Amsterdam- What to do...

What can I say about our trip to Amsterdam? Everything!

Our trip began by boarding a flight on Continental at Newark Airport and landing in Amsterdam six and a half hours later. It was the first time I would be going to Europe and let me tell you I was not prepared for the overnight flight or the time change. My boyfriend on the other hand had been going to Italy to visit his family since he was a kid, so the flight from New Jersey to Europe was a cake walk for him...but anyway back to the case at hand!

So, we land at Schipol Airport in beautiful Amsterdam at around 9:00 in the morning. At first it didn't seem like the airport was crowded as we waited for our luggage...but then we headed upstairs to catch a train. Holy crap! There were people all over the place. My word of advise is to travel as light as possible and wear some clothing more than once...we didn't. We had a laptop, two large suitcases, my purse and a carry on for the week. Not easy to navigate all of that up escalators with a ton of people walking as fast a possible to get around the airport.

We get to where the train tickets are purchased and here's where the fun begins! First off prepare before you get on the plane and exchange about $100 USD into Euros. Unlike what many think there is no place to exchange and the train tickets can only be purchased using euros! The train will cost about 6 euro each person for a one way ticket. This is really the best mode of transportation because if you chose to take a taxi from the airport it will cost about 45 euro plus tip...that's about $75 USD! I do recommend taking a taxi to the airport for the flight home though because you'll have more to carry after all the goodies you're sure to buy in the Dam.

We head for the trains and hop on. Well as best as you can hop onto anything with all the luggage we brought with us. Find a seat and we're off. About 15 minutes later you arrive at Centraal Station on Damrak which is one of the main streets in Amsterdam that takes you directly to Dam Square.

Do your research on the hotels as much as possible when you book your trip. We decided that we wanted to stay in the Red Light district because we're young and there is a lot of nightlife there...and not just for what you think when you hear Red Light District. But, you will want to stay in an area of Amsterdam that caters to your interests. You may want to get a hotel by the Anne Frank house, or the museums, or the tulip gardens and windmills. Do your research!

We did ours, or better yet my boyfriend did because he's admittedly better at planning vacations, and it paid off! We get out at Centraal Station and our hotel is literally across the street. We booked our stay at the Hotel Victoria Park Plaza located on the corner of Damrak directly across from the station. It is a four star American hotel owned by the Raddison Hotel chain. I say American Hotel because that is exactly what it is. It has all the amenities you could hope for, mini bar and fridge, beautiful marble bath, ironing board and coffee maker, king or two queen beds, chairs and table, writing desk, television and safe. The room will cost you about 280 euro a night with the breakfast buffet option which is 30 euro per room per night.

If you would like a cheaper option they are available. You can travel at a different time of year (we traveled in May), book a lower star hotel or get a group of friends with you who would be willing to share a room and split the cost. Be warned though...most hotels that are listed as two stars aren't the Holiday Inn Express we in the States are used to. They are usually hostels and will cost about 30 to 50 euro per night per person. This is, however, a great option for someone who is backpacking through Europe as it is so cost effective.

So, we cross the street to get to the hotel and are plesantly surprised to see just how nice the hotel is. You really do get what you pay for. There was only one thing that annoyed me when we checked in. As is the case at most hotels nowadays, no matter where in the world you are, the check in is 3:00 P.M. Our flight arrived at 9 in the morning so by the time we got to the hotel it was about 10:30. Even though the check in wasn't supposed to be until later we asked if we could check in early. Over here if your room isn't occupied and it's been cleaned they let you in early, in Amsterdam they said fine for a fee of 35 euro...even though the room was already ready for us to go into!

Needless to say we paid the money because honestly we didn't want the added hastle of waiting for check in. You do have the option at this hotel of just checking your bag with the concierge, going out and about and returning at check in time for no extra fee, but I didn't feel comfortable doing that yet.

We went to our room, smoking if you are planning on having the true Amsterdam experience like us, dropped off our bags, used the bathrooms, and figured out how much money we wanted to exchange for now. We put a code into the safe which is great because that meant no one had a spare key. You actually pick whatever pin you want.

After a few minutes we were out the door and ready to see what the city had to offer. First stop was the concierge, who are extremely helpful at this hotel, to ask where the best place to exchage money would be. He directed us to go out the door and make a left and then another left into an alley that leads to one of the shopping districts of the city. As soon as you get to the strip there is a currency exchange directly in front of you on the corner that has the best exchange rates and doesn't charge you any exchange fees. Make sure that when you exchange its always at a place that doesn't charge you otherwise you'll get stuck paying a fee of $30 USD just to get some Euro!

At that time for every $500 USD we traded in we would get 330 Euro back. Doesn't sound so bad because you figure things would be cheaper in Europe, but not the case. Now when you get the money here's how it goes. The smallest note given is 5 Euro then 10, 20, 50 and 100. There is no note smaller than a 5 as opposed to say our smallest note the dollar. Anything smaller that 5 euro is in coin. There is a coin for a half euro (our equivelant of 50 cents), 1 euro and 2 euro. Make sure that you use the coin you get instead of always breaking a note because if you don't you'll end up with pockets full of coins that are actually worth alot of money.

Off to our second stop...what most people from America come to Amsterdam for. To smoke cannabis legally. Well not legally, but tolerated. That is probably the biggest misconception about pot in Amsterdam. It is not legal! It is tolerated though. Thirty or so years ago the Dutch government decided to tolerate the wide spread use of marijuana and classify it as a soft drug which they deemed to be less damaging than both alcohol and cigarettes. The government than came up with a list of rules to be followed. Each shop is to be monitored by the government to make sure they are following all guidelines. If they break these guidelines the shop will be closed and another permit will not be issued to anyone trying to reopen the shop at that location. They can only have a certain amount of it for sale, however, they are more lax with the bigger shops. They cannot sell hard drugs such as cocaine, pills, heroine or any other hard drugs. They were, however, permitted to sell mushrooms until this past year and are still allowed to sell hash. The funny part is that the shops, called coffee shops, are allowed to sell the pot, but they are not allowed to grow it because its illegal. So they have to keep their grow rooms top secret. It is also legal to buy seeds in Amsterdam and grow it in your own home as long as it's for your own use and you don't sell it.

As for other rules for the smoker. You must be 18 years old to buy cannabis or drink alcohol. You can only buy 5 grams per person per shop. Each shop has their own menu of hash, marijuana and joints available. They will list on the menu what strains are award winning, but it's always useful to ask the seller what to try. Most strains are around 10 Euro per gram. Prices can be as high as 25 Euro. Hash can be anywhere from 10 to 40 Euro per gram. Joints can be purchased pre rolled and starting at 4 Euro. Most are mixtures of pot, hash and tabacco or a combination of one or more strains. Be warned that they are huge, in cones and cost effective. All of the 300 plus shops in the city offer free papers at the counter or you can purchase your own. There are hundreds to choose from! You can choose to borrow a pipe, bong or hooka at some shops while others charge a small rental fee. You can also try a joint the way the Dutch do. They roll it with mostly tabacco, put a filter on it (also available at the shops) and voila. My boyfriend didn't like this method though. You always knew the tourists because they would smoke just pot in their joints. As for ettiquette...you do not have to  buy pot in every shop you go into. If you go into one and buy you can smoke there and not have to worry about purchasing a beverage. If you go into another coffee shop and do not buy the pot there, but want to smoke what you have it is customary to buy a coffee or water from that shop.

That's pretty much all the info you need to know about that.

Now our second stop was pretty much the first coffee shop we came across. La Canna is right around the corner from the hotel and about 50 feet from the money exchange. La Canna is two floors, has some games to play, some food to eat, a head shop, etc. We go up the stairs to the second floor where the coffee shop is located and sit down at a table. We didn't know what to do. A waitress comes over and hands us a menu, but there's no pot listed on it just food and beverages. He orders a Coke and I order a water. The waitress must have known we didn't know what to do so she points us to a small booth in the back.

