Getting into the Amsterdam Christmas Spirit

Trip Start Dec 25, 2012

Trip End Mar 27, 2013

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Where I stayed

Park Plaza Amsterdam Airport
Read my review - 5/5 stars

What I did

Red Light District Amsterdam

Flag of Netherlands Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Amsterdam's Christmas colors - with its Red Lights (district) and Green Leaves (cannabis) were the highlight of our short one day layover en route to Egypt. Our first stop, a "coffee-shop" to experience some holiday cheer with the locals. Although coffee-shops in Amsterdam actually do sell coffee, they are not quite the same as going into your local Starbucks. There's really not a "non-smoking" section in the place, unless you count the upstairs water pipe area. Being coffee-shop "virgins", we opted for a couple espressos with two "space muffins" instead. Man, that coffee was strong!

Afterwards, we decided to walk off the caffeine buzz by strolling down through the Red Light district, where we saw Santa's elves helping to spread some holiday cheer to the passersbys. All this sensory overload made us hungry, so we stopped at a pub for a couple $8 Heineken's and our last real bacon sandwiches for a while...

Today, we head out to Egypt...and I'm sure there will be a lot more to post on that experience.

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