Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th

Thursday 6th 4:30pm
We are now on the road to Amsterdam, having crossed over the border into Holland. The traffic on the Autobahn is very heavy, multiple lanes both ways and lots of vehicles. Have been on the road since 2:30 and expect to get to our hotel about 6pm. There are three buses traveling together and we have just had a pit stop. Can you imagine about one hundred people pouring out of the buses into the servo for the toilets. Chaos. The guide wanted us back in the bus in 15 minutes. Fat chance! - 70+ ladies with only 2 cubicles.
Lunch stop today was in Cologne (Koln to the locals) where we walked around the old town and inspected the cathedral which is a massive building in the Gothic style. Like a lot of the old sandstone buildings it has absorbed pollution and is black, but has beautiful stained glass windows including a more modern and controversial one. Lunch consisted of German fare where they brought out trays of mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, sausages and pork knuckles. Sadly much of it went back untouched, too much to eat. Plenty of beer too!
Last night we stayed at a beautiful town Bad NeauenAhr. This is a spa town. Like Daylesford and Hepburn Springs people go there to take the waters, it is larger and grander than the Victorian towns but has lovely gardens and was nice to be out of large cities. The hotel didn't have free WiFi so didn't do the blog yesterday, will post this entry tonight.
On the way yesterday we stopped at Koblenz, frankly that was a waste of time mind you we were feeling 'a bit over it all' as we had finally left the ship in the morning and knew there was now no chance of seeing the river as we had hoped. We should not complain we have been well cared for and seen all our options plus extras via the bus trips.
Like many other towns Koblenz and Cologne were 90% destroyed during the war. Amazingly the cathedral in Cologne had hardly any damage at all.
Cologne is on the Rhine, and like the Danube and Main rivers, it is spreading out along the banks.
The Coach travel has been taking its toll on the travelers, there are coughs and sneezes all the time and people are generally tired.
Thursday 9pm
Have arrived in Amsterdam and have now been fed and watered. We are staying at the Radisson at the airport. Cheri tried to get accommodation closer to the centre of town, but its a bit difficult to fit in 150 people on two days notice. The weather is still sunny and its quite pleasant out.
Tomorrow we do a cruise on the canals and have a look around Amsterdam.