<i> &quot;Pancake Joint&quot; indeed...now BYoung is really going to be confused! </i>

Actually, if you want pancakes and a joint, that would be Barney's Breakfast, located at Haarlemerstraat 102, and open from 8:00-20:00 daily. The pancakes are pretty good, and the weed ain't bad either....

The Pancake Bakery is located near the Anne Frank Huis, but I've never ate there, so can't recommend. We've always enjoyed eating the pancakes at a little restaurant at the Flowermarket - het Singeltje, located at Singel 494. I can taste their banana pannekoken (sp?) as I type this...yum!

Six hours really isn't that much time, when you factor in transportation to-from Amsterdam and screening when you get back to the airport. But it still gives you enough time to do a quick walking tour and a bite to eat. I wouldn't try visiting any of the museums, as the city offers enough to see.

I'd definately walk through the Red Light District, it has some of the most beautiful architecture and you just might get to see a &quot;lady&quot; in the window (we've already seen them at 9:00 am). Maybe you'd like a picture of the penis fountain in front of the Casa Rosa (only in Amsterdam...you gotta love the city!)? Although photos should NOT be taken of the ladies in the Red Light District, particularly in the evening, we have taken several pictures of some of the wonderful buildings during the daylight hours. Just use discretion.

Enjoy your short visit to Amsterdam. Peace. &gt;-

Robyn

Want to thank all of you who provided me some very good,detailed (and in some cases interesting) advice. I will defintely plan our day around your suggestions...it now seems that we will also be passing back through Amsterdam on our way back to the US and now have another day to spend there so all of your suggestions will certainly come in handy....thanks again, Bob

A final riposte to the 'legal or not legal' marijuana debate. Suze- it turns out that we're both wrong! (I also thought that pot was decrimimalized and not 100% legal in amsterdam. turns out I'm wrong. The first whiff of this i got was when i went to a coffeeshop and they had big &quot;It's legal&quot; signs on the pot-selling counter. Only on a visit to the Amsterdam Historical Museum, run by the City of Amsterdam, where the display on 'drugs in Amsterdam' clearly stated that &quot;up to 5 grams of cannabis can LEGALLY be bought in coffeeshops! It went on to explain that this is a bizarre conflict in that to bring the pot in through the back door of the shop is illegal but to sell it and then have the buyer take it out of the shop (up to 5 grams) is legal. &quot;Legal&quot; are the words of the City of Amsterdam, so I guess I rest my case. further information in a coffeeshop explained that Suze would have been right up to about 1995, when what she says was true - decriminalized but illegal, but then the mayor of Amsterdam orchestrated a change in the law to make legal sale of up to 5 grams, in licensed coffeeshops only; in turn the coffeeshops would pay taxes and have to adhere to certain standards, i.e. no sale to minors under 18. Police are cracking down on sales to minors and coffeeshops have warnings about selling to them; one had had its license suspended for one day for doing so. Also city officials plan to decrease dramatically the number of coffeeshops, and the number has fallen for a mind-boggling 1000+ to about 650. Debate also centers on restricting patronage of the shops to Dutch residents - a pipe dream according to most.

I was using information from a Let's Go Amsterdam Guidebook dated 2002.

If you are Staying in the Musumen district, and staying at Hotel Toro there is a great Tapas bar/international restaurant called Tapa Feliz at Valeriusstraatt 85hs
phone (020) 364 12 83. IT was great food, service, local people, women and walking distance.