Four Countries in One Day!

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At about a sparrow fart o’clock (4:15am) the phone rang. It was our wake up call for day one of our Europe tour… and what a big day it was. The title probably gave it away - we managed to visit four countries in, in just one day! Well, not exactly.

We started the day off with an early breakfast and hit the road at 5:40am from our hotel in London - UK. This was our first introduction to the ‘tour part’ of our holiday. The first leg was a short one - we were off to catch a ferry from the White Cliffs of Dover. The first bus was only a temporary one as we needed to swap buses due to vehicles driving on the ‘wrong side’ of the road in Europe.

The tour guide is rather good. He has a quirky side to him, and always seems to throw in some subtle joke. I am looking forward to his commentary through the rest of the trip! He also rattles off numerous trivial facts and is quite knowledgeable - which probably comes after twenty years of experience in the business.

Our tour group comprises of 90% retirees, a few 30-40 year olds, and two other younger couples - Bridge anyone? We were a bit surprised, as originally we had been booked on a tour for 21 - 35 year olds, so we thought there might be more young ones - but this isn’t the case. We will have fun getting to know everyone no doubt, and might even find it hard to keep up!

After the ferry ride, which took about 90mins, we arrived in Calais, France (our second country). Our tour coach appears to be comfortable enough (we will see after three weeks). Chelle and I caught some shut eye as we passed through the French countryside and approached our third country - Belgium. The countryside is quite different to the United Kingdom. Basically it is flat - and covered with fields of different grains and cattle - the UK is very hilly and we didn‘t see that many crops. We stopped in Belgium for lunch, and a toilet break (they charge 30 cents for a piss!) then headed to our fourth and final country for the day - the Netherlands.

We arrived in Amsterdam at 6:00pm and had a quick dinner before taking an optional tour of the Amster river. The wine and cheese tour took us through some of the hundreds of canals in Amsterdam. Again, another great introduction to a historical city. What better way to see the sights, then from a boat full of other tourists, and a lively tour guide.

The city’s houses are impressive, and were generally built on a lean (not by Irishmen). This was intentional, so that the owners could manoeuvre furniture into the buildings more easily, with the help of a massive hook at the top of the façade. Other houses tilt left and right, looking as though they might all fall like dominos at any minute. If Venice is anything like Amsterdam, then it is going to be amazing!

The river boats were also of interest, many costing more than the apartments by the river. Some are attached to permanent cement footings, and other are moored, and checked every 2 years. It must get bloody cold here in winter, and I don’t think life on a houseboat would be quite as fun then, but in the summer, it must be great! Except that all the boats are going by, with tourists staring in at you through your lounge room window.

After our cruise, it was straight back to the hotel, to bed! We have two single beds, a practice that sounds common on these tours, as the double rooms get booked out quicker so they lump the people on the tour with the singles. We will spend tomorrow exploring the city and learning how to make clogs, cheese and cut diamonds. I wonder if Chelle packed the balaclavas?

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Photos

NEMO Found
This building is called Nemo - can't see the resemblance!