- 3 months ago
Tony discovers a layover in Amsterdam is guaranteed to lead to the unexpected.
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00:00It's like the European version of Bangkok.
00:16Very high threshold for bad behavior.
00:21It was a karaoke ambush.
00:25Really terrifying.
00:30A guy in a giant panda suit, and the panda was coming at the other panda from behind.
00:39Fortunately, I wasn't high, because that would have really, really, really freaked me right the f*** out.
00:44It's time for us to get back to you.
00:56These of any controlled substance by me or any member of this crew would be absolutely forbidden according to network standards and all rules of human decency.
01:06Remember, kids, don't do drugs.
01:08We don't.
01:09When you mention you'll be making a stopover in Amsterdam, you get a reaction I can only describe as semi-collegiate.
01:21A knowing look, as if there can really only be two reasons you go to this lovely little city of canals.
01:27This Venice of the North, as somebody called it, attracts over three million visitors a year.
01:33A large number of them, let's face it, attracted by the freedom to smoke high-test weed as one pleases.
01:39And the famous red light district, where you can f*** an Eastern European prostitute and the pooper at competitive prices.
01:45Oh yeah, there's museums and stuff too.
01:55Best way in Amsterdam, from Schiphol Airport, is the train to Central Station.
02:01Takes 20 minutes and costs only a few euros.
02:04Since forever, this is how most visitors arrive.
02:06When I was 14 years old, I was working in the luggage department, and then I was taking the big backpacks from the hippies coming from all over the world.
02:17And then everybody came to the Vondelpark to sleep there and hang out and smoke all the nice delights from those days.
02:28Amsterdam.
02:28Last time I was here, I slept in the park.
02:35Spent all my money on hash and hookers.
02:37Well, time to start the layover.
02:45I came here briefly in my misspent youth.
02:49So I'm curious to see what the city's really like, now that my priorities have changed somewhat.
02:55So I dump my bag at the hotel.
02:57And head straight to the ape, near the station.
03:02I've got 36 hours, which is a pretty reasonable amount of time to work with.
03:08Ooh, that's good coffee.
03:09Possibly the oldest bar in the city.
03:12Famously, a watering hole and inn for sailors back in the 1500s.
03:16They called it the ape because the owner would often accept monkeys, apes, or other exotic animals as payment.
03:22Wait till they see the incontinent and possibly rabid mink I have in my bag.
03:27He's just darling.
03:28You know, one of my favorite things about travel is all the anticipation of good times.
03:35I came here first in 1970 with a U-Rail Pass of 100 bucks in my pocket.
03:41I slept in Vondel Park.
03:44Oh, they were different times.
03:45It was like a little mini Woodstock.
03:47What do I know about Amsterdam?
03:48Nothing.
03:58Aziz Boudrana is a native Amsterdamer who owns a group of skateboard shops.
04:03Also, he likes pancakes.
04:05I like pancakes.
04:07So it's your first time in Amsterdam?
04:09No, I was here almost 40 years ago.
04:11So do you kind of feel that it's changed a lot?
04:13I've seen the train station in my hotel, and it looks exactly the same.
04:17This street became the junkie street of Amsterdam.
04:20When I started going out, it was maybe 1979 or something.
04:23When I was 13, 14, this street was just like a zombie parade.
04:27So what happened to them all?
04:28Pretty crazy.
04:28Where'd they all go?
04:29Put them on a program.
04:31Right.
04:31Like methadone or?
04:32Yeah.
04:33Yeah, I was on the methadone program for eight years.
04:36Oh, seriously?
04:37Holy s***.
04:38Not fun.
04:40All right, after you, sir.
04:42This place, supposedly, is where the Beastie Boys were inspired to write their famous line,
04:50When I'm in Holland, I eat the pannakoken, a lyric I've had tattooed on my inner thigh
04:55since the release of Super Disco Breakin'.
04:58I don't know, what's the most traditional?
05:00Bacon and apple, that's very, very Dutch.
05:02Special today is like rhubarb mixed with apricots with our homemade cream.
05:07Oh, that's a tough call.
