They call them coffee shops but it does not smell like it

So I arrived in Amsterdam and took a quick snooze. Not too long because that would have really did me in for the jet lag. So Diane and I head into Amsterdam to just check it out and eat up the rest of the day. We took the shuttle to the airport and then the train to downtown. I took a taxi to the hotel when I got here and I got taken for a ride. Oh well, I am sure that there is European getting fleeced by an American sometime right now so it all works out. Here is the hotel where I will be laying my head Tonight . So there you go. Amsterdam is a pretty cool place. The thing that amazed me was that there was really no traffic. Maybe it was Sunday who knows, but it looked like a pretty manageable city. On the main drag outside of the Train station there is a bike parking lot and there must be about 2000 bikes. It is unreal how many people have their bike parked at the train station. The main street in the city is packed with shops of trinkets and what not. I think every store bought their gear from the same distributer. We crossed over many canals and I had a lot of thoughts, which were not limited too, 1) How deep is the water? 2) How clean is the water? 3) what do you think is at the bottom of the canal? 4) How many people go into the water every year? So there you go. So as we were wondering around I did not see any "hash bars." Well I was looking for the wrong thing. They are called coffee shops. Not only do they sell weed but they also sell Mushrooms. They call mushrooms "energy starters." Know I have known a few people on mushrooms in the past and energetic was not the first adjective that I would have used for them. So the Coffee shops are all over once you know what you are looking for. >This should give you a better idea of what they are. So there you go. We did not get to the red light district but those things happen, and that is why you want to come back. Next time I am going to get a bike and hopefully go on a bike tour and try not to crash into the other million bikes that are in this town. Well I am off to bed so I can get a good night sleep. I look forward to hear from you and I hope all is well. MORE TO COME.

Peace out.
Kirk