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Published: April 13th 2007
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Dam Canals
The Red Light District begins on the right hand side... 10c, fine
22c, warm
The last stop of the 'Matt road show' was Amsterdam. The mere mention of this city instantly conjures up sordid images of coffee shops, 'window shopping' and... windmills (okay that's not sordid.. but you get the idea). It's all true, you'll find whatever it is you're looking for in Amsterdam. I'd liken the parts of the city to a theme park - in your face, loud and noisy. Most people go to experience 'the atmosphere' (not the rides.. pardon the pun!) and not surprisingly nearly 95% of people in the red light district are tourists. This is not Holland but I never expected it to be. The first sight of a scantly clad teenager wearing lingerie behind a window was a bit a bit 'in your face', especially in broad daylight. But once you acclimatise everything becomes less shocking. It is an adult theme park and suggestions that it attracts only voyeurs or drug dealers is wrong - I was regularly walking around with senior tours and Japanese tourists. I kid you not! The red light district has a fun atmosphere and it s only when you see the occasional window shopper buyer you realise
Water View
A nice corner of Amsterdam that business is being done here. Facts have British the most common shoppers at 55% and mean age of 45-60 year olds (I won t guess as to why that is!) - the only people I saw were Grandpas, older men you d expect to see at the bowling alley.
Gritty details aside, I stayed just outside of the Red Light District. A few hours in the evening was all the time I needed to explore the area. But once you ve seen it, you ve seen it. Amsterdam attracts tourists and not travellers - young British and American groups who seem thrilled enough to buy beer, let alone weed or a show . Walking into a bar you ll find the word illegal ramped up as a selling point: weed, mushrooms, absinthe etc.. I settled for a beer and a wondered how so many people could be so anti-social. Maybe I chose the wrong bar but it seemed everyone looked depressed and bummed out, sitting on their own drinking or smoking god knows what. The coffee shops are heavily controlled by the government, but the street stuff was known by the locals to be very dirty .
Apart from sex and drugs Amsterdam has
Red Light District
A sample of some stores in the Red Light District so much more to offer and the liberal attitude is infectious. The canals are stunning and the views priceless. I rode around on the trams all day not realising that you had to pay (I never paid.. but on my last ride noticed that everyone else did opppss!). I had to visit The Mecca while I was in town.. (otherwise known as Heineken), the tour was awesome. Originally I thought it was a brewery tour but it turned out to be an experience rather than a tour . A history of the beer and a multimedia tour packed with a few rides and lots of free beer well.. it was 12.30pm and it felt like a lot. You got three schooners (or Pints) spread out over the tour, along with a free gift at the end. I fell asleep in the sun at the hostel in the afternoon (who said Europe is cold??) and I m sure everyone thought I was stoned or on mushrooms.. well they would have if they weren t all asleep as well.. I woke up at 4pm wondering what the hell I d do for the second night - there was only so much I could take of the
Mecca
The old Heinkein Brewery theme park. Luckily fate lent a hand and the Dutch couple (otherwise known as Arjan and Chantelle who I met in Dominica) met me in Amsterdam. They were obviously not Red Light District regulars and suggested that I stay with them for a true Dutch experience . I jumped at the opportunity and decided to spend the night with familiar people.
It was cool meeting up with Arjan and Chantelle again, we discussed their trip in the Caribbean and I learned lots about the Netherlands - like most Dutch think weed is uncool, there are few coffee shops outside of Amsterdam and the country has the lowest rate of ods (a strange fact). We headed to their place in Breda, down near the Belgium border and about 1 hour from Amsterdam.. well it would have been! We stopped for fuel and Arjan filled his company car up with unleaded instead of diesel oppss.. A few minutes down the highway and we weren t moving. Add a roadside assistance car, towing, sucking the dirty fuel out, refuelling.. and afternoon became late night. We didn t arrive in Breda until 10pm but it was good fun. I learnt a lot about the Netherlands on the
Vats
Heinkein Brewery.. old copper vats side of the highway to Belgium.. haha. It didn t stop us from having a few farewell beers later that night in the backyard - good times!! A perfect way to end my trip overall.. with familiar locals in a comfy place having a beer. Thanks Arjan and Chantelle maybe we ll see you in Australia one day!
I woke up late and got a lift to the train station with Arjan before the 1 hour ride to the airport. I was glad I d seen the two sides of the Netherlands - the laid back Dutch lifestyle where barely anyone smokes weed, plus the in your face ultra touristy Red Light District that so many people talk about. I think Arjan described it all we re a flat little country with not that many natural features, so we make our own .
And here I am sitting in the British Airways lounge awaiting my flight to begin the LONG HAUL (I d double underline that if I could) back to Adelaide. What a trip, what memories . I can t wait to see everyone when I get home but I d be lying if I said I never want to travel again - just next time
Coffee Shop
My coffee shop / hostel in Amsterdam I ll have someone to carry my bag (hehehe).. I mean experience things with . I love you Marg. Thanks for supporting me on everything I do and to everyone I met - thanks for the memories.
Seeya soon . Some random thank yous / credits / travel tips to follow. But unless I get stuck in London or Singapore - that s it folks!
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Morb
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Engagement party
How was it?