Archive for January, 2008
Amsterdam coffeeshops FAQ - The basics
This is part of an Amsterdam Coffeeshops FAQ series
>>go to the main Amsterdam Coffeeshops FAQ page
>>go to the main Amsterdam Coffeeshops overview page
The basics
If you are considering your first trip to Amsterdam and you are one of the billion or so earthlings who are interested in the subject of marijuana, you may have discovered that information on exactly how everything works in Amsterdam coffeeshops is hard to come by.
It’s easy to find brief and unhelpful information that discusses Amsterdam coffeeshops in a paragraph or two, and it’s also not hard finding websites where marijuana nerds dissect each other’s theories about smoking this or that. So if you have yet to visit an Amsterdam coffeeshop, the whole thing can be a little mysterious or intimidating. If you are brand new to the fun and endlessly rewarding activity of smoking weed and so forth, you might be interested in this well-written tutorial on how to smoke weed.
This guide will try to answer all your questions so when you arrive in Amsterdam you’ll already know what you are doing without having to feel embarrassed or out of place.
Is cannabis legal in the Netherlands?
Not exactly, but for the purposes of the casual visitor it is. I could go on for pages about the complex and contradictory laws and customs involving cannabis in the Netherlands, but the important thing to know is the country is very welcoming of tourists who want to try out smoking in the coffeeshops (almost always written as one word). It’s an important part of their tourism crowd and cannabis-related problems are very rare, especially compared to alcohol-related problems in the country or elsewhere.
Date: January 21st, 2008 |
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Prostitute prices in Amsterdam, just in case you were wondering
I would imagine that for every 100 men who wander around through Amsterdam’s Red Light District, 99 of them never seriously consider buying what’s being offered in those notorious red-lit windows, but I would also imagine that most of those 99 are at least a little curious about how much things cost once the curtains are drawn. After all, this isn’t called the world’s oldest profession for no reason, and it’s both legal and a tourist attraction in Amsterdam.
There are several different places to see prostitutes in Amsterdam, and the ones in the windows are (sort of) the cheapest and, of course, the easiest to find. Amsterdam also has escort services, brothels, and sex clubs where prostitution is always on the menu. More information on how things work and what things cost can be found on the Amsterdam brothels page and the sex clubs in Amsterdam page.
Date: January 16th, 2008 |
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Suspicious ‘priest’ nabbed with 3.5 kilos of cocaine at Schiphol Airport
As if the Catholic Church didn’t have enough problems already, a man claiming to be a priest was caught yesterday trying to bring 3.5 kilos of cocaine into the Netherlands at Schiphol Airport. Evidently he refused a routine body search on religious grounds and then was spotted getting in a different security line to try again.
The man had just arrived from Bolivia and was carrying the cocaine in packages taped to his body. My favorite part of the story is that he continues to insist he’s a priest and he feels his …
Date: January 12th, 2008 |
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Amsterdamlogue’s Top 5 coffeeshops
I should start by saying that with only a few exceptions, pretty much all the coffeeshops in Amsterdam are cool in their own way. It’s a bit like the “dive bar” thing where sometimes the coolest and most enjoyable places are the ones everyone else ignores. And then when a dive bar gets really popular it loses a bit of its appeal for the former regulars. Yeah, that sounds a bit pretentious, but my point is that there is no such thing as the best coffeeshop for everyone for every occasion.
Date: January 9th, 2008 |
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Amsterdam’s most notorious sex club officially ordered to close
Amsterdam’s drive to clean up the Red Light District took another move forward this week as a Dutch judge upheld the city’s earlier complaint alleging that the infamous sex club called Yab Yum at 295 Singel had been taken over by the Hell’s Angels.
The BBC story on Yab Yum’s imminent demise doesn’t say when the doors will shut, but other sources say it must close on Monday, January 7, 2008. The owners plan on appealing this ruling, but that verdict won’t come until February, according to an Amsterdam city spokesperson.
Date: January 4th, 2008 |
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New interactive Amsterdam map on BootsnAll.com
The nerds who do the technical stuff on Amsterdamlogue are still working on the upcoming map feature for this site, but they have now completed a really cool interactive map feature on some of the main travel guide pages for BootsnAll.com, which is the main site on the travel network that hosts Amsterdamlogue and many others.
The new map on the mini Amsterdam travel guide over there can be accessed by clicking on the Map tab on the navigation bar near the top of the page, or you can go to it directly on this Amsterdam map link. It’s probably easiest to use if you zoom in one level and then move the map around with your mouse.
Date: January 18th, 2008 |
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February in Amsterdam
February in Amsterdam is not marked by any special events that would be of special interest to most visitors, although there is obviously a lot still going on. This is mostly an indoor city and all the museums and other attractions are all open, only with smaller crowds than during most of the rest of the year. Many fans of the city like to plan annual pilgrimages during these mellow winter months because prices on many things are lower, and the lack of crowds means visitors can move about freely without having to dodge the slow-moving masses.
Getting there
Airfare to Amsterdam is at its absolute lowest from early January through early March, so flights are usually both cheap and fairly easy to find, even at convenient times of the day. Of course, once you arrive at Schiphol Airport, you’ll take the train to Centraal Station that leaves many times per hour right below the airport. Even if the weather is not ideal, you won’t even have to bother with it much.
Date: January 14th, 2008 |
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Amsterdam is evidently not one of the Top 10 Destinations for Independent Travelers
BootsnAll, the big travel network that hosts this site, just announced their Top 10 Destinations for Independent Travelers in 2008, and Amsterdam didn’t make the cut. It seems the list is geared toward cheap and/or less-traveled places, so I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise. The only European city on the list is Budapest, and Sicily also made it on there as well. Both of those places are well cheaper than Amsterdam, although in terms of pure numbers I would imagine they probably get fewer visitors. Budapest is a huge city, so who the hell really knows?
Date: January 11th, 2008 |
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Anne Frank - the musical, coming to Spain
Straight from the ‘Now I’ve heard everything’ file comes news that on Friday, January 4, the cast of an upcoming Spanish musical based on the life of Anne Frank visited Amsterdam’s Anne Frank House in order to do research for the project, and possibly drum up some publicity as well. The musical is called ‘El Diario de Ana Frank - Un canto a la vida’ and runs at the Teatro Haagen-Dazs Calderón in Madrid from February 22 through March 30.
Based on the photos in the story from pr-inside.com, which is nothing more than a press-release mill (but hey, it worked this time, right?) at least the young girl who’ll be starring as Anne Frank is really cute, which could help make this musical a bit less depressing. According to the story, the Anne Frank Museum has endorsed the project, and representatives led the 22-member cast and the directors through the attic apartment to help them get a better understanding of the family and their ill-fated hiding place.
Date: January 7th, 2008 |
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Aalsmeer Flower Auction - a colorful way to spend a morning
If you can drag yourself out of bed early enough, you should definitely consider a morning visit to the famous flower auction in the city of Aalsmeer, which is just south of Schiphol Airport and easy to reach on a public bus. It’s officially known as Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer in Dutch, but everyone speaks English so asking about the Aalsmeer Flower Auction will get the job done. This is one of the more popular day trips from Amsterdam, and is well worth a few hours if you’ll be in town more than a day or two.
Date: January 2nd, 2008 |
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