Amsterdam Day 10?

It's challenging to keep track of the days. But Saturday July 7th turned out to be a very memorable day for most of the group in Amsterdam.  Even though we have a set itinerary directed at a few highlights of the city, this tour is a custom tour, designed around the travelers preferences. The only thing I insist upon, is communicating to me what those preferences are. It turns out relaxing in Amsterdam was the main focus for the travelers. But I did get them to a few main sites.

At 10 am we all met in the street in front of the Hotel to walk the "long" walk to the Anne Frank Huis and museum. On the way I found a bridge to have the group pose.

I knew it would be an hour wait for the entrance into see Anne Frank's house and the group was shocked at how long the line actually was.
 Joel took pictures of the line starting from the front of her house which is the brick building directly left of the modern museum windows on the right.

the line continues on around the museum and continues on

 and on 

and on and on and on.

So we just found a sunny spot to sit and enjoyed ourselves talking and eating snacks. I had warned them that it was like a Magic Mountain ride; you wait for an hour to go 3 minutes. 

 After this famous Amsterdam attraction we went to the first pancake bakery in Amsterdam called, go figure The Pancake Bakery.
There was a menu with over 50 choices and everyone was floored at how delicious each one was and no one was able to finish how big they were. Smothered in ice cream, bananas nutella, or filled with cheese and meat, everyone was wonderfully spoiled.

The rest of the day was planned to go to Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum and then the Heineken Museum. A few chose to also enjoy the green spacious Vondelpark.

So the rest of the day, groups walked from one attraction to the next. (most of the pictures are not uploaded yet, as the photo cards are SLOW and driving Joel bananas and we don't want to leave the computer out in the room, so we are trying to manage all activities and keep the photo cards rotating.)

The smiles on this trip are so beautiful.

After dinner on their own, the group met at 11 pm to take a tram and the metro to Biljborg (sp) Arena for the 40,000 people rave, Sensation. Everyone was dressed in white and very excited. There was a lot of drama before, during and after, and I will let the video tell those stories, but everyone danced until 5:30 am, took a quick taxi ride home for 25 euro! and slept till 3pm. The ones who did not attend Sensations went to some local clubs around town and came home at 5 am, and also slept in.

Day 11
We had encouraged the group to rent bikes, but it began to rain, and continued until 5 pm. So everyone was able to do their laundry after they were adequately rested. Everyone is healthy, happy and enjoying their European adventures. They are at a group dinner, I think they planned to go to a Chinese restaurant near Dam Square, but I haven't seen them yet to find out. Joel will surely take tons of pictures of their last evening in Amsterdam. We plan to meet at 9:30 am and catch an 11 am train to Paris.
I will post again on the last day of Paris (unless I find time before then, but Paris is a large city, and it won't be possible to keep going back to the hotel to rest as much).
Our first day in Paris (at least the plan I have for them is: Eiffel Tower, Bike Tour, River Cruise and Bed) I will let you know what we really do next time.

But...side note... This group are individually very independent and ready for their adult lives. My reins are loose, and they prefer them to be looser. Joel is an EXCELLENT male chaperone and we play good cop bad cop very well. I like that he is the good cop, as he is getting all the video footage of their "true" adventure, as I am the mom/bad cop and they don't open up too much with me (thank God)...
I am proud of your kids, though, as they are all very responsible and alert to traveling. I have been consciously  disappearing more from their days, and they are figuring it out, and feeling the true experience of being an independent traveler, which is my ultimate goal for my trips.

In Paris I will keep them more "focused" and in a group (hopefully), as there is sooo much to do, and not so many "relaxing" influences there, as Amsterdam. I hope their best experiences of this trip are yet to come. I do think they have already lived five years in a week, and am surprised how their batteries are staying so healthy!!!!
Please email me if you have any requests or comments, and I am sorry that I cannot figure out how to get the comment section to post, as it would be fun to share your input with each other as well!

Au Revoir