Travel Tips

After several days we cruised into Amsterdam and erected the canvas bungalow in a surprisingly serene campsite just 15 minutes walk from the center and spent a couple of days taking it all in.

Amsterdam was almost all that I expected. It didnt quite have the historical magnificance nor breathtaking beauty I had hoped for, though to wander the canals and become lost in the winding cobbled backstreets was a pleasure.

There were a few things I felt I should accomplish whilst there to earn the tee shirt I wasnt prepared to pay for nor perticularly wanted.

First was to visit Ann Franks house and museum. Unfortunately the one hour queue all but put me off and I settled with a photo of the front door.

Secondly was to have a beer. I hadnt had one the whole trip. I chose the al fresco venue carefully and made myself comfortable. Things were looking promising as the smilling waitress brought me my large, chilled Bavarian glass. But just as I raised the fine amber nectar to my lips she went and spoilt it by telling me how much it cost. Five euros forty? (UK 4.65) For a beer? It just didnt taste quite right after that. But then The Netherlands is frighteningly expensive now the pound has taken a dive.

We tried another museum. The Amsterdam Sex Museum. It might sound tacky and vulgar but infact it was fascinating and vulgar and worth every cent!

Typically, they banned smoking indoors the day before we arrived. So how did the infamous ‘coffee shops’ fare? We made a visit to ‘Blues Brothers’, one of the citys longest established joints, if youll excuse the pun. The bottom line was, you were now alowed to smoke a whole range of drugs neat, that was fine, just as long as it didnt contain any tabacco. How oddly ironic. In any event, we declined and settled for a cappucino in the Irish Bar.

Amsterdam is jammed with bicycles, to the point where they have multi story bicycle parks and even stack them on barges. They out number cars and are far more likely to knock you over than any motorised vehicle.

Most are of the sit-up-and-beg variety, looking quite antiquated, though giving the rider a certain grace and poise besetting a rather cool and good looking race. Infact I wandered if there were any unattractive people in The Netherlands. My answer to that came when we stumbled into the red light district. Aesthetically challenged ogres sat in windowed cubicles that lined the streets, wiggling their sagging bits at passer-byers, flashing a random mouldy tooth. It was the desperate seeks desperate.

Well, this was supposed to be a journey east, so east we turned. Or south-east, at least, and spent a couple of pleasant days heading for the border.

I had also always wanted to visit Holland, but without a map wasnt sure in which direction to head. Still, surely it couldnt be that hard to find a whole country …

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