A relaxing cruise on the Rhine River

Along the Rhine, a church where the only way to get in is through the pub in front

The magnificent gothic cathedral in Cologne

Canal cruise in Amsterdam

1 of our 3 tables at The Sea Palace, our final dinner together

The morning began with a short drive to the Rhine River for a boat cruise. It was a nice calm and peaceful start to the day. Of note was seeing on the shore of the river, a church where the only way to get in was to walk through a pub.

After the cruise, we were off to Cologne, Germany for a short stopover for a quick viewing of the gothic cathedral. While we had seen a large number of churches and cathedrals on this trip, this one was the most magnificent of all, both in its architecture and its pure size. Andee told us that the only good way to get a full picture of it was to buy a postcard.

After searching around for a place to grab a quick lunch, Kim, Lynn, and I caved and did what we all said we wouldn't do...we ate at McDonald's. With the extremely limited time we had to eat and run, it was the only place where we knew we could get in and out quickly. We weren't the only ones thinking the same thing, as we bumped into Helen, Steve, and Melissa there, and also saw several others on our tour as well.

We also noticed a huge police presence around Cologne, with lots of police cars speeding around with sirens blaring. We didn't know why until someone told us that it was because of the G7 summit that was taking place in Cologne.

We boarded our coach and headed for Amsterdam. It would take us the majority of the afternoon to get there. While Holland is known for its windmills, we only saw one off on the side of the highway during the entire trip. We checked into our hotel just outside of Amsterdam, the Hotel Ibis, and after a couple of hours we were back on our coach again to head into the centre of Amsterdam for our last big night of the trip. After a driving sightseeing tour of the city, we dropped off those who didn't want to attend our optional last dinner out and jumped aboard a sightseeing boat for a canal cruise. Amsterdam was unique in that most of the houses were very tall and thin, and most had large hooks on the front near the top, which enabled people to hoist furniture and appliances to the upper floors, where they may not have fit through the front door and stairs. Many of the houses also had a slight lean to them. We also saw one house that was only 1.5 metres wide. Many people also lived in floating houses on the canal. Some of these houses even had concrete bases, yet they were still able to float.

After the cruise, we then made our way to The Sea Palace for our final dinner out. It was a Chinese buffet-style restaurant that is a near identical replica to a restaurant of the same name in Hong Kong, but on a smaller scale. It was our last hurrah together, with many people reminiscing about our past 11 days together. Andee, who usually disappears to another part of the restaurant every time we go out to eat, showed up this time to take any pictures at anyone's request. While not quite as outrageous as our dinners in Paris or Rome, we still a great time.

When dinner ended, Andee took us for a walk through the infamous Red light District. It was interesting to say the least. Prostitution is legal here, and to see such large groups of people walking through this area, whether they were "buying" (well, "renting" actually) or "selling". Some females in our tour group were even propositioned by passersby. There were no photographs of any kind or video allowed in the District. There were many shops selling "self-satisfying" products, and many windows with women displaying their "goods", which you could get your hands on if you were willing to pay the right price. A draped window meant that inside, a client was already being served. On our walk, we also passed by several cafés and coffeehouses. The differences being cafés serve your typical café foods and drinks, and coffeehouses also serve soft drugs, particularly of the plant variety (which are also legal here). Of course we didn't need to be told which was which. All we needed to do was walk by and we could tell by the smell. Our last evening was free to enjoy before we would start heading back to London the next day.