05:08Let's get one of each.
05:10Did I mention yet that people talk English here?
05:13Yup.
05:14Unlike our country, the Dutch generally speak two or three or even four languages fluently.
05:19So it's easy to communicate.
05:21I don't think I've ever met anyone from this country whose English is not flawless.
05:25How many languages do you speak?
05:27I speak Dutch, English, German, French.
05:32You know, that's about it.
05:33Right.
05:34It's sickening, I have to say.
05:36It makes me feel like completely illiterate.
05:39If pancakes don't do it for you, there's a restaurant called the Hardering Brothers,
05:43run by, you guessed it, brothers Paul and Nick in the Rappenburg,
05:47which is well worth a visit.
05:50Simple and flavorful and seasonal, and they do a killer head cheese.
05:54So, don't miss it.
05:57Beautiful.
06:02How's that treating you?
06:03This is good.
06:04Save me a slice of that, Leo.
06:06I'm going to try that after you're done.
06:08So, what are the sort of iconic foods of Amsterdam?
06:12The snacks that you have here are not found anywhere else in the world.
06:15Like the frikandel, croquette, bitter balle, all kinds of terrible, greasy, bad for your health food.
06:25That sounds promising.
06:27All the tourists that come in, dance to them, what do you think the majority of them do?
06:31They go to the Red Light District, smoke pot.
06:35Yep.
06:35They go to the Van Gogh Museum, and then they take off.
06:39Time is already slipping away, so I say goodbye before he makes me eat more sweet stuff.
06:46Thanks for having me.
06:47That was really terrific.
06:48Thank you for coming.
06:49I'll be taking the tram to my next stop, though you could take a bike.
07:00In Amsterdam, the bike, crappy old bikes actually, are the kings of the road.
07:05Even cars fear them.
07:07You better look both ways.
07:10You can do everything on a bike.
07:12I've seen people doing amazing things on a bike, I can tell you.
07:19If you want a bike, you can go see Frederik and his dog.
07:22My dog is called Rocco.
07:24Rocco Bambula.
07:26He can set you up with an appropriately undesirable-looking two-wheeled means of transport, local-looking so it won't get stolen, presumably.
07:35All our bikes are incognito, so without advertisement, you cannot see their tourists, and they just go around like a local.
07:43The trams are probably the second-best way of getting around.
07:57Cars are near impossible on these streets.
07:59You definitely don't want to drive them.
08:02A short distance away is the damn square in the center of the city.
08:10If you want to stop, push the button.
08:13You know, jean is probably, while affordable and convenient, it's actually, most importantly, it's fun.
08:24It's kind of cool to bring snakes through the city, especially if it's cut off a good head of steam and you're moving.
08:29I'd recommend it.
08:35The damn square is the historical center of Amsterdam, home to the Royal Palace, tourists, and very strange people.
08:43I am a fan of local, indigenous beverages.
08:49You know this.
08:50My interest is, of course, anthropological.
08:53To that end, I am investigating Jennifer.
08:55A perfectly fine venue for the stuff being this place, the three little bottles near the damn square.
09:03Look, it's Paul from the Hardering Brothers, where he does brilliant things to port, so I trust him on the alcohol.
09:10How do I pronounce it?
09:14Yoneva?
09:14Yoneva, that's it.
09:15Yeah, I think I'll have one of those.
09:17Old Geneva?
09:18And maybe a beer also?
09:20A little better.
09:21Having one?
09:22Yeah, I'll have one too.
09:23And there is an appropriate way of drinking it.
09:29Let's rick this enough to touch it.
09:37Ooh, that's not the, ooh, that's strong.
09:41That'll work.
09:42Basically, it's kind of like gin, meaning neutral spirits flavored with juniper.
09:47But this is Dutch.
09:49If it ain't made in Holland, it ain't Jennifer.
09:53First buzz of the day.
09:55Whew.
09:56Another option for getting swacked is the Pilsner Club off the Calverstrat.
10:01A public house that's been open for 125 years.
10:05Sand on the floor and an absence of music and joker poker machines.
