Amsterdam

I cannot think of Amsterdam without thinking about water. My first impression from the plane was that it looked like a huge swamp, neatly plotted into precise squares. It was a shock to us that it was so cold when we got outside the airport. We really only had warm clothes with us. September was already time for winter wear in Amsterdam. We were so exhausted that all we did was sleep for the first day, but the next day we were determined to make the most of it.

We got maps and set out to see the city in the warmest clothes we had. Luckily I had a jacket that I had decided not to ship but to carry with me. Thank god for my dislike of air conditioning!

Amsterdam is lovely, there are a ton of cute little bridges and lots of canals. Everywhere you looked there are people on bicycles.


It was strange to see men and women dressed for work in their nice clothes riding bicycles. In Barbados no one would be caught dead in a suit on a bicycle!
And the bicycles were something else to see! There were a lot of modified bikes, modified to carry things, I saw one guy with the front of his bike made into a carriage with 2 seats, two kids were strapped inside, just out for a ride with dad. I think the bicycles outnumbered the cars.

I was eager to see pot shops (called coffee shops there) and prostitutes, after all this was the place where sex and drugs are jail free. I imagined pot shops to be dark, mysterious and moral freeing, I found them to be noxious smelling and dark and forbidding. We never actually went into any, just stood outside and peeped in surreptitiously. The owners peered back at you with mixed looks of disdain and welcome, like they know something about you, know your secrets. Come in and get wasted, waste your life, I know that what you came here for, I’ve got freedom rolled up in in a spliff, their faces seem to say.

On the streets there were so many dreads, Caucasians with dread locks, badges of belonging, an allowance pass to all the pot you can smoke. I’ve got locks, I’m dedicated so I can smoke all I want and it’s religion. That’s what their hair say. You know because of the looks the give you, because your skin is black and you’ve got dreads too, so there’s guilt mixed with defiance when they look at you. Hey! I don’t owe you an explanations man! Thats what I thought, or maybe I just imagined it all.

So then it was on to a spot of whore ogling! But if I though the pot shops failed my expectations then the displayed prostitutes were even worst. I saw them and I don't know what I was expecting to see, but to me they looked sad, so very sad. They sat on stools or stood staring out the glass cases. They looked to me Like science exhibits of a life gone wrong. Their bodies so scantily clad, spoke volumes about their lives. Some of them had shriveled stomachs, a testament to the child that the had some where.
I’ve seen pictures of this street on TV, of beautiful, slim, curvy women who look at you with sex in their eyes. The women in those glass cases barely meet your eyes and the ones who did had looks of shame, defeat and hope mingling together. Some of them looked away, I think they were the ones who knew we were just peeping into their lives with no intention of crossing the threshold.

What I didn’t expect was that they looked like ordinary women I might know. Ordinary faces with a little too much make-up. A few remember that they were suppose to be enticing us and called out half-hearted stopping when they realize that we were not looking. I felt ashamed. In my mind I compared the fabric of my life to theirs found them wanting and myself lacking at the same time because I could do nothing about their situation and I knew I didn't want to get involved. Silly perhaps to feel that way, but I did.

There was still fun things to do, like Madame Tousante's museum, a ripe opportunity to hobnob with stars without their knowledge, lol.
And the Sex museum! That was amazing! lol At the beginning of the exhibit there is a flasher that jumps you out of your skin and then he flashes you of course! lol. There was all sorts of memorabilia, sculptures and pictures. Very interesting, not for prudes!

We walked all over Amsterdam, it's a very interesting city, so much to see, the buildings are beautiful. We had to be so careful with our money because the euro was high. The diversity of people was amazing. I saw a guy who looked just like Ralph Fiennes in The avengers - top hat, walking stick and all! I wish I could have taken a picture of him. I think there were people from all over the world there.

We were sorry to leave Amsterdam, it would have been nice to explore it more thoroughly. The airport was a bit confusing, but then I find most airports in big cities confusing! lol. A lot of people told me that I would know when I was in the right section of the airport, I would smell the difference they said, but they were wrong, it was on the plane...

Next week Nigeria or What is that smell!!