travel 9/1-9/9

[HiFolks]

We will be in Amsterdam 9/1-9/9. Also we may take a
side trip to Belgium and maybe Paris too. How is the
whether? Do we need to bring a jacket?

Our First stop according to my map is Abraxas on
Saturday Morning. Just look for guys who look like
American redneck tourists

[FlyByNite]

http://weather.msn.com/monthly_averages ... c:NLXX0002

[HiFolks]

http://weather.msn.com/monthly_averages ... c:NLXX0002

Thank You, my friend really wants to meet British
girls too

[FlyByNite]

He should go to London then. It's loaded with Limey babes. If they are hot enough the nationality doesn't really matter. Amsterdam is very international and also VERY warm. He will see lots of good looking women, they are everywhere.

[Ingo]

Hi guys. Chicks of all sorts are around. Make a list of places that appeal to you and visit them. Anyone who comes in and sticks around has matching taste in music, or at least weed. Go from there.

Bring a windbreaker and a sweater. If you do, you won't need them, but if you don't, you'll be sorry (this advice valid for all of Europe). Be chill and expect to hit the odd attitude now and then (all Americans are cowboys, you are a cowboy, punch me a cow ) and avoid arguing politics or religion (or anything with the Dutch ). When in doubt, smoke another bowl.

- Ingo

[Grrl_Interrupted]

http://weather.msn.com/monthly_averages ... c:NLXX0002

Thank You, my friend really wants to meet British
girls too

Has he heard they are easy? Because that's only a certain type of British girl, as far as I can tell.... You need to be hanging around specific places. Please use condoms... Easy girls are dirty

Yes, bring a jacket. An overcoat, in fact. Weather here is very unpredictable at present, and Dam and Paris tend to be similar.

Have you been to Paris before? Know what to expect? It is not representative of France or the French, so please don't tar us all with the 'Paris' brush (I highly suspect this is where the British misconception about the French being 'rude' comes from).

[BigRobb]

http://weather.msn.com/monthly_averages ... c:NLXX0002

Thank You, my friend really wants to meet British
girls too

Has he heard they are easy? Because that's only a certain type of British girl, as far as I can tell....

Essex...

[HiFolks]

Hi guys. Chicks of all sorts are around. Make a list of places that appeal to you and visit them. Anyone who comes in and sticks around has matching taste in music, or at least weed. Go from there.

Bring a windbreaker and a sweater. If you do, you won't need them, but if you don't, you'll be sorry (this advice valid for all of Europe). Be chill and expect to hit the odd attitude now and then (all Americans are cowboys, you are a cowboy, punch me a cow ) and avoid arguing politics or religion (or anything with the Dutch ). When in doubt, smoke another bowl.

- Ingo

Ingo, thanks for the advice. I am not an expert on politics, made the same mistake in 2004 as I did in 2000. Religion, we live in the South.
"Enough Said." At least North Carolina is progessing. Me, I love to party
with all kinds of folks. You all have been very kind with your info.

[HiFolks]

http://weather.msn.com/monthly_averages ... c:NLXX0002

Thank You, my friend really wants to meet British
girls too

Has he heard they are easy? Because that's only a certain type of British girl, as far as I can tell.... You need to be hanging around specific places. Please use condoms... Easy girls are dirty

Yes, bring a jacket. An overcoat, in fact. Weather here is very unpredictable at present, and Dam and Paris tend to be similar.

Have you been to Paris before? Know what to expect? It is not representative of France or the French, so please don't tar us all with the 'Paris' brush (I highly suspect this is where the British misconception about the French being 'rude' comes from).

Never been to Paris, but dying to go. Thank you for your help

[Ingo]

Have you been to Paris before? Know what to expect? It is not representative of France or the French, so please don't tar us all with the 'Paris' brush (I highly suspect this is where the British misconception about the French being 'rude' comes from).

Never been to Paris, but dying to go. Thank you for your help

I've been to Paris several times and the only rude person I ever ran into was an Italian waiter. Parisians can be brusque like New Yorkers, but that's a big city attribute. I found that a smile and a cheery "Bonjour!" got every interaction off to a good start. If you get a mumbled or surly "Bonjour" in response, well, someone's having a bad day, but you started the interaction on the courtesy track and they will usually stick to that.

There are several trains a day from Amsterdam to Paris. It's actually a 2 hour trip (with several stops) from Amsterdam to Brussels, change trains, then a 1 hour 15 minute trip to Paris.

I'll try to be at Abraxas to greet you on Sat morning.

- Ingo

[HiFolks]

Ingo, that would be great!!!!

[geoffk]

I found that a smile and a cheery "Bonjour!" got every interaction off to a good start.

very true, the french may be blunt but i don't think they are rude. i've had a blast in france, and i'll be going back next spring.

[Grrl_Interrupted]

I found that a smile and a cheery "Bonjour!" got every interaction off to a good start.

very true, the french may be blunt but i don't think they are rude. i've had a blast in france, and i'll be going back next spring.

Spot on.

We just don't have the time to suffer fools, or foolish situations; they cause ennui, and we definitely don't have time for that.

We have time only to eat, talk and smoke

[HiFolks]

Have you been to Paris before? Know what to expect? It is not representative of France or the French, so please don't tar us all with the 'Paris' brush (I highly suspect this is where the British misconception about the French being 'rude' comes from).

Never been to Paris, but dying to go. Thank you for your help

I've been to Paris several times and the only rude person I ever ran into was an Italian waiter. Parisians can be brusque like New Yorkers, but that's a big city attribute. I found that a smile and a cheery "Bonjour!" got every interaction off to a good start. If you get a mumbled or surly "Bonjour" in response, well, someone's having a bad day, but you started the interaction on the courtesy track and they will usually stick to that.

There are several trains a day from Amsterdam to Paris. It's actually a 2 hour trip (with several stops) from Amsterdam to Brussels, change trains, then a 1 hour 15 minute trip to Paris.

I'll try to be at Abraxas to greet you on Sat morning.

- Ingo

"Bonjour" is it better to buy train tickets in USA or when we get to the Big A?
Also, I went to my bank and they were planning on charging me $1.4 for the Euro, should I wait and get the Euro's overseas:?: Love these big budget deficits

[Ingo]

Your bank will probably give you a better rate than any money exchange in the airports. It's worth getting 100 Euros ahead of time so you have train, tram, and lunch money to get to the hotel. Once in town, get money from ATMs for the best rate, but check yo make sure your ATM card has machines in Amsterdam. Cirrus seems to be hard to find.

You can purchase Amsterdam-Paris tickets at www.ns.nl (look for English link on tippy top of page). There's a non-stop "Thalys" train several times a day which takes a little over 4 hours. Note however that in researching this I clicked on the purchase tix link to see price and got a message "Onze website is tijdelijk onbereikbaar" which seems to mean "Our Website is Severely Fubar".

Probably no real difference in purchasing anyway. I do recall that Dutch commuter type train tix are a bit cheaper when purchased from machines than from the ticket windows, to encourage machine use (if you have a pin number for your credit card). Thalys is a long distance train with reserved seating. There are also cheaper/slower connections which have you changing in Brussels onto a Thalys train for the last leg.

- Ingo