August 2011 Trip to Netherlands/Belgium

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Saturday, August 27 - Monday, May 29, 2011

The coach had a variety of pickups throughout South UK, and I caught the 5:30AM pickup in Worcester, then we picked up quite a few others on the way to Dover (total of 48).  We took the 2:45 ferry to Calais and then a long drive to Amsterdam where we arrived about 9pm.  On Saturday morning we had a short coach drive around the city centre and then spent a few hours at a diamond factory.  It was interesting, although I really have no desire to purchase jewelry.  Because it was raining most of the morning and afternoon, it was not enjoyable to walk at that time.

In the afternoon we had a ride to a tiny town of Volendam. Again, it rained, so it was not that pleasant, and there was not much to actually see there. The cheese factory was interesting and we had samples of at least 20 different cheeses - excellent. There was a clog factory visit for about 15 minutes as well. In the evening we had a canal boat ride throughout Amersterdam and it was interesting with all the architecture.  I never got to visit the Anne Frank House - perhaps in the future. Amsterdam is laid-back with its 'special' cafes selling dubious products and the red-light district. The canals themselves are very beautiful and it is a very safe city - athough very expensive.  I had an excellent ice-cream product called 'watermelon swirl' and it was fantastic - although at 2.75 Euro (about $4) quite an expensive treat. One thing in Amerstedam is that the bicycle is king - there are almost as many as people and everyone rides.  Very good for the environment and your health!

Monday morning we left and reached Brugge, Belgium in the early afteroon.  It is a beautiful city, but again - extremely expensive.  Then we caught the 8pm ferry, and I did not get back to Worcester till about 2:45am.

Gassan diamond factory	Cheese factory near Volendam	Clog factory	Multi-story bike park in Amsterdam	Bridge entering Burgge	Burgge canal
Town Hall - Brugge