NETHERLANDS

Europe
June 23rd 2010

Published: July 4th 2010

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NicD

NETHERLANDS

Amsterdam is a great city to visit... very unique...

Location: Maastricht, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Den Haag, Rotterdam
Length of Stay: 5 Days
Cost per Day: $94

Ok... so heres what I found out...

North Holland and South Holland are simply 2 provinces on the West Coast... because the 2 biggest cities and where most people live and visit are within these provinces - the country as a whole is often referred to as Holland by locals and tourists alike... however the country is officially The Netherlands...
And why are the people referred to as Dutch... Well... I was told that through strong ties linked with West Germany (Deutschland) from centuries ago... the e and the s were dropped from Deutsch to create Dutch...

I really enjoyed my few days here... The Dutch are a really nice and relaxed group of people and the go with the flow attitude they have reminded me alot of the Aussie culture...

They certainly arent afraid to stand up and lead the way either...
The Dutch can lay claim to being 1st in a number of controversial areas... They were the 1st to legalise:

* prostitution - Napolean did that in 1815 when the French invaded for a short while
*

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tulips...

cannabis
* doctor-assisted euthansasia
* same sex marriage

Heres something really bizarre...
Cigarette smoking has been banned in all public places in Amsterdam, however smoking a joint in a coffee shop is fine so long as it does not contain any tobacco... How odd... Does this mean that its confirmed... tobacco is more hazardous to your health than marijuana...
I popped into a informational centre... Did you know that Hemp is:

* 5 times as strong as cotton
* produces 10 times more ethanol than corn
* produces up to 4 times more paper than conventional wood pulp
* hemp building materials are shock absorbent and mould/heat and fire resistant
* hemp seed is a healthy source of calcium, iron and proteins, as well as vitamin C, E, B1, B2 and carotene... hmmm...
* and there are currently over 35,000 known applications for hemp... wow... fancy that... I did see some interesting food products such as hemp spaghetti...

Have to of course mention the Red Light District... apparently Hells Angels used to run it... the government nowadays is slowly, slowly starting to shut things down along with all the coffee shops... and they are converting them into

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Dutch clogs...

independent quirky art galleries, boutiques etc...
Fine in theory, but I wonder if it will all just go underground - out a sight, out of mind...
I cant imagine that all these ladies of the and night... and days... are going to go... oh well... guess I better put some clothes on and go get a normal job...

Will people still come to Amsterdam... I think so... Its still a great city...
The District is pretty amazing and will most definately push you to confront your own personal thoughts and beliefs on the topic of sex and the adult industry as a whole... I was absolutely intrigued walking around for the day and taking in everything around me... Was fascinating to see woman displaying themselves in a tiny shop window and even more interesting to watch the male species as they went window shopping...
There were girls who looked as young as 17 right up to the madams of 60ish...
I must admit however, that I slept pretty badly that night... and I left Amsterdam with a heavy, seedy energy around me which took a few days to dissipate...
Still... glad I went and had a look...

Ok...

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Thats it from here... onto Belgium now... looking forward to slowing down soon... this different city every day is so exhausting... x

P.S... I did go see Sex & the City #2 after all, as couldn't find Robin Hood... Liza Minelli makes a fabulous appearance... was worth going just to see her sing and dance... she's still got it + the most amazing legs for her age...

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