Prague, Amsterdam, Paris
 

Just got back last night from a 10 day trip to Prague,Amsterdam, and Paris. I want to thank everyone here for all of their great suggestions - many of the places I saw, or stayed at were ideas from this website. Trip went fine - no problems. I had good weather, only drizzled once or twice for a few minutes. Everyone was very nice - not alot of Americans over there at this time of year.

Prague - fell in love with this city. I never expected it to be like it was. I stayed at the Grand Hotel Praha. Wonderful place and right across from the Clock which should be fixed by the end of November. The room was large with high ceilings and 2 bathrooms. People were out all the time eating under awnings even though it was in the 40's. Just charming, old European city. Ate at Restaurant David which was excellent and no one else was there. Also found a nice little restaurant which was cheap - 2 meals for under 20Euros. It's the Blatnice. They have a website, Blatnice.com. Used pragocar.com to the airport and back and they were on time and very professional. Fare was about $25 for both my son and myelf each way which I think is very reasonable. We walked all over the city. It's small enough unless you have a physical handicap and can't walk far that you don't need public transportation. One thing to watch for - my teenage son was standing by a shop by himself after dinner and a woman came up and put her arms around him and pickpocketed him. He wasn't expecting it and pushed her off of him and discovered later his money was gone. Luckily, he only had 10Euros in his pocket. I had the real money. I had told him to put him cash in his front pocket and he forgot and put it in his back pocket. We never felt unsafe there even late at night - you just have to be careful.

Amsterdam - was very disappointed and saw this after Prague. The people are really friendly, but I felt the city was dumpy and not what I expected. It has a dreary run down look to me. I'm middle aged and a cop and I just can't get into marijuana being in your face all the time - gift shops with mainly pot souvenirs (not the pot itself), people smoking openly on the street, and some really stoned people hanging around the coffee shops. Don't mean to offend anyone, I just can't drop my mindset about this since I arrest people here for doing the same thing. Went to the Red Light District - not as bad as I had thought it would be. We stayed at the Ambassade Hotel - had a nice room overlooking the canal.
I went out one night at 8PM to walk down 3 blocks from the hotel and get some pizza by myself and a motorcycle with two people on it came up from behind me and the rider grabbed my arm and tried to get my purse. Same thing as in Prague, you have to be careful but I didn't feel as safe in Amsterdam as I did the other cities. Ate at a great Italian restaurant - Casa David on the Singel Canal. Went to the Delft factory in Delft by train and got so much stuff and didn't spend alot for what I got - shipped it back to the US and got the VAT tax back.

Paris - had been to Paris before. Still my favorite city although Prague is right up there. Stayed at the Hotel Brighton in Room 511 - I think that room number has been mentioned here before. The view is magnificent. Louvre, Tuileries, D'Orsay Museum, Invalides, Eiffel Tower, and Arc de Triomphe right from the balcony. I like the location of the hotel but that's personal preference. Ate at Vieux Bistro again - those potatoes!! Ate at Le Coupe Chou which was mentioned here - loved it. Cozy atmosphere, great food and not real expensive. Hard to find though - even with a map we had to ask. Ate at Le Grand Colbert - the restaurant in Jack Nicholson movie - Something's Gotta to Give. Worse meal we had - slow service, steak was so tough we could hardly cut it, potatoes were cold, bottom of dessert was burnt. Maybe Diane Keaton likes that place, but not me. Not sign of riots in downtown Paris although there were police everywhere. Walked down the

Sorry hit the send button before I was done. Saw Pere LaChaise Cemetery, La Sacre Coeur and the Catacombs which I didn't have time to see on my first trip. Enjoyed all of them - but my thighs from all the steps - you don't take the Metro and these sites when you're 80 that's for sure.

Bought a tram pass in Amsterdam which I'm sorry I did - found the tram confusing to use when you're new to the city and could walk everywhere anyway.
Found a cherub shop in Montmartre if anyone likes cherubs. The web address is laboutiquedesanges.com

Thank you very much for your report and I know the time and energy it takes to get one posted. I am sure the information would be useful.

I am curious about one aspect of your trip. I do hope you aren't implying that EVERYWHERE you went in Amsterdam people were smoking pot "in your face" as you put it...if that IS in fact the case (I notice you also hit the "red Light" District) I can assure you that you were hanging around the places where it might be most common..and perhaps only those places. But perhaps it is because it really IS unusual for most of us to be in that sort of environment where everyone isn't "arrested" for this behavior.

I was in agreement with your general feelings about A'dam. It was different than I expected myself. But I didn't see the blatant pot use like you mention, not once, not anywhere. I did see coffeeshops but you would have to go inside, to partake or see others doing so.

I would think blondiepopo noticed the pot-smoking more, as she is 'attuned' to it from an occupational perspective.

My husband's career was in security systems, and he's always noticing where the cameras are, etc.

I saw it 3 other times in public and away from the Red Light District - west of the main part of town near where we stayed and not near coffee shops. But I've seen it here in public (Indianapolis) and we sure have our share of people walking around downtown intoxicated. It is a job thing though - I always check out license plates for expired tags and want to give everyone in a bar a field sobriety test - haha. My teenage son thought it was the coolest place so alot of this is a generation gap. I guess I was looking for the blonde haired little boy on the Dutchboy paint can in wooden shoes and never saw him in Amsterdam :) Oh - the train ticket machine at the airport to Amsterdam wouldn't accept my Visa credit card or my Visa debit card. I also had a problem in a grocery store behind the Heineken Brewery that wouldn't accept any Visa cards either. I think Mastercard would have been o.k. Nowhere else did I have a problem with my cards.

I think the issue with credit cards not working at machines is the lack of a chip in our cards here in North America. No doubt we will get chip and pin cards one of these years.

Hey blondie - you are right on with your opinions of Prague being great, and Amsterdam being a dump of a town. Also, the tram ticket thing in Amsterdam is maddening.PLUS, twice I got onto trams AND a train that were not going to locations that were posted. I even heard Dutch people cursing, because they were lost & mixed up! So much for adventure. Glad you had a good trip!