Photos from the past: Amsterdam 2005

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This next set of entries will be mostly pictures as it will memories from a previous trip and I would hate for my words to distort or fog over the truth of all that has happened. As I look over my travelogs from time to time, it looks incomplete to me without the story of my first trip overseas. This trip would start, as it should with any rightous stoner, with a mecca to the holyland.... Amsterdam. This trip would also mark the biginning of my travel addiction.

One of the things I still recall most vividly about Amsterdam is all of the damn bikes. The dutch ride their bikes very fast, and they do not take kindly to stoned tourists wandering around the city. I higly recommend visiting Amsterdam with a friend, if only so that you can pull each other out from the path of an oncoming bicycle. Always make sure to look both ways, as their is a good chance they will not stop if you step in front of them.

Another thing I remember quite vividly is the red light district. Just a quick geography lesson for some. The bulldog hostel is smack dab in the center of the red light district. Wandering through the alleyways until 3 or 4 in the morning can be an event all in itself. I must advise anybody visiting Amsterdam to take a stroll and enjoy the show. Watch out though, some of the women can get quite aggressive in the smaller alleys if you refuse them. Still its all in good fun. I recall some of the women yelling curses at us or calling us gay. Some of them may smack your ass or even whack you with a riding crop as you go. As I said this will be an experience in itself.

the coffe shops are also a must. I love the experience of smoking in public, especially with a nice cappuccino or tea. I highly recommend not ordering the coffe in most of these places, as with my experience it was never any good. The hot chocolate is usually great, well as the cappucinnos, and the fresh squeezed orange juice most offer.

Don't think that this trip was all fun and games though, we definitely made sure to indulge in some culture by visiting the Renois (probably misspelled) and the Van Gogh museums. I must admit that I did not visit the Anne Frank house, but I made sure to take my picture in front of it so I could tell my Mom that I was there. She would probably have been quite dissappointed if we had not gone.

We stayed in Amsterdam for nine days. It is a wonderful place, but perhaps best taken in small doses. It can similar to Vegas in the fact that after being there for a while, everything feels surreal and you just get lost and may even over indulge. My next time would probably be four or five days and then another stop of later in the same trip for another four or five days.

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Photos

Gothic Church
I think this church was from the 14th century. This is the original stained glass window, most of the other windows have pieces missing

Very Interesting Paving Stone
This happened to catch my eye as I was walking

What a Wonderful Store
I could spend hours wandering around this tiny little store

Passing Out
Here I am in the lobby of the hostel falling asleep on the couch. It happens to the best of us

Our morning assortment
It didn't take us long to find lots of goodies here. If you couldn't tell, we are staying at the wonderful bulldog hostel. A great establishment that I would certainly stay at again

Hallway
One of the cool paintings in the hallways

Mouth watering
we were in just the right frame of mind as we passed this bakery

The best heiny I ever had
we also just so happened to be a bit parched as we passed by

Another one of my favorites
This place had some of the coolest music and i really liked the decor

The Grasshopper?
I think this place was called the grasshopper...good selection

City view from the water
we took a canal cruise