More than the Red Light District.

Before coming to Amsterdam, all I really knew about the city was that they had an infamous Red Light District and marijuana is legal (which is actually not true).  In reality, there is so much history and so many sites that it is unfortunate that’s usually what the area is known for.  It is also beautiful with the network of canals. 

Rather than regular paragraph format, I am going to switch it up and have a list of things that I learned from my travels around Amsterdam the past two days. 

·  Cities with canals make me really happy.

My first day, I took to the water for a hop-on, hop-off canal tour of the city.  I think that is my new favorite mode of transportation.  The city has a canal around the outside of the main part of town (which used to serve as the city’s border) and then other connecting waterways throughout the city.  On my tour, I got to see many of the main attractions in the city and I got to see some of the awesome houseboats and cute houses along the canal.

·  The Dutch like to ride bikes. LOTS.

Here, they have separate bike lanes for bikers and everyone seems to ride bikes (even more than in Berlin).  They had bike parking areas that were absolutely filled with rows upon rows of bikes.  This multi level bike parking area might give you an idea on the large number of people who use bikes to get around the city.

·  Van Gogh, while slightly crazy makes pretty pictures.

I went to the Van Gogh museum and have to say that his work was very beautiful.  Seeing prints in books does not do justice to the layers of paint he applied to complete his works.  It was interesting to be able to see all of the brushstrokes and also learn about some of the “secret” paintings that exist: he often reworked canvases, so one large project in restoring his work included looking to see if there were any additional layers of work underneath the final paintings using some new technology.

·  Flower markets might be the best type of markets.

The Netherlands is known for their tulips and while I am sad I missed out on tulip season, there is still a busy flower market in the city that will ship any seed or bulbs you purchase around the world.  You can also get 8 Euro orchids.  If only I could take them home with me…

·  The Red Light District and coffeeshops are basically for tourists.

I went on two walking tours: one of the city’s “coffeeshops” and one of the Red Light district.  I was curious what all the buzz was about, but was not about to explore without a guide.  While buying selling or possessing marijuana is actually illegal, police turn a blind eye as long as you are not harming anyone else since it is a great source of revenue.  Coffeeshops exist as a venue to make such purchases and permits are regulated through the city.  They also actually serve coffee, so you can technically just go there to get some coffee.  If something is called a café or a coffee house, that is more traditionally what we would think of as a Starbucks (it is me, so of course I had to ask what were probably dumb questions to my guide).  There used to be over 400 coffeeshops in Amsterdam, but now the number is around 200 and the number will only decrease in the future since no new permits are being given out.  Smoking is not allowed inside (technically), so if you are in a coffeeshop, you can’t smoke a cigarette…only other things.  Seems a little backwards to me.

The Red Light District is similar in that it is heavily regulated, but there is a movement to decrease its presence, so no new permits are being given for owning the infamous red lit windows.  The city has a huge initiative to buy out many of the current windows (at a huge cost) and use them for displays of upcoming artists.  The area used to be very unsafe, but is now one of the safest in the area because every street has video surveillance and is monitored by paid police and private security.  One of things I learned on the tour was that almost all of the people using services in the Red Light District are not from the Netherlands and 60-70% of the clients are from the UK.  Apparently it is a common place for British bachelor parties.

It was very interesting because among the red glow from the windows were restaurants, bars, clothing stores and even a kindergarten.  Apparently, the kids wave at the women in the windows as they walk by and are taught that the women “sell their kisses”.  It is just part of normal life (I think the swans add a nice touch). 

I guess I had two main takeaways from these tours.  First, there are so many gray areas in any government system and it is interesting to me where lines are drawn.  It is especially interesting when you compare American standards with those in a place like Amsterdam.  While you can’t advertise the sale of marijuana (hence why they are called coffeeshops…because people only drink coffee there), it can still happen.  They are closing down windows in the Red Light District to clean up the area, but as a result similar districts have popped up in outlying areas.  You can no longer legally sell magic mushrooms, but if you still have leftover stock, you can get rid of it.  Secondly, just because something is legal or readily available doesn’t mean people are going to take advantage of that right.  In fact, the Netherlands has one of the lowest rates of marijuana usage in the world.  Who knew?

·  Art can be complex. 

I went to Rembrandt’s house and learned so much about the art making process.  His house seemed to be fairly large for the time at which it was built.    There was someone doing live demonstrations of metal etchings and hand printing from those etchings.  Interestingly enough, I have actually had the chance to use this technique during an elementary school art class.  Rather than actual metal, we used plastic, but it was the same idea. 

In Rembrandt’s studio, there was also a demonstration on how paint was made before there were paint stores.  The process took a while and it was interesting to learn about all the different products (both natural and manmade) that were used to create the different color pigments.  I always thought  his work seemed a little dark and as I learned, he only used 15 colors in all of his work and often times far fewer than that.  The cheapest colors to make are those using pigments from ground rock (a mustard yellow and desert orange color), so those colors are often seen in his work.  When he was commissioned to create a painting for someone, the fee he charged was based on the number of colors used. 

·  It is nearly impossible to get anything but Heineken to drink. 

Heineken originated from the great city of Amsterdam and is sold on almost every street corner.  I went to the Heineken Experience, the interactive presentation that goes through the beer production process.  They use the logic that since a glass of Heineken has fewer calories than a glass of whole milk, it is great for breakfast.  Not so sure about that. 

It was actually very cool because in addition to just sampling the beer, you got to understand all of the different steps that are required to take beer from its initial ingredients to the final product.  I learned about the history of the beer, the different labels that were used over time, some of the different activities they support (music festivals and professional soccer) and watched some of their advertisements from around the world.  Fun fact: one of the bottle designs was stackable so empty bottles could be used to create walls for low-income housing.  The idea never actually became a reality, but it was a very interesting thought. 

