Amsterdam (a couple of days past...)

Hi everyone!! Well I had intended to start this blog a couple of days ago but it just didn't seem to work out that way, so here I am. We are actually in Paris (!) right now, but we spent the last 2 days in Amsterdam, Netherlands so I want to write about that first before I forget it all! Hopefully it will work to connect our camera too so that I can upload some pictures, but no guarantees there. I'm not sure how I am going to convey my thoughts on this blog...might just depend on my mood or whatever.

On Amsterdam....first of all, I guess I never really imagined that I'd ever travel to Holland or the Netherlands or the land of the tulips, clogs and windmills, whatever you want to call it. Either way, Amsterdam (called the NYC of the Netherlands) is nothing like windmills or tulips. Amsterdam is very much a laid back city filled with canals, street side cafes, shops, markets and of course the famous "coffeeshops" which aren't at all famous for selling coffee. "Coffeeshops" really exist to sell marijuana...and then some coffee on the side. The Dutch (as we now have learned) are very open, tolerant and happy-go-lucky types of people. I guess marijuana isn't truly legal in Amsterdam, but it is "tolerated" in coffeeshops and you won't really get hassled about it on the street either. The coffeeshops are pretty much exactly what you would imagine they would be, people of all types sitting around in a dark, kind of creepy like setting smoking their "tolerated" weed. Violent crime is virtualy non-existent in Amsterdam, so there you go...I'm not going to argue with the relaxed environment. There is also one other thing that I failed to mention that is also famous in Amsterdam: The Red Light District. For those of you that don't know, this is an area of the city that is pretty much devoted to all things sexual. If you can imagine it, it exists. As simple as that....let your imagination go wild. Prostitution is also one of the other things that the Dutch allow and they don't hide it either!! Scattered through-out the red light district are large windows where prostitutes "market" themselves for "business". Strike a deal, the curtain closes and 15 minutes later you walk out feeling...well, whatever it is one would feel after being with a prostitute! Not that we would know, we just witnessed it many times. And they have all "flavors" to choose from, they don't discriminate!! It was very strange to see it all out there like that. It was like an 18 year old male fantasy come true!

Some other random thoughts on Amsterdam:

- I could immediately tell that I was NOT from Amsterdam because I was not wearing boots and I was not riding a bike. EVERYONE in Amsterdam rides their bike EVERYWHERE and all the women wear boots.

- Everyone here is SO fashionable. Wow, you can really tell I'm from the good ol U.S. of A. And not the New Your City U.S. of A....the midwest version. Ugh. Not that I'm fashionable there either, but you get my drift.

- Amsterdam is the king of all things transportation. When you cross the street you have to, at all times, make sure that you do not get hit by a car, the tram, the bus, a motorcycle and OF COURSE, those damn bikes. If I never see a bike again, I'll be okay with that. It's like bikes rule the city....they ALWAYS have the right of way. And they have parking ramps made not for cars, but you guessed it, bikes. Well, good for them, they're environmentally friendly.

- FEBO. FEBO is the lowest form of fast food. It's a fast food chain that sells it's food out of coin operated machines!! And they're everywhere and always busy. Must be the munchies...

- Public urinals. Yes, they have them, yes, it's disgusting and yes it kind of all makes sense at the same time. It's like an open-air Biffy....for men only (thankfully).

I think that just about covers our experience in Amsterdam. In all honesty, Amsterdam was a very cool city to visit and the locals were super friendly (unless we were in the way of them riding their bike) LOL