never went off again!
We got ready quickly, had our luggage out at 7:15am, and had breakfast.
It was another buffet, and again, very good. Bacon, sausage, eggs, potatoes, breads, yogurt, and fruit. And again, strong coffee!
We boarded our bus at 8:15am, and drove to Amsterdam's center to meet our local guide, Bridgette.
We took an hour cruise in a boat along the many canals while Bridgette pointed out landmarks and gave us a history lesson on Amsterdam. There were A LOT of orange decorations rooting for the Holland soccer team, as they were in the World Cup finals. We learned a lot about Amsterdam from Bridgette's humorous, fun commentary.
There are an EXTRAORDINARY number of bicycles in Amsterdam. EVERYONE rides a bike! We even saw men and women in suits and dresses riding bicycles! There are bike lanes throughout the city. We also didn't know that Amsterdam is an amazing series of canals, with a set limit of 2,400 house boats that can live in the canals. 
The canals are freshwater, and kept very clean by almost nightly cleanings. Bridgette said the canals are 3 meters deep... "1 meter of mud, 1 meter of bikes, and 2 meters of water." Apparently, they drag many many bikes out of the canals!
We took a short ride in the bus, with Bridgette as our guide, to the Coster Diamond Center. Here we saw some diamonds being polished, as well as some cut/polished diamonds that were for sale.
We re-boarded to complete the rest of our city tour with Bridgette, and ended at Amsterdam's City Station. We had some free time for lunch. Bryan and I stopped at a little place called Blom. 
We had Amstel beer and sandwiches. We sat next to a really nice older lady and her daughter. The older woman had lived in Detroit, Michigan, 40 years ago for about 8 years. She was very helpful and friendly, and asked it we had visited the red light district! We told her no, but that we had sure heard a lot about it! Bryan noticed that the coffee shops had a minimum age of 18 to enter (because of the drugs they sell there). We re-boarded the bus at 2pm, and passed uneventfully into Germany. The two and a half hours bus ride was used by most people to catch a little nap.
We stopped for a mandatory rest stop in Germany and had some ice cream and stretched our legs. The bathrooms were .70 euro, but you could get .50 euro off of a purchase for using the restroom.
We re-boarded the bus to head to Andernach. It was a little past 8pm when we arrived at hour hotel. Our group stayed at the Anker Hotel. Bryan and I were given a room at the Rheinkrone Hotel next door (apparently, there were no double beds at the Anker). The hotels were on the Rhein River, and the view was beautiful. It was hot, mid 80's, when we arrived. We had dinner at the Anker Hotel, which was kind of like a family restaurant. We had leek soup, breaded fish (Alaskan Pollack... ha ha), french fries, mixed vegetables, and ice cream.
We had time for a short walk along the river after dinner. It was very very pretty and peaceful, and the village of Andernach was very pretty.
Our friends from L.A., Tony and Jen, pointed out some playground equipment... and were kind enough to take our picture as we "played." I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard!
We also saw a traditional Biergarten (Beer garden) on our walk!
We went back to our hot room. It had to fan and no air conditioning! There were also no screens in the window. We opened our window anyway, hoping that bugs wouldn't eat us alive in our sleep. Our "double bed" that they very kindly went through the trouble of arranging, was the two twin beds pushed together. :) It's the thought that counted.
We stopped for a mandatory rest stop in Germany and had some ice cream and stretched our legs. The bathrooms were .70 euro, but you could get .50 euro off of a purchase for using the restroom.
We re-boarded the bus to head to Andernach. It was a little past 8pm when we arrived at hour hotel. Our group stayed at the Anker Hotel. Bryan and I were given a room at the Rheinkrone Hotel next door (apparently, there were no double beds at the Anker). The hotels were on the Rhein River, and the view was beautiful. It was hot, mid 80's, when we arrived. We had dinner at the Anker Hotel, which was kind of like a family restaurant. We had leek soup, breaded fish (Alaskan Pollack... ha ha), french fries, mixed vegetables, and ice cream.
We had time for a short walk along the river after dinner. It was very very pretty and peaceful, and the village of Andernach was very pretty.
Our friends from L.A., Tony and Jen, pointed out some playground equipment... and were kind enough to take our picture as we "played." I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard!
We also saw a traditional Biergarten (Beer garden) on our walk!
We went back to our hot room. It had to fan and no air conditioning! There were also no screens in the window. We opened our window anyway, hoping that bugs wouldn't eat us alive in our sleep. Our "double bed" that they very kindly went through the trouble of arranging, was the two twin beds pushed together. :) It's the thought that counted.
No comments:
Post a Comment