Hey folks, a few people have pinged me and asked me how my trip was, so I thought I would post a few notes. First of all, I should indicate I was in the area on business. I had an extra day and a half in Amsterdam at the end of my trip to see what was what.
Well, my net is that I wouldn't place Amsterdam high up on my list of places to visit if you haven't been to other places in Europe first. Sure, there are nice aspects - some decent (but ridiculously crowded) museums, interesting architecture, etc. But the real draw appears to be the endless succession of activities revolving around drugs and sex. That is interesting for a few hours, but gets boring real easily.
I spent the day hopping from neighborhood to neighborhood on the tram (the city has an excellent network of public transportation). There is lots of high-end shopping, but with the dollar so weak, it isn't really cost effective. I did duck into a few toiletry places to see if I could find any interesting shave gear, but only saw Gillette products for the most part. I did find a great tobacco store in the center of town, and drooled over the various pipes, etc. Of course, I couldn't resist sampling some Cuban cigars which I can't get here.
The museums are just packed with people, so it wasn't that enjoyable. Same story with the Anne Frank house. Interestingly there is a cafe as part of the museum, which I found a bit strange. How about a nice meal while you ponder mans inhumanity to man?
The cafe's were very nice. This is one thing I love about Europe - areas densely packed with bars where you can walk from place to place, drink beer outside, and just relax. There aren't may places like that in the US. The food was a mixed bag, some good, some not so good.
Now of course, to the Red Light district. It is indeed everything it is cracked up to be and more. You can't walk two feet without plumes of marijuana and hashish smoke blowing into your face from the various "coffee shops". The prostitutes, despite my expectations, were for the most part drop-dead gorgeous. Not quite what I expected there. The whole area is packed arm to arm with college kids on benders and groups on bachelor parties. If I was about 15 years younger, I probably would feel differently, but I found the whole area rather sad.
In all, I am glad I went, but it wasn't a blockbuster experience for me.
Well, my net is that I wouldn't place Amsterdam high up on my list of places to visit if you haven't been to other places in Europe first. Sure, there are nice aspects - some decent (but ridiculously crowded) museums, interesting architecture, etc. But the real draw appears to be the endless succession of activities revolving around drugs and sex. That is interesting for a few hours, but gets boring real easily.
I spent the day hopping from neighborhood to neighborhood on the tram (the city has an excellent network of public transportation). There is lots of high-end shopping, but with the dollar so weak, it isn't really cost effective. I did duck into a few toiletry places to see if I could find any interesting shave gear, but only saw Gillette products for the most part. I did find a great tobacco store in the center of town, and drooled over the various pipes, etc. Of course, I couldn't resist sampling some Cuban cigars which I can't get here.
The museums are just packed with people, so it wasn't that enjoyable. Same story with the Anne Frank house. Interestingly there is a cafe as part of the museum, which I found a bit strange. How about a nice meal while you ponder mans inhumanity to man?
The cafe's were very nice. This is one thing I love about Europe - areas densely packed with bars where you can walk from place to place, drink beer outside, and just relax. There aren't may places like that in the US. The food was a mixed bag, some good, some not so good.
Now of course, to the Red Light district. It is indeed everything it is cracked up to be and more. You can't walk two feet without plumes of marijuana and hashish smoke blowing into your face from the various "coffee shops". The prostitutes, despite my expectations, were for the most part drop-dead gorgeous. Not quite what I expected there. The whole area is packed arm to arm with college kids on benders and groups on bachelor parties. If I was about 15 years younger, I probably would feel differently, but I found the whole area rather sad.
In all, I am glad I went, but it wasn't a blockbuster experience for me.
the ones you liked are probably imported from Poland or Czech