The booth is where it all happens. We walk up and the guy behind the counter slides a lamenated sheet in front of us. It's the menu! On it is all the names and prices of the different marijuana, hash and joints they have to offer, what strain it is, what awards they've won, if it's a Indicta or Sativa, etc.

So my boyfriend picks one out and decides to buy some papers. He pays the guy and we sit back down at the table where our waitress already delivered our drinks. Let me tell you that I don't smoke often, I don't even smoke cigarettes, but I was really excited and nervous at the same time. He rolled it up and lit it and it was kind of surreal. Were we really buying and smoking pot in a public place and we weren't in any danger of getting arrested? Yes! That's exactly what we were doing. Even if you're like me and you don't smoke often you'll definately want to do it in Amsterdam.

After we were done we paid the waitress for our drinks and left the shop. Well most people would probably want to be stoned and go get something to eat. We left La Canna thinking it was great pot, but we were soon to find out that it was very low on the totum pole of Coffee Shops. Granted it is a big shop, but we recommend going to others that I will list later in this entry.

Now we're stoned, hungry and tired. Oh, and wet because we didn't know how often it rains there. And don't let the fact that we went half way through the month of May fool you. It's still chilly there and most people were walking around with an umbrella, a scarf and a light coat, so go prepared or you'll wind up buying alot of accessories along the way.

We decided to take a walk the long way back to the hotel, which meant walking down the strip to see what else was there, taking a side street back out to Damrak and walking back up to the hotel. On the way like I said we were still hungry and happened to pass by a frie stand with quite a few people in line. After a few seconds of reading the sign we decided to get in line and give it a try. The name of the stand on Damrak is Mannekin Pis. I know... who wants to eat from a stand that has piss in the title? But trust me. The name comes from a famous Belgian statue of a little boy peeing into a fountain and yes there is a picture of it drawn on the sign. Well, Mannekin Pis serves nothing but Frites. The portions come in small, medium and large but the small is huge and costs about 4 Euro which is oh so cheap. You can choose from 20 plus sauces and all are good! These frites are fried twice, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and somehow never get soggy. My boyfriend's favorite is a medium with Fritesauce which is pretty much Dutch mayo and relish (sounds gross but is delicious) and ketchup combo. My favorite is a small, or medium depending on the craving, with mayo. If you've ever seen Pulp Fiction when Travolta tells Samuel L. Jackson how disgusting it looks please don't believe it. The mayo over there is nothing like the mayo over here and it tastes completely different so please give it a try and I promise you won't regret it! If the thought of mayo still turns you off they have a great creamy garlic sauce and incredible sweet and spicy barbeque sauce to try out. Even if you like just plain ketchup you cannot miss this spot! Since coming home I try to find places advertising Belgian Frites but none have come close to the real deal at Mannekin Pis!

So, we happily took our first piping hot frites out of the paper cones they put them in and my god we couldn't have been happier. It started to drizzle again so we decided to walk down the block and get to our hotel before really digging in to our food. Plus we needed to put our feet up after the flight and all the walking.

After a while of relaxation we decided to head out again. This time we stopped at a shop to buy a couple of umbrellas because we didn't feel like being caught in the rain again. It was probably one of the best investments of the trip. We headed straight up the strip and ended at Dam Square.

The square is a great place to visit. The main feature is the Palace which used to house the Dutch Royal Family. On the cobblestone streets in front of the Palace is where you will find street performers, horse and carriage rides, street vendors, etc. Here's the rundown on the square:

-The street performers are there all day and you may want to take pictures of them, however, they will not permit you to do this unless you put some euro into the hat or cup at their feet. They will actually block their faces!

-The horse and carriage rides look like fun, but they are very expensive. Most will charge either 35 Euro per person or 60 Euro per couple for a 15 minute ride around the square. Doesn't sound bad in Euro, but when you convert it into dollars its enough to shock you. If you don't care about the amount or the smell of the horse then by all means go for it. The drivers will allow you to take pictures with the horses and believe me they are beautiful.

-The square is also home to Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum. There is a lot to do in there, and the figures are amazing. Just be aware that there's a mix of the figures between American celebrities and European celebrities that you may not know. All in all not expensive to do and a fun time.