10:09Back at the tasting room, I'm happy to learn you can get meat on the side.
10:19Oh, nice.
10:21Here we go.
10:22See, now that's a good time.
10:27Mmm.
10:29This is, every bar needs this.
10:32You know, you realize I've had maybe a little too much to drink.
10:34Time for a meatball.
10:36Here.
10:36No?
10:42How humiliating.
10:43One of the things that I really enjoyed when I came here in 84 the first time was just sitting in one spot and just watching people go by for like a half an hour.
11:06It's amazing.
11:12It's all walks of life.
11:13Wow, wow, wow.
11:18It's like every variety of hipster doofus from the entire universe is allowed here.
11:23It's like the European version of Bangkok, a very high threshold for bad behavior.
11:30Come to Amsterdam and you're absolutely going to be curious, shall we say, about the coffee shops, right?
11:41You could buy and smoke weed here, to put it bluntly.
11:44I have, in the interests of my audience, come to a cafe called the Dampkring to investigate.
11:50It's right in the center of town on Hanbukstrand.
11:54Hi.
11:54Good evening.
11:54Are you Ron?
11:55I'm Ron.
11:56Nice to meet you.
11:56Hey, how are you?
11:56Nice to meet you, Mr. William.
11:57My host is the amiable Ron, manager and expert, guide and curator to your own magical mystery tour.
12:04How does it work?
12:09It's perfectly legal to smoke weed here.
12:11It's perfectly legal to possess weed here.
12:13But it has to, technically, it should magically appear because you're not allowed to produce it.
12:19Well, you're allowed to sell it.
12:21There is a rule on that that you can have 500 grams in the shop.
12:24Right.
12:24And you're allowed to sell five grams to each person.
12:27But you're not allowed to grow it.
12:29It's totally illegal.
12:30But let's face it, what percentage of tourists who come to Amsterdam come here to smoke weed?
12:36Officially, it's about 7 or 8 percent, what they say statistically comes to Amsterdam.
12:40There's no way.
12:41No, that's why we think it's more like 25, 30 percent of people.
12:45I would just look at around.
12:47I would say that's true.
12:49Yeah.
12:54The weed industry brings a lot of dough into this city.
12:58And like I said, it's legal.
12:59And I am not, shall we say, unfamiliar with the charms of the product around here.
13:04But network policy specifically prohibits me from using mind-altering substances which might be illegal in parts of the USA.
13:12And if you know me at all, you know for a fact that I am, as is appropriate, slavishly adherent to network policy.
13:20So sadly, I will not be smoking any of the incredibly rare and powerful varieties of hydro here.
13:27This is the damp cream menu.
13:30Wow.
13:31This is the marijuana list.
13:33It tastes smooth and spicy effect.
13:36It makes it a bit easier.
13:37Sometimes people come in and they get really confused, you know, when I look at the menu.
13:40We guide them a little bit.
13:42Now, if I were looking for something, if I were picking something, which of course I'm not because that would violate network policy, I'd be looking for something with an aroma of something like cat piss.
13:51Yeah, that's a sativa.
13:55It is that very deep, deep, deep cat piss smell.
13:59Right.
13:59I've heard that's good.
14:00Yeah.
14:02You heard well.
14:03Do you like football, soccer, you go to Amsterdam.
14:18Do you like drinking, you go to Amsterdam.
14:20Do you like smoking, you go to Amsterdam.
14:23This is the city of liberty.
14:26You can do everything you want.
14:27You can even on my shoulders.
14:32No problem at all.
14:36Almost cut my hair happened just the other day.
14:40What?
14:40Huh?
14:41Oh, yeah.
14:42Amsterdam.
14:42City of tolerance.
14:44Though chances are your louder drinkers here are from elsewhere, and not all Amsterdammers by any means are smoking endo.
14:51Many, if not most, of the people taking a plastic, fantastic joyride to the center of your mind on the bar stools of coffee shops are tourists.
15:00It's a legal novelty, and one way to kick back on a layover.
15:04Not that I would ever, ever do such a thing.
15:10What I like you to do with your cooking experience and your sense of smell and taste is I like you to smell the differences between the weeds.
