Somehow I manage to find trouble wherever I
used to travel. Amsterdam was fantastic, although I did find all the sex
industry stuff on show to the public a bit too much and I wondered if most of it was geared up for curious
tourists to ogle at the scantily clad women pouting in red lit windows with red
velvet drapes.
I’m not a prude, but I think there is a line of decency that has been crossed in the red light district. I sat across the canals having a beer on arriving at the city and I immediately have these very unhappy sultry looking women staring back at us through a brothel window. Uncomfortable!
I had a look around a sex museum, which was another uncomfortable moment for me. At least there was a fun haunted house
type museum. There was an ice skating rink in the centre of Dam Square, which
was great fun. Got chatted up and stalked by the owner of a Greek restaurant we ate in one night.
When I look back now I think how stupid I was, but I was
young and foolish. I accidentally ate space cakes at the famous Bull Coffee Bars
when looking for somewhere to eat and decided to have that as a
snack because I were peckish. As you can probably guess a paranoid British ladies, pretending to speak with an American accent and high as a kite, attempting to order food and wine in a restaurant is probably a great idea for a scene in a comedy show. All
I can say is I’m glad You Tube wasn't that popular back then and
people didn’t spend every moment of their lives with a camera or phone in their
hands taking endless tiresome selfies!!!
A sobering experience though was visiting Anne Frank’s
hiding place during the Second World War. She lived there with her own family
and two other families in such cramped conditions for years and they were only
allowed out to stretch their legs in the merchant’s warehouse at night. So sad
to think she died just days before the war was over.
In stark contrast we took a river cruise to look around a
merchant’s town house on the affluent side of the canal. A lot of marble and
opulent furniture and décor abound. It seems life can be so unfair when all
that is sometimes determined is when, where and whom you are born to.
The Wealth in Amsterdam was brought in by the diamond trade and we visited the diamond district where I plan to send my hapless Daryavaush Characters from The Beyond Series of Books to sniff out a demon or two in book number five because I feel Amsterdam is such a rich, vibrant melting pot of cultures, architecture and history. It’s great!
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