Day 5 Monday 19th December

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The rain cleared not long after we began our canal cruise of Amsterdam this morning. The tour guide said there must be lots of angels on the bus because it rains in Amsterdam two hundred days of the year and this was only the second sunny day she’d ever experienced in this city. We believe we have been blessed with wonderful weather every day so far. It is so rare to have sunshine and blue skies at this time of year in Europe.

We admired the narrow, leaning town houses of the “Venice of the North” and were amazed by the number of bicycles. Most people travel by bike instead of car because parking space is extremely limited and expensive, and the city is very flat. In Amsterdam, cyclists have right of way ahead of all other traffic (including pedestrians). The tour guide joked that the canals were nine feet deep: they contained three feet of mud, three feet of bicycles and three feet of water. 80 000 bicycles are reported stolen in Amsterdam each year, making it the crime capital of the world.

After our cruise, we were given a bus tour of the city, a tour of a diamond factory and free time to explore the canals, shops and markets. Many of the girls delighted in trying on diamond rings with lots of “bling”, though they were certainly never going to fit on the budget.

We then left the Netherlands and travelled into Germany, staying overnight in Cologne. Six of our group visited the Dom Cathedral tonight and explored the Christmas markets.

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Comments

[Andrea Murray]

Thankyou
Thank you for all the time and effort taken to update us on what you have been up to and for all the photos - we are so enjoying "seeing" where you have been. cheers andrea murray

[Sandy Scott]

Thanks for the pic's
It is great to share your journey with you, thank you for all the wonderful pictures. Our prayers go before you. (Derric, it looks like you are having a ball!)