Good Times

•  Amsterdam
• Fancy Dress
• Glastonbury
• Halloween
• Hangi
• Hyde Park
  • Gallery 2006
  • Gallery 2008
  • Gallery 2009
• Live Jive
  • Gallery
• Nick's Place

Tosh gets a tattoo (only Henna) Photo: P.McKenzie

In July, 1999 Tosh, Andy & I travelled to Amsterdam. We set off in Tosh's car on an early summer evening and drove to Folkestone, where we hopped on a train and took the Euro-Tunnel to Calais.

From Calais, we drove to Amsterdam, after a short detour to Ypres about 3:00am to see the Mennen-gate.

The Mennen-gate is a huge memorial dedicated to all the Allied servicemen who died fighting in that part of the country. Interesting place and well worth a visit.

We drove through the night and arrived in Amsterdam just on dawn. After a quick look around, we found a great little hotel, just off RembrantStraat. Once we had checked in, had a quick cup of real Dutch coffee (Dutch Coffee is the BEST! Their Javanese blends are fantastic and best of all, they have NO word for "Decaf"!) and a slice of Apple pie, we headed off to check out the town.

We found an excellent coffee shop within a short distance from our hotel and settled down over a few cold beers and a smoke or two and...just watched life go by!

The lads outside Smokey Joes - Amsterdam Photo: P.McKenzie

Amsterdam is a real party town, with excellent pubs, clubs and restaurants. We particularly recommend the Argentina Steak-house in central Amsterdam. Great feed at a reasonable price.

A walk around the town yielded a second unique Coffee-shop (I know there are hundreds of coffee-shops...but they are not all unique)...on a huge barge, right on the canal.

We sat in the sun, sipping ice-cold beers and sharing a smoke and a laugh, watching all the canal boats that cater to the American tourists go by (once I'm sure I heard an American women shouting, "Hey Harry! come and look at the hippies!")

Andy enjoys a pint on the coffeeshop barge Photo: P.McKenzie

In the interests of cultural enlightenment, we of course checked out Amsterdam's most famous landmarks...right throughout the Red-light district! And no trip to Amsterdam is complete without a visit to some of the "West end" shows that are on offer there...

Amsterdam is a hedonist's paradise and a great place to go for a long weekend! We're already planning a return trip...hopefully before the end of this year.

See you in the Coffee-Shops!

Bandanna Club Rating: 4 Bandannas