To Amsterdam! The city of drugs and hookers! As a fairly naïve country girl, I am certain that city life is not for me. After our two and a half hour train ride, we arrived in the big city to explore! I was not sure what to expect. I knew that going to Amsterdam was a big deal, or people acted as if it was.
It is the big city, therefore, I was imagining sky scrapers and lots of bright lights. I guess I forgot that this country is much older than America, and slightly more sophisticated. The buildings were truly beautiful and each of them seemed to hold a forgotten story from centuries past.
Brick streets took us from one crowded area to another, over bridges that all shared the same look. Every shop was filled with anxious people who seemed to only be going in circles with no real purpose. Where was everyone trying to get to in such a hurry? Everywhere you turned there was someone to run into and they never looked happy, perhaps because they were so rushed. Why would anyone want to live here?
We were hesitant to visit any of the stores. The majority of them were far too fancy. ‘Ralph Lauren’, ‘Gucci’, and ‘Michael Kors’ are labels I will never be interested in. I do not understand the fascination or the need for a $20,000 purse or a $60 tie. The one shop we did venture into was a souvenir shop. It was full of windmill, tulip, and ‘traditional’ Dutch merchandise. Typical store geared for ignorant Americans like myself. I purchased a few souvenirs, tried my best not to find myself in the wrong section of the store so people didn’t think I was a pothead, I was paranoid.
Sightseeing requires three things: good shoes, some cash, and a whole lot of patience. Everywhere we went there were lines; lines for the bathrooms, lines for food, lines for museums. We would walk somewhere just to stand for an hour or to walk somewhere else.
During our entire trip I was scared to drink. Access to restrooms is fairly easy in America when you spend a day out shopping, not here. Once you are fortunate enough to find a restroom, you wait in a dark, smelly line and then you have to pay to use the toilet. I know, water is expensive, and peeing is something individuals cannot help. This is an easy way to make money, but I was not amused.
Amsterdam is filled with beautiful canals, framed with houseboats and small vessels. One of the best ways to view the city is by boat. We took a tour boat at sunset and I was able to capture some of the detail and beauty of the buildings in Amsterdam.
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| Train station in Amsterdam |
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| My little Dutch man |
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| "The Beehive" a mall for rich people. |
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| Palace on the dam |
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| Busy streets |
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| I love the unique rooftops! |
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| Anne Frank House |
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| Sunset in Amsterdam |
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| Tour Boat |
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| "The Grasshopper" restaurant |
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| Amsterdam at night. |
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