Amsterdam, Netherlands
My first trip overseas and I picked Amsterdam as my first stop! Well hey, if you want to start off with a bang, this is the place to be. And what a place it is! Here I am, this student who has never been anywhere by himself, lugging around my oversized backpack, trying to find my hostel which could have been following me for all I knew. I spent the first three days of my European tour here before moving on to Frankfurt. I was also back here at the end of my two weeks to fly back to Toronto.
It is true of what they say about the openness of the people here. Anything goes! You will be able to take a toke of your favourite weed legally. And the funny thing is, there's less crime going on here! I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I got stuck in their main street just admiring their tacky trinkets... and before I knew it, as I was admiring the numerous canals in the old sector, I had wandered into the red light district! Oh my, this doesn't look like Kansas anymore TOTO. Talk about your love for sale! Women in windows winking and wavy me towards them. Hmmmm? Wonder if she had a brother?
However, over time, I was able to get my bearings as to where the gay sections of the city are located. A tight little community. I found the April Café (and an American boy) and the Exit Dance Bar (man, those rooms need more light) to be interesting places to meet people. But try to find some locals to get you into selected places like the Spot, because if you're a tourist (with no pass) you WON'T get in!! What a bummer!!
Here I am at the outset of my trip! There was a car accident and so, we got off this tram to walk the rest of the way to the old downtown core. A mighty colorful tram don't ya think. But this one ain't going to Sesame Street boys and girls.
If you have the time, you might want to take a visit to one of the tacky museums... My pick of the week (the naughty boy that I am) is the sex museum along the main street. Imagine, sitting down and being surrounded by 6 foot tall penises! (ah what's a boy to do!) Learn about the history of sex and all the variants involved in the activity. A good laugh and sometimes, a raised eyebrow...
A must for any tourist is to take a tour of the Heineken Brewery! For only a couple of bucks you get a thorough explanation as to how beer is made, and see the facilities where the original company began .... In addition, at the end of this interesting walk is a sampling of the goods. You get to drink up to four rounds of their beer for free! Boy was I feeling no pain after that experience. (Hey I'm a cheap drunk at the best of times, and 2 pints of beer will have me sitting in the corner with a silly grin on my face. MMMMMM...BEER!) Of course it didn't stop there. An Australian I met at the brewery (photo to come) took me to one of the many coffee houses that served "special tea". I thought, "hmmm, it would be wonderful to have a sip of their native tea!" I had the first one and thought, "no effect, I can handle this!", so I had another cup...Let the games begin...I had to catch the train from Central Station to the airport for the flight back to Toronto. During this time, I had this intensifying feeling of dizziness that seemed to last for hours. Everything began to look like an episode of Twin Peaks. Finally, I made it to the train, I'm sitting there watching everything around me "vibrate". Meanwhile, there's a local boy sitting across from me watching me as I begin to hyperventilate. I am sure he was thinking... "oh brother, another tourist!" I was lucky... I was able to board the plane 45 minutes before it took off .... an hour earlier than scheduled!! I did not think the drugs would make time slow down like that...