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Published: March 24th 2010
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Greetings,
We are now in Berlin and have been unable to access Wifi or downlaod at cafes so this is a few days late but I will post it anyway;
Well we were in Cologne, Germany when I wrote this, sitting outside in a shirt and jumper only, by the Rhine writing this entry….it could be getting warmer, thank God!
Let me go back a few days however and update you on our adventures since last entry.
From Delft we did day trips to The Hague and to Rotterdam. Both nice places and managed to find the F1 in Rotterdam in an Irish pub off all places. I am going to skip over these places and take you to Amsterdam where the fun begins. Oh my Lord what a place. In my opinion up there with New York in the coolness criteria. I started chatting to a fellow camper before we left Delft who told us about a campground about 20 minutes from Amsterdam. When we arrived the campsite was good however it was pissing down, the first rain we have encountered, so not bad.
After quickly setting up we headed for the city, rain and
all. After getting off at Centrum we started walking in any direction and low and behold we were in the Red Light District. Walking past the ‘ladies’ booths is something to behold, anyway more of that later. We found a bar (not of the choof choof variety) and enjoyed a couple of ales before eating out for the first time on the trip and it was absolute luxury. We then, with the courage of a few more ales, headed for a walk through the red light area. I am not sure who was more fascinated, Em or I. Em got the courage up to ask the dodgy sex show sellers how much and what was provided, not for thrills but in the interest for seeing how far the Euro went. If anyone is interested it is:
• 50 euro for 15 minutes with a hooker for the basics
• 2 euro for 2 minutes in the peep show
• Shows starting from 30 euro.
So after a rather slow walk we headed for the campsite ready for day two. Woke up to find it sunny and slightly less cold than we were used to. Back to the city
where we did one of the free walking tours (not quite after the 10 euro tip for each of us but well worth it). The tour went for 3 hours and included many of the sites and some interesting facts, including:
• Marijuana is illegal in Amsterdam including buying, selling, growing and using however is decriminalised
• The oldest hooker is 82 (apparently she has a waiting list) and the youngest 18
• They pay between 100 and 150 for an 8 hour shift for the booth
• They make between 500 - 750 a day
• New Zealand has the highest use of marijuana in the world with the Netherlands not even in the top 10 in Europe
After the tour we met up with a pal for a few drinks, dinner and another wonder through the red light area. This time we were braver getting closer to the doors. I even got 5 winks, 4 calls and 2 open doors in which I shit myself and ran back to the safety of Em. We even found ourselves accidently walking down the oldies and the tranny lanes.
Now enough of all that as there is a
lot more to see than the red light district. The city is full of amazing scenery, history and people. On day 3 we did the Anne Frank House, which was sad yet incredible to see how a 13 yr old can captivate the world. After walking the city we ventured back to the campsite for an early night.
Yesterday we left Amsterdam and headed for Germany. We took Lola on the autobahn and even overtook about 3 cars (heavy vehicles). I was surprised how sensible people are except the odd Audi or motorbike rider who you do not actually see but rather hear as they go past you. I only hope they can see us.
Today we rode to Cologne Centrum and took a stroll before having lunch in a beer hall. We felt we deserved the lunch after climbing 600 or so stairs to the top of the spire of the cathedral. Tomorrow we are headed for Hannover for a few days then to Berlin.
Lola is running well. Her door stopped working but nothing some WD40 could not cure and a bit of the bumper fell off but with some gaffer tape you cannot even
tell.
When you view the photos ignore the text, it is all mixed up.
Hope everyone is well,
Em, Ben and Lola.
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Dad
non-member comment
All looks great, no fish here!!!