What did I know about Amsterdam before I visited it? It has canals, bicycles, cannabis… and a famous red light district.

Well, I had seen all of these and there was no way I was going to leave without De Wallan.

‘You took your parents to the red light district?’ my friends asked when I came back. They were astounded. ‘Isn’t that a kind of weird thing to do with your parents?’

In Amsterdam’s red light district, there are large glass windows. The idea is that prostitutes rent a window and use it to, ah, display their wares.

I was disappointed, actually. We visited in the twilight and there were already women working the windows. They wore bras and briefs, were in superb physical shape, young and taut. But they just stood there, looking a bit bored.

‘Come on, girls,’ I said. ‘Dance! Gyrate! Do something! Sheesh, I could do better.’

Someone suggested that maybe they would move more once they got a paid gig.

Interesting facts from our Amsterdam Lonely Planet Guide: Forty percent of visits to Amsterdam’s prostitutes are UK men from across the Channel. On average, each encounter costs 50€ and lasts 15 minutes.