We woke up early that day and took the high speed train from Breda to Amsterdam. This train travels at around 180-200km an hour. Once in Amsterdam we walked towards our hotel, only having a description of where it is and hauling our luggage thru the slush. We were cold and exhausted from a busy couple of weeks. We were told that this hotel (grand krasnapolski) is very famous and anyone should be able to point us in the right direction. We finally found it...we put one wet foot in front of the other and made our way out of the cold. Once inside we were instantly impressed by the hotel. The man at the front desk not only allowed us to check in early, but also upgraded us to a better room at no cost. We thanked him and took lift #5 up to our room. Our room was very clean and modern, with a bed big enough for five people. We had a few expresso's and a shower then made our way onto the streets of Amsterdam.
We walked around for a while looking in at the glossy eyes patrons of the various "coffee shops". We found a restaurant that looked legitimate and went in. Once we settled in at our table, I noticed an ashtray and got excited about another opportunity to have a cigarette while staying warm. The waitress then informed me that we were allowed to smoke in there, but only joints....no cigarettes. A little disappointed we ordered our lunch. I noticed that they were selling shirts behind the bar. The bar was called Grasshopper...and I didn't know how that never clued me in. The establishment housed a "coffee shop" in the basement, which was much busier than the resteraunt. Our meal was great, and once finished we made our way back outside....
The stores sold all sorts of edible treats...cookies, brownies, suckers...all made with either hash or weed. They also sold mushrooms. My wife and I, not being drug users did enjoy being in such an open atmosphere. We walked for hours....
I think it was around 4 or 5 when we started to notice that we were walking past prostitutes behind the windows. They were waving at us and trying to call us over. Not being tempted by the flesh of a hooker, we walked back towards the retail section. This wasn't our last time in the red light district.
We shopped for a few hours and went back to the hotel to drop off our purchases. It was close to 7-7:30 when we decided that we would go back down to the red light district and see what night life was like in Amsterdam. Things were much busier now...more people in the coffee shops and way, way, way more hookers. We had to check out a sex show, we knew we would be disappointed if we didn't see one. I won't go into what we saw in there....but it was exactly what it sounds like.
When we left we went for dessert at a chocolate shop....which was giving away chocolate that you snort....I asked the girl behind the bar if it was for show or if people actually insufflate that powder...she said that she had never but that people do it all the time. We left from there with some dessert and without chocolate in our noses.
We must have walked for a while again because when we got back to the hotel it was getting late. We ordered some room service and talked about our trip....sad that it was coming to an end. We packed our bags so we could leave for the airport in the morning....called the front desk for a wake up call and went to sleep.
I will post some more in a bit here.
Until then....
Cheers
The stores sold all sorts of edible treats...cookies, brownies, suckers...all made with either hash or weed. They also sold mushrooms. My wife and I, not being drug users did enjoy being in such an open atmosphere. We walked for hours....
I think it was around 4 or 5 when we started to notice that we were walking past prostitutes behind the windows. They were waving at us and trying to call us over. Not being tempted by the flesh of a hooker, we walked back towards the retail section. This wasn't our last time in the red light district.
We shopped for a few hours and went back to the hotel to drop off our purchases. It was close to 7-7:30 when we decided that we would go back down to the red light district and see what night life was like in Amsterdam. Things were much busier now...more people in the coffee shops and way, way, way more hookers. We had to check out a sex show, we knew we would be disappointed if we didn't see one. I won't go into what we saw in there....but it was exactly what it sounds like.
When we left we went for dessert at a chocolate shop....which was giving away chocolate that you snort....I asked the girl behind the bar if it was for show or if people actually insufflate that powder...she said that she had never but that people do it all the time. We left from there with some dessert and without chocolate in our noses.
We must have walked for a while again because when we got back to the hotel it was getting late. We ordered some room service and talked about our trip....sad that it was coming to an end. We packed our bags so we could leave for the airport in the morning....called the front desk for a wake up call and went to sleep.
I will post some more in a bit here.
Until then....
Cheers
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