We woke up in our lovely hostel and had a yummy breakfast. They had homemade breads, meats, cheeses, cereal, fruits, and yoghurt. Then we met up with others on the busabout to go on a bike tour into the country side with Mikes Bikes. It was another sunny day with a bit of a breeze so perfect for cycling. I got a green beach cruiser bike with the wide handle bars- super cool. we headed out into the Amsterdam streets- whoa, intense- there are more bikes than people here so the bike lanes are amazing but crossing traffic was mental especially when you have to remember to look right first- nearly died a few times lol. We then biked out of the city of Amsterdam and into the country. I loved it, it was such a great thing to do- we biked along the river and ended up at a cheese and clog factory so learned how both were made. We bought a big round of cheese- a wholegrain mustard cheese to eat with the rolls we brought with us. Then we continued the bike ride though fields and parks. The parks were beautiful- so many bike tracks and so many people sunbathing in the parks. Our tour guide was very outrageous- dressed in the smallest shorts I’ve ever seen and wore platform heels. The bike tour went for four hours but was so enjoyable. After the bike tour we went back to the hostel to get ready for our pub crawl- we got free t-shirts. It was awesome to actually be able to go out dancing as Christchurch has nothing- we were out until 2.30am then caught the night bus home. The next day we slept in so missed breakfast but went to a little Turkish place for a wrap- it was very yummy. From there we went into town to go to the biggest market in Amsterdam- it was a very hot day with no wind. The market wasn’t very good. lots of clothes I don’t think anyone would ever buy- so that was disappointing. In the evening we waited until it got dark to visit to the red light district- when in Amsterdam…. it started to pour with rain. Steph and I went to FEBO for tea- like McDonalds but a Netherlands chain. They have vending machines there where you put your money in and can get a burger or chips ect. We got our burger from over the counter. To the red light district we went. We got absolutely drenched. What a weird place- the girls stand in big glass doorways right next to each other´- sort of like Barbie’s in a box- we ended up down the transvestite section ew!! There are so many girls on display- and they knock at you as you walk past, we didn’t know where to look. We felt very uncomfortable. Then there are all the seedy looking bars and sex shows. We got out of there pretty quickly and went back to china town to get out of the rain and have a drink at a pub. Then we caught the last tram home at 12.30. The next day we were up early to get the bus to Berlin. We left on the bus at 8.30am and got into Berlin just after 6.30pm- a long day on the bus. the bus stops every two hours or so which is good- and they play movies that have the location we are heading to in them- so we watched Unknown and the Bourne Supremacy. We went to an Italian place for tea- not very nice food, but oh well didn’t expect Germans to make good Italian. Then we walked round the town for about an hour before bed.
