Eurotour 2011 - Germany & Holland

We arrived at our hotel in Bremen, Germany in time to see a hoard of at least 500 rollerskaters go past, a very interesting sight...

We only stayed the night then continued travelling on to Holland - on the way we watched Bananas in pyjamas (in Finnish) because we could :P

Bananas in Pyjamas

HOLLAND

One of my 1st views of Holland

we arrived in Holland and went straight to a clog and cheese factory for demonstrations on how they make both these things.

The scary part is... it is an average sized clog! haaha I shrunk

The clog instructor had converse clogs!!

THese are proposal clogs. The man wishing to propose to the woman carves the clogs himself and leaves them on her doorstep with the proposal inside one of the shoes, if she wears the clogs the next day it means she has accepted the proposal and both the man and the rest of the town know there is to be a wedding soon. This doesnt happen as commonly anymore but I think it is a very beautiful custom.

The cheese factory was quite interesting also, did you know: the cheese they make here, once sealed with a wax they also make themselves, can be stored for 2 months outside a fridge and 4 months in one? (it also tastes amazing!)

WHERE IS SYDNEY/ANYWHERE AUSTRALIAN??

One of the windmills Holland is so famous for, unfortunately it wasnt the right season for all the poppies to be out

There was a lot of very beautiful houses

what happens when an Australian see a REAL beach after almost 6 months

First views of Amsterdam

bridge over a canal in Amsterdam (view from bus)

we arrived in Amsterdam and headed straight for the Ann Frank museum - it is set up in the house her and her family hid in during the Nazi search for Jews in Amsterdam - extremely interesting and an eerie feeling standing in the house they hid, reading each sign and trying to imagine what it must have been like...

We then went on a boat cruise of the main canals of Amsterdam, here are some of my favourite photos from that tour:

After the boat tour we then got on the bus and headed for our hotel. The hotel I might add, was kind of like being back in Australia, Sea Patrol was on TV, there was a huge luxurious bathtub (havent seen a single bath in Finland) and then there were also some strangely familiar neighbours...