Help me plan our trip to Europe.

[Mojotronica]

col directed me to post this question here, because he says there are plenty of Amsterdam natives posting on this board, and you're all-around cool folks...

***

We'll be in Paris for four days and five nights (weekdays, Friday night) London for two days and three nights (weekend) and Amsterdam for two days and three nights (weekdays.)

(I've omitted the travel days)

The budget is flexible -- $1K to $2K for food and entertainment (for two people.) But $1K is better -- that's around $85.00/day.

What are the MUST visits that I wouldn't find in a guide book -- great restaurants, pubs/bars, coffehouses, clubs, neighborhoods, shops...

Any must-see cultural experiences in those cities? What's the best of the museums and historical tourist traps?

A few specialty questions:

Assuming we wanted to take in one of those incredibly expensive Caberet shows in Paris, which one is the best?

Assuming we wanted to take in one of those live sex shows in Amsterdam, which one is the most tasteful and "couple-friendly?"

Assuming we wanted to go to a brown coffeehouse in Amsterdam, which one would most inspire me to launch the insurance industry?

Assuming we wanted to check out a green coffehouse in Amsterdam, which one is the funkiest/hippest/least corporate?

[Mojotronica]

And looking through the members here, it looks like I know most of you already... :)

[Aggie]

quote:Originally posted by Mojotronica

Assuming we wanted to take in one of those live sex shows in Amsterdam, which one is the most tasteful and "couple-friendly?"

Assuming we wanted to go to a brown coffeehouse in Amsterdam, which one would most inspire me to launch the insurance industry?

Assuming we wanted to check out a green coffehouse in Amsterdam, which one is the funkiest/hippest/least corporate?


[eek] I am from Amsterdam, but have NO answer to these questions. I feel so boring now :(

[Skyfish]

Ok let me give it a try :

Assuming we wanted to take in one of those live sex shows in Amsterdam, which one is the most tasteful and "couple-friendly?"

-> Thats a real hard one, as I have not seen them all and I dont find them very tasteful at all (none of them) : the best place though is still Casa Rosso (I can give you details later)

Assuming we wanted to go to a brown coffeehouse in Amsterdam, which one would most inspire me to launch the insurance industry?

-> Here I have to assume you mean Coffeshop right ? A place where one can freely buy medicinal herbs and bad weeds ?
Then go no further than The Greenhouse, De Rokkerij, De Dampkring and the Grey Area .
You can throw the rest away...

Assuming we wanted to check out a green coffehouse in Amsterdam, which one is the funkiest/hippest/least corporate?

-> I must admit I am not sure what you mean : just a plain bar ? with music ? If so which type of music you like ?

As for the cabaret in Paris, I can answer that one too ;)

[Mojotronica]

quote:Originally posted by Skyfish

Ok let me give it a try :

Assuming we wanted to take in one of those live sex shows in Amsterdam, which one is the most tasteful and "couple-friendly?"

-> Thats a real hard one, as I have not seen them all and I dont find them very tasteful at all (none of them) : the best place though is still Casa Rosso (I can give you details later)

Assuming we wanted to go to a brown coffeehouse in Amsterdam, which one would most inspire me to launch the insurance industry?

-> Here I have to assume you mean Coffeshop right ? A place where one can freely buy medicinal herbs and bad weeds ?
Then go no further than The Greenhouse, De Rokkerij, De Dampkring and the Grey Area .
You can throw the rest away...

Assuming we wanted to check out a green coffehouse in Amsterdam, which one is the funkiest/hippest/least corporate?

-> I must admit I am not sure what you mean : just a plain bar ? with music ? If so which type of music you like ?

As for the cabaret in Paris, I can answer that one too ;)


By Brown cafe I meant old school Age of Exploration era coffeehouse, w/ brown walls from centuries of tobacco smoke. The kind of place that early Dutch ship captains cut deals w/ financiers and spawned the insurance industry.

By green coffeehouse I meant cannibis-friendly establishment. ;)

Feel free to post your suggestions here, or PM me...

And thanks for your advice!

[Skyfish]

[lol]

OK I got it totally wrong then [crazyeye]

But *you* are right : in Dutch they are called "brown cafes"...

So let me rephrase my suggestions :

Assuming we wanted to take in one of those live sex shows in Amsterdam, which one is the most tasteful and "couple-friendly?"

-> Thats a real hard one, as I have not seen them all and I dont find them very tasteful at all (none of them) : the best place though is still Casa Rosso (I can give you details later)

Assuming we wanted to go to a brown coffeehouse in Amsterdam, which one would most inspire me to launch the insurance industry?

-> There are hundreds of them really, I'd have to do a bit more research to find something real special...

Assuming we wanted to check out a green coffehouse in Amsterdam, which one is the funkiest/hippest/least corporate?

-> We call them Coffeshops ;):
Go no further than The Greenhouse, De Rokkerij, De Dampkring and the Grey Area .
The latter one being an *absolute* must for any American and you can even come recommended by myself for special attention [groucho]
You can throw the rest away...

