So I'm going to be in Amsterdam for a week...

[Dalek]

Also Brussels is really close to Amsterdam and if you apreciate chocolate you totally should go there. I mean - BEST FRIGGIN CHOCOLATE EVER!

[Faust]

There is actually a lot of things to see in Amsterdam what don't include drugs or protitutes, not that those aren't worthwhile reasons to visit I am sure.  First off, don't plan on driving a lot.  Most people walk or bike the city.  Parking is very limited so unless you are leaving the city, I would leave your car at the hotel.

A lot depends on if you want to be guided by someone or just do the wander here and there approach.  We were there in the mid nineties.  Did a week there and had an amazing time.  A couple of things I enjoyed the most was the bike tour of the city and the redlight walking tour.  Both were relatively inexpensive and we had a lot of fun.

Are you going "with" someone?  Because the candlelight canal ride is really nice, but a lot of romantic too sooo....

Brussels is a day trip away.  There are the tulip fields, Antwerp, they do windmill tours.  And in addition to that there is some of the most amazing and well preserved architecture in Europe in Amserdam.  You can rent waterbikes, that's a lot of fun.  You almost have to go to the Anne Frank house, I mean damn.  There are probably 50 or more museums.  Free concerts. 

You'll be there during the big Grachten festival so that will be a lot of fun for you.  You can find smaller ones in and around the city as well.  They do a lot of outdoor things in the city.

The potential to have a wonderful time is there.  Enjoy it!!!

The candlelight ride sounds really nice, it is with the girlfriend I'm going with, And between the chocolates and the tulip fields we'll probably have to spend a day in Brussels. It should be a blast.

Sounds like a plan, im free pretty much 24/7 (unless i find a job in the mean time) so tell me to be somewhere and i'll be there.

Cool, So I might see yourself and Trip over the weekend? I'll have internet access again on wed/thurs so I'll check back in with you then.

[Reginald Ret]

Weekend it is

[Triple Zero]

Ehh, weekend? If you count Friday as the weekend, then yes. That's the only day I can make it though, cause Saturday I'm doing the bachelor party the whole day (starts off at 13h when we throw the bride-to-come from an airplane, skydiving), and Sunday I probably want to sleep out a bit and could be very hungover (there will also be a cocktail workshop), although I'll still be in Utrecht that day.

[Faust]

cool, Friday it is.

[Triple Zero]

cool, Friday it is.

okay, time?

btw maybe I missed it, but are you there on holiday or business? Given that your gf is there I assume holiday

[Faust]

Ay a Holiday, not sure what time yet but I'll know later.

[Reginald Ret]

I just got good news for me but bad news for you.
I am going to work this weekend at the lowlands festival.
I really need the money so...

i work from friday morning till monday evening so the weekend is lost
oh well, at least i get actual income this month.

What makes it doubleplus cool is that i really wanted to go to lowlands but didnt have a ticket or money.
so now i can see at least some of the festival. while being paid. for doing really simple and light work.

sorry i can't come, the liquor tasting store is under the krasnapolsky hotel in amsterdam.
here
when you are facing the front entrance of the hotel take a right turn, walk 10-20 steps, turn left and keep walking even when you come to the sliding doors, go through the sliding doors and out the other side and the store/cafe  is on your left.

[Triple Zero]

cool thanks for the info

have a good time at Lowlands, then! My brother did that job a few years ago (part of his tasks was selling burgers, iirc) he said it was easy work indeed, plus he got to be backstage (although what's the use of seeing and/or bothering the artists when they're not performing is a mystery to me, and to him as well, he told me "I think I saw Aphex Twin walking there, but ... yeah. Well I think I saw him. Could've been a random roadie, though").

AND FAUST REPLY YOUR PM

(or if someone has his mobile phone # for me? cause without a time and a place there's not much use in going to Amsterdam and hoping to bump into Faust by sheer chance, heh)

[Faust]

Pm sent

[Triple Zero]

So, we had a great time. Hung around with Faust a bit for the afternoon., and in the evening I dragged him and his girlfriend to Utrecht, where there's restaurants right at the wharfs next to the canals, so you can sit there and eat at water level which is really pretty, plus they had really nice food. And Faust's gf discovered she likes Kriek beer (Belgian lambic beer with cherry flavour, which is indeed really tasty, kind of like a crossover between cherry cassis and a light fresh beer).

I've had to play tourist guide in Amsterdam 3 or 4 times before, and only this one time I kinda felt like I did a good job about it. Turns out the solution is to take them away from Amsterdam and to Utrecht, where it's less crowded, less touristy, just as pretty, and I actually know my way around there And it's only 25 minutes and about 5 euros by train, so it's not really an excuse to not see more of the Netherlands anyway

The thing is, apparently not many people know this, but Amsterdam is part of a city conglomerate called the "Randstad" (Rim city), it consists of the four largest Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht), and the surrounding areas, making up about 50-66 percent of the population in the entire Netherlands. The important thing for tourists to know about this, is that basically when you exist one of those cities, you immediately enter the next one, there's not much (or any) open space between them. (except in the middle of the ring, which is why it's called "Rim city"--thank you Wikipedia, I did not know that either ).

So for people visiting the Netherlands, there's not much reason to not check out the rest of the Randstad because it's really around the corner:
- Rotterdam. You can maybe skip this one. Well, it's quite big and got about the same stuff as Amsterdam, technically, but all I know about it is that my girlfriend lived there for a couple of years and she hated it there, city's got no soul or something. But it's a big city so it's probably got some fun places too. Crime's a bit higher there as well, in Amsterdam you don't have to worry much about accidentally wandering into a ghetto, especially in daytime, in Rotterdam I'm not 100% sure. It does house the great (HUGE) harbour that makes the Netherlands such a great traders country, but it's a bit outside of the city afaik. If you like huge industrial installations with loads of pipes and metal and cranes and that sort of thing, check it out by night, it's all lit up, pretty cool but again sort of out of the way from the city center. Wikipedia's probably got a lot of info about Rotterdam, too.
- Utrecht. Shame if you'd miss it. One of my favourite cities in NL. Partly because all my friends moved there after college (only reason I didn't move there is because I love the city I'm living in now even more ). It's a bit smaller than Amsterdam, but less touristy, a bit less crowded. I like going shopping here. The restaurant I took Faust and his gf to is called 't Oude Pothuys (the old pottery), though it's about 15-20 minutes walk from the train station. But it's a nice walk. It's also the city closest to where I live, so if you happen to go there it's both easier and cheaper for me to meet up
- The Hague. Again I don't know too much about this city, but it's a good once and you should probably check it out because the Royal Palace is there and the embassies and the International Court and all the political things. It's also got the typical "old Dutch city" pretty buildings just like Amsterdam and Utrecht. Check the wikipedia link to find out more.

(I was going to say something else but I forgot. Let's wait to hear about Faust's stories, though. We also got a few pictures, Faust should post them when he gets the chance)

[Rumckle]

Cool, thanks for the info Trip, hopefully I'll be visiting a friend studying in Utrecht in January, I didn't realise how close everything was around there, seems like a nice place to be all touristy.

[Faust]

Home again, very very sleepy. Had a great time, will post a full update tomorrow.

[Jenne]

Welcome home, Fausty McFausterson.

[Cramulus]

pix???