All the pretty lights [Amsterdam]

(Halloween weekend: 28-31 October)

Ahhhh, Amsterdam… city of drugs, legal prostitution, LGBT support, and a general open attitude about anything and everything. Before you get too far into this, let me just warn you:  there are no stories of me doing drugs or becoming a prostitute for the night I was in Amsterdam so my family can read on without fear and friends can close this tab now if that’s where you were hoping this tale would go…

After an extremely long day of travel (literally our travel log was: bus, train to Milan, bus, plane to Brussels, bus, train to Amsterdam, trolley to the hostel), we arrived in one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to. Though Amsterdam is known for its nights for other reasons, the buildings and streets lit up looked gorgeous.

Amsterdam train station... our first sight after a long, long day of traveling

the main street on the way to our hostel

I didn't realize that Amsterdam had so many beautiful canals!

After checking into our hostel, we decided to make the most out of our 24 hours in Amsterdam and go out to see the infamous Red Light District (RLD) at nighttime. I don’t particularly enjoy staring at naked women in doorways, but I’m not going to lie, I had been looking forward to visiting the RLD. I grew up in an extremely sheltered environment and was ready to experience (or watch others experience) something completely different than what I know.

I really had no idea what to expect in the RLD, but it was actually pretty classy (considering what it was). The girls in lingerie stand in rooms with full length glass doors facing the streets/walkways and a red light shining on their door. The girls range in sizes, shapes, and ethnicities. They watch the people walk by and when they see a guy they like they entice him to come over to their doors. They settle on a price while he’s still outside then he can go in if they agree. Curtains are pulled over the doors when the room is occupied. Girls have the power to turn down any offers; they’re pretty much entrepreneurs because they rent out the rooms themselves and have power over clientele. There are very few pimps in the area. Police seem to do a great job of protecting the girls and making sure that they’re safe. Not that I think prostitution should be legal, but if a country wants to make it legal they should definitely follow Amsterdam’s model.

I loved the irony... red lights are on the right, a church is on the left.

sex shops, bars selling weed, and red lights everywhere!!

More interesting than seeing the girls posing in doorways were the conversations and questions that arose after walking through the RLD. Jackie and I were the two most eager to see the RLD, not for the girls but for the social and cultural experience. What kind of social impacts does legal prostitution have? Does it better women’s place in Dutch society or does it make men think that they’re allowed to control them more? How much are children exposed to? I almost wish I could’ve had more time in Amsterdam to figure out at least some of the answers to our questions. It would be an interesting study not only from a women’s social perspective, but from an economic one.

We spent a while in the RLD discussing our thoughts on legal prostitution, then we headed back to the hostel, exhausted from our seemingly endless day of travel. The next morning Jackie and I slept in a bit (the other two left at 7 am… too insane for our liking) and headed over to the Van Gogh museum after breakfast. Five full floors of paintings by Van Gogh and his friends/inspirations. It was beautiful and amazing to see the contrast between Van Gogh’s early years and his later works.

I AMsterdam 🙂

beautiful autumn in Amsterdam

The rest of the day was spent eating delicious food, seeing the outside of Anne Frank’s house (unfortunately, the line was too long for me to wait and still make the train), and walking around the city. I loved Amsterdam even though I wasn’t there for long. I’d definitely recommend going there at some point. There’s so much more to do there than I thought!!

On the way to the train station we came upon a small piazza filled with tents and people; we were so confused at first. As we continued to squeeze through the crowd I noticed the signs… we were walking through Occupy Amsterdam! The others hadn’t heard of the We are the 99% much, but I had explained it a little on the train to Amsterdam so we all knew at least a little about it. At this point the protest was very peaceful and everyone was standing around listening to a singer/guitarist on the stage play a really beautiful song. We stood there for a while taking it all in. Though we may or may not have agreed with the sentiment they were expressing, it was pretty cool to say that I got to experience an Occupy […] protest abroad!

We are the 99% rally

After a mere 24 hours in Amsterdam we jumped on a train back to Brussels where we’d spend the rest of the weekend… (to be continued)