If you suddenly find yourself in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands and perhaps one of the most liberated cities in the world, rejoice because you are in heaven. But if you have only limited time to go around and enjoy the city, don’t be confused by all the things that can be done because there are hundreds, from shopping, sight seeing and dining out. The best time to go is in the morning when there aren't so many people crowding its streets. During the afternoon, at around 3 p.m., there is an outpouring of people and you’ll never guess where they come from—Asian, Westerners and Europeans alike.

"I will have to dismiss at least half of my 16 employees" when the ban on cultivating and selling the so-called magic mushrooms enters into force on December 1, Schaap told AFP on his farm in Tiel in the central Netherlands.

McSmart, the business he created in 2000, produces some 25 tonnes a year of the substance known fondly by users as "shrooms" and in the Netherlands as "paddos".