I spent two and a half days in Amsterdam, flying in from Oslo Tuesday night and taking a train to Brussels Friday morning. When I arrived, there was a torrential rain and I was drenched. Apparently, it rains quite a lot in Amsterdam, all year round. The few days that they have no rain, everyone goes out and rejoices. That’s a sad sad thought. Amsterdam is a very beautiful city and the architecture is very different from Oslo. All of the buildings are built side-by-side, and since Amsterdam was built over water, they have to lean on each other for support. The buildings move because of the water and I actually saw quite a few buildings that were tilted side-to-side or forward. They all look like they’re going to fall apart any minute. People actually live and work in these buildings, too. The canals are really awesome. I just love how the water runs through the entire city. It adds so much to the appeal of Amsterdam. I was going to go on a canal tour of Amsterdam but of course it rained, rendering my plans moot. Everyone here rides bikes. On every lamp post, railing, etc., there are tons of bikes chained to it. I’m pretty sure I saw more bikes in here in two days than I have ever seen in my entire life. Wednesday night, I rode a bike into the city center from where I was staying. It was about a thirty minute ride. I was surprised that I made it to the center in one piece, considering I am extremely out of shape and nearly passed out when I reached the center. Also, I was using a huge bike that was really hard to navigate so I kept bumping into other bikers and falling over. The Dutch people were kind enough to not cuss me out. Despite this, I enjoyed the biking. It is a fantastic way to explore Amsterdam. I even biked back to where I was staying. Of course I ended up paying for this the next day and am still paying for it. My legs are ridiculously sore. To boot, I had gone to a Salsa dance club and tried to learn bachata, a type of Spanish dance. I have never ever moved my hips that much. I used muscles that I didn’t even know I had. After one song, my hips were extremely sore. Yeah, I really need to get back in shape…
Amsterdam is like the antithesis of the U.S. Everyone knows that marijuana and prostitution is legal here and I figured it would be more of a big deal to tourists because it most likely is not legal where they come from. I figured it was just a small part of the Dutch society that everyone around the world just focuses on because it is so different, but it is actually a HUGE part of the Dutch society. It is seriously all about sex and drugs here. Just walking through the city I got a contact high from all the people smoking weed in public (even though it’s illegal). The coffee shops were all crowded even though it was the middle of the day. They have many shops that sell cannabis seeds. I went to the flower market and they had cannabis plants right next to the tulips. They also have shops that sell mushrooms (the drug).
My tour guide took me to the Red Light District. OMG. It is so different when you actually see it all in person. They actually have women dressed in very skimpy outfits behind glass windows, trying to seduce every person that walks by. It is almost like they are zoo animals. It seems so demeaning and demoralizing. I really feel sad for these women. A lot of them were really young and beautiful and I just can’t help but wonder why they would choose this profession. Maybe I’m just naïve but I can’t see how anyone could be happy living like that. I’m still in awe that the Dutch government actually permits this. I don’t care how much they regulate it. It does not justify putting women on display like this. Seriously, the Dutch government must be filled with misogynists.
Overall, my impression of Amsterdam is that it is a beautiful city but there is just too much sex and drugs for me. Also, I apologize for the poor picture quality. I left my camera back in Oslo and was stuck using the camera on my phone.
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