foldertronics

Right - I have just been informed that my 5-a-side footie team is playing in a competition in Amsterdam

Bearing in none of us have been before (6 lads) - does anyone know of any particular things we should be on the look out for or things we should check out!! I have been told we are staying in / just off dam square.

Bravo if you are about let me know if you're interested in coming out!

Thanks guys

scooby-new

If you want to see the sleazy side of Amsterdam (and being a football team I suppose you will- unless your a church team!)

Go to the Red Light District and the "Banana Bar"- the girls do all kinds of tricks with the fruit and its more interactive (and sleazy) than the other sex-shows. Enjoy the free show put on by the window girls but remember they arent all women!

Go and eat Indonesian Food- have a Rice Table nice selection of dishes. I never found a bad indonesian place in A'dam

Also watch out for the skanky street drug dealers/robbers- first you don't want the crappy products they have and second they will try and rob u given half the chance.

Go an have a beer in "De Wildeman" a proper old style Dutch beer cafe- its on "Kolksteeg" off the "Nieuwe Zijds Voorburgwal" -a street running parallel to Damrak.

I worked there for a while so am a font of knowledge on the place!

Avi

Don't go into a coffee shop, and then get woken up by someone stopping you falling into the canal. With no memories of even getting out of your seat

Katana

Hmm Amsterdam. Do you reall need to ask us what to do there?

Avi

... and think about it before just saying, "whatever's strongest"

Pete Croney

Great place and you'll love it. Its certainly a massive culture shock the first time you go.

Apply normal big city rules on does and don'ts and you'll be fine.

My wife would probably point out that one spliff cake is quite enough. The effect is delayed so don't have a second one 10 minutes after the first

brickboy

I can vouch for the quality of the merchandise in "The Bush Doctor", facing the canal just by Reguleerstraat. **Do** mix the weed with tobacco if you want to find your hotel

Edited to say that I completely agree with Avi's comment above. Even the "regular" cheap stuff is soooooo much stronger than 99% of UK products.

[Edited by brickboy - 1/13/2003 3:35:52 PM]

foldertronics

mmmmm.... bananna bar - i wonder how they came up with the name!!! - thanks for the pointers chaps keep the suggestions coming

Silent Monkey

Amsterdam

Rijksmuseum
Rembrandts house
Van Gogh exhibition









On the other hand - stuff the culture - stick with the cafes, bars and red-light district

Definitely try an Indonesian meal. If you're near Dam Square at least you don't have far to crawl back to the hotel.

rik1471

Smoke some of the best weed available in the world, take some super trippy magic mushrooms, and **** some of the fittest prostitutes around (some are on par with the fittest **** stars you've ever seen).

All without breaking a single law.

Absoultely quality

rik1471

Oh and not to mention the ridiculously hardcore sex shows, of which you can participate for free

Adam Davis

Can't add much more to the above

It is also pretty good for clothes shopping at quite reasonable prices.

Stueyb

Used to go out with a bird that worked for HP in Amsterdam, gotta say it was some of the best days of my life. Watch the chuffin taxi drivers though, they are absolute ***** for rippin people off, oh and the f**king bikes that try to run all the pissed up/stoned people over.

If you fancy some hardcore DVD **** to bring back, I can tell you (after many weekends studing it ) that the best vfm place is the discount video shop, off the main red light district ! *ahem*

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

Dutch Flowers - Solid
Green House - Hybrid
Abraxis - Ambient, good grass
Barney's Breakfast Bar - Fry ups and reasonable grass
Grasshopper/Bulldog - a bit too busy and full of English people!!

All places are fine with you looking and smelling it before you pay it, and there will be papers and roachs there for you as well.

Pre-rolled is all well and good for the crap, lazy or just too late in the night!!! But never as good anything you can roll.

If chaps ask you for "business", just say "no thanks". Causes no offense and you go on your way.

Try not to wonder around the red light district too late, unless you want to be mugged or pickpocketed!

If you want to do the sex show thing, theres a place with a giant marble '**** & *****' outside as a fountain, they can do you a ticket that will allow you one free drink in there and half an hour of live shows, and then half hour in the banana bar (unlimited drinks, and you can pay extra for private group show). The ticket were about £30 each, but we haggled for 9 of us.

I've been a few times (including organising a stag do for a mate of mine), but those are the only coffee shops I go to! Quite a lot of rubbish out there, so you have to keep an eye out for the good ones!

Most importantly, have a good time!!

workshy_fopp

I'm back to the dam again on Saturday, just for one night.

