Bus tour 1: Amsterdam, Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Marken

The British Diva convinced HGirl to go Griswold-style (think National Lampoon's European Vacation) and take a bus tour of Amsterdam, Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Marken. The Amsterdam tour included a tour of the Gassen Diamond Factory. That was pretty cool because they got to see a 121-facet diamond worth ~ €61,000 ($77,619.50 USD) - and it wasn't even in a setting yet. Next stop was Zaanse Schans and a windmill that was puportedly a former home of Rembrant. It was very picturesque as you can see.

The duo next went to Voldenham. They saw wooden shoes being made (with a lot of jostling from some bratty ass French children). They then headed to a cheese making factory. It smelled faintly of sour milk, but was otherwise kinda neat in a Clark Griswld sort of way. After the cheese making explanation, they were ushered to the gift shop where they could taste their cheese and buy some if we were so inclined. Polite as ever, HGirl and the British Diva waited their turn in line. But the family of tourist right in front of them (couldn't figure out where they were from) decided to beauguard the cheese samples. Instead of taking one cube of each sample, they were taking handfuls. They stood there for about 10 minutes scarfing cheese cubes. One can only hope they ended up with a stomach ache - he he he.

Next stop was a boat ride to Marken across the lake that was formerly the Zuider Zee. The ride was a little rough, but HGirl managed to keep her lunch down. The pair jumped off the boat. HGirl went in search of pannenkoek (small Dutch pancakes), which she had doused in raisins and rum to warm up a bit. Meanwhile, the Diva went in search of haring (herring). When they met up again, the Diva stunk of fish. Turns out the Dutch like their haring raw or pickled. Should've checked with Lonely Planet on that one.