Across the Pond, days 1 & 2

We flew into Detroit from Evansville and then continued on to Amsterdam, the capitol of the Netherlands.  It is early morning there a we flew into the night.  Thankfully I got some sleep on the airplane.  That made up for the poor quality of the food.
     We caught a coach (a tour bus) and even already, I'm loving the weather.  It's cold, dark, and rainy.  In other words, It's perfect for a red-head.
     The coach took us to a traditional Hollish farm.  They had lots of rogue chickens wandering about and  few cows.  We went inside a barn where they had a 3D corn maze set up for us to play in.  All aged 11-15, it was the last thing we thought we would ever be doing in Europe, but it was one of the best ice-breakers I have ever seen and it was a blast! In a few short minutes, the three delegations were bonded like peanut butter and jelly.
     As we were beginning to wind down, we were shown how they make the clogs that Holland is ever so famous for.  In years past, they would make them by hand and it would take them hours to make.  Now, with the help of machines, it takes about five minutes. Clogs are made with fresh cut poplar, they are cut out by the machines and then they are sanded until, "They are as soft as a babies bottom. Now I will pass one around so everyone can see the truth in my claim." The clog maker was indeed correct.
     After that we visited with the farmer's wife who was the maker of cheese. Jetlag was beginning to kick in but the prospect of having wonderful gouda was worth paying attention for.  We had a brief explanation on how to make it, but it was long and complicated and has since faded from my memory.
     We were served a delicious which comprised of soup, bread, jam, and of course the wonderful cheese.  A delicious concoction that I discovered was possibly the most simple.  You take a plain slice of bread and slather it with butter and cover it with chocolate jimmies.  Eat, and enjoy immensely.
     Coming into Amsterdam we noticed three things, bicycles, bicycles, and more bicycles.  There was also an abundance of bike lanes. Lots and lots of bike lanes.  Thankfully we were able to test out both of these with a 7 mile bike tour.  The bikes were a little strange, and the helmets were way too small, but nonetheless, it was very fun and exciting.  We saw beautiful gardens along the dikes, daft bovine, lots of boats, strange red-headed ducks, even stranger black birds, pigeons, a humongously large lake, and much more that you would only see there.
     We wove throgh the heart of Amsterdam, attempting to find their Hard Rock cafe in the event we were missing our American food already.  Finally seated, we ate Cheeseburgers and french fries (chips there, I suppose.) and sipped on Fanta.  A warning, European Fanta is not the same as the orange stuff in America.  Instead, it is yellow and I'm not entirely sure what it tastes like. Even though it was strange, it was strange in a good way and was compellingly tasty.  We checked into the Apollo hotel and I think everyone was out like a log in about an hour.