The best thing is the quality of the beer, every pint was perfect. Miles ahead of the Stella rubbish we get, which is strangely unavailable on the continent.

foldertronics

Thanks for the suggestions chaps - im sure with Bravo now in toe id imagine this is going to be a very messy weekend!

From the sounds of it having a weekender there is a bit of an eye opener!!!

Gaz Jones

avi has stolen my story, I went for three days, remembered going then getting woken up by a bloke on a bike cos i was falling in the canal.....3 days later. Then came home.
It was great...

gaz

IanWatson

Chances are you won't remember much, so don't worry anyway!

Try the Heinken brewery tour - ticket costs a quid or so and you get 3 free beers halfway through and a nice glass as a souvenier.
Then go to Noon (see below).

If you stay up near Centraal Station all you'll see is tourists, mostly bad coffeshops and ****** - not a bad thing but gets a little wearing. When you get bored head south down the Leidsestraat to the Leidseplein, where there are loads of bars, still touristy but very close to the Vondelpark - huge park with bars/cafes dotted around.

Andy's spot on with the coffeeshop recommendations, Abraxas do great spacedrinks as well as nice weed. Noon is close to the Heineken Brewery and is great for weekend specials (5g Blueberry for €20 I think ) and Ice hash, which is pretty much pure THC - expensive but amazing. It's not the biggest place, but it's worth a visit.

http://www.coffeeshop.freeuk.com/Database/ShopsA/Noon.html

A great area to wander round looking for good bars, restaurants, and classy Amsterdam/expat girls - the Jordaan is great. It's basically most of the West side of central Amsterdam, used to be run down but now probably the nicest neighborhood. Just find a bar and chat to the locals.

Get a map - get EVERYONE a map! You will get lost.

Most important number - Taxi Central Amsterdam 0900 67 77 77 - one number for all the decent taxis (the controler calls a phone at the nearest cab rank and send one round - great idea) -

if you need to find a decent restaurant ahead of time - check this site - www.iens.nl - ignore the Klingon writing and click on the Union Jack on the LH side.

www.timeout.com is also good.

One other suggestion is get some bottles of beer and take a boat tour - well worth it, although the canals were frozen this weekend!

have a good one,
Ian

[Edited by IanWatson - 1/14/2003 7:03:15 PM]

foldertronics

Nice one Ian - many thanks

RussP

Nothing to add other than i'm leaving for Amsterdam this evening with 10 mates for my 3 day stag weekend....

Two or three have been before and keep going into spates of girly giggles and muttering things like "you WILL be having a good time" and "we've got plans for you".

If this thread (and me) are still alive monday i'll add any advice i have...

Second thought, better make it tuesday!

Russ

rik1471

Any recommendations (websites, numbers etc.) of decent accomodation for 6 young lads. Somewhere they won't mind a bit of rowdiness.

Mr Gee

Dont forget to visit Hooters Sports Bar on the main strip. The scantily dressed babes dance on your table while you watch footie on the widescreen TV's.

Why drink and drive when you can smoke and fly ?

Have a good one.....

towzer

I'm there every other week with work and it's a great place.

Try Cafe Klaus just off the Leidseplien for the best ribs in the whole world, they only take cash though. There's a good japanese place called the Japanese grill; Kantijl Tiger or Dynasty for Indonesian; Cafe Kelderhof for traditional Dutch food.

Heineken museum is good for a laugh, there's a bit on the tour where they say "do not inhale the fumes from the hops," one of the guys on our tour did exactly that but collapsed two second later!!

You can't really go wrong, just don't mess with the police I saw one of the drunks get shot in the leg last year - zero tollerance.

Phil

midget1500

<<You can't really go wrong, just don't mess with the police I saw one of the drunks get shot in the leg last year - zero tollerance.>>

jeez, that sounds a bit harsh! when i was there for 3 days last yeat i don't think i saw any police at all?

towzer

The guy was hassling tourists and started getting very aggressive with the police, next minute...bang

BOB.T

I just got back from the land of the clogged people

I went on business to Amersfoort, about 1/2 an hour from Amsterdam. We managed a jollie to Rotterdam too, which I feel is much better than A'dam, though to be fair we weren't on a session

It has to be said, Holland is a chuffin nice country, we could learn a lot from them...they're all so polite, they can't do enough for you, they're English is superb too! Their transport system makes our look medievial

We spent the day in A'dam today, saw a scoob a Lambo meuruaccaaallggoooiioo thing and a nice porker, then some barely dressed bints serving coffee, cool!

Gonna head off now, I'm fooked