Amsterdam - The Blue Entry

I’ve already gone into all of the landmarks in Amsterdam that I visited, but what does everybody know about Amsterdam? The Red Light District and soft drugs. Yes, they are there.

The Red Light District was just strange. Lots of sex clubs and women in windows attempting to entice you to come in. I hate to speak of women only in terms of appearance, but when you are talking about women selling themselves from windows, it’s kind of hard not to do so, so I apologize in advance.

I’m not a complete stranger to the world of strip clubs. There was a wide range of women in the windows in the Red Light District, but I’d have to say that the collection of women was not dissimilar to what you might find in a second-class strip club. Some were attractive, but most looked a little worse for wear, so to speak. The streets were primarily full of tourists, like myself, doing a little bit of gawking, like myself, and just trying to take in what they’ve heard about all of these years. It actually gets pretty old pretty quick, but if that’s you’re thing, and it is certainly some people’s thing, then enjoy.

For all of the coffeehouses in Amsterdam, I didn’t see a single Starbuck’s. That’s okay, though. I made do. I visited a place in the Red Light District called Hill Street Blues, because I heard that the food was pretty good. I had some cupcakes that were pretty good. Unfortunately, being overly cautious, I think I underdosed on the cupcakes, which inhibited my relaxation. I was relaxed for a few hours, but certainly not as relaxed as I would have liked to have been.

I remedied that the next day. Since there are over two-hundred licensed coffeehouses in Amsterdam, I though that I’d try something different, so I went to Abraxas, near Dam Square. I went there around noon on Sunday and had a brownie and, of all things, coffee – which was pretty good. Having learned from my mistake of the previous day, I had plenty to eat on this visit. I think I’ve found the opening line to my novel – “I was sitting in a Chinese restaurant on Dam Street when the brownie kicked in.” (Okay, so most people have had a similar experience. I just love the different ways that you can go following that line.) This was the beginning of several hours of relaxation and, for the most part, the end of my trip. Trip as in visit.

This is my last post from Amsterdam (except for the random hotel review) and I just realized that I never talked about Dam Square, which is the old town square and, like all of the other old town squares I’ve visited, is bordered with shops and very old buildings. It wasn’t all that exciting, but it was across the street from my hotel, so I was there for at least a little while every day. There, of course, will be additional pictures of old buildings from Amsterdam on my Facebook page within the next few days. (If there aren’t already. Not sure exactly when this will get posted.)

That’s it from Amsterdam. Now, on to a few final days in London and the United States!!!