Streets of Amsterdam
Typical Bike
One of many canalsThursday, July 1st
The Netherlands, Holland, the Dutch -- all synonymous with one another. Today I took a 3 hour train north from Brussels to Amsterdam - the largest city and capital of the Netherlands (even though the States-General and Goverment have been situated in The Hague since 1588). I arrived early afternoon. I found it a little confusing at first to understand the metro, tram, bus situation. I tend to always opt for the metro (subway) whenever possible. The internet, however, said that the #2 Tram was the way to go. I wasn't able to work this out very well so I defaulted to my comfort level - and ended up on the metro instead.
The place I'm staying at is really nice. It's called Casa 400 - located off the Amstel metro stop. It's about a 10 minute subway ride to the main central station of the city. By the time I had got situated it was early evening. I took the train back to the central station and started my exploration.
At the end of yesterday, I mentioned that 1 city in the US comes to mind when I think about Amsterdam. Now, I've been to Amsterdam about 3 times, but only 1 of those times have I left the airport - and it was only for a quick overnight. Therefore, I have no working knowledge of the city - just alot of hearsay. I'd say just about every backpacker whose gone to Europe or is planning to go to Europe - has included Amsterdam as part of their itinerary. Why?
The city in the US I'm thinking about is Las Vegas. Have you been there? I'm willing to guess that 90% of people reading this blog have been to Las Vegas. I've personally been there with about 15 of you. Completely remove the casino/gambling aspect of Vegas from your mind. What else do you think about? Sin City, What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, the movie "The Hangover". All these things exist for a reason - Vegas has a very big party reputation - and rightly so.
Amsterdam - the Las Vegas of Europe. Sin City - just elevated a couple notches from Vegas. The place where drugs and prostitution are legal. The place where liberal open-mindedness is taken to a new level. However, just like Vegas, there's many other things to Amsterdam. It's all about what you make of it. I've been to Vegas on occasion and not stepped foot into a casino other than for lodging. I used it as a site for day trips to the Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, and to check out some other areas around Vegas. Other trips, I've spent 3-4 days with my buddies where we never left the bars/casinos. With all that being said, what makes Amsterdam the #7 most visited city in all of Europe and what makes the Las Vegas strip the #2 most visited area in the US - partying, sex, drugs -- this is the correct answer.
I'm cautiously aware of the subject matter I'm writing about is sensitive. But, to talk about Amsterdam and not mention these things - would not be doing justice. No worries - I'm keeping it clean.
To prove my point, when I got off the train at the central station in Amsterdam, I headed out into the streets without a map (like always). I have zero knowledge of the geographic makeup of Amsterdam - I've never looked at a map of the city - ever. By following the masses of people after departing the train, within 15 minutes, I was walking the streets of the Red Light District. Me and tons of my nearest friends, were scanning the 100's of window-shopper prostitutes that stretch across an area of the city.
I'm currently reading the description of the Red Light District in my 1000 Things Book. It's funny - this lady who wrote the book - didn't nail this description. She says: "You won't see much going on; it's infrequent that you'll even get a beckoning "come hither" look, as the ladies of the night patiently wait their next assignment, while braiding their hair, doing their nails, or reading a book". Wrong. These girls were opening the door yelling at me to come on over. They were working it in a very big way - not so much waiting patiently. Something tells me I shouldn't think highly of myself however - I'm pretty sure it's part of the job description. The other thing I'll say about the Red Light District is that it's only marginally seamy, and there's tons of people walking around. (Now, at 4am - it might be a different story). Also, there's 100+ of these little apartments with window display, and this stretches a fairly substantial area of town. Also, it's not out of the way - it's 10-15 minutes via foot from the central train station. I say this only because I've heard that this area is raunchy, you have to want to go there, and it's just a little tiny part of the city -- I would disagree with all 3 of these observations. In conclusion on prostitution - I don't do it. To my nieces and nephew - don't do it either.
Let's get on to a different subject matter - drugs. This is undeniably present - if you don't see it or smell it -- you don't know what you're looking for. Soft drugs (marijuana) are tolerated in Amsterdam. The internet states that it's illegal - but nothing is done about it. What does that mean? Coffe shops are the areas where drugs are sold. This differs from cafes. Cafes sell beer and act as a typical bar. Coffe shops sell drugs and are not allowed to sell alcohol. Also, there's magic shops - that sell things like magic mushrooms and such. In conclusion on drugs - I don't do them. To my nieces and nephew - don't do them either.
The other things that jumped out at me during my first night in Amsterdam were canals and bikes. I'm reading now that Amsterdam is "the Venice of the North". I guess everybody wants to be Venice. I'll be there in a few days - but it's getting alot of good press. The canals were really neat. They were everywhere. Again - motorized boats trolled through the canals with city tours.
Bikes - Amsterdam has more bikes than any other city in Europe that I've visited to date - easily. They are so abundant - they are almost annoying. You not only have to look out for cars running you over - you REALLY need to watch out for bikes. And, they're these ancient old-style bikes. Like the one Dorothy had on "The Wizard of Oz". These heavy bikes, many with baskets on the front and side satchels on the back. Some of these could probably carry what some folks could fit in a car. I guess it's good that they're old and slow - because if they were fast and streamlined - people would be getting hurt in bike accidents on a daily basis.
I walked around for several hours into late night and then took the train back to my hotel. Tomorrow I see what else Amsterdam has to offer.
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