15:21The C5, as you can smell like this, is very lemony.
15:26I'm going to give it a good squeeze, and then the whole smell comes out.
15:28Yeah, this is very citric.
15:29The C5 mix is more the one that smells like pepies.
15:34Oh, see, now that's, this reminds me of what I may or may not have done.
15:37Yeah.
15:39Yeah, see, that smells lovely.
15:41Oh, wow.
15:42Contact high.
15:43Did anyone really ever get a contact high?
15:46No, not in my experience.
15:48You actually have to put the joint in your mouth to get high.
15:51Unfortunately, because I respect the policies and liability issues of the television industry, I will not, repeat not, be smoking weed now.
15:59On camera, or ever.
16:03Not me.
16:04I am on a natural high.
16:07More of a cheesy, uh...
16:09I'm high on the satisfaction of making fine, drug-free television entertainment.
16:18Come on, man.
16:19If inspired by your coffee shop experience to see some, like, art, you could go to the Rites Museum.
16:28But Electric Ladyland and the Jordan area might be more appropriate to where your head's at, man.
16:34It's a day-glow, fluorescent wonderland, named after Jimi Hendrix's last good album.
16:39It's a cave built into the downstairs basement with, like, rocks and colors and...
16:44Whoa.
16:45The work of artist Nick Padolino.
16:49A lot of this is based on science, but it's mostly like a color trip inside here.
16:53This part over here is called a reactor.
16:55There's 19 different lenses inside here with telescopes and binoculars.
17:00When you look through all of these lenses, there's also a natural piece in the center that's a blue crystal from England.
17:06It's called fleurite.
17:07I haven't moved.
17:12I've been looking at my hand, and it looks, like, different.
17:15Does it look any different to you?
17:16Pretty sure I can see veins and...
17:18Like, right through the skin.
17:20Did you notice, like, how the cat is looking at me?
17:23I think he's stoned, man.
17:24That is so awesome.
17:26The cat is, like, stoned.
17:29Suddenly, I'm hungry.
17:31Ron lures me outside to reassess reality and get a grip.
17:37I'm hungry.
17:46Promising to bring me to a brown café.
17:50After some initial concern that this was some kind of underground thing for German fetishes,
17:54I was informed that they're actually bars.
17:57It's easy.
17:58The Dutch equivalent of the old school British pub.
18:02Oh, that's good.
18:03Dry mouth.
18:04I don't know why.
18:05That's really good.
18:06This is what they call a real Amsterdam Brown Cafe, and there is, well, maybe there's 20, 11 towns.
18:14Really?
18:14A real neighborhood cafe.
18:18The Two Swans is in an area called Jordaan, once a working class district, now gentrified, though some customs remain.
18:27I was looking forward to a nice, quiet refuge where I could kick back, relax, de-tweak, get that, like, cat out of my head.
18:37I think they have every week here, they have live music, people singing, all themselves, songs and stuff like that.
18:43Really traditional stuff.
18:45Everybody seems to know each other.
18:47Yeah, it's neighborhood.
18:48After three beers, you feel like, oh, nice.
18:55Wow.
18:56There we go.
18:57Suddenly, this happens, and I nearly jump out of my skin.
19:06Hell.
19:07I feel like I crawled into a quiet hole, looking to chill out, get away from the world, and found myself in the middle of the Broadway production, The South Pacific.
19:16Jesus.
19:18I am so unhappy now, I am seriously considering feigning a seizure or cutting my own throat.
19:24This is the very definition of hell.
19:26I feel like I got high and ended up in the middle of, like, the road production of Annie.
19:41Now Ron's off, too.
19:49This is like you're sitting with Neil Young, and he suddenly and unexpectedly starts belting out a medley for Annie.
19:55NG, man.
19:56NG.
19:57NG.
19:57If more ear-shattering, less show-tune-y is where you want to be, maybe Mallow Mallow Club better.
20:11Late night dive bar with blues, punk, jazz.
20:19This is where you might go when everything else is closed.
