"Sin city"

As I mentioned in a previous post, June 22 Friday was a holiday in Sweden. So I spent the long weekend in Amsterdam.

I need a couple of days to sort through my pics and stories. But let me share a couple of stories in the meantime.

First, it's amazing what checking the weather report can do. I saw early last week that the weather in Amsterdam for the entire weekend would be bad. Thunderstorms from Thursday to Sunday, it said. And I got a bit deflated. After all, no one wants to be on holiday when the weather is horrible. A bit of rain is acceptable. But not thunderstorms.

The plus side is that I knew what to expect, and I planned around it. Took my jacket and umbrella with me, and decided to spent most of my time indoors. Amsterdam has a truckload of museums, and so I would end up wet only when I was heading from one museum to another. The fact that I knew what to expect and had prepared for it made me ready to deal with the awful weather. So when I got to wet and wild Amsterdam, the heavy rains did not dampen my spirits nor reduce my enjoyment.

The other thing is that for the first time, I felt a huge huge cultural difference. As you probably know, marijuana is legal in Holland. And you can enjoy it in practically every coffee house and bar in the city. The thing is, pot has such a distinct smell, and I imagine that unless you are taking it, the stench is a bit too overpowering that you wouldn't want to enjoy coffee in a place that reeked of it. Which sucked for me because I love hanging out in cafes, and Amsterdam is the first city I couldn't do this comfortably in.

Walking through Amsterdam, you end up catching a whiff of pot at every corner and you also see lots of American and British "kids" (most probably on summer break) hanging out in these coffee shops. Despite all this, Amsterdam is a must-visit. It is easy enough to pay little attention to these "distractions" and enjoy this capital city with all its canals, beautiful gable houses, and interesting museums.