The tour starts in Amsterdam, a city we had not yet visited so we arrived four days early to suck up some of the sounds and smells (snicker, snicker) of the city.
Amsterdam is a very walk-able city with the added advantage of an excellent public transportation system if you get tuckered out.
Amsterdam attracts over 18,000,000 tourists every year and we arrived on a very busy Easter long weekend so hotel rooms in Amsterdam were very pricey. We opted to stay in Zaandam, a two stop, 15 minute train ride outside the city to keep costs down. We stayed in the central business area with some interesting architecture.
Up early on day one, with our jet lag under control, we headed into Amsterdam, our first goal to find the barge which according to my map was only a 15 minute walk from the train station. Forgot the map, so using only memory muscle, I got us completely lost but we did have an interesting first look at Amsterdam.
Over a very tiny and expensive cup of coffee, on the upper deck of the NEMO science museum that has a magnificent view overlooking central Amsterdam and using their free Wifi, I tracked down the barge location. We walked straight to it in the 15 minutes I had originally calculated.
Prior to leaving Canada, we had purchased Amsterdam Holland Passes which we needed to register and book the different attractions that we wanted to see. It was here that we came to realize what 18,000,000 visitors can mean. Entrance to the Van Gogh museum was booked up for the next two weeks, the Anne Frank Huis for the next week and the Rembrandt Huis museum for 5 days. Thank goodness the Heineken Experience was available the next day and the Red Light District tour available two days later or our passes would have been a bust.
So over the next few days we woke up early, hopped on the train and became very intimate with Amsterdam. Despite not being able to see some of the sights, there were many others that made up for it. The Rijksmuseum was impressive and busy.
Those Dutch masters liked to paint big.
There was also a small section dedicated to Van Gogh which made up for missing his museum. One of his famous self portraits was on display. He still had his ear in this one.
Despite having timed tickets, we spent a few wasted hours standing in line to enjoy the Heineken Experience. Everything you wanted or didn't need to know about the history of Heineken beer. The tour was mostly self guided but if you stuck it out to the end, you could self guide yourself into two glasses of cold Heineken as a reward.
Frankly, I am not a big fan of Heineken, I find it thin and without taste, so drank one and gave the other away to a guy who looked like he would appreciate it. Probably an American.
We visited a diamond museum, actually a diamond sales shop disguised as a museum. We did get to see and talk to a diamond cutter as he created facets on a small 1/4 carat diamond available for only $999. We visited a cheese museum which was actually a cheese sales shop disguised as a museum. We did get to sample over 40 different styles and flavours of Dutch cheeses, though after a the first 10 samples, they all started to taste the same.
While I enjoyed the sounds and especially the second hand smells of Old Town Amsterdam, Nonie did not appreciate them at all. Second hand smoke in any form is an anathema to her. Coffee to go. (snicker,
snicker)
If you have been living under a rock since the 70's you may not know that possession of a small amount of cannabis (5 gr.) is tolerated in the Netherlands but it is not legal. It is called "gedoogbeleid" in Dutch. This means if you are found holding more than 5 gr. you will be charged but anything less will be ignored unless, your are acting like an a-hole, then you could find yourself in some hot water. The rules are changing and legalization may not be far away.
Some parts of Old Side, date back to the 13th Century. You can spot these old houses as they have a decided lean to them, or perhaps it was the Heineken talking or the second hand smells getting too me.
And herein lies Nonie's problem with the Old Side. People do not wait till the get home, but light up pretty well anywhere they choose so the smell of cannabis is everywhere, but it was most prevalent in the Old Side. Again, if you are not being an idiot, it is tolerated. Note to self, cannabis containing products sold in souvenir shops do not contain the good stuff. 8 brownies and not a buzz.
As we wandered the Old Side, we often saw signage or flags with the symbol XXX on them. This symbol is the official coat of arms for Amsterdam and not the pornographic symbol. Despite that , the Old Side is home to the Red Light District and living up to its reputation, you can find sex paraphernalia shops on every block packed with the latest in designer prophylactics and toys. Makes for some interesting window shopping.
The Red Light District is also home to most of the legal prostitution in Amsterdam. Again, if you have been living under your bed since the 1830's you may not know that prostitution has been legal in the Netherlands since then. However, you were legally unable to make a profit from it. This was done to keep people from exploiting women, sadly unsuccessfully.
In 1980 the law was changed to allow profit taking and in 1988 prostitution was recognized as a legal profession. In 2000, a new law clearly made prostitution legal and prostitutes are now called independent contractors, declare their income, have health care and pay taxes and fees. Pimps, need not apply.
A tour of the Red Light is best taken at night and with a guide. Without a guide, you will miss many of the nuances of what goes on there. About an hour before our tour was to start, black clouds and gusty winds rolled in. About 10 minutes into the start of the tour, a light drizzle which turned into a torrential downpour for much of the tour leaving us completely soaked. The tour ended at the Prostitution Museum which was really a sex shop disguised as a museum.
The Red Light District is famous for its windows that are used by the independent contractors to display their wares. Clients are welcome to peruse the merchandise and if interested, make eye contact with the independent contractor. They next meet each other at the entrance and negotiate fees and services before the client enters. During our 90 minute tour we observed a number of client/contractor meetings with most ending in successful negotiations. The windows all have a red lights and if lit, the window is open for business. A new twist to the red light is the blue light which indicates the independent contractor is not a woman.
It was a busy three days to pack in all that Amsterdam had to offer and we still left a lot on the table or in the window.
Tomorrow we board the barge.
