Safety Tips in Amsterdam

When I was buying a ticket from the machine,a guy came to me.He offered me tickets to the airport,they looked real but I was not sure if they were still valid or not.He said,he just came from the airport and he didn't need them anymore. I offered him to exchange tickets,we still had 24hr city ticket but he refused.He wanted me to pay for the tickets,which of course I didn't accept.
Well,to make the story short,the guy left mad;)

Hollands trains are generally good but for the disabled or elderly some can be difficult to board or alight from. Some of the platforms at Centraal Station are slightly curved too which extenuates the problem ( see photo).
The Dutch Railways website does have advice for disabled travel but it seems that advance notification of travel is needed so that ramps can be put up to the doors from the platforms and it also seems proof of disability is needed.
This is a pity because the trains go virtually everywhere and are frequent but the disabled traveller (in my opinion) is at a great disadvantage.

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An interesting aspect of grungy, dark cornered areas on Amsterdam, is the city's methods to keep the city clean and odor-free by teaching those drunken fools who think every little corner is their personal urinal. Most of the buildings near the main squares in Amsterdam are equipped with "pee deflectors" that were installed by the Dutch government. This was instituted from a late 1980's survey that was conducted asking Amsterdam-ians what disturbes you most about tourists ... their answer "they pee on our buildings and stench up our alleys". 80% of the residents stated this. So city hall devised the implementation of pee deflectors that would splash the pee back on the pisser to teach them a lesson. Most of these are triangular shaped metal sheets that protrude and are angled to splash pee back on the man conducting the act. Some have sharp barbs to conduct a lesson of pain on the perpetrator. In the 1980's they had electrical charges running through some of the deflectors so that the law-breaker would be shocked, but some accidents happened and it was determined inhumane. In some of the main squares they installed open-air urinals for the men. Women were upset that they had no wear to pee in public so they staged a "*** off" on some of the bridges. In response, the city created sheltered toilettes for women, but they were taken over by heroine users and drug dealers so had to be boarded up. Now there is no place in public for women to pee, and they get a heftier fine if caught squatting than a man gets for peeing in the corner.

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This was my first time in Europe. I had read alot and I knew that it was going to be cold, that it might rain, and be ready for some cold weather with the right gear.
As we were walking from Centraal Station to our hotel with all our luggage it started to hail. I wasnt prepared for these little hail balls coming from out of no where to be hitting me so hard. It was also so cold that my face got alittle burned. mY Face was red for a few days. Its also so cold that it makes your hands hurt. It hurts like when you are in the snow with no snow gear except for in wasnt snowing here.
I should have brought some sunscreen but a sure did bring alot of moisturizer for my face.

Amsterdam has a very comprehensive system of streetcars and trams; however, it's not always easy to make sure that you are getting on the right one. This was particularly true when boarding at Centraal Station. It seems that every streetcar line in Amsterdam passes in front, making it a convenient hub for getting around, but also a very confusing place to figure out. I studied the signs as diligently as I could, and I still made a couple of mistakes, one boarding a streetcar that set out in exact opposite direction that I wanted to go. And I don't think I ever really figured out the system of knowing which doors of the streetcar you were supposed to enter!

In Holland roads bikes have the right on everybody and everything, usually they run on dedicated places at the side of roads, but it can happen that you find them on normal roads, specially in city center, so pay attention and watch carefully.

Pay attention while driving your car on the road.
There are many speedometers ready to shot a picture of your license plates and give you a ticket. So read the road signs about speed limits.

Speedometers are also well signaled.

Everything in Amsterdam is small.
The houses are small.
The streets are small.
The restaurants are small.
The bathrooms are really small.

This lack of personal space is not only due to the huge number of people crammed into the city, but can also be directly attributed to a medieval tax law of long long ago.

Back in the olden days, Amsterdam residents were taxed according to the width of their houses... (As people in England were taxed a 'window tax' for allowng light into their homes, hence many old places having few windows...)

I will never compain about the smallness of London homes again :)