I probably should have split the information into posts by topic, but since that didn't happen, let's continue as is.
I think I forgot to write a couple of important facts about coffeeshops.
First.
You shouldn't smoke in crowded places on the street. Although there most likely won't be any problems. At least, there definitely won't be any problems in the Russian sense, where the cops extort bribes and beat you with a nightstick. The absolute worst that can happen is they'll confiscate your weed.
If you're dying for a hit, you can light up on the street, but don't smoke in a crowd, near restaurants and shops, step away into an alley. The main thing is — don't smoke around kids.
Second.
You can smoke what you brought with you in any coffeeshop, but to do so you need to buy something there, like tea. Rarely, coffeeshops will have a sign saying "no smoking your own". I remember only one like that — near the old church, it's actually called "oude kerk cofeeshop".
By the way — you actually can smoke tobacco (cigarettes) in a coffeeshop (despite what I said earlier, haha), but there has to be an enclosed room with air conditioning behind a wall (usually transparent plastic). Usually there are "no tobacco" signs hanging around, but you can always ask. With this, I hope to finally be done with this topic somehow, because I'm already sick of it myself.
Since I mentioned the old church, I'll tell you about the Red Light District, which happens to start right from there. Once again, I pulled some facts from the internet and gave them a literary polish; I don't have any real experience, just observations.
The Red Light District is more of a tourist trap than the real deal, because there are brothels where it's quieter, cheaper, and easier to choose. But it does look impressive, frankly speaking, very psychedelic.
We stumbled upon it accidentally the first time, running around looking for the next spot during Museum Night. We immediately ended up in some incredibly narrow little street, where the girls look at you point-blank, just like you look at them. If you aren't used to making eye contact with priestesses of paid love, get a little high or drunk first, otherwise it's somewhat embarrassing, especially when a girl waves at you and beckons you over. Older Russian tourists just short-circuit completely and start dropping idiotic comments, especially the women.
What came as a revelation to me was that the girls actually sit behind glass, and above or beside them shines a lamp, like a fluorescent tube, only red. And there are hundreds of little rooms like this, and this district is right in the center of the city, in ordinary houses, including right along the canal banks. Taking photos is strictly forbidden, of course, but everything is always on the internet. Here you go.
It even gets multi-story
Curtains cover the closed or occupied compartments. There were a lot of those when we were there, it wasn't tourist season after all.
You can get an idea of the girls' beauty for yourself. The selection is generally representative of what I saw in reality.
What else is there interesting to say?
The girls are all white, mostly young and slim. I saw older and plumper ones a couple of times, but that's a rarity. There's a special corner where there are 5 black girls. Judging by the internet, the workers are mostly from Eastern European countries, which is confirmed by my observations — the Dutch are relatively easy to spot, their faces are different. By the way, the Dutch are the tallest people in Europe — men average a whopping 1.80. Also, I didn't see any male prostitutes in the district. Supposedly they should be in the brothels. By the way, most girls are willing to accept women as clients, not just men.
Here's another report, by the way, from which it follows that in daylight the flaws of the female body are much more visible, alas.
The Red Light District stays open late, so don't rush, you can head there even after 10 PM when the tourist shopping streets are already closed. The eateries and coffeeshops around the district are also open until midnight and beyond.
As for prices, they're relatively high, 40-50 euros for 20 minutes, over 80 or 100 for an hour. Any special services are extra. Basically, if you want paid love, you're better off going to Thailand, it's two or three times cheaper there.
But it's definitely worth going just to look, the vibe is totally mind-blowing, just another world. You have to go at night, of course, the daytime isn't the same at all, plus almost everything is closed. The district is safe, you only need to watch out for pickpockets (like everywhere) and snapping photos — you might end up in a canal along with your camera.