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The thought of Amsterdam tends to wring giant smiles out of most travellers, whether they have been or are yet to go. All the cliches flash through their mind, possibly including clogs and cheese but probably more commonly eliciting images of the hazy coffeeshops, the redlight district with windows full of beckoning, beautiful girls and live R18+ shows in the theatre. So, a little on that first ;-)
If you've not been living under a rock, I'm sure you'll be aware that coffeeshops do not sell coffee but marijuana, which in Amsterdam is a 'decriminalised' drug i.e. not technically legal, but tolerated and without consequence provided you remain sociable. Most of the inner city has the subtle smell of weed, but it's perhaps not the stereotype you'd imagine. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, only a very small percentage of locals smoke weed. I suppose it's a similar principle to the attitudes toward drinking in Europe. The drinking age is lower for beer and wine, it's usually introduced in the family home - a small glass with a meal. With no harsh laws or restrictions, drinking is no big deal and so most learn moderation and responsible use. Same goes for pot I would think. A stark contrast to the messy, binge drinking youth of Australia, who seem to be in a constant race to vomitsville, instigating punchups or just generally acting like loud and obnoxious brats. Just sayin!
So the real cash cow in Amsterdam and in particular for the coffeshops, is the tourists. There is talk of a new law which would make it illegal to sell to tourists. Problem being, coffeeshops are basically the economic backbone of Amsterdam, bringing in a huge proportion of the cities income through these taxable sales. Not to mention the related tourist income - restaurants, tours, hotels and so on. Because let's face it, being able to openly buy pot and smoke on the street is a major tourism drawcard. More likely, the law would simply create a black market, whereby locals buy from coffee shops and onsell to tourists - with no tax gains for the city. So I don't really see it happening. Time will tell.
Moving right along to prostitution. It's legal, and by the looks of things actually a reasonably safe working environment. Pimping is illegal - the girls are independant, they keep their full earnings and rent their own window space (so are safe behind locked doors rather than vulnerable on street corners). They pay taxes and are provided with all the institutions of any other job such as healthcare, superannuation, workcover etc. So if your lifelong dream is to become a prostitute, Amsterdam is the place to do it. I guess its hard to know, and difficult to understand - but I truly got the impression that this was a career choice and not an act of desperation. Still, not overly keen on those pretty little fingers (and other bits) wiggling at my man!!
So the red light district was all a bit of fun but it's certainly not all there is to see (or do, if it floats your boat) in Amsterdam - its a beautiful city with a lot to offer! The majority of our time was spent exploring the pretty streets and some of Amsterdams 165 canals...Amsterdam is often called the Venice of the North, but Gem and I concur that Amsterdam is much nicer than Venice! Apparently they also pull out 10,000 bikes each year from the canals. This city is dominated by cyclists and at times it's a little stressful trying to not get killed by them. Gem actually did get hit by one, and because she was ok, we can laugh at her and add it to the list.
We also spent some time in Dam Square, Nieuwmarkt Square, Vondelpark, the museum area with the I AMsterdam sign, and the nightlife area of Leidseplein. We took a free walking tour to explore in more depth the spaces and stories of Amsterdam, including the Jewish quarter, Rembrandt's house and the Royal Palace where the French King Louis once stood and declared in his very poor Dutch "People of Amsterdam, I am your rabbit!". s***. King, I meant King!
From about day two it rained heavily, but we timed our country bike tour perfectly and spent a nice sunny day cruising through farmland next to the river, visiting a cheese farm (yum!), watching a very charismatic clog making demonstration and visiting a windmill.
One of my favourite evenings was spent catching up with my Dutch friend Sanne, who lived with us for a year in Australia. She travelled from Utrecht to take me to a delicious dinner at Cafe in de Waag in Nieuwmarkt Square (the Waag is a historical building on the canal - originally a gate in the medieval city walls but later converted into a weighing house). Having not seen her in 8 years, we had a fair bit of catching up to do, and it was wonderful to see her!
Another evening was spent on a fun but incredibly disorganised pub crawl. We missed out on our free hour of drinks because the company was too slow processing the line and issuing tickets, they ran out of the free t-shirts included in the price, and then they led us round in giant circles hoping that we wouldn't notice that all four pubs were on the same little street. 20 euro Fail. Ah well, still a good night of socialising.
On our final day, Gem and I ticked off one of my big must sees - the Anne Frank house. What an incredibly moving experience. Having read the diary a few times when I was younger, it was so interesting and quite surreal at first to walk through the little door concealed by the bookcase and explore the rooms that the Frank family hid in. One thing that struck me particularly and turned a story into heartbreaking reality was seeing the girls' heights marked in pencil on the wall. Real people, real and horrific events. The exhibition that followed was very well designed, though of course the content is pretty heavy so we left in a sombre mood. Well worth doing - definitely recommended.
Other notable mentions? Hmm. Let's talk food.
Gouda. Gouda gouda gouda. Love of my life, enough said.
Not Dutch, but I have to mention the amazing all you can eat Japanese lunch that was only 18euro - we stuffed ourselves silly for 2 hours on a huge variety of beautiful, fresh food that I still dream about weeks later.
Febu - the fast food vending machines...Mark loved the cheap croquettes here after a night out, while I preferred the french fry stands and their amazing assortment of creamy sauces - mmmm fatty deliciousness.
The syrup filled wafers called Stroopwaffles are nice - they're served with coffee and reminded me of something from home that I couldn't quite place.
Ben and Gem tried bitterballen (albeit the Maccas version), which are deep fried meatballs, we all tried a meal of stamppot (mashed potato mixed with other mashed vegetables, with a sausage or meatball), and Mark and I ate some delicious Poffertjes (mini Dutch pancakes) at the cutest little cafe while Ben and Gem visited family.
Pretty good collective effort, I think!
And finally, to the 'next time' list - the Van Gogh museum and Rijksmuseum. We fell back on the too expensive excuse but honestly, we are just all museumed out at the moment! So that was Amsterdam, and the whirlwind continues.
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