Amsterdam is Amsterdam. The stereotypes and craziness was mostly true in this liberal Netherlands country. Starting out in the Nordee Sea, we traveled about five hours in order to get to Amsterdam. This was the first time I had traveled outside a country via train. It was interesting that when we crossed into the Netherlands, only one person had their passport checked. I believe this is a part of the European Union treaty. Since the train traveled mostly in the night, I wasn’t able to see the countryside too much. From what I could see, the Netherlands had taller buildings and seemed to be more modern. Since I had fallen asleep in the train, I didn’t realize where we were at nor that our train had been rerouted. Luckily, our group knew where we were going. In addition, the language was different. It is interesting how the languages change so quickly even though you travel only a few hours. We had to transfer trains in the Netherlands in order to arrive in Amsterdam Centraal. When we traveled on this train, we definitely noticed people where dressed up to go out on the town. The people on the train were definitely in a good mood and one guy was already drunk. He had a liquor bottle in his hand. We arrived in Amsterdam at 11:30 pm. We first had to figure out where we were going. My group included Emily, Drew, Bailey, Kristen, and Drew. Stepping out of the train station put us out in the center of the city. Lights and unique Amsterdam architecture was in front of us. We had to cross the main canal in order to go in the right direction. Since it was a Friday night, people looked like they were either going out to a bar or nightclub. The guys dressed up more than in the States. Some wore leather jackets or sport coats. As we walked to the hotel, bars and coffee shops were open. Many of the bars were full. You could definitely smell the coffee shops when you walked by them. The smell of pot was in the air. It took about 30 minutes to walk to the Marriott. It seemed as if we kept walking past bar after bar. The amount of motorcycles we passed was also amazing. They even had separate bicycle lanes next to the sidewalks. These bipeds seemed to work in this crammed European city. At the hotel, we only had one room, but we had six people with us. We checked in with four people and had Andrew and Emily come into the hotel after us. After we got settled down, we all hit the hay. I slept on the ground that night.
It was early Saturday morning when we left for the Centraal Station. Our group and another group met up in the Centraal Station for a canal tour. There were many tours, but we just chose the closest tour. Unfortunately, it started to rain, but luckily the boat was covered. Floating down the canals was interesting because you could find out about the city. The guide pointed out how skinny the homes were partly because they were taxed on the width of the building rather than the square meterage. There were several house boats along the canal. These floats had running, water, and electricity. It was funny sometimes because at least one person didn’t care to put down the blinds on the windows. Only 2000 house boats were allowed in Amerstedam because of the space on the canal. We saw a good portion of the city including the Anne Frank House, a gigantic cruise ship and part of the Centraal Station. After the canal tour, we decided to go to the Heineken Experience. Heineken is a Dutch beer that has become known worldwide. We learned how it started as well as the brewing process. The ingredients included water, barley, hops, and Heineken “A” Yeast. The best part of the experience was when we were “bottled.” This ride simulator took us through the process of being bottled. We stood up and the platform moved up and down. The Experience seemed like it was a big advertisement, but we expected this. We had two free beers at the end. After the Heineken Experience, it was time to go to the Anne Frank museum. Waiting in line for thirty minutes was well worth it. The house was the original as Anne Frank had left it. One surprising thing was how large the annex was. Yes, she couldn’t go outside and did feel very isolated, but she had room to stretch out in the house. One of the most important things I learned from the house was how much fear they had. Everybody around helping the family had to keep their mouth shut and keep to the plan. Going to the bathroom could be a chore because they couldn’t flush the toilet during the day. At the end of the museum, her original diaries were on display. Otto Frank survived the Holocaust and knew immediately people needed to know about Anne’s diary as well as the secret annex. He opened the house in 1959. After the museum, we trekked over to the Red Light District. Since we were in Amsterdam, we felt like we had to experience the craziness. When we walked there, you had to have an intention of going there. It was on a separate street with a canal going down the center. However, the canal was under construction with no hurry in fixing it. Boats could not float down the canal. There were no roads for cars, but only large sidewalks on either side of the canal. It was about 9 pm and the red windows started looking occupied. The women in the windows were scantily dressed and were usually in skimpy lingerie. They all had tops on them but most were too small for them. Not all the women were attractive. Some were fat and quite ugly. We walked past theaters with live sex shows playing inside as well as many erotic shops. In fact, we actually saw an exotic museum. There were several bars full of people, but they were mostly men. It was pretty weird when our group would walk past the theaters because the bouncers would try to get us to go in. We only walked up and down the Red Light District once. My thoughts on the district make me believe Amsterdam’s citizens are very liberal. With the pot and prostitution, the voters are just more open about this type of behavior. I don’t believe the people of Amsterdam are necessarily bad people, but just have a less censorship than Americans and other Europeans. The girls in the windows are the same type of people that strip in America. Lack of money is probably a major issue for them thus resorting to this lewd behavior. I went there for an experience, and was definitely shocked by how the stereotypes are so true. After the Red Light District, it was about ten o’clock and we were exhausted. We decided to go back to the hotel and go to sleep. The next day, we went to the Van Gogh museum. This museum had virtually all of the Van Gogh paintings. I found his life interesting because he almost did all of his major artwork in the last years of his life. He never knew how great his paintings really were. Unfortunately, he went insane and ended his life. Sometimes Van Gogh would repaint on the same canvas. Since he was relatively poor, he could not afford to use a new expensive canvas each time he painted. By using X-rays and various chemicals, scientists have been able to figure out what he painted over. After the art museum, we took our bags and headed over to the Red Light District one final time. Some people had wanted to go into one of the erotic stores. Going to the Red Light District during the day is definitely different. No lights, less people make it a little less shocking, but there were still some women in the windows. Even a Sunday afternoon won’t keep people from lusting out. We went into two erotic shops and found a bunch of sex stuff. I imagine these stores are pretty similar to those in the USA. They were small stores, but had plenty of things in them. Obviously some people had gotten creative with their minds if you know what I mean. After walking through the district that one last time, we headed over to the train station.
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