·  Anne Frank is more legitimate than I even thought.

The house where Anne Frank and her family went into hiding is in Amsterdam, so it was very powerful to be able to read her story, see some of her original journal entries and see the rooms where all of the events occurred.  It has been a while since I have read The Diary of Anne Frank (but now I want to re-read it), but I do not remember there being much back story on Anne’s diary. 

She wanted to be a writer from a young age, so started keeping a journal of her experiences in hopes it would be published into a book.  Her dad tracked the Nazi forces as they moved towards Amsterdam and when they got close, Anne began to re-write her diary so that everything would make sense to someone else should it be published.  It is amazing that she had that sort of vision from a young age and that her legacy still continues.  If only she lived to see all of it actually come to life…

· The Occupy movement has spread everywhere.

Even to Amsterdam.

·  I am a disaster when it comes to 1 Euro vintage scarves at flea markets (but I probably could have told you that before).

This morning, I ventured to the most well-known flea market in Amsterdam thinking I was just going to walk around and not really buy anything since I have to travel light.  That was incorrect thinking.  First, I see adorable jewelry of which I purchase two necklaces and a cuff.  Then I turn a corner and there in all its glory is a table FULL of vintage scarves costing only 1 Euro each.  Of course right after that I see rows upon rows of cowboy boots.  It was as if someone was trying to play some sort of cruel joke on me and test my ability to resist the urge to go shopping (I couldn’t).  I am slightly embarrassed to type out the number I bought, but I will tell you that my scarf purchasing spree cost 8 Euros.  You can do the math.  L    

Art Filled Day

The history of East and West Berlin is very interesting in that the Berlin Wall legacy still plays a role in the personalities of each side of the city.  On my train ride from Prague to Berlin, I actually met an American couple (but the guy was studying in Germany) who gave me an overview of the city.  Apparently, there is some beef between Bavaria and Berlin because Bavarians think that the more raw feel of Berlin tarnishes their image.  Munich and Berlin are definitely very different cities overall. 

I have a friend from UW living in Berlin, so she suggested some places throughout the city that I should visit.  She was spending a long weekend in Paris, so we didn’t get a chance to meet up, but I enjoyed checking out the places she suggested during the day. 

I started my day at the East Side Gallery which is cited as the longest art display (and was about a two minute walk from where I was staying!).  It is a portion of the Berlin Wall that was supposed to be torn down, so artists began decorating different parts of the area, but never was.  It has remained since as a permanent display with pieces that have many different points of views and statements about Berlin, the world or life.  Here were some of the ones that sparked my interest the most.

I walked around Alexanderplatz, one of the main parts of town and grabbed a quick lunch from a mobile bratwurst seller complete with umbrella in case it rained.  The Germans are always so inventive!

From there, I headed to a building called Tacheles, which is where a bunch of independent artists sell their works.  The walls of the five (if I remember correctly) floors were covered in all types of graffiti.  I want to learn more about the area, but it reminded me a lot of my visit to Kristiania in Copenhagen, an area that is not technically part of the EU, but its own governing entity.  Such “off the grid” places really intrigue me since there isn’t really anything similar in the U.S.

Nearby, there is a street (Augustrasse) that features many different art galleries and small cafes, so I walked around the area to see some of the modern art featured in the city.  I love the chalkboards lining the streets with each store’s offerings and I also loved the name of this bookstore.

I spent my evening at a performance of “Peer Gynt” by Staats Ballett, the ballet company in Berlin.  There were some speaking parts in German that I did not understand, but overall it was an amazing performance.  There was a mixture of classical ballet, modern dance and even some more theatrical components.  Definitely not like one of the more traditional storybook ballets that I am used to seeing from the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.  For the entire second half they had poured a lot of sand on the stage and incorporated sliding across the material into the choreography.  Very interesting indeed.  The venue and the performance were much more Berlin than the last ballet I saw in Budapest.  The Deutsche Oper building did not have ornate decorations or lavish staircases welcoming guests and was instead more simple and functional, but housed great entertainment nonetheless.

Thanksgiving Feast in Berlin: Currywurst, Pretzels and German Beer

I spent the majority of my day on a bike tour around the city.  Many of the locals use bikes to get around because the city is very bike friendly and the public transportation can be pretty expensive.  We got the most adorable bikes (they came with bells and squeaky toys!) so naturally my day involved ringing my bell incessantly and getting in people’s ways because I was riding one handed while taking lots of pictures. 

During our tour we saw such sites as the Brandenburg Gate, the location of Hitler’s bunker, Checkpoint Charlie (the entrance to the American sector of Berlin), the Tiergarten and the site of the Nazi book burning (a memorial with empty shelving signifying all the books that were burned).

We even saw the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby Blanket out the window (our guide was American and pointed it out since I think only Americans would care at all about that).

Rather than try and find some turkey (since I thought I would probably not be successful anyways), I had a feast of currywurst (a Berlin tradition…basically bratwurst drown in ketchup with some curry powder on top), a large chocolate covered pretzel and some German beer at a Christmas market.

Through my Dutch roommate, I met three Americans who were working in London and traveling for a week, so we spent our Thanksgiving night together at a place with some live music in a creepy alley with lots of graffiti (very Berlin of us!).  We even commemorated our night together with (what we thought would be) a family photo.  Around the city, there are these awesome instant black and white photo booths from the 70s, so the five of us hopped in.  Sadly, my face was the only one that actually showed up so it just looks like I am trying to steal the spotlight…