20:22Meanwhile, I'm back at the two swans, looking desperately for a way out.
20:30Hey!
20:31Come on!
20:32Come on, let's get out of here!
20:33Trying, trying, trying, trying to drink my way through it.
20:38Singing bars are apparently very common here.
20:41Unfortunately, I don't share the nation's love of singing.
20:45What happened in there?
20:48It was a karaoke ambush.
20:50You'd be surprised at show tunes.
20:53You know, you like a little warning.
20:54Look, I found that deeply terrifying.
20:57It's really terrifying.
21:02Thank God I'm not stoned.
21:11We head from the Jordan to the Liedesplein area, a hunting ground for late night food.
21:17Amsterdam is in many ways the last great champion of food from a wall.
21:22Automat-style dining.
21:24And it's a frikandelle, our famous frikandelle.
21:27For mere pocket change, you can enjoy all sorts of fried, breaded goodies without having
21:31to interact with another human being.
21:34Perfect for my current state of mind.
21:45This is awesome.
21:46I thought I'd get a big chunk of eyeball.
21:49Nothing bad about this dish.
21:50Meat of sorts in tube form.
21:52Meat of sorts in tube form.
21:54This is my safe place.
21:57I need what leaves in my apartment.
21:59But this is basically like everybody who's going out to this place or whatever, on their way home.
22:0580% stops here, have a few snacks and go to bed.
22:09At this hour of the night, you know, often my feeling is, if there's not a 50% chance of diarrhea, it's really not worth eating.
22:18I go take a coffee and go sit there and drink the coffee, you know.
22:33And drink Dutch coffee.
22:34And drink Dutch coffee.
22:35That's nice.
22:36It's not like the American coffee.
22:37It's good coffee.
22:38Good coffee.
22:46Where am I?
22:47What happened?
22:48I'm not covered in blood, so that's good.
22:51Didn't pee in sock drawer.
22:53Excellent.
22:54Feeling funky fresh.
22:56Not exactly.
23:00Say I've got a couple hours to kill, I could probably, I don't know, have a coffee or maybe liberate an underage Ukrainian prostitute from her life of slavery and oppression.
23:10Have a good coffee.
23:12I love that public urination is extremely looked down upon.
23:30Where exactly is public urination encouraged?
23:33Well, maybe England.
23:34They do have convenient public urinals here.
23:36If you're trying to find a friendly face, you'll probably have to look up.
23:39The Dutch people are the tallest in the world.
23:43The average man over six feet tall and the average woman over 5'7".
23:47So Tom Cruise, stay home.
23:50Little fella.
23:51Somebody will end up putting an ashtray on your head.
23:57When the urge to vomit subsides and my memory returns and I realize I've done nothing shameful,
24:03it's time for a healthy breakfast.
24:05I meet back up with Aziz who's promised me a typically Dutch speed snack.
24:09A healthy one to boot.
24:11So this is a popular tradition here, the herring stand?
24:15Yeah, in the city center, they're on every main street.
24:18Traditional way to eat it is to grab it by the tail, dip it in chopped up onions, raw onions,
24:24and then you eat it, you know?
24:25Bones and all?
24:26No bones.
24:27There's no bones.
24:29Herring, cured in salt, then pickled in vinegar.
24:32There's also eels, mackerel, and salmon available.
24:36The delivery-to-mouth methods include in a sandwich or straight down the hatch.
24:41Dip it.
24:42Yeah!
24:43Mmm!
24:44What do you think?
24:45You like it?
24:46It's good.
24:47Pickled fish too much?
24:49How about stroopwafel in Amsterdam's legendary food market?
24:57A warm, thin cookie outside and buttery, sticky sweet inside.
25:03Everyone loves stroopwafel.
25:06One more bite.
25:09Time ticking away.
25:14Oh no!
25:15So little time!
25:16What to do?
25:17How to make the most of my remaining time?
25:20How about a ferry ride to a deserted warehouse district somewhere, Aziz?
25:26Where are we going?
25:28We're going to Amsterdam North.
25:30Do we have tickets?
25:32Oh, it's free.
25:33It's free?