[Mojotronica]

Excellent! Thanks for the tips!

[Skyfish]

So when are you coming over then ? I got plenty more tips :D

[Mojotronica]

Paris = 27-Jul to 30-Jul; London 30-Jul to 2-Aug; Amsterdam 2-Aug to 5-Aug; Paris 5-Aug to 7-Aug.

[Stapel]

quote:Originally posted by Mojotronica

Any must-see cultural experiences in those cities? What's the best of the museums and historical tourist traps?
Amsterdam has a square (plein) called the Museumplein. Guess what you will find there. Also the Anne Frank house (not on this sqaure) is worth a visit.

quote:Assuming we wanted to take in one of those live sex shows in Amsterdam, which one is the most tasteful and "couple-friendly?" Afaik, Amsterdam is not really famous for live sex shows. I would recommend St. Pauli quarter in Hamburg (Germany), Near the Reeperbahn instead. As Skyfish told: the Casa Rosso is the best place to go. It is couple-friednly. It is located in the middle of Amsterdam's right light district, which is right in the middle of the city's centre. A guided tour around 'de wallen' is ok! You can get info on ot ar any regular tourist office (VVV).

quote:Assuming we wanted to go to a brown coffeehouse in Amsterdam, which one would most inspire me to launch the insurance industry?There are dozens of them.

quote:Assuming we wanted to check out a green coffehouse in Amsterdam, which one is the funkiest/hippest/least corporate?
I do not longer visit these breeding places of left wing anarchists anymore ;) .

[Mojotronica]

Should I visit Niedorp?

I'll be in Amsterdam for three days. While I'm there, I'm tempted to visit a little town to the north called "Niedorp," because it's where my earliest immigrant ancestor (Jacob Walichs) came from. It might be cool to make that connection.

Here's his story:
http://www.wgn.net/~jimvw/geneolgy/jacob.html

How hard would it be to travel between Amsterdam and Niedorp? Is there enough of interest there to make the trip worth my while?

[ERIKK]

ehh, niedorp? I only heard of 'nieuwe niedorp'. [lol]

(I guess from the radio, there are traffic jams over there in rush hour IIRC...)

Town website: http://www.niedorp.nl/ (in Dutch) Searched on the web and found out it is
close to my hometown, north of Amsterdam. If you are gonna travel that far from Amsteram,
you can also go to Alkmaar, Enkhuizen and Hoorn, all have old historic cities and
the latter two have a rish VOC history (VOC = Dutch East Indian Company). Alkmaar is
near Niedorp, Enkhuizen and Hoorn a but more to the east.

Some data on niedorp: http://www.sdu.nl/staatscourant/gem/gem335nh.htm


Travel to niedorp by train from Amsterdam:
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/ERIKK/200432320135_niedorp.jpg
43.64KB

Train, bus and 12 mins of walking! (from http://www.ov9292.nl)

Map Noord Holland:
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/ERIKK/200432320539_nhtotal.gif
99.68KB

See website: http://www.noord-holland-tourist.nl/nl/kaart/welcome.html for more maps.

[Skyfish]

Nice to hear about Jacob !

So thats a pix of you and your wife ?
Now am sure we will recognize you no problem when we pick you up at the airport on Aug 2nd :D

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/skyfish/2004323201018_Mojotronica.jpg

[Mojotronica]

Nope -- his family is very distantly related to mine, but the split occured hundreds of years ago... We share a common ancestor in Jacob Walichs.

My family migrated from New Jersey to Kentucky by 1850, then from Kentucky to eastern Washington (state), then my Grandpa moved the family to Illinois in the 1930s, then my Mom and I moved to Seattle in western Washington (state) in 1974.

I'm in my early 30s --

Here's a pic of me and the soon-to-be wife:

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Mojotronica/2004323203344_bandv.JPG
13.85KB

[Skyfish]

[lol]
Sorry for the bad joke :D

Hum...the fiancee looks really lovely, I'll definitely pick you up at the airport ;)

[ERIKK]

[hmm] I see on the homepage - of which the genealogy is a part from - that those people
went to Winkel (gemeente Niedrop) and Hoorn (my homecity ;)). Maybe they can help you
with some info as fellow travellers to Niedorp and distant family.

[Mojotronica]

Sorry Skyfish I didn't read the "picking us up at the airport" part before responding... :lol

I've tried to contact the folks who posted that web-site since I'm certain we're related and all, but his e-mail address is no longer active... His web-page has the most detailed history of our common ancestor though.

Thanks for all the help, ERIKKK and Skyfish -- looking forward to visiting Amsterdam. We'll probably skip the Niedorp region since we only have three days and there'll be plenty to do in Amsterdam.

Planning on popping by the Grey Area for a visit w/ Skyfish though -- see you in a few months!

[Skyfish]

Oh you can count on me !
Lets talk again closer to the date :)