-There is a hot dog stand right in front of the palace. Now i'm not quite that adventurous when it comes to eating American classics in another country. My boyfriend on the other hand decided he'd give it a whirl. Well it depends on what you like. The hot dogs there are red and look more like a sausage on the inside. They seem to be specked with pepper and other spices and taste nothing like a hot dog. They also don't have the toppings associated with a push cart dog such as kraut and mustard or chili and cheese. The Dutch seem to like to top theres with a mixture or mustard, ketchup and loads of relish. Not my cup of tea, but if it sounds kosher to you go for it. My boyfriend took one bite and threw it to the pigeons in the square.

-There's also a huge sundial in opposite the palace. A bunch of people will ride their bikes there and hang out on the steps. It's a nice spot to just get a snack or a cup of coffee and relax for a bit. You'll see some interesting people go by just from sitting there.

- The sqaure is also host to a fair every year in April for the Queens Day celebration. Every year in April the Dutch celebrate the Queens Birthday in front of the former Palace. It's a huge party that lasts for about two days straight and goes on 24 hours a day. There are dj's all over the place, everyone is decked out in Orange garb, everyone's drinking, dancing, in boats all throughout the canals, and you can even go on rides they set up in the square. Be advised that this is a huge deal in Amsterdam and hotels and flights get booked well in advance. The plane fare and hotel rates are much higher during this time because of the popularity of Queens Day.

Now, after we hung out in the Dam we decided to go find some other coffee shops. As I've said before I will give to you a list of shops we went to that were very good and I will let you know what I would avoid. Our next coffee shop was Route 96 where I want to say he may have purchased a gram and some Hash. He never smoked hash before so he decided to get some. We purchased, but didn't smoke it there because I wanted to relax and take a shower before heading out for dinner that night.

Now here are shops I recommend and ones I would avoid:

Recommend:

- Greenhouse: Any and all locations are good. I'm pretty sure they have four locatons now. The owner of the shops in Arijan. He is known as the King of Cannabis because he's won so many Cannabis Cup awards for his strains. His Ultra Haze collection is something that should be tried. You can even look him up on Youtube for more information. The setting of the shops is very modern and dark. Overall relaxing. Even though it's one of the bigger more well known chains it's still a definate stop.

-Hunter's: Here's the deal. They stopped selling alcohol at most coffee shops two years back, but Hunter's has a coffee shop and a bar directly across from one another. You can buy in hunter's shop and bring your wares across the street to have a drink and smoke, but you cannot drink in the cafe. Even though when we went there was still a drink menu on the wall of the cafe all that is available to you now is coffee, tea, juice, etc. Hunter's also has a big selection of hash. The guy behind the counter was really helpful and gave us a quick course on what to look for in a good hash. A downside of the shop is that it's small, the music is good but blaring which you may or may not like. I like loud music so it was okay for me, but not my boyfriend. An upside is that there are a couple of laptops set up along the wall if you wanted to hit the internet for a small charge. Most places were 2 Euro for seven minutes.

-420 Cafe: Great place to kick back. 420 has been featured in a few news programs here in the states. Why? Because they like to have you try vaporized marijuana. Here's how it works. You can either buy some pot from them and have them vaporize it or you can bring in your own and they'll charge a couple of Euro to do it. The put the pot into a vaporizer and attach a plastic "ballon" to it. The pot heats up to a certain degree to release the pure vapors from it, which fills the ballon. After the vapors have been completely disbursed the take the baloon off and attach a nozzle that you then press your mouth against to inhale the vapors. Higher that high is all I can say. While we were waiting for the marijuana to heat up we got to talking with the guy behind the counter. It turns out he was the owner and the one my boyfriend saw on the program. He was so happy to hear that we made a special stop to 420 because we saw it on the news and wanted to go to the source that he handed us a huge 420 package of filters for free. He was a very cool guy! It's also the place to go for a great cafe. They even have a little selection on the menu of special brownies, cakes and teas if you catch my drift. Other perks are the internet, good music being streamed off of a laptop, a relaxed vibe and a pool table for good measure.