Not everything is legal in Amsterdam, though we thought some of the rules were a little silly.
Here are a couple of things we noticed while we were there:
Smoking
It’s not allowed indoors in Holland — at least cigarettes. It’s legal to smoke a joint at your dinner table, but not tobacco. (Though we found plenty of places that thought the law was dumb and allowed smoking in their establishment.
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Parking
If there is some to attach a bike in Amsterdam, people will do do it. So it’s not uncommon to see
lots of No Parking signs in the city. As you can see, lots of people don’t always listen.
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Drugs
Because some recreational drugs are legal, lots of people have to remind you not to do them in specific areas.
Perhaps some people like to sit on a dirty toilet and smoke a joint, but we think there should be separation between bowls.
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Peeing standing up
It’s the No. 1 rule in some pubs and cafes.
We thought this was a little extreme, but rules are rules in Amsterdam, so sit down, shut up and pee.
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A kind of paddle boating
While we didn’t see people pumping paddles around the canals, it is perfectly legal to do,
however, when we came across this particular sign, we weren’t sure what kind of ride this really was.
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Women in windows
Sure, you’re walking along the Red Light District and you want to snap off a few pictures of the women standing in the windows. However, they don’t particularly care for that — in fact, if you hold up a camera, many will try to duck behind a curtain or shout at you. And of course, there’s a chance their friend will pay you a visit. So don’t.
HTG is actually on vacation: This story is from our best of files. This story originally ran Nov. 9, 2009.
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