When younger, I pictured Amsterdam as a town full of windmills and flowers, of those people walking in wooden shoes, walking in the wind. Somehow, realities are sometimes different from the expected.
Bikes are like trashes in Amsterdam, it is everywhere. Life in the Netherlands and France are totally different. I have heard people saying that the Dutch likes bikes while he French think that Bike is for the cheapos. Sounds logical but donīt know how true that is.
Sex and drugs, popular like Backstreet Boys, are mentioned everytime when talking to others about the city. But it is certainly "more than that," more than I expected. Walking through the "Red Light Zone," I saw prostitutes posing through the windows, basically for men to "window shop." Drug dealers offered me marjuana and other drugs. I couldnīt appreciate the experience much.
At least the food never disappointed me. We tried a local dish called HOTSPOT...a pot with mashed potato, some carrots, and a piece of steak. It was fantastic indeed. One Australian chocolate shop really impressed us. We tried almost all the flavors, and I think if we are ever going back there again, it will be one of the main reasons.
Van Gogh Museum was educational. We saw how his style changed overtimes, and his life story, of his dramatic death. I bought postcard of my favorite pieces; hoping with that, I can remind myself the feeling of standing in front of those arts.
The trip came to an end as the night soon approached, we ran away from the darkness of Amsterdam, from the claws of red.
Aug 31-Sep 1, 2002
