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So you already know I wasted my first few hours in Amsterdam getting the ticket to Copenhagen which I am currently on. Headed out to find my hostel which turned out to be much further outside of the city than I was expecting. About twenty minutes via the most expensive city bus in Europe. Hostel was big but not spacious and had a terrible wifi connection. Was a little worried about not meeting anyone to go out on the town with me that night but strolled over to the hostel bar. First ran into a Russian with the most badass accent ever then another American joined us. Surprisingly, the American was leagues more crazy than the Russian. Not wild crazy, he really reminded me of Jack sparrow with his hand movements. Guy insisted on meeting and mocking the accent of everyone he could bump into through the red light district. Ok so now it's on the table - yes, I did see the red light district once or twice. Kinda knew what to expect since every backpacker seems fascinated by it, but was nonetheless pretty shocked to see the first hooker displying herself through a glass door. They are all licensed, SUGGESTED to get medical checkups, and individually pay the rental fees for the glass doored rooms in the district. They work eight hour shifts and I'm thinking even the most efficient w**** can't exceed six or seven guys a night. To be honest they were all a lot more attractive than I was expecting. Granted it is (arguably) the biggest part of their
Job, but I was still expecting some cracked out trailer trash. Those type of prostitutes are the only sexual plate Amsterdam has to dish out, however. There are a multitude of sex shops, sex shows, and even sex clubs. The place called casa rosso is supposed to be the number one among these and they advertise talented ladies utilizing everything from bananas to cigars to sharpie artwork in the show. But, if that isn't enough debauchery to satisfy you, the netherlands is also the land of drug tolerance. About every fifth building is a coffee shop where you can smoke or eat your way to whereever it is you wanna be. Not into drugs myself, but the space cake did look tastey. There are also "smart shops" which sell anything from mushrooms to over the counter Viagra. Good luck with that and the fifteen minutes you get with a hooker :0. Now that I've said what probably nobody wanted to hear I can move on to describing how much more there is to Amsterdam than just these things. First day there I got a hop on hop off canal pass with two hippie canadians in my room. Passed by the Anne frank house, rijksmuseum, and many chapels. Best part of seeing the city wasn't really the sights but the whole city itself. Very beautiful with it's forward leaning row homes, meandering canals, and countless bicycles strewn all over the city like pigeons. One of the best days I'll remember was also with the hippie girls. We all hopped the train over to Haarlem and rented a few bikes. Eleven km through the Dutch flowerless flower fields and we came to.....the beach??! I didn't realize they existed here either. Was actually sunny and not pouring rain so we all had a relaxing afternoon in the sand. Spent the other days here seeing some paintings by Rembrandt, getting my tarrot read in a great laid back park (hippie canadians again. One lives in a van!), and experiencing the red light district some more. Sad to leave the place, but I'm getting excited for some r and r back at home....after Copenhagen and Stockholm of course!
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