Cakes in Amsterdam & Bratwursts in Germany

The first guided day of our tour kicked off at an alarming 3.45am. After a quick breakfast at the hotel we loaded up the bus and headed off for the white cliffs of Dover. The drive was dark for a good part of the way but we had some pretty nice views of the sunrise over the very English looking farm land. Once we got to Dover we had a little time to kill at the ferry terminal before heading of for Calais in France.

The ferry ride took about an hour and a half and the water was a smooth as glass. It was fun to look back at the cliffs – the very white cliffs as we sailed away. There’s not a lot to say about the boat ride, it was very uneventful as you would hope.

We landed in France and got on to our tour bus. After some quick safety briefings and a short overview of the buss' features we were on our way north out of France and into Belgium. The countryside was fairly flat – actually very flat, almost Alberta flat, but it was nice. The countryside was covered in autumn colours with old homesteads and in the latter part of the drive windmills. Our tour didn’t allow for any time to stop in Belgium (perhaps another time) and was really just the most efficient road to take us through to the Netherlands. None the less our tour guide (John) was really very knowledgeable and provided us a good history along the way – especially the history that relates to the two world wars.

We arrived in Amsterdam at about 5pm and were given a quick guided tour on the bus into the city center. We were given free time for the evening and while some went on a walking tour with a boat ride through the canals (this is what Mum did), we went off to explore the city on our own and to take a few photographs of this very pretty city. 

Naturally, we saw thousands and thousands of bikes everywhere and you had to be really careful where you were walking, just in case you landed yourself in a cycle lane. The buildings are really interesting and some of them appear to be on a lean.

After walking around the canals and soaking in the vibe of the city we stopped off to have a quick coffee and a cake at one of the local cafes. They were quite different to what we have experienced in other parts of Europe. Smoking is very much accepted indoors and in our case the café even had a funny little designated smoking room that was a little sealed off from the rest of the café – which was funny because there was smoking in other rooms too? Anyway, we had our coffee and tried these funny little cakes that the barrister recommended – he told us they were a traditional Dutch recipe and were quite tasty.

After our coffee we were fairly relaxed and decided to go take a bit more of a look around the down town area and through some of the other shops. We didn’t explore into the red light district – although it’s sort of understood to be a bit of a touristy thing to go and look through.

By the time we got back to the hotel at about 9pm we were absolutely exhausted and really didn’t waste time getting bed.

Today was another fairly early start with a 5.30 wakeup call – man don’t do bus tours if you are wanting a holiday.  After a fairly big breakfast we were off on the road again towards Germany for a trip down the Rhine Valley. The drive to the valley was very scenic with rolling green hills and little pocket villages tucked in the sides. Driving down the autobahn was interesting too – probably just because of its name sake.  John was on fine form delivering really interesting overviews of some of the significant military battles that had happened in the area and had also discussed some background to the first and second Reich.

Around lunchtime our Bus took us right down into the Rhine Valley and dropped us off for a boat cruise down the river. It was very beautiful as the area is littered with old castles, interesting villages and is primarily used as a wine growing area, despite the fact that the valley walls where they grow the grapes is nearly vertical. The vineyards are so steep that they have to be worked by hand and as such only a small quantity of wine is produced. However, we were explained that it was very high quality wine which is why the industry is there.

After the boat cruise which lasted about an hour and a half we were back on the bus and heading for the town of Heidelberg. This cute little town is famous for having the oldest university in Germany. The very red sand stone buildings and cobble stone streets also give it a very unique look that makes you feel right in the middle of a German folk tale, a German folk tale where Starbucks has a presence. While Mum was shopping up a storm in a little area of shops that seemed to have been made just for people with her tastes, Sam and I went off and had a better look around the river and the Castles. It was very pretty although a little cold after our time in the South of Europe.