We were wandering around Amsterdam looking for a bar to have a drink in (yes a drink) and found one with a pinball machine, which made it an easy decision. As we walked in through the candy-floss-thick plume of smoke and approached the bar, the big shaven head bar tender showed us the herb menu. We instead looked around for what beers were on offer, noticing the shelves fully stocked with Pringles crisps and M&M’s chocolate.
After a minute or so the bar guy asked: “You’re not schmoking?”
Us: “Uhrm, no, just a beer.”
Him: “Schmoke first, beer later. If you’re not schmoking then you must leave.”
Us: “Heh, seriously?”
Him: “Seriously. Leave.”
I see now that he knew we’d only have one beer each and spend a measly 30 euromonopoly dollars in the pinball machine, rather than buy his overpriced marijuana then spend all the money we had on crisps and chocolate to sate our munchies.
Back home in the UK we would have been thrown out of a bar for smoking the illegal weed, whereas in Amsterdam we were thrown out for not. Then again, alcohol does account for 50 times as many deaths as all illicit drugs put together, so the guy was probably just thinking about our health.
A few photos from around and about Amsterdam, but the majority are from the ARTIS zoo. I’ve uploaded them to 
