515 Crew

[El Rhino]

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109373?gt1=10856

It looks like they're making plans of shut down the red light district in Amsterdam.


I've always thought Amsterdam and the Netherlands in general would be a nice place to visit, they've got a pretty cool culture. One of my biggest fears about visiting NL is that you always hear the biggest idiots around here talking about how they want to go to Amsterdam for the red light district and the legal weed. I picture a beautiful city full of some of the most uncouth kinds of people in the Western world: American frat boys and white trash folks squandering away inheritances, lottery winnings, worker's comp settlements, etc. I imagine being there would be a lot like going to Pella and getting followed around by the party bus from Vieux Carre or some shit.

Anyways, it would be cool if they cleaned up a lot of the riff-raff and made the place a little less desirable to the American white hat crowd.

[Crumpty Williams]

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109373?gt1=10856

It looks like they're making plans of shut down the red light district in Amsterdam.


I've always thought Amsterdam and the Netherlands in general would be a nice place to visit, they've got a pretty cool culture. One of my biggest fears about visiting NL is that you always hear the biggest idiots around here talking about how they want to go to Amsterdam for the red light district and the legal weed. I picture a beautiful city full of some of the most uncouth kinds of people in the Western world: American frat boys and white trash folks squandering away inheritances, lottery winnings, worker's comp settlements, etc. I imagine being there would be a lot like going to Pella and getting followed around by the party bus from Vieux Carre or some shit.

Anyways, it would be cool if they cleaned up a lot of the riff-raff and made the place a little less desirable to the American white hat crowd.

Oh shit. Pratt takes a break from all night brief-writing session to make excessively long and pointless post about Amsterdam experience:

Amsterdam is a really neat place. And while, yes, it does have its fair share of all varieties of kooks wandering around there, they aren't--at least in my experience there--as bothersome as you might think. The whole legal drugs thing is so completely normal there to the point that most people see pretty quickly the lameness of being so enamored by it... if that makes any sense.

One of the most memorable things about Amsterdam for me was the feeling of the city at night. At first, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but there was something very peculiar about walking through the city in the evening. Eventually I realized that it was the lack of noise. Amsterdam was a distinctly quiet place at night. I'm pretty sure it was mostly a result of the fact that pot smoking is so prevalent there. It was kind of eerie, but interesting. Instead of stumbling out of bars drunk and belligerent-like, most people were just coming out of coffee shops blazed... There were people everywhere, but it was generally very quiet. I guess you could consider this a positive side effect of all the stonery going on there? Either way, a very unique feeling.

As far as the red light district goes.... yeah, they should clean that up. The local dude I was staying with there really explained a lot to us about the behind-the-scenes problems that go along with legal drugs and prostitution and such. Long story short, there's a lot of really, really bad shit that goes down behind both of those industries (as you might guess). In any case, I have to say walking through the red light district at night was a one-of-a-kind experience.... very surreal.

As far as other stuff in amsterdam goes, the Van Gogh museum is an absolute must see. Seriously one of the coolest places I've been in my life. That alone was worth the trip. If you've ever seen a Van Gogh in real life, you'll know that the prints do not even come close to doing the real paintings justice. I went in there having never seen an actual one before, and just got completely bombarded by hundreds of the most amazing paintings I've ever seen. It seriously blew my mind.

The city itself is also really cool what with all the canals and such... the boat tours are pretty sweet. And there are plenty of great architectural sights to behold.... They also have a great variety of top-notch street performances if you're into that kind of thing.

As for worthless shit that you shouldn't do there: the Heineken brewery. This thing is a total tourist trap bullshit deal for idiot Americanos. And I totally fell for it. My biggest regret from Amsterdam was going to this gay-ass thing at the expense of a couple more quality hours that I could have enjoyed at the Van Gogh museum.

Ok I'm done for now. Totally unnecessary procrastination....

[El Rhino]

Eventually I realized that it was the lack of noise. Amsterdam was a distinctly quiet place at night. I'm pretty sure it was mostly a result of the fact that pot smoking is so prevalent there. It was kind of eerie, but interesting. Instead of stumbling out of bars drunk and belligerent-like, most people were just coming out of coffee shops blazed... There were people everywhere, but it was generally very quiet. I guess you could consider this a positive side effect of all the stonery going on there? Either way, a very unique feeling.
....

I guess I didn't think about that, it makes sense. I figured the place would be swarming with obnoxiously intoxicated tourists.

Van Gogh is probably my favorite artist, I'd love to see the Van Gogh museum.

[ilikehorses]

my friend was fucking with and then almost got shot by a drug dealer in amsterdam.

i'd like to go someday, but it's not high on my list of priorities.