25:34Yeah, ferries are free.
25:35Really?
25:36Yeah.
25:45We're going to where no tourist has ever set foot.
25:48I guess the 15-minute ferry ride is a decent way to get a feel for just how waterlogged
26:00this city is.
26:01And this isn't a spot you could get to by tram or metro.
26:08And the North itself has some interesting history.
26:11They used to say that Amsterdam North people are a little bit crazy because they used to
26:17ship all the crazy people here and all the criminals and stuff.
26:21It must have been hundreds of years ago.
26:23I think that was like...
26:24So they pushed them out to live on this island?
26:26Yeah, I think that...
26:33How are you?
26:34How are you?
26:35How are you?
26:36You go first.
26:37Bloody Mary?
26:38Really?
26:39Yeah.
26:40Bloody Mary?
26:41It's hurting a little.
26:43Did you go out in Amsterdam last night?
26:45Had a couple of things, interesting things happen to me last night.
26:49Went to a coffee bar.
26:52In spite of the fact that I did not partake of the incredibly strong and good-looking
26:56marijuana there, I found myself strangely hungry shortly afterwards.
26:59I stopped off at a sort of friendly local bar.
27:02Suddenly, out of the blue, everybody starts singing in perfect harmony.
27:08It was terrifying.
27:09Fortunately, I wasn't high because that would have really, really, really freaked me right
27:13out.
27:15So, what are our options?
27:17They have a sandwich with tahini with honey.
27:21Down.
27:22Or tahini with miso sauce.
27:24New who?
27:25Definitely not.
27:26A sandwich with peanut butter jam.
27:28Mmm.
27:29And, uh, a sandwich with broccoli spread and feta.
27:37A sandwich with, uh, farmer cheese.
27:40If I found myself amongst...
27:42Is this like some sort of hippie enclave?
27:44Are these people that...
27:45Is this a vegetarian restaurant?
27:47I don't know.
27:49I just...
27:51I really need something steady.
27:53Cheers.
27:54Cheers.
27:57That'll work.
27:58I would much rather have gone to Spang Macandre, a Surinamese spot in the Old South of Amsterdam.
28:09Roti, kebabs, soups, and hot sandwiches that are actually good fly out of here at top speed.
28:16Or I could have stopped by a coffee shop, dialed 420, and grabbed some takeout.
28:22Hung out in Vondelpark.
28:27There's, uh, thinly sliced, uh, veal.
28:30Yes?
28:31Veal with homemade, uh, smoked mackerel mayonnaise.
28:36There's basically nothing on this f***ing menu.
28:39And a ham and cheese sandwich is the most visually arresting thing I could think of.
28:43Yeah, let's go for the toasty.
28:45Ham and cheese.
28:46That'll do me.
28:47Cheese toasty.
28:48Yeah.
28:51Jesus, Tahiti.
28:54I feel like I've been exiled to Hipster Island.
28:57And then, there's proof.
28:59Yeah, the guy with the sock on his head over there.
29:02The Ray-Bans.
29:03Gonna lay him back on the couch.
29:04That's the vanguard of higher real estate prices.
29:07See a few of those, you know that rents are about to double.
29:12As I sit here amongst the sock-headed and the goateed,
29:15I comfort myself with the thought of a nice ham and cheese.
29:19And then, I get wheat bread instead of the white bread I asked for.
29:26Perfect.
29:27Damn hippies.
29:29Actually, I'm wasting my time at this moment.
29:45For all of you, because you're sitting at home.
29:48And I'm here in Amsterdam.
29:50You're wasting your time.
29:51And I'm doing this as well.
29:52So, why am I here?
29:54You can do everything.
29:55Come on.
29:56Come to Amsterdam.
29:57Okay?
29:58Hello?
29:59Hello?
30:00Hello?
30:01I'm telling you, it's endemic around here.
30:24These furries.
30:28The guy I saw was in a full panda outfit.
30:35Many visitors come to Amsterdam with a checklist of things to do while here.
30:39Get high.
30:40Motorboat a hooker.
30:41That sort of thing.
