Dutch Treat

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I didn't hit publish immediately after I made the last blog entry, so that's why there was a delay in seeing the blog. I only saved the entry for me to see, publish means everyone can see it.

On Sunday morning I went to the Anne Frank House; I had my ticket already purchased a week before on the internet from Vancouver. The line up to purchase a ticket stretches around the block and takes hours, this is the same everyday. I already knew this and so I had pre-purchased a ticket and saved myself hours of standing in line. Inside the place was packed solid full of people, but considering the location and story of the house it still felt like a shrine, a shrine of hope in a sea of inhumanity. The story of Anne Frank is well explained with many video screens and bilingual displays. Then you enter the hidden annex behind the bookcase. You climb the steep stairs in a reasonably spacious flat, but imagine there were seven people inside with no privacy, no light, no noise and no freedom. Anne's world was in her head and in her diary. Downstairs in the ajoining building there is an auditorium with a perpectual film and voting system. There are at least a dozen scenarios and you vote yes or no. Should the American gov't be allowed to keep a secret no fly list, when many are not even American's? Should it be illegal to burn a national flag? Should it be illegal to publish cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammed? Should it be illegal for Northern Island Orangemen to march through Catholic neighbourhoods? And many others. There are no easy answers. You vote on each as presented and the votes are tallied.

I've wandered through the Red Light District more than once. In fact, it's the quickest route between the Central Station and my hostel. It's touristy, tacky, interesting for a while and completely safe. In the evening, it's the place to be and watch. People pissed out of their minds stagger next to the canal, prostitutes knock on their window trying to get your attention, smoke and smells drift from the coffee houses. But it's just as interesting to wander the streets in the morning; it's like a tornado has passed. You watch as merchants sweep away beer cans, cigarettes, paper and garbage and hose down the entire street front. It's like peeling away all the nice things about our modern society and you see vice, nothing virtous in this world. It's the world of sex, of course; but more accurately it's a world of exploitation. Woman are exploited because many end up here by circumstance; most don't chose the world's oldest profession, it's chosen for them. But it's also the world's oldest profession for a reason, it's the one chance women can also exploit men and their week spot. In the Red Light District, it's all out in the open for everyone to see. The funniest thing to watch is the little old ladies on their cruise boat tour being taken through and let lose to wander, just giggles and gawking.

Monday I went to The Hague and Delft. There are mostly locals in The Hague and mostly tourists in Delft; but Delft was the prettier town, with small canals and characteristic 17th Century Dutch architecture: narrow houses with ornate gables. The weather was variable, clouds, rain, sunshine, wind, clouds, rain, spitting, rain, clouds, sunshine. The change was continous. I suppose you can't have a green country full of canals without rain. It's so easy getting to these towns from Amsterdam using public transit.

I didn't go into any museums or churches in The Hague or Delft, but it's nice to see another city in Holland. If people only saw Amsterdam you'd only see the busy merchantile side, and I know that some people see only the Red Light District (and some probably are not seeing anything of much after that!) The Dutch are an extremely tolerant people, the Jews were welcomed centuries ago, it's only the invading Nazis who wanted to get rid of them. People from the former Dutch colonies are welcome. And that's why the coffeehouses exist and the Red Light District prospers. The countryside is beautiful - and flat. As we were travelling by train I saw a line of sail boats in a field. As we approached you could see a canal snaking it's way through this field. Much of this land has been reclaimed from the sea. They say that while God created the Earth, the Dutch created Holland. And everyone is welcome no matter your virtue or vice. I guess that's what is the real Dutch treat.

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Photos

Jordaan District
The view from outside Anne Frank's House

Delft
The best way to get around on this flat country