Amsterdam - Worst experience of my life.
 

I was vacationing in Paris for the week when a friend and I decided to take the train to Amsterdam. We thought it would be fun to check out some sites, buy some top quality hash and shrooms, and then head back to Paris.

We arrived at Central Station at 1pm. Our return tickets were for 6:55pm. We walked around, bought some hash at a coffee shop and some mushrooms at a smart shop.

The whole time we got an EVIL vibe. The people all gave off evil vibes. It was like something was sucking my soul away slowly.

It was so bad, we changed our tickets to take the 4pm train back to Paris.

I'd say it was the worst experience of my life. It made everything else seem so much better.

I had the same experience in Amsterdam...

It was odd...I didn't have it at any of the other cities I visited in the Netherlands. When I returned to my uncle's house in Haarlem I asked him why I didn't like Amsterdam. He told me it's because there's not a native Dutchman left in the city.

I had a great time in the rest of the country--I cannot recommend a visit to s'Hertogenbosch enough, and my other aunt and uncle's little town of Boxtel was very cute and fun to visit.

Don't dismiss the Netherlands on your experience of Amsterdam alone. The Dutch are sooo friendly and extremely willing to help you out. :) I can't wait to go back!

Thanks for the advice. I'll check out s'Hertogenbosch next time I'm in Europe.

That is odd. A few years ago I was in Amsterdam and everyone we dealt with was very friendly.

I thought the Dutch were friendly too. Except of course for the shady taxi drivers, hotel owners, and pot salesmen. The girls at the bars and restaurants were quite nice and helpful.

Also, amsterdam seems to be always cold and rainy.

When you compare it to Paris though, Amsterdam does seem to have something a bit lacking.

I don't understand how you could have such a horrible experience without actually having anything happen to you. I mean, if you got mugged, or kept getting hit on by transvestites, or other stuff, I could understand why it would be a bad experience. But just because you got an evil vibe? What were your expectations of Amsterdam in the first place? Because by most countries standards, what goes on there isn't exactly "legal." I'm confused.

I hadn't even been to Paris yet when I went...but I think nearly everything pales in comparison to the City of Light.

I had, however, been to several other Dutch cities...when I go back the only part of Amsterdam I'll be seeing is Schipol or Central Station unless I take a big, burly man with me. There's too much other stuff to do in the Netherlands for me to waste my time in Amsterdam.

What can I say I had that the last time I was in Paris, having said that that could well have been the fact that I was clearly a Dutch tourist and completly out of my place. It wasn't the Parisians that were bad it was me not being at the right place in my life and not being happy in Paris.

Maybe that bad vibe you mentioned was nothing more than the aversion a lot of people from Amsterdam have against tourist who come into their town to buy some top quality hash and shrooms (as you put it). Amsterdam has got so much more, but a great percentage of tourists is out to score and more thanoften end up being annoying. Not all tourists are bad but most people from Amsterdam (or the Netherlands for that matter) spot the druggie easily. I don't know I wasn't there, but you would be the first drugtourist who would get the cold shoulder from the locals.

Thats strange we had a great time in Amsterdam but didnt really care for Paris (the people anyway).

I spent about 3 days in Amerstadam last month for a training confrence.

Very strange place. I know what you mean about the bad vibe, it just feels wrong.

People are nice enough but it just does not quite feel right.

Had a good enough time (bit of window shopping :) ) lots of beers.

Not sure if I would go back.

Had you eaten any of the shrooms at the time you were experiencing these 'evil vibes'?

weird that you got those feelings in amsterdam.
sure there are some less than savoury people in the reds but then walk into a dodgy are in paris and you'll soon know about it...
i found amsterdam to be amazing, really good vibes, especially around the parks and in the less touristy areas.
ach well, each to their own!

Amsterdam is one of my favorite places. When I went, a few years ago, the city was so clean and beautiful walking city! Gorgeous buds too!! LOL. I liked Paris too... but comparatively, I would pick Amsterdam hands down. I was just disappointed that I only stayed there 5 days.

I had not, dont touch mushy's or weed (use to loads but years ago) but had quite a few beers at night :)

i was there on a band trip in Grade 13. It was nothing but a great time. Everybody was friendly, especially when they found out we were canadian (which caused the free drinks to flow).

I found nothing sinister about A'dam other than compared to smaller towns (eg eindhoven, Kirkkrade, schevening - sp?) it was a big city. first time i saw two guys kissing, or rather making out in public was in Amsterdam....

Were you tripping? :hmm:

If the worst experience in your life is a "bad vibe" for a couple of uneventful hours in Amsterdam before you finish you spring break in Paris then you are doing quite well.

I go to AMS regularly - It is a fun city with some very fine museums and nice parks.
Paris !!! There are some parts of paris, I would hesitate to go even during daylight - So there you have it.

