Events - Good Times (Party Page - Amsterdam)

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 Menin Gate.

The Menin Gate (Memorial to the Missing) is a war memorial in Ypres, Belgium, dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown. A stunning place and well worth a visit, to appreciate the true extent of the enormous sacrifice of the fallen.

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 the famous Dutch 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.

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".)

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.