Sometimes racy, even a bit spacey

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This was published 10 years ago

Sometimes racy, even a bit spacey

Amsterdam flower market.

Amsterdam flower market.Credit: Alamy

"When the ship came into Amsterdam at the end of our cruise, we were offered a tour of the city's famous red light district. I think the whole ship went!

"It's very sad to see women offering their wares in tiny, half-shop fronts but it's a part of Amsterdam's culture. We were also offered a canal cruise and we were so glad we went on that as it allowed us to get our bearings and work out what we wanted to see.

"We stayed on in Amsterdam for four extra nights after the Scenic cruise and the canal cruise introduced us to so many things we would not have found ourselves, such as the old 'brown cafes', which are coffee shops that date back hundreds of years and are still in their original state.

"The canal cruise also gave us a chance to see how people live on the water in Amsterdam. The boats on the canals are considered to be luxury accommodation but they don't even have sewerage; we just thought 'fancy living there!'.

"Another big part of the Amsterdam culture is obviously the cannabis cafes, so we had to experience that, including having a 'space cake'.

"Lorraine says I'm a bit of a conservative but I did try it. We shared a space cake between us, after having a coffee and something to eat, and it had no effect on us .

"The atmosphere of the cafe was very memorable though, with everybody smoking marijuana and people coming in to buy it; we watched customers examining it under a microscope to make sure they were getting the quality they paid for.

"It was a memorable experience for us, having never lived that side of the railway line!

"Another highlight of the city was the Van Gogh Museum, where you see masterpiece after masterpiece; you could spend a whole day there without any trouble.

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"We also visited the Royal Palace, the Anne Frank Museum and the colourful flower markets, and spent a lot of time just sitting in Dam Square, having a glass of wine or a coffee and soaking up the atmosphere.

"There is a lot of outdoor entertainment; there is music going all day and a lot of people go there on their bicycles to meet up with friends.

"The city has a real buzz and we enjoyed every bit of it."

Value for money?

All shore excursions were included in John and Lorraine's cruise, which they "could not recommend highly enough" for quality and value.

"It was all-inclusive and all the worry was taken out of it," John says.

WHO John Tingiri, of Mornington, Victoria, on his third cruise.

WHAT Experiencing the culture of Amsterdam.

WHERE Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands and a hub for European river cruises.

THE SHIP John cruised with his wife Lorraine on Scenic Pearl (scenictours.com.au). They cruised for 15 days from Budapest to Amsterdam and then extended their time in the Dutch city.

As told to Jane E. Fraser

Have you done an interesting shore excursion? Drop us a line at travelshd@fairfaxmedia.com.au.

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