I knew Amsterdam was a sort of Las Vegas of Europe, but I honestly wasn't prepared for the unedited debauchery that fills the streets. Normal souvenir shops have adult-style toys and postcards with intimate bits of human beings. It's seriously bizarre.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't that great yesterday, and it looks like today is going to be filled with rain
again. The positive side of this is that it's not snowing. Spring has sprung in the Netherlands, which is made very apparent by the number of tulips everywhere. The pictures of the tulip fields are SO pretty, but I want to see the city so I'm putting the 40 euro trip on my bucket list. I'll probably never want to come back to Amsterdam, but I like the Dutch.
Everyone speaks English here. The shop keepers talk to each other in Dutch sometimes, but they wait on all the customers in English. Bus drivers speak English. Train ticket sellers speak English. Random people on the street speak English. And everyone is super super friendly. They're kind and considerate. Sometimes people just smile as they walk past you on the street. It's the closest I've felt to home this entire 8 months!
I got into Amsterdam around 3 pm, missing the last walking tour of the evening by a hair. So I decided to just wander the city for a little while. Right around the corner, I came upon two old men playing chess. Not really a strange thing in a city, but it was LIFE SIZE chess! You can't argue me...that's pretty cool!
My end goal for wandering was the main train station so I could find out about train tickets going to Antwerp, Belgium on Thursday. The map the hostel gave me kind of sucked. So I REALLY wandered. Which was great because I wandered into a giant flower market. There were tulips everywhere. And, later when I found a better map, I realized it was the only floating flower market in the world. Pretty sure my souvenir from here is going to be these wooden tulips that look like they're real. I'm obsessed because it'll always look like I have fresh flowers in my flat.
After I got my train ticket, I decided to do a guided tour of the Red Light district. I knew that I would never adventure there on my own, so I thought the tour would be an interesting way to see the side of Amsterdam that I would never in a million years experience. It's far from my thing. While people tell me that these women are empowered, I can't understand how standing half naked in a window waiting for a guy to "pick" you is okay emotionally. One of the girls that just retired, estimates she was with 1200 men a year. It just boggles my mind...
When the tour was over, the guide took us into a bar (a clean sports bar), for a complimentary shot. I'm pretty sure it was just juice...there was no alcohol in the shot at all. And then, I looked up, and the Detroit Tigers were on TV, LIVE from Detroit. I was beyond excited and some German guy tried to convince me that they were really playing in Canada. So I was like "Dude, I LIVE in Detroit and go to Comerica Park...I know what it looks like!" Plus, the Detroit D behind homeplate was a dead give away. One of the girls from the tour stayed around with me so I could watch the rest of the game. And it was awesomeness!
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't that great yesterday, and it looks like today is going to be filled with rain
 |
| One of the many canals of Amsterdam! |
Everyone speaks English here. The shop keepers talk to each other in Dutch sometimes, but they wait on all the customers in English. Bus drivers speak English. Train ticket sellers speak English. Random people on the street speak English. And everyone is super super friendly. They're kind and considerate. Sometimes people just smile as they walk past you on the street. It's the closest I've felt to home this entire 8 months!
I got into Amsterdam around 3 pm, missing the last walking tour of the evening by a hair. So I decided to just wander the city for a little while. Right around the corner, I came upon two old men playing chess. Not really a strange thing in a city, but it was LIFE SIZE chess! You can't argue me...that's pretty cool!
My end goal for wandering was the main train station so I could find out about train tickets going to Antwerp, Belgium on Thursday. The map the hostel gave me kind of sucked. So I REALLY wandered. Which was great because I wandered into a giant flower market. There were tulips everywhere. And, later when I found a better map, I realized it was the only floating flower market in the world. Pretty sure my souvenir from here is going to be these wooden tulips that look like they're real. I'm obsessed because it'll always look like I have fresh flowers in my flat. After I got my train ticket, I decided to do a guided tour of the Red Light district. I knew that I would never adventure there on my own, so I thought the tour would be an interesting way to see the side of Amsterdam that I would never in a million years experience. It's far from my thing. While people tell me that these women are empowered, I can't understand how standing half naked in a window waiting for a guy to "pick" you is okay emotionally. One of the girls that just retired, estimates she was with 1200 men a year. It just boggles my mind...
When the tour was over, the guide took us into a bar (a clean sports bar), for a complimentary shot. I'm pretty sure it was just juice...there was no alcohol in the shot at all. And then, I looked up, and the Detroit Tigers were on TV, LIVE from Detroit. I was beyond excited and some German guy tried to convince me that they were really playing in Canada. So I was like "Dude, I LIVE in Detroit and go to Comerica Park...I know what it looks like!" Plus, the Detroit D behind homeplate was a dead give away. One of the girls from the tour stayed around with me so I could watch the rest of the game. And it was awesomeness!
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