London, England

Amsterdam. What can I say. I really loved it and would go back in a second. Pretty much everyone spoke English so our Dutch dictionary was superfluous and this got me wondering how many of Amsterdam’s residents are relocated from elsewhere. Furthermore, is it due to the lenient drug laws or is it because of the culture. There are hundreds of museums, galleries, historical haunts, coffeeshops, shopping districts, I could go on and on. One would never tire of something to do or see, but if you did you could then just hang out at a coffeeshop and partake of a little red hair or space cake.

I wish I had at least a week there to see more of the city. Rebecca and I actually got so much done in terms of tourist hits. Rebecca and I saved the Anne Frank House for the evening in order to avoid the crowds and I am really glad we did. It is such a somber activity which you would want to experience with as few people around as possible. As we walked through the house and listened to the tapes of Otto Frank and others, there were only about four or five other people milling around us. A good amount. I have to confess to never having read her diary so I hadn’t realized they had all died except her father. Especially the fact she died with only a month to go before the liberation. I am also amazed at her level of comprehension, thoughtfulness, and intelligence at such a young age. She seemed far older in her diary.

The neighborhood where Anne Frank’s house is was also a cute area. It seemed to be the hub of the gay community. There was even a kiosk in front of a church that said “Gay and Lesbian Information Center” subtitled the “Pink Point.” We had some great Thai food in this neighborhood before heading back to find a coffeeshop.

We did make it to the Hemp Museum and the Sex Museum which could be easily skipped, especially the sex museum. But the Van Gogh museum was wonderful. I convinced Rebecca we need the audio feature so we rented the headphones and EMP like palm pilot thing. Of course I think another reason I loved the museum is because our spacecake hit right when we got there and all I wanted was to focus on the art and shut out everyone around me. The audio portion was amazing for this. Yet in every narration it says Van Gogh cut off his ear in a fit of hysteria really and they didn’t say anything about sending it to a woman. I think that part must be a lie. Also, he pretty much didn’t want to go to school or work so his brother supported him his whole life. Lucky guy. He didn’t even become famous until after he died so luckily his brother reaped the benefits then, but I wonder if there was any rift between them since Van Gogh was just an artist living off other people. Hmmm….That would be really frowned upon these days.

Our last night in Amsterdam we went to the Bulldog coffeeshop and enjoyed a view of the Red Light District’s best alley. If you haven’t been to Amsterdam, prostitution is also legal and orderly. The women stand in these windows like a display case and try to lure the men into their room. Then they close the curtains and the rest is obvious. Their “display cases” are lit with red lights so when you look down the alley it’s just window after window of this red glow with crowds of men window shopping. From our table in the coffeeshop we watched two women work all night trying to get customers. The most amusing part of the night was watching the same men circle around and around, I assume trying to decide which girl they want to go with. Sort of like circling a jewelry case over and over until you decide which ring you like best. It felt a bit like watching the Discovery channel. I asked some of our London buddies here if they knew how much it cost and how it works. They said “they heard” the ladies have to pay between 80-120 Euros/hr for the rent of the room and then give each guy maybe 20 minutes. In order to make your money back from the amount they spend on the room, they would have to charge a lot and have at least two an hour. We only saw one guy come out of a window in the two hours we sat there. Poor working girls. 🙂

We are now in London and heading out to go to a favorite restaurant of mine that Scott and I went to in Soho. Then a little shopping for a party tonight with Rebecca’s college friend and his boss. Last night I stayed in due to a headache but Rebecca was a trooper and went clubbing with the guys until five this morning. Crazy girl.

We better go. I’m starving.