30:43Believe it or not, I will not be visiting the red light district.
30:47Been there.
30:48Done that.
30:49And human trafficking, while good for d*** jokes, is a questionable practice on every other
30:54level.
30:55There's Cannabis College.
30:57But even for the serious pothead, that's a bit too nerdly.
31:01I mean, I like beer.
31:03Do I want to go to the University of Beer?
31:05No.
31:06I want a drink beer.
31:08Anne Frank Museum?
31:10Whoa.
31:11You should see the lines.
31:13And frankly, downer.
31:16You want to spend some money is rent your own little classic saloon boat and have a gorgeous
31:31tour through the city with a nice bottle of champagne and some nice shellfish.
31:35That's a nice one, of course.
31:38Champagne?
31:39Shellfish?
31:40Not quite.
31:43With me is Ron's friend, Case Gael, notable Dutch actor.
31:47Ron's apparently otherwise engaged, so won't be joining us.
31:51Yeah, here we go.
31:54These canals were made to control the level of the water.
31:57That was one thing.
31:58Transport, obviously.
31:59Also made for getting around, you know.
32:02So you do this all the time?
32:04A couple of friends of mine have boats.
32:06Yeah.
32:07This is a great place to live.
32:09When you come to Amsterdam and you're only staying for a week or something, rent a houseboat.
32:13You can rent a houseboat on a boat.
32:15There you go.
32:16You can do whatever you want.
32:17This is nice.
32:18I usually hate boat tours.
32:20What I like is that when you get in a boat, you can actually go somewhere.
32:30Cheers.
32:31Floating on a canal not to your liking?
32:33Buy a sensory deprivation tank at Cone Float in the Centrum District.
32:38Ron's favorite to, like, clear your head, find your center.
32:42This is nice.
32:43This is a perfect way to relax yourself after a hard day's night working.
32:51What I love about Amsterdam and all European cities in general is that you get a feel of history.
32:58You get a feel of that everything is universal.
33:00All the feelings, the emotions, the ambitions of people.
33:01Our exciting boat ride is at an end.
33:05The clock is ticking.
33:06So little time.
33:07So little time.
33:08Here we go.
33:09One of the many cafes around here that you can reach by boat, Soundgarden, is located on Marnick Stratt, right on the canal.
33:11People come here, park their boats, and grab a seat.
33:12And grab a seat.
33:13Here we go.
33:14One of the many cafes around here that you can reach by boat, Soundgarden.
33:16There is Public The
33:25Alan in here right there.
33:27There's business change.
33:28We'll turn andoulmtrans a cries into Le Windy.
33:29We have students, Magnomy, and Viandre.
33:30We are on train healthcare.
33:31If people pardon me, Zandre.
33:32We have them.
33:33We have an vacation, a nice vacation.
33:34And we will get the bus, a night going, to go.
33:36We get sick.
33:37We think the Ken realidade, we can also visit
33:38the EUs fans.
33:39So we are going to be great.
33:40We need to appreciate both of our viewers.
33:41Be very situation, are aware that we are interested in helping our island.
33:42The drink might be very well.
33:43I love seeing our gehabt Look at the history in bars.
