December 15, 2011

Trip 13: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Trip date: December 2-4, 2011

Amsterdam, the land of decriminalized soft drugs and a place where you can go window shopping for prostitutes at all hours of the day. Also, it's the land of close-together sloping homes and more canals and bridges than Venice

All in Attendence: Thomas, Pat, Gordon, Cesar, Mike, Mila, Mike H., and Kristen!

This was my first easy jet flight, believe it or not. It's also my first flight out of Basel Airport. On Friday, we creeped out of work early and took the train from Baden to Basel and took our flight (which was 1 hour late), arriving just shortly before 22:00.

The Amsterdam Schipol airport is directly connected to the city's trainlines. This is a European norm but impresses me to great lengths as a shitty-Calgary-transit native. The official language in Amsterdam is Dutch. From what I gathered throughout my weekend, Dutch is very similar to German. And it was with my own arrogance in my limited knowledge of the German language that I neglected to learn basic key traveling phrases unlike how I usually do. I was diligent in Poland, Bulgaria and Italy but I came to the Netherlands armed with only my "dank u wel".

"Everybody speaks English," that's the typical North American ignorance attitude, right?

Anyways, we took a tram to the far end of the city center and stayed at the Stayokay Amsterdam Vondelpark. It's a HI Hostel so it's a bit pricey to what I usually stay in but I made up the difference in stolen hard boiled eggs. There were idiot proof signs to show the way to the hostel (along with idiot proof directions from the hostel site). It's my third "stay okay" hostel (Venice and Paris being the other two). After dropping off our things, we set off to explore the city and (of course) hunt for the red light district.



We got some french fries and wandered around the cobblestone roads. The Christmas lights are up which adds to the overall spirit and atmosphere. I can't help thinking that Christmas and -30°C with wind chill go hand in hand so it's hard to believe the holidays are within a month when everywhere I travel has temperatures steadily above the the zero line. We got a few drinks in a bar and found the red light district for some window shopping.

Photos are prohibited there because the girls want to up hold anonymity. A standard rate of 50 euros buys you 15 minutes with these girls. The prices go up though, (for instance, if you want to take off her underwear, it's an additional 10 euros) but that's just how the goods-and-service business is sometimes. The biggest surprise for me was that these girl were top quality in the looks department. I don't know why I expected otherwise but these were seriously good looking girls. They pay "rent" on their window space and adjacent room so they're really just like any other entrepreneurs running their own small business.

It should also be noted that we walked by the "Occupy Amsterdam" camp. This is the second Occupy encampment I've seen on my travels (the other one being in Dublin).



The next day, I woke up earlier than everyone else. Why? Because after 19 months of brutal handling, my camera finally gave out. As I've said before, a broken camera is very comparable to a broken limb (in terms of emotional loss, not pain). So I set out at the mercy of Amsterdam's cute stores and boutiques in search of a camera store.

Two hours of wandering and three broken umbrellas later and I finally found one by the train station. I paid way too much for a new Canon but that's how it is sometimes. Afterwards, I went over to the New Europe Amsterdam tour meeting spot and did a walking tour around Amsterdam. Highlights include:
  • The Dutch use to have to pay tax according to the width of their homes. That's why all the buildings are so narrow.
  • Furniture is brought to the higher floors through a pulley system on the front of the buildings. Some buildings are slanted forward to give a wider berth to swinging furniture so it doesn't smash through the windows.
  • Poor foundation and slanted buildings = high market for people who sell crooked windows
  • There's an 84 year old lady working the red light district. She's in high demand and doesn't need to stand in a window anymore - you have to book her in advance.
Oh and to debauch a rumor that coffee shops will only cater to Dutch citizens in the nearby future - this is something that probably won't ever come to pass. I mean, so much of their tourism comes from their relaxed laws. So you're probably safe going. The mayor of Amsterdam himself ridicules the very idea of it.



After the tour, some of us went to Grey Area and then wandered around Amsterdam. Cue: poor in nutrition food (all you can eat spare ribs !?), more glühwein, hurting my foot on the cobblestone, stroopwafels and haze.

A word on Amsterdam drug laws: Just in case you didn't know, magic mushrooms and marijuana are still illegal in Amsterdam. It's illegal to sell it and consume it. How does that work? Well soft drugs are only decriminalized in the country. It's also fuels the tourist industry.

The next hazy day, I went to the Van Gogh Museum. It was a staggering 14 euros but it was nice to walk through a museum dedicated to one artist uniquely. It was really interesting because, in a sense, you could really see the progression of his work, aka him learning how to paint. My favorites were the Flowering Orchard series. On a side note, Starry Night Over the Rhone; Van Gogh's Chair; and Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers were not in this museum. They are found in the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and National Gallery (London).


After that, it was more wandering around the quaint cobblestone roads until the return flight to Basel.

Things I loved:
  • Insane number of bikes
  • Relaxed laws
  • Stroopwafels
  • French Fries + Mayo
  • How Dutch looks like misspelled German
    (Or does German look like misspelled Dutch?)
Things to do when I come back:
  • Take a trip out of the city to see Tulips
  • See windmills
  • Maybe see Anne Frank's house (which I heard is over crowded, over branded and over priced)