Amsterdam in $420s-$540s RT

Hidden away in Amsterdam's infamous Red Light District is a little bar that most tourists miss. It's called In‘t Aepjen ("in the monkeys" in English), a Dutch slang term that refers to the consequences of drunken mistakes.

Pretty good name for a bar, right? Except this spot wasn't named after the idiom. It's the other way around.

Way back in the day, In't Aepjen was a popular watering hole for Dutch sailors. They'd return from long voyages to Asia with cash in their pockets, pet monkeys on their shoulders, and a burning desire to drink themselves stupid. And when they ran out of cash, they'd pay their tabs with the only thing they had left: monkeys.

In't Aepjen was particularly famous for accepting simian payment and quickly became infested with tons of the little guys. That's where the phrase comes from—sailors who couldn't afford to rent rooms had to sleep on the floor of the bar, among the monkeys.

According to local legend, the bar's owners eventually became so fed up with the critters (and their fleas) that they helped found Amsterdam's oldest zoo just to get rid of them. 

You won't find any monkeys at the bar these days, of course. But it's still a pretty sweet place for a drink :-)