Guten Tag

I think the last time I left off we were in London or just about to leave London.
Sunday…
We met our tour guide Paul Felix and headed to St. Pancras station to get onto the Eurostar. It was a super fast trip. I fell asleep during the time we were under the channel, and when I woke up I was watching French farmland pass by the window. We ended up in Brussels, got on our motorcoach and started our long journey to Amsterdam.
We arrived in Amsterdam and went on a cruise through the canals, it was raining but it was beautiful regardless. We then went to check into the Carlton. My parents and I wanted to do the excursion of a Dutch dinner and a walk through Amsterdam. The dinner was interesting. We got to chose a starter and Mom, Dad and I tried all three… a fish platter (yuck), a ham platter (yuck) and pea soup (yum). Main dish mom had hodgepodge which was carrots and mashed potatoes with a meatball, I had chicken with potatoes and dad had steak. For dessert we had ice cream with fruit salad, ice cream with pancakes and ice cream with chocolate (orgasmic). We then had coffee… which was bitter so I literally put half the bottle of sugar in it and then it was perfect.
After dinner we went on our tour of Amsterdam. We saw a lot of interesting things and learned a lot of history. We also went through the red light district. Women were seriously standing in windows with nothing but lingerie on posing… I felt so awkward, especially being with my parents. People also tried selling dad some marijuana. Marijuana was being smoked everywhere and it was disgusting.
Monday morning we were up and heading for Germany. In Germany we went to Cologne or Koln and saw the Dom Cathedral which was ridiculously beautiful. We walked around and had some pastries and then walked around Cologne some more, we didn’t really have much time there. After, we tried heading to the Rhine river to do a cruise, but traffic was awful because of a bike race… Thankfully we got to the river cruise right when it was about to leave. The Rhine River was BEAUTIFUL. So many castles and quaint little villages. After the cruise, we headed on to Heidelberg. We were staying at the Leonardo hotel… where we had dinner. Dinner was salmon (gross) not our choice with rice… So after, dad and I walked the streets to find more food. We only found a café open seeing as they celebrate Easter both on the Friday before and the Monday after so it was empty. Dad and I got a German beer and some pommes with mayo and ketchup.
Tuesday… we headed to the Black Forest, which was amazing. There we stopped at a cute shop that had cookoo clocks, dolls, nutcrackers and anything else German that you can imagine. We got a bunch of stuff, but we won’t get it until we get home. We walked around the town for a while before leaving for Switzerland. Since Switzerland isn’t a part of the EU we had to cross security at the border. Once in Switzerland, we stopped at the Rhine Falls, not quite Niagra Falls, but still impressive. We got into Lucerne around 4:30. Our hotel is on a hill and our bus driver backed up the hill to get to it, it was very impressive. Mom, dad and I walked around the Lake and saw Mt. Pilatus and the alps surrounding Lucerne.
Tonight, we did a traditional Swiss Folklore dinner party. We had cheese fondue, veal with hashbrowns, and ice cream. It was yummy. We also had traditional music, complete with alphorns, yodeling, and many other things. I got to go on stage and dance, mom and dad had to yodel (and chug beer). It was one hilarious and fun evening.
Tomorrow our plan is to have a tour of Lucerne, climb Mt. Pilatus (by a cable car) and then have the afternoon to do whatever. Thursday we leave bright and early for Paris!