Waking for the second time this morning by a phone call from Gee, I knew this would not be so lucky a second time and it was a call to let us know the time was 12:30pm and Gee and Ines would be waiting for Tim and I in reception in half hour. Considering I was the one who was out last night, I still had considerable trouble waking Tim who had smoked himself to sleep around 9 the night before. But we were all together and checking out at 1pm sharp - also being able to store our bags for the remainder of the day until our flights.
By this time I was aware and very sorry that I had missed the meeting at Amnesia with some forum members, but in all honesty I was not exactly feeling fresh and lively by the last day and maybe another meet sometime else will be more beneficial to everyone - although I would love to have made it had I been more awake!!
After checking out we all wanted a morning coffee out somewhere and as Gee and Ines wanted to see Zeedijk and the Waag by daytime, we went to find a place for coffee that side of town. I noticed a lot of cats in the China town area during the day, but then again there was some strong smelling fish coming from more than one of the restaurants we passed. We came across Goa coffeeshop which had an attractive wooden décor exterior to the shop - I had never heard any reviews on this shop so decided it was worth coffee at least.
Inside was also pleasantly decorated with a wooden, tropical-like vibe - a very comfortable layout only that the tables and chairs we very close together which meant getting in and out of chairs was more awkward than it should be. The guy behind the counter was friendly enough but seemed to be to into his newspaper to get into to much of a conversation. He did have time to happily explain his menu and serve us 4 hot drink though. The drinks were quite expensive compared to other shops, €2,50 for a coffee compared to €1,50-€1,90 in places like De Kuil and The Coin. But otherwise this was a very nice shop to have a morning coffee in - Gee also took the recommended weed which I failed to note down, not his favourite but he said it was worth the money.
After a nice coffee and blackcurrant tea we were ready to move on. Ines wanted to post a parcel containing some souvenir clothing to her relatives in Spain, so we went looking for the post office the other side of Dam Square. After some initial wrong directions from some other stoned tourists we were corrected towards the right direction by some guy on his bike. The post office seemed to have a lot going on inside and seemed newly decorated, or just kept in very good condition. But I also took the opportunity to send my parents a postcard - why not, I had a few spare Euros in change.
No-one really knew what they wanted to do for the remainder of the day, and the moment was left to me to decide on where to go next…Old Church coffeeshop it was - a very nice atmosphere during the day and we were lucky to get the table at the window upstairs. I could imagine this being a great place to sit when the days are warm enough to open the window. They also serve a very nice hot chocolate and coffee in here, both of which I had whilst watching the looks on the faces on tourists both exiting and entering the heart of the RLD below.
Window view from Old Church CS
Nearly an hour of window gazing later and the others said they wanted to move onto De Kuil for a few last vapo bags. I chose to meet them in half hour or so as I wanted to look round the red lit streets yet again…nope I still wasn’t bored of it, although I was well aware my money was low and only had one last €50 to spend, so choose wisely. I wanted to stay around the Sexy Land / Bulldog street area as this was definitely the only place worth spending money during the day in the main RLD. So a couple of laps round the block later and I had to go with a very sexy young brunette from Holland at the top of the Dolle (opposite end from canal). On the previous 2 trips I had been with more than one RLD per trip and been fortunate enough to end up with the best experience last - this trip would be 3rd time lucky also, as although this girl was not as openly attractive as the blonde Czech girl from the previous night, she was just more comfortable to be with all around. I was certainly happy with the money I spent and off to meet my friends at De Kuil.
Oude Kerk
Arriving around 4pm, we had about 3 hours until we had to catch the train back to the airport, so I wasted no time in getting my remaining weed left and getting the budtender to vapo what he could; which happened to be about 2 big bags - after going through was enough to keep me occupied for the next hour. We spent this time at the big table at the back of the shop talking about the experiences on this trip, a little down as the time was coming to an end but optimistic about further trips in the future. The feeling was also comforted some after a conversation with an American traveller, when he mentioned he had just arrived an hour ago, popped into town for a smoke and was now going straight back to the station for a 16 hour train journey towards Finland to meet his sister.
Singel RLD at night time
All smoked up and we went for a final walk around the Singel area canals as the sun was setting. From there it wasn’t far at all to pick up our bags and head up to Centraal Station and on to the airport - the wait at the airport was mostly a silent one amongst us and that I always find is a sign of a successful trip as there was evidence of exhaustion but in an adventurous way. The time finally arrived when we had to board our separate flights and the journey comes to an end…until we open up a new one.
It is always hard to get out of Amsterdam mode of the return journey and the taxi ride back from Bournemouth airport to my house really seemed to bring me back to life so to speak…until you wake up in the morning thinking to yourself ’was that a dream?’ and answering by saying ’yes, and I lived every moment of it’.
“You've only spent a second of your life
My world is unaffected, there is an exit here
I say it is and then it's true,
There is a dream inside a dream”
Marilyn Manson - The Reflecting God
RLD was not my cup of tea (because I'm a woman perhaps, it kinda freaked me out), but it was interesting to read about your experiences. Always refreshing to try on other perspectives. Glad you posted them, look forward to reading about your next trip (perhaps I'll look up some of your old ones as well, noticed you have been a member a bit longer than me 
).
) Again, thanks for sharing, delightful to read and I love the details. Also (myself being a single female traveller), it feels a bit calming I guess, to know some insider information 
