AMSTERDAM

I have always heard interesting things about Amsterdam so it was nice to finally see what everyone was talking about! I arrived early in the morning at 7:45 am. I was exhausted because I didn't really sleep on the overnight train and I hardly slept in Munich so I was looking forward to dropping off my things at the hostel and wandering around the city by myself. I needed alone time because I had not been alone since I started this trip. As soon as I got to the hostel, I saw four guys hanging out in the lobby and they asked me if I wanted to go to a cafe with them. I was not in the mood to socialize but I said to myself, 'Just go!' so I followed them to a cafe where we picked up crossiants and orange juice. I thought we were hanging out there but they said we were taking our treats elsewhere. We ended up at another cafe as these guys start rolling a joint after joint. I didn't smoke.

Here's my background on drugs...I don't do drugs. I have a few friends that do drugs. I don't care if you do drugs. I'm not passing judgement. I've tried pot 2x back in college and it did nothing for me. I don't even know the typical drug lingo so I'm pretty clueless. Do people even say joint anymore? I knew pot was legal in Amsterdam so this was not a surprise to me. The only thing that I found humourous about this whole situation was seeing these 4 European guys smoking pot and eating chocolate filled croissants and sipping on OJ at 9am.

Three of the guys were from Italy and one guy was from Spain so we talked about our traveling experiences. I really wish I could tape record the conversations that I have with people...It is so interesting to hear different opinions and cultural views! After hanging out with them for a few hours I left to go to Anne Frank's house and the Van Gogh exhibit. Both were great sites! I ended up grabbing a sandwich at a cafe when I came across this Smart Zone. There are a lot of Smart Zones throughout Amsterdam so I was curious to see what they sold inside. I walked in and saw a few souvenirs but they mainly sold drugs...Marijuana and Mushrooms. I had no idea mushrooms were legal here too. Of course the curious person that I am started to ask the owner questions about the drugs and the affects. I sounded like a reporter jotting notes in my head. I walked away from the store with more awareness of these drugs and the purpose that it served in Amsterdam. It seems like these Smart Zones are really targeted for tourists. One question I forgot to ask the owner was this...Why are these placed called Smart Zones? Isn't this a misleading name for what they sell?

Next Stop...RED LIGHT DISTRICT. I'm not going to lie. I was really excited to see the Red Light District.....Prostitutes in the window displays....Very interesting. As I was walking through the area I couldn't help but check out all the girls. In fact I started thinking, "Man, I wish I could talk to one of these girls because I have so many questions." SUDDENLY, I see a sign for a Red Light District tour with a former prostitute that will answer any questions. YES! COUNT ME IN! The tour started at 8pm and we all met at a Prostitute Agency and this former prostitute greeted us. She was very attractive and friendly. She stopped being a prostitute because she is married with 3 kids now. I was the youngest person in the group. There were eight older married couples. Seriously, they were at least 3o years older than me. When it came down to the Q and A part no one was asking questions so I started to fire away....

How many people would you see in a day? 10 on a slow day, 40 on busy day
How long do you meet with each client? 15 minutes for anywhere around $50 to $70
Do you have to get tested for diseases? It's voluntary
What are the rules? The men cannot touch the girls
Are you going to tell your kids? Yes, when they are older

Afterwards we started to walk around the district to view the windows. The older couples in my group thanked me for asking the questions because they were curious too. As we were walking around I discovered something that no one else has ever mentioned about Amsterdam...Live Sex Shows. I thought we had everything in America. I asked my guide if this was indeed a live sex show and she said yes. She kind of gave me the look like, "can't you read the sign?" Unbelievable. It was about $75 dollars. BTW, I did not check it out.

Amsterdam definitely lived up to everything I heard before coming here but there is so much more. It is beautiful and reminds me of Venice with all the canals running throughout the city. The Dutch are incredibly friendly. Any time I would ask for directions, they would either print up the directions from google maps or walk me to the destination.

Amsterdam is also known for their many bicyclists.....Thank God Jaclyn told me to watch out for the bikers because they are everywhere. You have a better chance of getting hit by a bicyclist than a car. Ahhh...it makes me miss my bike! Prior to starting my trip, I said that I was drawing a blank right now about my future but I'm eager to embrace whatever comes my way. I finally had an image come to me...I saw this older woman who had to be at least 75 years old. She was riding a bike and she was wearing a turquoise blue wool hat, with a matching turquoise blue sweater, black pleated skirt that hit below her knees, black tights, and black shoes.....she looked so happy riding her bike. I have no idea where she was going...I'm going to say that she was meeting her girlfriends at lunch. Anyways, that image locked into my head and I said, "I want to be her when I'm 75." So this is all I know so far about my future....