Day 11: Holland

After a wonderful breakfast, we took off for Amsterdam! It was about a 4 hour coach ride - and it rained SO hard, with the temperature dropping to ... well, it felt like it was in the 60's...cool...and windy! I was concerned, seeing as we were going to be taking the bike ride.
By the time we got to Edam (town close to Amsterdam), it had stopped raining, was partly cloudy, and beautiful!

We first walked along a pier area...waterfront area of adorable shops. I did go into a mild panic...because I left my camera on the coach, thinking we were walking in the restaurant by where we parked. No, we walked to the pier area and by the time I saw it was storybook-cute, it was too late, too far to go back for my camera. Lynne and Dustin took some photos for me, but seeing as I don't have copies, it didn't do me a lot of good...at least at this point!

The windows of these shops were filled with all things Dutch: wooden shoes, tulips, delft china, little Dutch boys and girls...plus the design/architecture of their buildings is so unique. We went to a little restaurant where we actually had lots of VEGETABLES! It was so good!

Our next stop was a farm where they make wooden shoes and cheese. Their presentations were great - short, and to the point! Perfect for a high school delegation that has been on the road for two weeks! Many of us took photos in the giant wooden shoe... and many bought some of the delicious cheeses.
From there we went to the bicycle ride - something I had been looking SO forward to! Bicycles are everywhere in Holland...it's just amazing. They're along bridges, along the streets, everywhere you can park a bicycle, there's one there. Men in suits, ladies in high heels, talking on cell phones, carting their groceries or their kids, holding umbrellas...you name it, they do it on their bikes.

Anyway, we went on a bike ride around and through the countryside of Edam - it was absolutely gorgeous...truly one of the highlights of the trip for me.

After the bike ride, we had time to explore around Edam for awhile...I absolutely love the looks of Belgium and the Netherlands!
Back in the coach to Amsterdam...stopping to eat once we arrived in the city. Amber, our directionally-challenged delegation manager, got us turned around incorrectly once again... but we finally made it.

At the Hilton in Amsterdam, they let us have a big conference room for the delegation to hang out in...to play games, to just visit...which was nice. Usually, the groups would hang out in the lobbies playing cards or visiting, but this Hilton just wasn't set up for a bunch of teenagers to be doing that. There were so many business travelers, I'm sure we would have had complaints...but all was well with the conference room!

Great Day!