荷兰是风车之国，这里的风车居然是民宅，而且主人特别好客，在门前建了个大停车场，让观光客在门前摄影留念。

离开风车小屋后，我们上钻石工厂参观，了解钻石的生产制作过程。讲解小姐教了钻石的4C，又让所有女人试戴了戒指，我与女儿也试了试，当然她的用意是让大家购买了。

然后我们来到了德国，这是我第一次到德国。上回带着儿子游欧洲时，朋友抱怨我怎么没有将德国列上旅程。现在终于到了德国，却与朋友失去了联系，不知道他现在是否还在德国，心头泛起一丝惆怅的感觉。

我们到了的科隆，参观德国最大的教堂。歌德式的大教堂耸入云霄，音乐家舒曼因感其雄伟庄严，谱出流传千古的《莱茵河交响曲》。我们见到的教堂在整修中，黑乎乎的带着岁月的痕迹。更糟糕的是那里扒手当道，小心翼翼地护着荷包，崇敬的心情竟添了几分重负。

一直到走出拥挤的教堂，大家才长长地舒了一口气。还好，荷包在，手机在，照相机也在。

我们来到莱茵河畔，这是一个幽静雅致的小镇，给人以一种赏心悦目的感觉。

这是我们乘坐的游船，游览风光旖旎的莱茵河。

德国以城堡著名，每座城堡都有传说故事，关于友谊，关于爱情，为其蒙上朴树迷离的色彩。我们在游船上可以看到三座城堡，每座城堡都是一个浪漫故事，我好想进去看一看，呼吸一下那里神秘的气息。

神秘的还有这块巨石，据说是莱茵河边最大的岩石，是一位在河边摄魂的女神。

沿着河水一路前行，两岸有青翠的田园风光，点缀着葡萄园、教堂与小屋。

当然最悠闲的是鸭子了，在莱茵河中嬉戏游玩，做着自由自在的鸭梦。

晚上的团餐是德国猪脚，让我想起了周庄的蹄胖。

17 day trip – day 4

Diamond factory: five out of five

I went on a trip to a diamond factory today. The company allows people to take tours. Now, you may think that a thief could disguise as a tourist and sneak in, but everybody is given a tracker sticker so that visitors are monitored a lot. I learned how diamonds are transformed from translucent rocks to sparkling stones. It requires a lot of cutting. Since the only thing that can cut a diamond is a diamond, some of them have to be sacrificed to the cutting of other diamonds. There is a gift shop (naturally) that sells diamonds. Really! One of the cheapest with-diamond products was about 400 euros. The tour guide actually has a story involving the gift shop. There was a couple from New York, and the woman loved shopping. She always got her husband to pay for whatever she wanted, even if he didn't want it. When they got to the diamond factory, the man tried to escape paying for the diamonds that she would inevitably want to buy. For a while, he did. Then, some security guards found him and brought him back to the factory. They had found him hiding four blocks away in the park.

Cruise: five out of five

Another place I visited was the Rhine River. I went on a short cruise. The boat I was on had two parts, an upper deck and a lower deck. Of course, I was on the upper deck. It was very windy there. My mom found a sheltered overhang where we could sit, but for most of the trip I decided to take pictures instead on the sides of the boat. The Rhine River is in a valley, and the sides of it are very steep. I actually am very lucky, because my mom got an offer to go on a Europe tour a few weeks before this one, and a few weeks ago the Rhine River had flooded to the highest level in a hundred years. Because of that, there was no cruise.

Hotel: zero out of five

The hotel I am currently in is terrible. When I first came in, I couldn't open the door of the room I was staying in. Every time I tried to open the trash can, it would flop away and close so I couldn't throw things away. I also heard somebody else complaining about a lack of electricity in their room. There is a king-sized bed, but that doesn't make up for the other bad stuff.

Average: three out of five

If you want to continue learning about my trip, please read the next reviews for this seventeen day trip in Europe!

P.S. if you want to come to Europe, bring lots of spare change! The toilets cost money to use!