Day 35: Rhine Valley to Amsterdam

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We cross the Dutch boarder for Amsterdam. Visit a cheese farm and see how clogs are made on our afternoon sightseeing tour. Cycle through the countryside and explore the fishing village of Edam. Contiki's centrally located hotel is our home for the last 2 nights.

Had a good night's sleep, but still woke up tired at 6.30. Had a quick breakfast of the usual hotel food - bread, cheese and ham. Our lunch stop was really early, at 10.45 for some reason.
Drove to Edam, where Claudia took us for a ride on granny bikes. We saw a dijk and had a group photo taken in front of a windmill. The Netherlands is 'reclaimed from the sea', and used to be all underwater, the windmills are used to get rid of the water and without them it would flood as the countryside is so flat. It's still 20%!b(MISSING)elow water, with 160 concentric canals. Went to our cheese and clogs demonstration, learnt about how they make cheese and saw some cloggs made by hand. They are made out of willow or poplar, and take 3 hours to make by hand and 5 minutes to make by machine. Went to a dinamond cutting place in the afternoon, so Kristy could pick out a diamond for her engagement ring. This is a huge industry in Amsterdam, and the world's best diamonds from South Africa and everywhere else come over here to be cut. Their value depends on carrot, colour, clarity and cut. Brilliant cuts have 57 faces, while princess cuts have 64. We all had fun trying on rings, and I tried on a 2025 euro engagement ring.
Arrived at our hotel and checked in before heading into town for our walkabout dinner and special optional. Went for dinner with Nat L-z, Julia, Ange and Emily, then met up with everyone out the front of 'Teasers' to walk into the red light district to Casa Rosa. Afterwards Amanda took us on a walknig tour of the red light district, past all the girls in the windows and everything. Went to The Grasshopper, a 'coffee shop', and chilled out there for a while before heading back to the hotel with everyone.

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