Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - London to Amsterdam

Had to wake up at 5:00 A.M. this morning to shower, pack, and get ready for the tour to begin. We met in the hotel's main square at 6:00 A.M. to get our bags weighed and loaded onto the coach. During the drive to Dover, England, Josh went over tour logistics. Once in Dover, we took the ferry from England to Calais, France. The ferry took about an hour and a half. I hung out on the upper deck with Alana (New Zealand), Mia (South Africa), Jessica (USA), and some other folks from another Contiki tour (European Highlights). Once back on the coach we drove through France, Belgium, and into the Netherlands. Along the drive our tour manager organized us to do "speed dating" (2 minute "speed dates" with each of our other 50 tourmates) to help us get to know eachother. Once in Amsterdam Josh gave us a quick history of the city and handed out maps of the city.

When we got to the hotel we literally had minutes to unload our bags, get a bite to eat, and then back on the coach by 8:00 P.M. to head to our canal cruise. The cruise was so much fun - they provided us with unlimited drinks and loud music to listen to while crusing through the canals of Amsterdam. After the cruise we walked down Leidseplein Street and went to a bar to have some drinks and dance. Some people wandered off to endulge in all that Amsterdam has to offer... some people stayed, drank, and dance... but what happens in Amsterdam, stays in Amsterdam... so that is were I will leave it.


At around 11:30 P.M. my roommates, Aya (Japan), Mia (South Africa), Jessica (USA), and I took a taxi back to the hotel. I had a short time on the internet and could send emails to Jon and my family.

Fell asleep about midnight.

--Turns out my clock was off by an hour, and so we actually returned to the hotel closer to 1:00 A.M., oops!--