Got back yesterday morning from Amsterdam! It was, well, interesting. I mean, I was very aware of the novelty going into this particular travel spot, but I was ill prepared for the reality. It's the place where anything goes, porn, drugs, sex, etc. are all at once open to the point of novelty but also a reality that is always in your face. I can't imagine living like that, of course, our hostel was also IN the Red Light District, which is the area I'm referring to. The city, like every city, is zoned and that is the particular area where everything is kosher. When we were out and about going to Anne Frank's house and to the Van Gogh museum it was much more what you would expect from any number of popular European cities. This picture is of the Reich Museum.
We didn't actually go in the Reich museum and instead opted for the Van Gogh museum, which by the way was absolutely wonderful. It's an EXTENSIVE collection of his work credited back to his brother, who inherited Van Gogh's work after he died. A lot of his very famous work, sunflowers, irises, etc. were there and it was all mapped out really well. There's Paul and I in front.
This is the view from our hostel window, the hostel was actually one of the best I've stayed in. The beds were comfortable, the internet was cheap, it was very secure, clean and in a very central location. I was pleased. There are those XXX EVERYWHERE. They're on the drains, on flags, on benches, it made me giggle a lot.
A lot of our time was spent just walking around in awe of what we were seeing/hearing. The things that the club owners of some of the sex shows were yelling, well, whatever they could to get people to come inside, good example: "Half price for the short one." Hilarious, and that was the clean one. This is me in the middle of the Red Light District in the evening. Of course, you can't take pictures of the "working women" but we got several pictures that were almost as good. That light up elephant in the background of my picture is supposed to be some really famous sex show, but I'm not really sure how significant it is to be considered a famous sex show. Funny story: Like I said, we spent a lot of time walking around exploring, eating, and being relentlessly judgy with the window girls. We were walking past a particularly good looking girl (of which there were actually quite a few... as long as you avoided the tranny isle), and I was staring, because, well, I'm rude and that's what I do. All of a sudden I'm jerked to a stop because I've just run my crotch straight into a stone pillar sticking about 3 1/2 feet out of the ground. I made some stupid noise all the while still staring at the prostitute, who at this point is pointing and laughing hysterically in my direction. I don't know how many or how few people can say that they've made a fool out of themselves in front of a hooker, but I'm now one of them.
There are these little cages on the sides of the street that are for men to pee in. The thing is, it pretty much just goes from knees to chest and it's just a little metal ring to walk around so you inevitably end up feeling like you've watched the whole world pee. Awkward. We did a lot of bar hopping and actually witnessed several men from afar negotiating with the ladies and going inside, that was an I Spy game that didn't get old.
There are these little cages on the sides of the street that are for men to pee in. The thing is, it pretty much just goes from knees to chest and it's just a little metal ring to walk around so you inevitably end up feeling like you've watched the whole world pee. Awkward. We did a lot of bar hopping and actually witnessed several men from afar negotiating with the ladies and going inside, that was an I Spy game that didn't get old. I'm convinced that every city and/or country has their own obscure and ridiculous street signs that really just shouldn't exist. Amsterdam's happens to be the "please hold your child's hand while escorting them past the hooker windows" sign.
Riding an overnight bus is an adventure in itself. On the way there Liz and I got stuck in front of a fat lady with a bad foot who kept complaining that our seats were too far back, except that our seats were broken and sort of fell back on their own. Later in the journey she was telling her son to kick the back of Liz's chair (something you just don't do), and she flipped. It was hilarious watching her yell at a woman who speaks very little English and then yelling at surrounding people to ask them to tell her that her chair moves by itself. Amazing. On the way back I slept almost the whole way, which was a stark contrast to the way there. I did have a really tiny woman sit behind me who said I was cramping her, which is crap because she didn't even have anyone next to her.
Riding an overnight bus is an adventure in itself. On the way there Liz and I got stuck in front of a fat lady with a bad foot who kept complaining that our seats were too far back, except that our seats were broken and sort of fell back on their own. Later in the journey she was telling her son to kick the back of Liz's chair (something you just don't do), and she flipped. It was hilarious watching her yell at a woman who speaks very little English and then yelling at surrounding people to ask them to tell her that her chair moves by itself. Amazing. On the way back I slept almost the whole way, which was a stark contrast to the way there. I did have a really tiny woman sit behind me who said I was cramping her, which is crap because she didn't even have anyone next to her. Paul (from here) left this morning to go back to Philadelphia, we all just hung out here last night and enjoyed each other's company. Erica leaves tomorrow. Now that people are leaving there's a very different feel to being here.
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