I thought I'd heard so much about Amsterdam, but it still hadn't prepared me for what I found when I got there: Amsterdam just wasn't anything like I'd imagined it to be!
While I wasn't expecting a dirty, unattractive city, I was so surprised by just how pretty Amsterdam is.
I'd heard that Amsterdam is famous for its art, and its red light district with women dancing in windows, and that marijuana is everywhere. I'd heard about its amazing tulips, and its clogs. But no-one told me that when you're walking around at night along its many canals, that it feels like some sort of magical fairy-land, and that after walking past all the houses, you soon get tired of thinking to yourself: "Oh, I want to live there! Oh no wait, that one there, THAT'S where I want to live." -- the houses are all so perfect (even if everyone can see right into the living rooms when they walk past)
James and I went to Amsterdam for three nights to visit our friend, Vladimir. These are two people whose company is more than enough for me: I could've sat in one place with them, saw nothing of what Amsterdam has to offer, and I still would've thought it was a perfect trip. But we did a lot more than nothing. We hired bicycles, rode around, drank beers in a park, took a boat ride through the canals, bought flowers, tried befriending some ducklings, drank Nespresso, got lost, found our way again, ate pizza, ran in the rain, took too many photos.
I was obviously keen to visit the infamous red light district, to see the scantily-clad girls in windows, and the drunken tourists leering at them. If a boy goes to Amsterdam and doesn't visit the red-light district, has he even been to Amsterdam?
I was fascinated to find that the women were divided into areas depending on what the men might be looking for: walk down that street if you're after larger black women, down this alley if you're after skinny blonde eastern european girls, that street over there for Latinas.
Some of the women were incredibly beautiful, one so beautiful that I found myself staring at her for quite a long time; long enough that another tourist came up to me after speaking to her and said: "if you're interested, she's €150" before walking off.
Previously, I guess my narrow mind had always assumed that people in that profession ended up doing that simply because they had no other choice; but after seeing that woman, with the way she looked, I have to believe she does that because she wants to do it. Looking like that, she could be anything she wants to be. She must choose to be there. And that makes me feel better about the whole red-light thing. Not so much better that I'm about to spend €150 on her, mind you, but still...better.
One of the days that we were in Amsterdam coincided with the Dutch football team returning from South Africa after their Wold Cup final. The city held a parade for the team to welcome them back, with the team on boats cruising along the canals, and the hoards of fans walking on the streets alongside them. With vuvuzelas, of course.
I don't think I've ever seen so much orange in one place before. Orange shirts, hats, wigs, flags, scarves, shoes, hairspray -- all orange. Seemed like Amsterdam's entire population was out on the streets to show their pride for there team who came so close to victory. But like the sales associate in one store said to us:
"Have you seen the crowds today?! We didn't win! I'd hate to see what they'd be like if we'd WON!" -- we probably wouldn't have made it out of there uninjured.
But a huge crowd celebrating is always fun to see, so I'm glad we got to soak up the atmosphere on such an exciting occasion...for five minutes, before we had to use the back streets to get away from them all.
I'd fallen in love with Amsterdam thirty minutes after I'd arrived there. I'm sure it had something to do with the two people I was with, but it's hard to find something about Amsterdam that isn't easy to love. Well, I mean, you do that red-light once, tick the box, and get out of there - everything else is incredible.
A massive thank you to Vladimir for letting us stay in your beautiful apartment, you are amazing. I'm very much looking forward to coming back: after spending just three days in Amsterdam, I don't even feel like I've scratched the surface.
My "List of Places That I NEED My Mum & Dad To See" is just getting way too long.
Here are the photos:
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Also, just a short little video I made. A snippet, if you will:
