Its been about seven years since I last visited Amsterdam so my memory of it has faded somewhat. I think we stayed in a different area last time, being closer to the museums etc., but this time around Laney and I stayed not too far from the red light district. Actually finding decent accommodation for a reasonable price was quite hard, I guess it has something to do with it being summer but we finally we ended up at this B&B which was quite nice, came complete with a towel swan, even if we were on the top floor at the top of some really scary narrow winding stairs (admittedly something that Amsterdam is known for …) Our room even had a split level area with separate bed up a rickety ladder but Laney and I both worried that we’d be too tired, or something else, after a night out for either of us to make it safely up the ladder so we didn’t venture upstairs …

We were pretty lucky with our weekend in Amsterdam, the sun was shining, the temperatures nice and warm and Holland had reached the final of the World Cup (which was played today) so there was a great buzz in the air.

Photos photos photos

The Experience

We arrived late on a Friday night after a hard day at work and decided that there wasn’t a better time for a stroll. We ended up touring around the red light district where to my surprise practically everyone walking the street was a dude! I know that there is a particular attraction that is mainly for the men but I was surprised there weren’t at least a few females around. They say you shouldn’t take photos of the ladies in the red light district and it’s a fair piece of advice. For a start the ladies in the red boxes are there to earn and living, and not to be a tourist attraction, so its only respectful not to take photos of them as if they were performing monkeys. Secondly if you do end up taking a photo the ladies are not backwards in coming forward to swear at you, spit at you and even throw water at you. This was something we witnessed first hand when a person in front of us decided to take a photo! I felt really bad for both of them actually!

Our visit to Amsterdam didn’t really have any sort of plan. We thought we’d just wake up and see what we felt like doing. First stop was somewhere for breakfast, or more like an early lunch. It was very nice not to be rushing around trying to fit everything in on a trip. After a breakfast/lunch of croquette for Laney and a hot dog for me (yummy) we were off walking the canals of Amsterdam. Amsterdam is really pretty though as I look at my self-photos again having them in their background every canal looked nearly exactly the same! Ha ha! I noticed there were hooks at the top of most buildings – apparently they used these hooks for moving big item stuff to the top floors rather than risking the narrow staircases they would move the furniture in through the windows. That’s pretty innovative.

After about half an hour of casual strolling we arrived at the House of Bols, but before we got there we saw this:

It didn’t click until a couple of house later that it wasn’t saying “I am sterdam” but rather “I amsterdam”! Derrr! Ha ha.

The House of Bols is a new museum, new in the sense I don’t recall it being there seven years ago, showcasing what Lucas Bols is all about. Basically its an alcohol museum but also filled with some interactive elements. The girl at the front desk was super friendly, even going so far as to help us with recommending one of her favourite local restaurants. Actually as a whole I’ve found that every Dutch person we ran into, in the service industry at least, was very friendly and always willing to have a long chat with us about anything and everything.

Lucas Bols is supposedly the oldest Dutch company still active and the oldest distillery brand in the world. Bols is one line from the company and produces vodkas, gins, genevers (where gin evolved from) and liquers. We spent quite a bit of time in the museum, mainly because the alcohol was so strong that I wasn’t confident about being able to walk for a bit after drinking it! We also spent time in the Hall of Taste where there were over 35 different “smells” which you could test. It was fun but some of the smell were a little shocking and unexpected. Its amazing how many smells you actually misinterpret when you can’t see where it is originating from. At end of the hall is this funny mirror. Laney took the funniest photo ever which had her nearly wetting her pants. I’m sure she’s shown me the photo at least 20 times since over the rest of the weekend …

Another room at Bols is this music video room which Laney decided to transform into our own private disco. Heh heh.

There are other exhibitions etc. in the House of Bols but that’s pretty much what we found interesting except for the alcohol. With your entry to House of Bols you get two free shots and a free cocktail – you redeem this at the end of your visit at the bar at the end. You get to choose your drink from a selection of cocktails, where you can also print out the recipes so you can make it at home. The bar was pretty cool and at the time of day we were there it wasn’t too busy which was nice – so we could take our time over drinks, take stupid photos etc. Its been a while since I’ve had alcohol and in combination with the fact it was very strong it really hit me for six. I could see all the other customers looking at me worriedly as with my glowing red face and bloodshot eyes they must have been worried I’d fall over or something. Heh heh.

Sometimes I don’t know why I drink. I always look terrible!

We met this guy there who was visiting from Germany (he was actually an American working overseas) and he was nice enough. I’m mentioning him because we later saw him at a Bulldog Café! Some people come to Amsterdam to sightsee and some people come experience … shall we say out of body experiences – so that was next up on our itinerary. I have admit that I’ve never indulged in any sort of mind/body altering substances, not even a cigarette, so the experience for me this weekend was very different. We started with a space cake which looked to me like a small chocolate muffin – it sold for €6! The cake tasted really nice but, sadly, it didn’t have any effect on me at all. We had a good table at the Bulldog Café though which overlooked some of the red light district so it was very entertaining to watch the men go in and out of the rooms!

Not long after we’d finished our cakes the guy we met at the House of Bols came along and volunteered to get a packet of reefer. I wasn’t very sure about trying them but I’m glad I did because I know its definitely not for me. Once again they smokes had no effect on me at all, other than giving me a severe sore throat – perhaps I wasn’t smoking it right but it didn’t have any effect on Laney either. So, we decided we had to step it up.

The list of what to do and what not to do with these things goes for pages and seemed almost intimidating before you even start but I think it sums to not eating anything before (to prevent nauseau) or after (it will reduce the effects) and not to do them in combination with other products (or you’ll have flashbacks later on). You’re also supposed to enjoy it in a quiet place, like the park, or your room but basically you should be relaxing and not moving around. This was a mistake we made because for the first hour or so we were walking around town – Laney said she wasn’t feeling any effect but all I remember was feeling scared because I couldn’t tell the difference between a dream and reality. Walking around felt like I was in my head somewhere and I could have easily curled up in a ball in the middle of the street and not realised. Every time I blinked my eyes I would lose five minutes. It was so weird. Thankfully eventually we went back to our room where, as you can imagine, climbing the stairs was an interesting experience. For the rest of the evening I was giggly and apparently talking really loud. A big storm came over Amsterdam as well so that only added to the interesting experience. Fair to say I don’t think I’ll be indulging again in the near future – the lost of control, or really, the loss of the concept of reality was just overwhelming.

And that was Saturday! Sunday was a visit to the Heinekken Brewery. I remember going last time. Its quite a good attraction (did you know that they keep the DNA of the old brew alive!) and you get a couple of free drinks at the end. The funniest part is that when we got to the end of the visit and were going to get our drinks we found this very young Brazilian boy who was going around asking people who were leaving for their drinks if they hadn’t redeemed it. To say he was quite drunk was an understatement. Oh just a hint – there’s a room which has beds where you lay and watch a video above your head. This had the longest line ever for it but its not really worth it – all you get to watch is old adverts for Heinekken!

After Heinekken we went in search of the field which apparently was going to have the biggest outdoor screens in Europe where they would broadcast the World Cup final To our disappointment we would be leaving Amsterdam just as the game started so we couldn’t stay to enjoy the festivities. We were still able to enjoy the atmosphere though, scoring orange T-shirts, and join the flow of orange …

Oh, for a different kind of souvenir make sure you visit this shop: