stragic

After hanging out in McDonalds for 2 hours (there was a clock on the wall), we headed back to Versailles. As we neared the chateau, we started walking with a large crowd of people who were also going to Les Fêtes de Nuit. Had there not been such a large group of people, we still could have found our way via signs marked "Spectacle."

Reaching the outer gates to the Fountain of Neptune, we saw that a series of bleachers around the fountain. We were sitting in the F Tribune, so we walked around the backside of the bleachers to find our seat.

We were escorted to our seat by an usher. I had purchased the second most expensive tickets hoping the view would be good. It was a good view (center stage) but a little high up. The most expensive tickets bought admission to sit in row boats within the fountain itself (close to the stage, but for me not worth the 90 Euro/person price tag). The boats were really cute though.

Sitting in the bleachers, it was not like you'd find at an American stadium with flat, bench-style seats. These bleachers had small, individual, plastic chairs with seatbacks making them a little more comfortable for the 2 hour show.

There was a guy in a white, ruffled shirt wearing a large hat with a white feather in it. He sold hot chocolate or cofee to the audience. A tiny drink, as purchased by those sitting by us, cost 2 euro. Programs were also available for purchase. As we had no watch, we had to gauge the excitement of the crowd to tell if the start time was approaching. When the crowd started clapping, we assumed it was their way of informing the performers it was showtime!

Now I should tell you how I envisioned this show ahead of time and why I thought my husband would like it. I had only found a few English posts online about Les Fêtes de Nuit before leaving but they mentioned costumes, music, lights, fireworks, fountains, etc. A really elaborate production where knowlege of the French language is not necessary. I thought by finding this show, I was really getting in on a great secret that only locals knew about and that I was going to have a great experience most tourists don't get to have. I believe they must change the show every year, because not only did my husband get a surprise, but so did I!

missypie

Tell more - the suspense is killing me!

stragic

The lights dimmed, an introduction to the show was made-French only, the music cued up, and (I couldn't make this up if I tried), a man wearing a black unitard and ROLLER SKATES, glided out from the constructed set onto a platform in the fountain that had been erected specifically for the show. Okay, there's a man rollerskating and the music is very 1980's, slightly electronica-it reminded me of Enigma's music (but not that good and minus the chanting monks). Then, a procession of men in tuxedos and women with large, triangular black wigs wearing black and red dresses lock-stepped onto the stage.

I looked at my husband and said, "Surprise!" and we couldn't stop laughing. But, seriously, where the heck are we? Is this the right show? When I thought costumes, I assumed 17th-18th century dresses with hoop skirts and the like. What were these modern costumes? When the men and women leave, the stage becomes occupied with a little girl in a red dress, a girl in a white ballerina's outfit, and a kid with a mullet wearing a skin tone unitard (boy? girl?). There are several dances and some adults join the stage one has a very long nose and a gray wig, some adults throughout the show wore dominatrix outfits and tried to bind the girl in the red dress with rope.

All the while, there were intermittent explanations provided in French. We saw fireworks when the French prince, living at Versailles (I could understand "Versailles&quot came onto the stage in his gold outfit. The fireworks were great. Another character, a guy in a green suit, had to be "wound up" to walk around the stage. All the while, the guy on roller skates would periodically appear. There was a changing of seasons, illustrated with dance. More fireworks. More French. No fountain show.

What we gathered from the story, is that the little girl in red was a Spanish princess, she came to live at Versailles with the prince (to get married), the seasons changed, they were not happy with each other, so she returned to Spain to be with her parents. If anyone attended this show and has a different interpretation, please share!

At the end of the performance, my husband said we didn't belong at that show (mainly because of the French but also because the performance was so out of the ordinary for what we see). I think we saw something that was uniquely French and a very modern interpretation of an old story. To me, it was like going to the opera. The first 10 minutes you're like, what is this-it's so different than what you're used to-but then you settle in and try to make sense of it. Attending the Les Fêtes de Nuit will always provide us with a great story to tell and I will have to give serious consideration to ever trying to suprise my husband again!

stragic

Walking back to the train station after the show, we just missed the train. The next one came after waiting 20 minutes. We re-traced the course we took on the RER and metro earlier that day, arriving at the Bourse stop just prior to 2 am. We got turned around trying to find the hotel, but made it back just as the clock chimed 2. We DID Versailles.

We were up for breakfast Sunday morning, but returned to our room for more sleep. I asked for more towels when the housekeeper came by at noon and we were still in the room. We finally got out of the hotel around 2 in the afternoon. The Rue de la Banque was filled with more "market" items today. I even talked to a guy selling his wares. We didn't buy anything but the prices were very reasonable. I hadn't yet made it into the exhibition area of the Pompidou (I love modern art) but my husband wanted to visit the Louvre again and it was a closer walk, so off we went.

We entered through the Richelieu wing without having to stand in line by using our museum pass. As my husband was carrying the backpack, I suggested we check the bag. He declined so we were off to the Sully wing to see the Code of Hammurabi (except that it is really located in the Richelieu wing so we didn't see it in the Sully wing).

Having heard my husband talk about getting an audioguide both at Versailles and now at the Louvre but then saying, "No, I'll get one next time instead," I told him I was tired of hearing him say that so we were going to get him an audioguide. I left my drivers license as collateral and my husband was happy to have the audiogude...at first.

Halfway through the Medieval Louvre section of the Sully wing (which was neat by the way), my husband realized that his audioguide was not in English. Back we go, an exchange was made, we visited the Medieval Louvre again, and then we're in the Egyptian antiquities (by now I'm carrying the backpack because my husband was hot). We realize that we won't find the Code of Hammurabi here, but we're invested in the Sully wing now so we should look around. I strike a pose walking like an Egyptian, then we leave.

My husband says we should check the backpack. I roll my eyes, isn't that what I said when we came in? I go to check the backpack-which was too heavy to leave in coat check so I have to take it to the checked luggage room (it wasn't THAT heavy though). My husband buys us an expensive snack upstairs (sandwich, candy bar, and diet coke) and we sit at a table for two and people watch for awhile.

Finally, we off to see the Code of Hammurabi and various other items (like Italian sculptures) in the Richelieu wing. After seeing the Code of Hammurabi, I was getting "Louvred-out", so I sat and let my husband wander around with his audioguide. When he returned, we went to the Denon wing to look at Venus, Winged Victory, Mona, and a few others again. I was dragging by this time, so again my husband wondered off to view his items of interest while I sat.

The museum was closing by this time, so we grabbed the backpack, returned the audioguide and exited out into the fresh air. I felt free! I had to recover from an overdose of the Louvre so I laid down on the grass inside the Tuileries Gardens. I would have loved to have had some wine and a picnic here but we were out of snacks. I knew there was a Monoprix down the road by the Opera metro station, so we started walking that way.

Once we reached the Monoprix, however, we saw that it was closed on Sundays. Disappointed (and getting hungry) we knew that the show must go on and that there was a Fat Tire Bike Tour that we wanted to take that departed at 7 pm from the South Leg of the Eiffel Tower.

stragic

We made our way to the Trocadéro metro stop because I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower as viewed from the Palais de Chaillot. On the way, I bought a package of the world's smallest, mini Pringles chips from a vending machine for 1 Euro.

Upon exiting the metro, the sun was shining brightly and the golden statues at the Palais looked just like I'd seen in pictures. This is definitely the best way to approach the Eiffel Tower if you want a breathtaking view as you walk downhill toward it. We figured that some sort of event must have just occured as there were men taking down tents. There were dozens of portalets lining the sidewalk down the hill to the Eiffel Tower as well. Temporary or permanent, the portalets did come in handy.

Crossing a busy intersection and the Seine, we found the south leg of the Eiffel Tower and a large group waiting to take the bike tour. We had to make a decision. To bike or not to bike. Remember, we were hungry and now our feet were hurting too. We weren't up to take the 4 hour tour for 28 Euro/person. So, we bought two ice cream cones and then walked back across the street for crepes with nutella (too sweet for me after the ice cream).

We plopped ourselves down on the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower and vegged for about 5 minutes. Then, I told my husband, "Don't worry about me. I'm going to find us some real food." Really, I was ready for some wine, too. He didn't protest, how could he really as I'd been here alone last time, and off I went to find a grocery store that was open.

Walking down a tree lined avenue away from the Eiffel Tower, the air, like the browning leaves, was crisp. You truly could smell the oncoming fall. I found two grocery stores but they were both closed. Coincidentally, I ended up going into the same bakery as I went to on my solo trip. Two women were putting away the food for the night, however, I was able to purchase two quiches they had left and two cans of beer for 9 euro. They didn't heat up the quiche, and I didn't ask, figuring I was just lucky to have made it in the shop before they closed. I felt a sense of accomplishment returning with the food and drinks.

We had a picnic, with many others, viewing the Eiffel Tower. We people watched, too. With no watch to gauge the hour, we were surprised when the Eiffel Tower started sparkling at 8. There were simultaneous ohhs and ahhs. The same reaction occured when it turned 9.

While we were hanging out, a younger guy came by selling wine or champagne. I said no to him and he went to ask a group of teens sitting nearby. They purchased some wine, and the man selling the wine opened it for them. So, I called the guy back over to us. He said that the wine was 10 Euro and Champagne was 12. I offered 7 Euro for the wine and he said no, 8 Euro. Seeing as there was nowhere nearby to purchase any alcohol, I was okay with that price. It was real wine (as in, if you drink a lot of it you'll become intoxicated). And although it did cross my mind that there may be drugs/poison in the wine, I didn't think the risk was too great.

Logan69

Stragic, this is too weird. I'm back from spending 10 days in Paris, Normandy, and Amsterdam, and I left Little Rock on Continental on 9/12, arriving Paris 9/13. We arrived Paris on the same day. However I chose to go via Newark and have a long layover so I could have lunch in Manhattan. Returned via the 10 hr trip to Houston.

I posted my abbreviated travel notes on the 'France' section today, under the heading of something like "Back from my trip--Vive la France", if you want to compare. My reviews of hotels I stayed in are also posted on TripAdvisor.com. Check Paris for the Royal St Michel, Bayeux for Hotel Tardif, and Amsterdam for Hotel Dikker & Thijs Fenice.

--Logan in Little Rock

stragic

Logan-Thanks for the reminder about tripadvisor and I'll check out your notes. My hotel reviews are posted there as well for Timhotel Palais Royal Louvre and the Estherea Hotel. I've included pictures of the hotels, too, but I don't think the Estherea pictures have posted yet.

Logan69

Is your husband at UAMS by any chance? The post-doctoral research comment makes me ask.

stragic

Logan-sorry, no. My husband is completing a Ph.D. rather than an M.D.

Upon leaving the Eiffel Tower, having consumed most of the wine, I needed a WC. Great, there were signs for toilets nearby. When we reached them, they were locked up for the night. Unbelievable-I was going to burst! It was dark and there were some bushes nearby but I couldn't bring myself to do that so I made the long sprint back to where we'd seen the portalets earlier that day. Relief! My husband caught up with me, we purchased cotton candy from a vendor by a carousel, and departed via the Trocadéro metro. We exited at Charles-de-Gaulle Etoile because we wanted to visit the Arch de Triomphe.

There was no line to enter, so we climbed the steps to the top without a problem. The clear skies made for great night view. As it was our last in Paris, we took in the view until we were told the monument was closing and we had to leave. After exiting, we walked around the exterior before taking the underground walkway to the Champs Elysees where we sat on a bench and people watched.

Later, we went into a small shop off the Champs Elysees to purchase a miniture Eiffel Tower because we haven't been able to locate the one we bought during our last trip (we used it as a cake topper for our wedding). Next, a stop at McDonald's was required for some hot cheeseburgers and cold milkshakes. After eating, we felt ambitious so we walked the three miles down the Champs Elysees to our hotel. Halfway down, I took off my socks and shoes and walked barefoot down the empty sidewalk.

We made it to the Place de la Concorde where we rested and read about the history of the square from our DK Eyewitness book. Finishing up the walk to the hotel, we passed by several upscale hotels like the Regina on the Rue de Rivoli. We made a deal that we'd stay in one of those hotels to celebrate our 25th anniversary (I'll see if I can make it happen by our 15th though)!

By the time we reached the hotel, it was nearly 2 am. We got a wake up call for 8:30 because we were leaving Paris on the 12:50 train to Amsterdam. As per our usual morning routine, we woke up for breakfast and then slept in. We didn't manage to make it to the Pompidou or any other sites on our last Parisian morning. Checking out of the hotel at 11, we returned to the Chatelet-Les Halles station to take the RER B one stop to Gare du Nord.

stragic

My husband is notorious for telling me he has "only one speed" when he walks. I interpret his "one speed" as SLOW. We arrived at Gare du Nord around 12:15 for a train departure at 12:55. This would be an ample amount of time to catch the train...if one had tickets in hand.

As it was, we had purchased our tickets online and had to pick them up from a ticket booth in person. Knowing my husband lacks a sense of urgency in these situations and his tendency to move only within the boundries of his "one speed," I told him to stay put at one of the train platforms while I ran ahead to figure out the train situation.

I found the ticket booth and proceeded to wait in line as the minutes ticked off the clock. Would we make it? Finally, my turn came around 12:35. I exchanged my email confirmation for two second class tickets on the Thalys train. As I mentioned in a previous post to someone here, I purchased one way tickets from Paris to Amsterdam on the Thalys train via the SNCF website. I did a lot of research to check if it was cheaper to purchase roundtrip tickets and, in my case, it wasn't. Two one way tickets in 2nd class cost 195 Euro.

Now that I had the tickets, I had to go back to find my husband. It wasn't too difficult to find him but I think in the future, I'll ask him to at least follow me in the distance so I don't have to backtrack. Onto finding the train with 10 minutes until departure.

The more we travel by train in Europe, the easier it seems to read the huge black signs that tell which trains are leaving from which platforms...always a good thing. We found our platform and showed a conductor our train tickets. He signaled that we should board the train.

Something didn't seem right though, and as we reached the end of the train cabin and I couldn't exit through to the next cabin, I realized we were in first class and the cabins weren't connected. Ugh. We turned around and exited the train. Walking further down the line of trains, we stopped at another conductor who told us we needed to go further down (second to the last cabin). And by further down, I mean F-U-R-T-H-E-R down. The Thalys train is LONG when you're seats are at the end of it and you're running late!

Breaking a sweat in the mid-day sun, we finally reached the right train cabin. The lady checking our tickets was very nice and told us where we would find our seats inside the train. Unfortunately, we would be sitting backward for the four hour trip. Prior to leaving, I never found a website that displayed how the seats were situated on the train. Does anyone know if such a website exists?

The train departed just as we sat down in our seats. We rolled up our pant legs to try to cool off and figured out how to pull down the window shade as our seats were in the sunlight. Au revoir Paris.

I was feeling a bit nauseated (I hadn't eaten much breakfast because I couldn't eat another croissant to save my life), so I made a trip down to the snack bar. Two cheeseburgers, one king size Twix, and two diet cokes cost 14 Euro. The burgers were removed from plastic wrap and microwaved to warm them up. They tasted good, too. I took advantage of the travel time to catch up in the travel journal, my husband read, and we each took an earbud to listen to music on our MP3 player.

stragic

Upon exiting Centraal Station, we were off to find the Estherea Hotel located at 303-309 Singel Canal. The walk took about 15 minutes. We made the mistake of approaching the hotel on the right side (even numbers), rather than the left side (odd numbers), of the canal. This meant we ended up walking past the Estherea on the wrong side of the canal and we had to wait until we came to a bridge to cross over to the correct side and backtrack a little to the hotel.

No worries. I've excerpted the following from my tripadvisor review of the Estherea Hotel: Upon checking-in, I asked for a room on the 5th floor (none available). I proceeded to ask for a canal view (available for a 45 Euro/night suppliment). We stuck with our original room which was Room 217. The man at the desk told us our room was nice. I thought that was his way of consoling me for not choosing to upgrade to the canal view.

However, the room WAS nice! And we were escorted there by a porter who carried our bag for us. As we walked down the hallway, the porter leading the way, I kept turning back to look at my husband to signal to him to have a tip ready for the porter. After the porter showed us how to operate the lights (which we later forgot how to do) and open the minibar in the room, my husband gave him a 1 Euro tip. I think 1-2 Euro per bag is customary?

The room had an entry way with a closet and luggage area on the left. There was also a safe in the room which we utilized. Double doors led to the bathroom on the right.

There was no air conditioning in the room, however, there were two small fans provided. There were a few English channels on the tv. The windows opened out onto the most beautiful street view. The bed was two twins pushed together, however, the bed and linens were amazingly comfortable. Soft pillows and two twin-size down comforters made it hard to leave the bed in the morning.

The bathroom was incredible and only slightly smaller than the size of the hotel room we had just stayed at in Paris. Double sinks and a deep soaking tub were nice touches. There was always hot water and strong shower pressure when bathing. Both the bathroom and bedroom were kept clean.

I showered and dried my hair with a blow dryer for the first time on this trip. As a girl, even a low maintenance girl, this was nice. My husband asked the front desk to make dinner reservations for us at an Indonesian restaurant, the Indrapura. The Indrapura is located in the Rembrandtplein. We walked there from the hotel in about 15 minutes; the sun setting over the buildings was very pretty.

We were right on time for our reservation and taken to a table for four located up a few steps in a loft-like area that looked down on other diners. We thought we had the best seats in the house. Our waiter spoke English well, as did everyone else we encountered in the Netherlands.

When ordering, we asked for and received a large pitcher of tap water (although we never received a refill when needed). I ordered chicken and rice and my husband ordered off the rice table menu and received various items. The waiter brought long, silver burners to the table, however, the food was only warm not hot. It was very good food, though.

So, we didn't get a refill on the water and after dropping our food off, we could not even signal someone to bring us our check when we were ready to leave. The guys at the table next to us were in the same boat of having to endure the wait for their check. I'm thouroughly aware of the European custom of long dinners and having to inform the waiter when you're ready to leave, however, this was ridiculous.

We finally got the check and were able to get on our way, my husband stopping to pose with the statues designed to recreate the Night Watch in the Rembrantplein-funny! We stopped in for some groceries and I found the most miniature strawberries I have every seen (and they were really good). We also picked up some diet coke and M&Ms and headed back to the hotel for some sleep.

stragic

Tuesday morning, I woke up just in time to make it to breakfast (served 7-10). My husband, on the other hand, slept in. Too bad for him, the breakfast at the Estherea Hotel was extensive and tasty and he missed out.

I originally had the Rijksmuseum on our schedule but due to the late start, we wouldn't be able to make it this morning. However, we did want to take a Mike's Bike Tour which departed from the exterior of the Rijksmuseum. Checking with the reception desk, they informed us that it was a 20 minute walk from the hotel. Or, we could hop on the #2 tram or the #5 tram and it would take us there in 5 minutes.

We didn't have enough time to walk the 20 minutes to the Rijksmuseum and still make the 12:30 tour. So, we caught a tram to the meeting point. This was the only time we rode the tram in Amsterdam and it was very easy to use.

People from several nationalities were taking the Mike's Bike Tour. Our group consisted of people from: Canada, South Africa, Singapore, Switzerland, Germany, and the U.S. Our tour leader, Sean, began the tour by providing a brief history of Amsterdam before we walked to the bike shop to pick up our bikes.

This was where I learned the lesson about never using the front break only on a bicycle. Only use the front break if you are also using the back break at the same time. Life lesson learned...the hard way.

Once we all had our bikes, there were about 25 of us, we rode through the city. There were two younger girls on the bike tour (maybe 11 and 8) who were there with their parents. Anytime the topic was going to get racy, cannabis or sex, he would alert the parents so the girls could ride their bikes somewhere else.

Sean informed us that they change the flight plan over Amsterdam every four days, so today we were able to view a lot of low flying planes as they made their descent into Schipol. Though I hate to fly, I love watching planesWe rode out to Amstelpark and viewed a windmill before visiting a cheese farm.

stragic

Along the way to the cheese farm, we saw something that struck me as funny. Apparently, someone had just had a baby at one of the houses we rode past because the back end of a large, inflatable stork was stuck to the front window of the house.

We waited for a bus load of other tourists to finish their tour before we went in to tour the cheese making facilities as well as where they make wooden shoes. Christian, the young man making the shoes, had been on the job for about a month and a half. He said he learned in one day how to do it. If you have the chance to visit while he is there, you'll enjoy his personality as he is quite the character. You will have the opportunity to buy cheese here if you're so inclined.

Cheese farm tour over, we hopped back on our bikes to wonder through the city some more. We crisscrossed through some parks, saw the road the Nazis used to exit Amsterdam, viewed the Hilton where John Lennon and Yoko Ono stayed, and had beers at an Irish Pub (Dan Murphy's).

Inquisitive as we are, we asked Sean why we were stopping at this particular pub. His answer: They sell the cheapest beer. We took his word for it but when we returned to the hotel we found a Mike's Bike Tour brochure with a Dan Murphy's advertisement inside (hmmm, interesting).

As we sat out in the plaza drinking our beers, Sean went around to answer any questions people had about Amsterdam. However, we had to head back before we were able to ask our questions so we said we'd ask him at the bike shop.

At the shop we paid for the tour (22 Euro/Adult and 19 Euro/Student) and waited for others to ask their questions before we did. We were about a question and a half in (where to find some good Chinese food and visiting Kinderdijk) when Sean's cell phone went off.

Oh my gosh, it was so fake the way he said, "Oh, it's my wife" followed by "Hello, Sweetheart" as he escorted us out the door abruptly. I realize that he gives these tours all the time and if he didn't have some way to leave, he'd be stuck answering questions all night. It was just a hard realization because everywhere I've worked (higher education) it's expected that you stay until you've answered everyone's questions. I have to give him credit though for a creative way of closing down shop.

Having been escorted out, we weren't able to ask for directions back to the Rijksmuseum (and we never saw the #2 or #5 tram). However, following the map, I managed to lead us back to the hotel...albeit, it ended up being the long way!

Back at the hotel, we rested before asking the reception desk the best way to get to the Chinese restaurants Sean had recommended. The man at the desk wasn't familiar with those restaurants and told us of some options closer to the hotel: Golden Chopsticks or Oriental City.

Off we went, through Dam Square, and we came first to Oriental City. We went up three flights of steps and were seated by a window overlooking a porno shop-hilarious! I asked for tap water and the waitress said they do not serve tap water.

This upset me a little. I think I was primarily upset due to having had free water at the Indrapura last night and thinking that at the Oriental City they were just trying to make more money off of us. But what can you do in these situations besides suck it up and pay for water or leave the restaurant?

We were too hungry to go elsewhere, so I ordered hot tea and my husband ordered bottled water. If you elect to eat here, a large pot of hot tea is 1.60 Euro and a small bottle of mineral water is 1.90 Euro. The silver hot plates were brought out again and my sweet and sour chicken with white rice was very good and served hot unlike last night at the Indrapura. My husband's rice table was good and included many different dishes.

stragic

After dinner, we walked through the Red Light District. I don't know what kind of debauchery I was expecting to find, however, I was really underwhelmed by it all. We walked down a picturesque canal that just happened to have women in bathing suits, or cop outfits, or nurses outfits, etc. standing or sitting in front of large windows.

I know they're prostitutes, but I came away thinking "So what?" The funny thing is that the "hot" girls line the main canal drag while the more "realistic" girls are located down some of the alleys. As we walked through the district, men would approach us to buy "cocaine or ecstacy." No thanks.

We headed back to the room where we watched a British comedy from the 1970s before falling asleep. The following morning, Wednesday, we made it to breakfast together but not to the Van Gogh Museum as I'd planned.

Oh well, I figure it'll always be there. We did, however, make it to the other place I'd scheduled for today: Muiderslot Castle. This would turn out to be my most favorite site from this trip!

TRSW

I was wondering when you were going to continue your report. The wait was worth it and timely. I leave for Amsterdam on Thursday.

Tom

ourjetboat

stragic...luv your report..leaving Monday for AMS. How long was the Mike Bike ride..and (I have to ask) how tiring for a fat out of shape balding man?

stragic

Thanks TRSW and ourjetboat! Ourjetboat~The bike tour lasted about 5 hours but was totally at a leisurely pace. Amsterdam is very flat and the only uphill bike riding you'll have to do is when you go up and over canal bridges (tip: switch into a lower bike gear as you go uphill). There were several short stops and the stops at the cheese farm and Dan Murphy's lasted awhile so you can rest up a bit. I think most people would find that the tour is not strenuous.

On another note, I would recommend bringing snacks on the bike tour because there are no stops for food (unless you want to buy cheese). We didn't buy any cheese and got pretty hungry subsisting on our M&Ms!

missypie

While in Amsterdam, did people ask you if you wanted to buy drugs only in the red light district, or all over?

marigross

bookmarking

stragic

Missypie~We were only approached to buy drugs while we were in the Red Light District. I never felt nervous or scared by that though. I really figured that the stuff they were selling was fake anyway because if you bought the drugs and they had no effect on you, what would you do? Go to the police and tell them that someone sold you fake hard drugs? The selling of "ecstasy" or "cocaine" came off like one of those scams in Paris where the guys at Sacre Cour try to tie friendship bracelets on you and won't let you leave. Then again, maybe I'm naive, and I should have felt worried.

My husband and I like to visit castles/fortresses and we've been to several in Europe. I was happy to stumble upon a reference to the town of Muiderslot which has a castle called Muiden on this forum. The website for the castle is only in Dutch, however, there were some helpful directions on how to get there from Amsterdam posted on this site.

Here was our experience: Our hotel was close to Centraal Station, so we knew (from reading this site) that we could take a train and then a bus to reach the castle. I asked the reception desk to print us off a train timetable for trains going to the town of Weesp. This is where we would connect with the bus.

Walking to the train station, we stopped by a large Albert Hein grocery store. A previous poster mentioned that they are the most expensive grocery chain in Amsterdam, however, the items we purchased (store brand cookies, grapes, chips, and beer) were fairly priced.

Goodies in hand, we continued on to the train station and asked at the information desk where to purchase train tickets. There are several yellow self-service tickets, however, they did not accept either our credit or debit card. After standing in line a bit, we realized that you can only purchase tickets here with cash.

Two second class, roundtrip train tickets to Weesp were around 9 Euro. We still had some cash left over, so we went ahead and purchased our one way tickets to the airport for Friday. We hoped this would save us some time on our last day in Amsterdam.

Now that we were out of cash, we stopped by an ATM to take out more Euros. No problems using the machine near the entrance to Centraal Station. On to find our platform. The train ride itself is very short (10-15 minutes) if you don't end up stopping at the several stations that connect Weesp to Amsterdam.