Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Shopping
38
Condomerie Het Gulden Vlies
SPECIALITY SHOP
This is where the well-dressed johnson shops for variety. Perfectly positioned for the Red
Light District, the boutique stocks hundreds of types of condoms (including the Coripa
brand, which comes in 55 sizes), lubricants and saucy gifts. Some of the novelty condoms
may remind you of your favourite cartoon character.
(
www.condomerie.nl
;
Warmoesstraat 141;
4/9/
16/24/25 Dam)
Local Life
Dampkring & Greenhouse
While many coffeeshops in the centre cater mostly to tourists, moodily lit
Dampkring
(
www.dampkring.nl
; Hand-
boogstraat 29; from 10am; ; 1/2/5 Koningsplein) and mosaic-trimmed
Greenhouse
(Oudezijds Voor-
burgwal 191; from 9am; ; 4/9/16/24/25 Dam) bring in locals, too, for their expansive menus of Can-
nabis Cup-winning smokes. By the time you're reading this, they might be very local places indeed, where only
card-carrying Dutch residents can light up. See The Smoking Lowdown for details.
39
American Book Center
The excellent three-storey shop is the biggest source of English-language topics in Amster-
dam. Its greatest strengths are in the artsy ground-floor department, but on the upper floors
there's fiction and oodles of special- interest titles, plus a good travel section. It also stocks
foreign periodicals such as the
New York Times
.
(
www.abc.nl
; Spui 12;
BOOKS
11am-8pm Mon, from 10am
Tue-Sat, 11am-6.30pm Sun;
1/2/5 Spui)
40
PGC Hajenius
SPECIALITY SHOP
