You know, you hear stories about Amsterdam. You hear the word Amsterdam and what immediately comes to mind is sex and drugs, all legal. I don't know about anyone else, but this never put a mental picture in my mind. It was just words. Last night we got on a train and went to Amsterdam to see for ourselves what it was about. There were 5 of us. 3 guys, 2 girls. The rest prefer to remain anonymous.
We set out at about 9:15ish, after a wonderful meal in the Japanese restaurant in the hotel... they cook the food in front of you, juggle knives and flip food around and set it on fire for you... the whole shebang. Anyway, all full and ready for the night, we headed out, got second class round trip train tickets and headed for the platform. We had a little difficulty finding it so I eagerly enlisted the aid of a 3 very pleasant, very friendly Dutch guys. Our train was a nicely equipped double decker, very new, with plush seats and plenty of space. We watched a long beautiful sunset over the countryside and enjoyed the scenery... canals, windmills, fields, community gardens, cows, sheep, horses, everything. We passed Den Haag (the Hague) on the way as well.
We arrived in Amsterdam with no directions or any idea of where to go. We wanted to see the red light district in the flesh (so to speak). We were only told that we'd know it when we saw it. Oh wait, first let me tell you about the bathrooms. After the Japanese food with plenty of green tea and the train ride, we needed a bathroom when we got to Amsterdam. There was a WC at the train station for 50 cents. So the girls went to the women's and the boys go to the men's and we paid the money and went through the electronic doors - and found ourselves in the same place! Hahahahhahaha!!! It was like an entry area, and the stalls on the left were for men, and the right was for women... it was bizarre! When I came out a woman was chasing down her little girl who was wandering off towards the men's section where the urinals were... yikes! Speaking of urinals... another bizarre thing.. outside the area where the clubs are there's this port-a-poty type thing... but it's a port-a-urinal. Basically, it's a standing wall, with 4 sections, and a hole in each sections (imagine looking down from above and seeing an X shape with a o in each intersection of the X) anyway, I'll take a picture. But there is nowhere to wash hands, and basically these guys are standing there peeing in public! It's like a sanctioned peeing wall. I guess if guys are going to do it anyway, they may as well give them somewhere to do it instead of dirtying the city. What was funny was seeing 2 tall guys standing there peeing, chatting and watching the game over the top of the wall....
So we left the bathroom in the train station and headed outside. There were cafe's everywhere. The smell of various kinds of marijuana permeated the air coming out of the cafes and every third person we passed was smoking a joint. It was crazy. Every place that wasn't a cafe was a bong shop. We kept walking. The city itself is beautiful. The architecture was gorgeous and there are canals and bridges. Tomorrow we have a concert there and we will be able to see the tamer parts of the city during the day. But last night, we had a purpose.
We crossed a bridge and went down another cafe laden street, and there it was. Neon signs, red lights and an inordinate amount of floor-to ceiling windows with subdued red or blue lights in them. THis was it. There was a canal down the middle, and bridges over the top, some parts of it were how I imagine venice to be, but this wasn't Venice! In these windows were women posing, dancing, sitting whatever... dressed in bikinis, lacy undergarments, costumes... whatever. Overall, it was far more tasteful than I had thought it would be. There were no naked people (except on the posters and videos outside the places advertising live sex shows), and if you didn't think about it as you walked, you could have been walking past any lingerie store showcase, but the mannequins were live. It was easy to forget that when guys walked up to these window and the women inside opened what turned out to be a big glass door, they would negotiate a price (most commonly heard was 50 euros) the curtain would close in the window and the beds often seen in the background would then serve their purpose. It was fascinating, and appaling. When we first got there, I was just looking around in wonderment. The other girl and I were both relieved to see that instead of gross looking crack ho's that we thought there'd be, these were actually very nice looking beautiful women. But when I walked and started to think a little, it really started to upset me. These women thought nothing more of themselves than not only to sell sex for a living, but to stand there and be gaped at to advertise themselves. ugh. All of this surrounded by cafes full of people escaping reality with weed and mushrooms.. We went to a pizza place for a midnight snack and a break from it all. It was there that I had the single most delicious slice of pizza that I've ever had. The crust was perfect. They used Dutch cheese instead of mozarella. It was great! We walked around a bit more, had enough of it and went home.
The train ride home was actually the highlight of my night.
Unlike the train coming to Amsterdam, the 1:43 train to Rotterdam was an old smelly one. I guess the fact that the people on it were coming from a night of degradation in Amsterdam was the cause of the smell. The ratty seats were probably because it was an old train. We got on at the back end, and the first 2 compartments were nasty and smelly so we kept going. The next section was booths, we figured these were 1st class. Next was a reasonably empty, and therefore less smelly car, so we sat and made ourselves at home. THe conductor came by about 15 minutes later, and announced to us that we had 2nd class tickets and therefore should not be sitting here in first class. Oops! He showed us where the little 1 and 2 were to indicate the class of car we were entering. All the second class cars were crowded and smelly. We walked forward further and further until there was no more forward to walk. We were in a space where there were 4 doors. The one going forward to the conductor's little thing where he drives the train, the 2 side doors for entering and exiting, and the door back into the nasty smelly car. We stood there. I spotted a guy in the corner sitting on a chair that folded down from the wall, next to him was another seat. The seats were small... I asked him if he minded he said no. So I sat. This guy was gorgeous. Even the spike sticking out of the piercing in his lower lip, the 3 earrings in each ear, and, I was later to find out the tongue piercing, did not detract from his beauty. Beautiful squinty eyes, strong jawline, long ponytail, but neatly shaved on the sides.... tall lean and well built... so nice! The other girl and I chatted with him and he was quite happy to chat with us. After a few minutes he offered her a seat too, and slid over to reveal a 3rd fold down seat. The 3 of us crowded in there and had a fun time learning useful Dutch phrases, and talking to Mitch (Mitchell) born and bred Dutch hottie. I am truly impressed by him and his kind. The guys found seats inside, and at one point one of them fell asleep. He didn't fall into a peaceful silent sleep, though. He started to snore loudly, much to the amusement of everyone around him. A lady obliquely opposite and facing him, was talking on her cellphone. She chattered away in Dutch, probably describing to her friend the loudness of the snoring, then held the phone towards him so her friend could hear! It was a hilarious ride.
Mitch got out at Den Haag and wished us a pleasant trip. We said goodbye, in Dutch... and had an uneventful ride home.
Holland is truly not what I expected. I'm already looking forward to visiting here again!
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