NORTHERN TOUR - AMSTERDAM - HAMBURG - COPENHAGEN

Finally I find some time to write a bit about my Northern Tour adventure.  The next day after our arrival arrived the others to join the group. At 5 pm we finally were all together and the presentations could begin. Our tour leader is a young woman from the UK. The travelers are from all countries : The United States, South Africa, Australia, Canada, Malasya, Philippines, and finally us, the two Europeans from Belgium.

Then we all went to our bus to start the tour with a Pizza cruise on the Amsterdam canals



The pizza was very good and we enjoyed the landscape passing by.



We also saw this old ship and the museum of science. Of course we saw a lot more, but my time is restricted.



The next day on our way to Hamburg we stopped in a farm where we also visited a clog maker. As I had seen this already before, I preferred to stay in the stable, the smell there reminded me of my childhood. One of the cows loved or loved not my red outfit, because she bumped all the time against my arm. I tried to pet her head, but that she didn't like either. She apparently wanted bread, but I didn't have any.

The trip was very well organized, we stopped each  two hours for a "comfort stop" because a bus driver is not allowed to drive more than 2 hours.

Meanwhile we knew each other better and the ambiance in the bus was very funny. Some coming from far fell asleep because of the jet lag !

When we arrived in Hamburg it was very, very hot ! 36° C ! Bunny and I didn't want to walk around more than necessary in this heat, so we followed our guide for a short visit of the city but then took a sightseeing boat on the Alster.



This had been the best idea ever, because on the boat it was not so hot and we had a nice breeze and we saw the skylines of Hamburg, interesting buildings and the captain explained what we saw ! It was really very nice.



Before walking back to the bus, we had a nice supper at the river, enormous portions !

The next day we crossed the border to Denmark and had to show our passports for the first time. As Denmark had no Euros, we payed everything by card, not to have foreign coins in our pockets with which we couldn't do anything.



Copenhagen is a beautiful and interesting city. We followed our guide for a tour through the city and saw the famous Mermaid, which is a little disappointing and we couldn't understand why it had become so famous. We also saw the house of Christian Andersen the storytellers for the kids (and adults) and then had supper at the seaside. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the restaurant. Believe it or not I had fish and chips !! Copenhagen is very expensive for a small beer you pay 9 Euros and for a coffee I payed 5. The food too was very expensive. I think I have never eaten such luxury "fish and chips" in my whole life.

We were quite exhausted from the long day and went back to the hotel with our bus at around 7 pm, while a few others stayed in the city to see a bit of the night life, especially when they heard that it one street you are allowed to smoke canabis !

I sorted out my pictures and wrote this text, tomorrow morning we are off to Stockholm !