Pancakes, Beer, Hash, and Eurotrash

Fact: smoking hash and pot in 'coffeeshops' in Amsterdam is legal.
Fact: you can buy joints or bags or seeds.
Fact: you can buy mushrooms and herbal drugs in things called 'smart shops.'

All of these places are names in English. This is not only because the Dutch all speak English and want to spread their knowledge, it's because Amsterdam's coffee shops and smart shops are so successful because of English, because of tourism, because I met a handful of Dutchmen who told me point blank that few people really smokes pot after the age of 20, because apparently it loses its edge. So kids, if you thought everyone in Amsterdam was a pot head or still on that long acid trip, you thought wrong. Sure, coffeeshops have to do well enough to survive without tourism, but it is hardly the culture I expected. Overall, it was just a more liberal city, but then again any place where foreigners can come to party and hire a prostitute would have to be. People might have been trashed but I think it was more drunken debauchery than anything else.

The other thing is, people in Amsterdam are just nice. Aside from the guys I met at one bar (leave it to me to find the arrogant assholes even in Holland), everyone was so excited to help us and tell us where to go, even our cab driver. Needless to say, we took suggestions from them and from the little Lonely Planet guide I bought - both of which proved overwhelmingly helpful in terms of navigating a city where every street can really start to look the same and to help find some delicious eats. Every meal was amazing and I definitely wasn't close to high for most of them. We had delicious pancakes, steak, street waffles with chocolate, stroop waffles, frites, and even quiche. A successful eating tour, if I do say so myself.

Side note: people in Europe do not dance at concerts or in clubs as much as we do in America. I suppose we really do do everything in excess. So lame, Europe.

I got to see the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum (the national gallery), and Sunday we managed to squeeze in the Anne Frank house before catching our train back to Paris. Overall, I don't feel like I missed out on too much and didn't really feel right trying all those crazy mushrooms, because I like being alive and didn't trust myself in a foreign city doing that kind of shit. I also didn't want to be that kid who goes to Amsterdam, loses her wallet, passport, all major lifelines, and is potentially raped or dead on the street. It's a grim image, so I decided to avoid it. However, I may put in some orders with people who are going again soon... We will see.

All of this traveling just makes me miss Paris and I am so glad to be here and to be back to reality. Now homework awaits me. Meh.