Amster-freakin'-dam!

Oh, Amsterdam...what a city. A city of bikes and buds, of history, hookers and homosexuals, of Anne Frank and ass spank, of museums and marijuana (and a marijuana museum, as a matter of fact). The contrast and variety is striking. In one day, you can take a leisurely stroll through the canal-split streets, smoke some high-grade herb, visit the Van Gogh museum, browse the ladies of the Red Light District and more. It is the most culturally diverse place I've ever seen and I haven't heard so many different languages spoken in one place since I was in Times Square on New Year's Eve. (Dutch, English, German, Spanish, French, Chinese, and some African dialects, to name few.)

The music is as wide ranging as the languages spoken and I had the pleasure to hear a street musician covering Raconteurs songs, a rastafarian playing the digeridoo like I'd only previously heard in movies set in Australia, a middle-aged white guy walking down the street playing a bongo drum and an Irishman, decked out in traditional formal wear (including kilt) playing the bagpipes.

The city seems to accept automobiles only out of necessity and it is obvious that the streets were designed for pedestrians and bikes almost exclusively. And bikes there were! I've never seen so many bikes in my life. Europe in generally is far more bike-friendly than any place I've seen in the States, but Amsterdam takes the spacecake. And the bikes were as varied and interesting as the people who ride them. Many were covered in flowers (undoubtedly from the giant flower markets that Holland is known for) and there were lots of custom and lowrider bikes as well.

That leads me to another noticable element of Amsterdam: detail. When I got to Spain I noticed how much more care and thought went into common, everday things, and in Amsterdam, that quality was magnified 10 fold. There seemed to be no building, or shop, or sign, or object that wasn't custom-made or given some kind of embellishment that set it apart and made it unique. This stands in glaring contrast to what I was familiar with in the States where the mass-produced Wal-Mart culture has depleted any sense of individuality or style. Is seems that people everywhere need stuff, things. But when people in Amsterdam need this stuff, they either make it themselves or get it from a place which makes them with well...love. This gives the stuff a immeasurable amount of value and makes it special in a way it couldn't otherwise have been.

The nightlife is wild and one can see people from all over the world teetering down the streets under the influence of all sorts of substances and more than once I was propositioned by less than trustworthy looking folks who asked if I would be interested in partaking in stuff a bit harder than weed, although I admit I couldn't always decipher what they were offering me.

Here's a bunch of pics from that part of the trip. I'll post some more soon from Belgium.

Bus ride through Holland, or the Netherlands if you prefer.


Will I ever visit a country where there isn't a goddamn McDonalds?

More bikes than I'd ever seen in my life. If you can't tell, those three rows in the background are completely filled with bikes.


Bonita in the Redlight District. Half-naked prostitutes hang out on the other side of the windows.


When in Amsterdam...do as the Amsterdamians do. By the way, I don't think they're called Amsterdamians.

There are tons of canals in Amsterdam, like freaking tons.

Swans and a porn theatre. Nice.

Are the cows upside-down or is everything else?

Dampkring, ganja seeds and grow supplies.

A few of the many "coffeeshops." Revel in the sight of folks smoking pot in broad daylight on a public street!

I bought a spliff of Northern Lights #5 x Haze here.





The Anne Frank House. I didn't get a chance to go in, there was a line a few hundred people long.

Awesome employment of skulls in architecture.



Part of the "Homomonument," in case you can't read the sign. There's a huge gay and lesbian scene in the 'Dam.

Cheese!

Self-explanitory.

Note the driver in the middle fiddling with his Ipod. Rustic, no?

One of the huge flower markets selling Holland's famous tulips...and herb seeds.



After a while, the insanity starts to rub off on you.


Live sex shows in the Red Light District.

Public pay toilet, interestingly enough next to a broken toilet someone left in the street.




Goodbye Amsterdam! I'll miss you...if I can remember you...