Amsterdam in 3h, when...

...you are traveling with three guys.
What do you do in Amsterdam, when waiting for a train for 3h?
Well, first you go to the baggage storage area and lock your bag in. And your cellphone along with it. Or at least this is what I did, which made me have to go along with the guys for lack of communication device and watch.
And what do 23+ guys look for in a historical town? The red light district, of course.
For lack of preparation, I have no clue about anything Amsterdam-wise, but straight off the bat I can tell you this: You should have no problem finding a place to stay. The streets are lined with hotels (the non-expensive looking kind) on each side. And in between you will find souvenir shops. Now, mind you, these are not your standard souvenir shops, as the picture shows. So if you live on a higher moral ground than the rest of us, I suggest saving yourself a heart attack and just steer clear. This is not to say thatyou can't find cute little clogs and windmill replicas. They're up front and will cost you about 2 euros per clog (which might not seem like much, but the same clog key-chains can be bought in Delft for 1.5 or even 1 euro). T-shirts go at about 15 euros near the train station, to about 10 euros as you walk further away.
Now what I find most fun about the Red Light District is that it's set around a church. So much for sacred ground, huh? I hope to one day return and look at it in all it's glory. At 11AM there's really not much to look at. The morning shift of working girls looks haggard. This is not my opinion. I've asked the guys traveling with me and they said they wouldn't go into any of the little rooms even if the girls paid them. Oh and as for the paying, the going rate for sex in the whole of Europe seems to be 50 euros. But that's just your standard missionary. Anything else you want to get into, you'll have to pay extra. How much, I don't know. Seems to depend on the quality of the establishment. But anything apart from your basic leg spreading will lighten your wallet by 30 to 100 euros.
There are souvenir shops here, too. The main difference is that the t-shirts are cheaper and there's more special food. You have your hash brownies and other kinds of space cake, in a box for 7.9euros. And this is the cheapest food you will find. There's also hash lollies, CannaMint tea, Cannabis chocolate and Cannabis beer. Along with these, you can find informative pamphlets named "Being stoned in Amsterdam" or something along that sense.
One time I might return to Amsterdam, to see what the all the hoopla is all about, but for now, I don't see it. It must surely take more than 3h in good AllStars to see the magic. And more than looking at tired working girls (and grandmas, in some cases). So until then, this is all the blog entry Amsterdam gets :)