33:46relaxing spot two of your coldest please and it is not yours thank you very much
33:55here we go I have to say I compliments on your your nautical skills you got us
34:04here especially for the first time yeah and I want to I want to compliment you
34:11with you stay in Amsterdam and not being high and not being drunk yet yeah thank
34:16you cheers to that we're working on it though I hope so I could violate every
34:25deeply held belief and principle I live by and uncharacteristically torpedo my
34:29career and this shows itinerary by stepping into a quaint little coffee shop
34:33called paradox in the Jordan and getting the top of my head ripped off by some
34:38seriously strong sticky icky and because people looking closely right at you when
34:46stoned is what everybody likes I could then get my portrait done by this guy
34:50Stanley with a bit it's a nice memento of your time in Amsterdam
34:58where the is Ron anyway some people say like you're back in mommy's belly because
35:06you get totally isolated through your outside world
35:10so what's left for me to do that's absolutely quintessentially Amsterdam to eat what a lot of
35:24Dutch people love is that Indonesian and Suriname food right because I think Amsterdam is one of the
35:30best outside of Indonesia one of the best Indonesian restaurants in the world
35:34that's all I do like Indonesian food I'm in it with
35:38if you can't go to Indonesia for its food go to Amsterdam we head back to meet Ron as the
35:50damn clock is still ticking on this layout
35:53when I meet people of my age who were there when they were young and they're coming back now to
36:11Amsterdam they still recognize the same vibe and the same atmosphere as then it survives
36:23case and I head over to the Wilderman cafe in the centrum area in a former distillery it's a bar for beer lovers
36:34Ron's managed to get out of his flotation tank refreshed and in good order and as usual is full of good ideas
36:49we got this sort of beef sausage yes I want smoked yeah I want that that's Amsterdam and
36:56and I got some good cheese things cheese yeah I want that cheese I like cheese so what neighborhood
37:02is this this is as much in the center as you can get this is the oldest part of Amsterdam this was
37:08formed in the in the 12th century around 11 1137 or something like that cheers
37:14sausage and cheese on the way but if we'd been here Tuesday we would have been here for the eel man
37:24he catches them fresh in the countryside smokes them and brings them around pubs to sell nice eel man
37:31look at those babies
37:33we've got beer and things on cocktail sticks so all is well at the Wildman you like the sausage
37:42mmm it's welcome it's great let's live for worst I don't know if you know it under that name of course
37:49we get a lot of Dutch and Germans in the States a lot New York was done New Amsterdam New York they had to
37:58vote about the language because it was all a multilingual and multi-cultural and otherwise
38:03in the United States would have talked Dutch would have talked Dutch this is a lovely place man it's
38:10like it's nice to sit out here and just watch the people passing by but inside it's beautiful as
38:16well it's a nice old place and and they have such a know-how about beers the thing I like about the
38:23the Wildermond it's like it's like it's almost going back a couple centuries in the late afternoon
38:29the Sun coming around the corner and a beer in my hand really magical sort of golden moment good thing
38:38I'm not baked I missed that though
38:53due to our shameful colonial history there are lots of Indonesian restaurants but if you want to
39:21eat a real good rice table in Amsterdam then you go to the Tempo Dulu one thing left to do the famous
39:33Dutch Indonesian food it's useful to remember that Holland used to be a world power case and Ron take
39:41me to Tempo Dulu which means if I recall correctly the old days Indonesia was under Dutch control until
39:481945 and returnees and immigrants from their overseas possession brought the delicious food of the area
39:54back to Holland how do you pronounce it right stop right stop so we have to do that in Indonesia the
40:05Dutch came up with a method of sampling a lot of small dishes at once mainly to show off the range of
40:11flavors to foreign visitors the smell is going to be out of my mind with hunger yeah we would like
40:18to have that I saw the Eastern Malala yes please here we go see you guys too spicy for you check out
40:33you get here by navigating your way through the red light district and up an alley the approach seems
40:40dodgy but once inside you find yourself in a tasty oasis amidst the brothels and the sex shows the kitchen
40:47serves up Mediterranean dishes using fresh local ingredients back at Tempo Dulu I'm waiting on chicken with
40:58coconut and tomatoes pork with sweet soy sauce spicy beef rendang and about 20 other small and delicious
41:06dishes that's the pork and with the sweet soy sauce and spicy it's the dopies this is completely mild yeah so in
41:14the middle it will be spicy and then the third one with the red peppers on top that's hot and with the yellow peppers
41:20it's extremely hot the trays of 25 dishes are placed on the table starting with mild and ending with burn
41:27your face off so this is how it works just a whole bunch with some good rice exactly that's what it's
41:35about yeah this is going to be wow definitely that burns the habanero that that there you go that'll hurt
41:48you I made it I made it to the other side it was really in doubt for a while this is really a one of
42:05those deliciously painfully wonderful meals I hurt so good right now I'm still recovering from that a nice
42:17way to end any layover hot spicy and very very tasty thank you Amsterdam for kicking my ass on the way out
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