Netherlands
May 1994 / October 2000

Whenever people think of the Netherlands, they instantly think of Amsterdam, sex, and drugs.  Well, there is more to it than that but that stuff does make up a big part of it.   We started off by visiting a village called Volendam.  The picture below is of that region.  Over there, you get a chance to see the windmills, you can visit cheese farms, clog making places etc...  We all got some bicycles when we were there and just road around the dykes.  Cycling around is a great way to see the place. 

Amsterdam was much different than the tranquil little village of Volendam.  One place that can't be missed while in Amsterdam is a visit to the Anne Frank Museum.  The attic where the Frank's lived has now been turned into a museum.   I always pictured the attic to be a lot smaller than it was.  I was really surprised because the attic was of a decent size.  I mean I can't imagine living there for as long as they have but it still surprised me as to how big it was.  You can tour around the attic and also the rest of the home which has now been converted to a museum dedicated to the Anne Frank foundation I believe.  A warning though is that the stairwells in the home are VERY steep.  If you're elderly or have trouble with stairs you may have to skip this place unfortunately. 

Now onto the other stuff...  Well, Amsterdam is filled with sex museums and just sex all over.  I swear, I NEVER went to one of those sex museums but looking back, I think it would've been cool to go see one them.  A few of my friends went to one and said it was rather umm interesting.  The red light district was quite the surprise to me.  Picture this, windows all with a red light on top of each one and a girl standing in each window.  When the lights are out, the girl is "working" otherwise she's sitting right at her window waiting for her next client.  This area can get very dangerous at night so just be careful.  The Contiki tour took us to see a "live sex show."  I'll leave the details to your imagination...So is it true about drugs in cafes?   Well, I can't say yes from experience but a few friends of mine went in to test the menus out and yeah they had a good selection of stuff. 

Waiting for our flight at Schiphol Airport Oct '00

The Contiki stopver is located in the city so in Amsterdam, you can go out at night etc... go party etc...