In 2004 my friend Martin was 40 years old & for his birthday he decided he wanted to go to Amsterdam for a long weekend. Originally six of us should have been going but this soon became 3, with his friends dropping out because of pressure from wives & girlfriends.
Amsterdam weekend.
On the morning of the trip, one more dropped out without even letting us know. So for Martin's 40th birthday, his friends who had all been ready for a trip had become Martin & me.
After arriving in Amsterdam & checking in to our hotel we went for a walk around to see what was going on & where we would go later on. We had a wander around looking at the cafes, bars & restaurants & also took a cruise around the canals on a canal boat. I must say there were a lot more canals than I had imagined before going.
On the way back to our hotel that afternoon Martin bought himself a large joint to have before going out that evening. A few hours later I knocked on his hotel room to go out & we walked to a small restaurant next to one of the larger canals. We ordered & I noticed whilst I was eating that Martin had only taken a few mouthfuls of food & had gone as white as a sheet. He returned after a short time but he suddenly jumped up ran towards the front of the restaurant & threw up all over the inside of the restaurant's front door. He ran outside & continued to lose the small amount of food he had eaten.
I was surprised we weren't both thrown out, the restaurant cleared up & after I had finished my meal Martin came back in & paid for the meals & apologised. We then went to a bar next door called Teasers. Martin had one beer before leaving & going back to the hotel to continue throwing up for the rest of the night. I stayed where I was meeting & becoming friends with some people from London before going back to the hotel bar late that night & partying till around 5 am with some people I met there.
The following day we had a walk around the different sections of Amsterdam, viewing the Red Light District along Canal Street, walking to Anne Frank's house & going to many of the Plazas. That evening Martin was still feeling ill & again stayed in the hotel. I returned to Teasers where I met the people from the previous night & continued to party till the early hours of the morning.
On our last day, we had to leave mid-morning to catch a flight but returned for breakfast in Teasers before catching our flight home. I don't think Martin had much of a 40th birthday weekend. I, on the other hand, had a great time & made lots of new friends.