I was there just a year ago. I didn't notice anything else than friendly vibes. I felt exceptionally safe, even touristing around the red light district.

L.A on the other hand. I've been to more than 30 countries around the world and I haven't been in a worse place. I found myself wandering around L.A. Downtown late at night .. didn't feel to safe :). I knew it was stupid, so I got out of there quickly, but none the less it was a cool experience.

Who cares what kind of vibes you were getting...you got some dank ass pot and mushrooms for cheap right???

Everytime I have been to Amsterdamn it has been the best experience in my life
But thats just me ;)

I'll second that. A BAD VIBE WAS THE WORST EXPERIENCE OF YOUR LIFE?!?

I appreciate that a 'bad vibe' is not cool, and it is almost always followed by a 'bad event' but come on...

Did you ever have a puppy die?
Did a girl ever kick you in the junk?
Have you ever been the last picked in team sports?
Any close calls where your life was in danger?

I'll gladly take a 'bad vibe' than some of my 'worst experience ever' stories.

Ditto. Come on, you didnt even get a good story out of it!

I personally had an OK time in Amsterdam, but my wife absolutely hated it. Maybe because I'm a stoner and couldn't think for the few days we were there, and some of the hookers were hot! HAHA, anyway, I just don't think the city is for some people.

Like most big cities, Amsterdam has it's bad areas and that's what you might have run into. Around the train stations seemed really bad to me with beggars, prostitutes and whacked out drug addicts.

I was really stoned one night and walked out of the red light district into "the wrong side of town" I guess, because once we crossed a street, everything seemed to be more dangerous. Sort of like on East Hastings in Vancouver, where one street corner is nice and clean but when you cross the street, the sidewalks are suddenly dirty and there's people shooting up in doorways.

Anyone know what the legal age to be able to smoke pot there is?

I am planning on going to Amsterdam pretty soon and I'm definitely looking forward to it
but I hope I'm old enough

I hope that I don't experience this "bad vibe" for the sole reason that I have dreamt of this day that is coming for a long, long time

Amazingly, nobody has really pried for details on this "bad vibe." I for one would like to hear Spritebox get a little more specific about what happened. Now, I can understand if it was so bad that you didn't want to talk about it, Spritebox, but that ship sailed when you posted.

Details, please!

Sounds like this bad vibe may have been related to some bad shrooms or pot...

Amsterdam and Venice are both cities built around many canals. I like both cities very much but they are very different.

As someone once put it:

Venice is where you go to make love.
Amsterdam is where you go to fuck.

A bad experience with mushrooms and pot, especially when you do not have a lot of experience with either of them (or the effect of both at once) can definitely turn a good weekend into a bad one....the key is remembering that you have ingested a chemical which is changing the way your brain thinks and acts...it is a battle sometimes with your own mind, you cant let the chemcal win...

...otherwise, stay off the pot and the shrooms and don't blame the city.

amsterdam is a beautiful place, did you head over to the Van Gogh Museum? Anne Frank's house? Did you take a stroll around the city to get a fee for what it is like outside of the shady areas??

I had a stopover in Amsterdam on my way back from East Africa. Our plane had trouble, so we got to stay there overnight. My brother and I went to the Red Light District, and it was quite an experience. Most of the people we dealt with seemed annoyed that we didn't speak the language. That notwithstanding, we had a good time. I was uptight at the time, so I didn't do any drugs, but I went in to a place with my brother that sold pot. As soon as they realized we were tourists, they literally turned the menu board around to reflect inflated, tourist prices.

That was probably the only "negative" we had while we were there. The city itself was very clean and beautiful. One odd thing, though, is that we kept getting approached on the street by shady characters trying to sell us "Charlie." What the hell is Charlie?

charlie = americans, i think. they were probably picking you out of the crowd. if you were wearing a baseball cap, that's a dead giveaway (no NL* in NL**).

i didn't have any problems with rude locals in amsterdam. but to echo what's already been said, other parts of the netherlands are more interesting than amsterdam (after you get over the initial WTF factor). groningen is another town of bucolic charm unparalleled in the states.


* national league
** netherlands

charlie = coke

in amsterdamn it is probably baking soda.

Had no problems
 

Amsterdam was not a problem for me minus one significant detail. OVER-INFLATED Retail sales. Like any big city this is true...but I found not only the VAT tax is excessive (17%), but the conversion between the US dollar to Euro added more damage to the budget. I quickly learned not to purchase retail in Amsterdam. Anyone going to Holland, purchase anywhere 15+km away from Amsterdam and I assure your cost will be reduced significantly beyond belief...4Real!

Also for the coffee shop menu, I would recommend trying the green called "White Blonde". MMMMmmmm.....Lekker!!!!

Pomeranian