Well,
Amsterdam was definitely interesting. Upon getting there really late on Friday
night after a train cancellation in Norddeich Mole, we checked into our hostels
and then decided to take a walk over to the infamous Red Light District. It was
exactly as I had imagined: a sketchy looking area with a bunch of bars
intertwined with doorways displaying half naked women with red lights on overhead,
each making sexual gestures towards every man that walked by. After about 5
minutes we decided that this wasn’t probably the place we should be so late on
a Friday night and went back to our hostels.
On
Saturday we awoke very early to go to the Anne Frank House. We hadn’t made
reservations, so decided to go an hour before the museum opened in order to
ensure that we wouldn’t have to stand in line for hours. Luckily we got there
and were twentieth or so in line (when we got out the line was around the block
and at least a few hundred people long).
I had read the book back in middle school, but decided to read it again
before we went to the actual location and I am so glad that I did. As we walked
through the front offices and then the “Secret Annex” (where the two families
stayed), I could envision a lot of what was said in the book, and got to fully
experience where and how the two families lived. Probably my favorite part of
the museum though was getting to see the actual diary entries of Anne Frank. It
was a surreal experience and one that anyone has to do upon coming to
Amsterdam. Meeting up with the others who hadn’t gone to the Anne Frank Museum,
we then went to the Rijks Museum. The museum, which has been undergoing
renovations for the past 10 years only to be opened back up a few months ago,
was full of famous art. Some of my personal favorite paintings included “The Night
Watch” by Rembrandt, “The Milkmaid” by Vermeer, and “Waterloo” by Pieneman. I
am not normally very into art, but thoroughly enjoyed the few hours we spent at
the museum. This was recommended over many other art museums within Amsterdam and
I definitely now know why; it had an extensive collection of paintings and
different art from as far back as the 1600’s and featured some of the most
recognized paintings in the world.
Following
the Rijks Museum, we watched some of the Gay Pride Parade festivities, which
just so happened to be occurring the same weekend we were there. For the parade,
there were over 2 million people lining the canals to watch all of the themed
boats. This was not nearly as vulgar or racy as I expected it and was actually
really fun. Some people definitely could have put on a few more clothes though!
After having enough of that, we hung out in Vendel Park, a humongous and
people-friendly park in the middle of Amsterdam.
On
Sunday I decided to go on one of the “free” walking tours. I definitely should
have done this earlier, as I was able to learn a lot of useful information
about the city. One historical things that I found interesting was that the
Netherlands was the richest nation in the world in the 1600’s due to a booming
sailing industry through companies such as the East India Trading Company. This
prosperity ended due to war and disease, but Amsterdam made a profound impact
on the world a few hundred years ago. Going along with the history, I also
learned how marijuana use and prostitution, two things that are synonymously
connected with Amsterdam, came to be accepted and decriminalized by society.
There are many reasons for both being decriminalized and I am not saying I
agree with either, but the people and the city of Amsterdam are very proud of
their city and all of the freedoms it has to offer.
Amsterdam
wasn’t one of my favorite cities that I have visited thus far, but it was an
experience nonetheless that I will never forget and a place that I would have
regretted not going to. I would not advise families to go there, but any
teenagers or young adults would have a fantastic time in Amsterdam.
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