Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
boosters (royal jelly), harmful but
familiar tobacco, and herbal versions
of popular dance-club drugs (herbal
Ecstasy). The big item: marijuana
seeds.
Prices are clearly marked, with
brief descriptions of the drugs, their
ingredients, and effects. The knowl-
edgeable salespeople can give more
information on their “100 percent
natural products that play with the
human senses.”
Still, my fellow Americans,
caveat emptor!
We've grown used
to thinking, “If it's legal, it must be safe. If it's not, I'll sue.” While
perfectly legal and aboveboard in the Netherlands, some of these
substances can cause powerful, often unpleasant reactions.
•WhereLeidsestraatcrossesPrinsengracht,justoverthebridgeonthe
right(atPrinsengracht440),you'llind...
The Delft Shop
The distinctive blue-and-white design characterizes glazed ceram-
ics made in Delft (30 miles southwest of here and covered later in
this topic; for info on the pottery, see “Delft Blue Manufacturing
Process,” page 245). Dutch traders learned the technique from the
Chinese of the Ming dynasty, and many pieces have an Oriental
look. The doodads with arms branching off a trunk are popular
“flower pagodas,” vases for displaying tulips.
•Headbacktowardwhereyoucame,andwiththePrinsengrachton
your left, cross over Leidsestraat and walk half a block until you reach
Prinsengracht488,hometothe...
Pipe Museum (Pijpenkabinet)
This small, funky museum holds 300 years of pipes in a 17th-
century canal house. (It's almost worth the price just to see the
inside of one of these elegant homes.) Once upstairs, a docent
guides you through a 30-minute tour of smoking history. You
begin with some pre-Columbian terra-cotta pipes (from the dis-
coverers of tobacco, dating from 500 b.c.). You'll see plenty of
intricate, finely decorated Baroque and Victorian curiosities. Ask
questions—your guide is happy to explain why the opium pipes
have their bowls in the center of the stem, or why some white clay
pipes are a foot long. The shop downstairs, Smokiana, sells antique
pipes and curiosities related to smoking (€5, Wed-Sat 12:00-18:00,
closed Sun-Tue, tel. 020/421-1779, www.pijpenkabinet.nl).
•ReturnonceagaintoLeidsestraat,whichemptiesintothesquare
called...
