Turn on your Red Light

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After being given the option of going to visit an Amsterdam’s flower market, or sleeping in - we chose the latter, and relished staying in bed past 4:30am! It was nice not having to rush around madly, trying to get organised. The flower market did sound pretty spectacular - it is over 10 soccer fields in size, and thousands of flowers are bought and sold here every morning - then shipped all over the world. You walk along a gangplank high above the flowers, watching all the chaos…we were just too tired.

At 9:15am our bus arrived and we found some seats and relaxed for the trip to our cheese and clog making demo. I’m not sure if Iz has told you, but our tour is rather interesting. We are one of the youngest couples on the tour (there are only 2 others in our age group) with the average age being about 50. 90% of our group comes from Australia, so we feel right at home, apart from the age thing. We also have a HUGE tour group - about 47 people, which as our tour guide Jon says, ‘Is great for Trafalgar but not for you.‘ Everyone is lovely though, and despite the cramped conditions, it is a great way to see the sights.

The cheese demo was the quickest known to man, and within a few minutes, I had learnt how to make, process and pack cheese. The clog making demo was much more entertaining, not to mention the demonstrator’s awesome, custom made clogs. They had wicked yellow and red flames painted on a black background - COOOOLLLL!!

Iz and I tried on some clogs for your entertainment; they are NOT comfortable despite what the Dutch might say. We had a few quick photos outside, before getting back on the bus and heading to the small fishing town of Volendam. I couldn’t believe that the freshwater dam (which was enormous) freezes over as far as the eye can see during some winters…it would be bitterly cold here. Thankfully, it wasn’t too bad today, maybe 18 degrees, so we made the most of the weather, and after walking around the small streets, settled on somewhere to have lunch…this was after seeing a bucketful of LIVE eels….GROSS!! I don’t know if I could have put my hand in, and I definitely won‘t be sampling this Dutch ‘delicacy‘ while on tour.

We met back at the bus for the next stop - a diamond polishing demonstration. Diamonds are big business here in Amsterdam, even if they don’t have the stocks - they mostly import them from Africa. There is even a famous ‘Amsterdam Cut’ you can have done. We learnt a lot about the 4 C’s (cut, clarity, colour and caret) and even heard about how the ‘Princess Cut’ came to be. Apparently, that design is thanks to Princess Diana, who wanted something extra special for her engagement ring - her diamond was top of the range!

It was fun to check out the merchandise, including a ring valued at 15,000 Euro, a pair of diamond hoops for 20, 000 and a gold and diamond necklace for 200,000 Euro. Iz, which one should we get - NOT! The jewellery was a bit out of our price range, so we settled for the free tea, coffee, and soft drinks in the waiting room.

I was really looking forward to the afternoon’s schedule, starting with a guided tour of ‘Hidden Amsterdam’. Our tiny guide, Jenny, took us around the city, with her tulip held high so we could keep track of her. We got to step into a secret garden, belonging to a group of Catholic women, who despite the spread of Protestant beliefs in the 13th century, decided not to convert, and keep practicing their religion in private. This was not seen as a problem, and an organisation was formed, where young women were welcomed into the congregation and given housing, as long as they maintained their independence - no family or men allowed! Once you step through the unassuming door, and into the corridor, you are in another world from the busy streetscape. The courtyard holds houses, and two secret churches, as well as beautiful landscaped gardens.

We made our way out of the courtyard and into an amazing art-space; a street that has been turned into a closed walkway gallery. You can walk through this passageway and gaze upon paintings that are hundreds of years old, filled with the dignitaries of the times. I couldn’t imagine such a thing anywhere back home - would it survive?

From here, we made our way into what was once an Amsterdam orphanage. It has now been converted into a museum and still houses the old lockers used by the boys who left to pursue the spice trade. Amsterdam was a very wealthy city, probably the most wealthy in Europe during the height of the spice trade. They also had a trendy café here, that houses a bizarre model of Goliath, from the David and Goliath story…it is MASSIVE!

There were many other sights on Jenny’s tour, and we had more to see…probably my main place of interest…Anne Frank’s house. I remember first reading her diary in grade 6 when I was at West Mackay Primary School, and have since read it numerous times…so it was surreal standing in the rooms where her family hid during the Nazi occupation.

You can walk through the hidden passageway, and into the attic rooms, exploring Anne’s own room that still has the clippings she placed on the walls to ‘brighten things up’. The total space these 8 people had (the Franks hid with another family, and a dentist) is incredibly small, and to think they couldn’t use the toilet or make noise during the day is unbearable, let alone the fact that they lived here for 2 years before being betrayed.

As you can tell, I could easily rave on and on about Amsterdam, but I have to get to the next location of the day…the Red Light district. It was quite funny to go walking through this area with a massive group of mostly middle-aged people - but I was intrigued to see what was here - after all this district is always associated with Amsterdam. It is basically an area of prostitution, and you are surrounded by these girls, who are on full display in the windows. You aren’t allowed to take any photographs, but one of our group did, and we were yelled at and had a can of coke thrown at us from one ugly looking hooker.

What surprised me was how unattractive they all were - old, flabby, stretch marked - do the good looking ones come out later? We went through one tiny alleyway, and Izzy was playfully flicked on his groin by one of the women holding her feathered whip - we kept moving! The women aren’t nude - they usually wear a bikini or some lingerie, but they certainly aren’t covered up. There are also lots of other shops and strip clubs in this area. We were even offered a family discount into one of the shows…I think they though we were somebody’s kids?

Deciding to not head back into the Red Light District - one visit is probably enough considering how dodgy it is - we went for a walk around the other areas of Amsterdam. Iz was interested in checking out some of the ‘cafes‘…there are hundreds to choose from, and you can sit and do a number of different things. I was amazed at what was on offer in most of the shops - you could buy Magic Mushrooms, LCD, XTC and of course, Marijuana - all LEGAL! I am not into this sort of thing at all, but was ok with buying a baked product. Brownies are so yesterday, so we got a couple of Marijuana Muffins for after dinner.

The bus ride home to our hotel was much appreciated, as it started to pour just as we got into the bus. We grabbed some pizza after putting our laundry on, and after a lot of coaxing from Iz, I finally tried a quarter of the very small vanilla muffin - YUCK! There were green bits all through it, that definitely tasted funky. I then tried the chocolate muffin that was much tastier - and ended up eating half of it…I swear it was just a normal muffin.

The guy had said it would take 45 minutes before anything happened, but we didn’t feel A THING! I think this is just a major tourist scam - and I was totally thankful that there was no effect! I was freaking out that we would have some crazy trip…not what you want when watching the dryer spin round and round in the hot little laundry room. I did however, have an amazing sleep! I guess it’s just something you have to do when you come to Amsterdam!

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Photos

Cute House
Check out the duck's little home!

Hooked
Notice the hook above the top window - this is seen everywhere here, and is used to move furniture into the houses.