Beautiful, Boisterous AMSTERDAM

This is truly one of the most unique cities in the world, very unlike most places that I have been. I continue to not know fully how to judge it. On the one hand, as the true safe haven for Marijuana in the world, I expected a city full of junkies and addicts with crumbling infrastructure everywhere.

What I found, though is a city who keeps its "Tolerance" policy as only part of its definition. It is a beautiful, canal-lined metropolis with huge, old buildings everywhere. Its citizens zip around on bicycle super-highways (complete with their own traffic lights), keeping the air clean and un-polluted.

It's like they somehow straddle the line between the extreme and the very-well controlled.

Another example: this is like the prostitution capital of the world, you probably know that. While none of us plan on taking advantage of this (except Dave), we had to stroll through the 'red light district' to see what we were dealing with. From all angles, women behind red tinted glass doors attempt to reel men in. If someone is interested, they walk up and start haggling. If a deal is reached, the door swings wide open and the new customer comes in. Again, it would be easy to assume this is a lawless, dirty and unregulated practice... but you would only be right on 2 out of 3. I reality, according to the guides, most women are self-employed entrepreneurs, choosing prostitution not out of necessity. They fill out paperwork, pay taxes, submit to tests and may make 500€ a night. While few would support their city legalizing things like marijuana and prostitution, I think we all realize these things happen anyway... It's worth a pause to think that maybe Amsterdam, by removing the taboo and adding regulations, may be doing it right.
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But its not all sex, drugs and rock and roll. The other day we toured Anne Frank's house, the small house in which a secret annex was built to hide Anne and 7 others during the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands. This was one of the most powerful experiences for me. To walk in the secret annex, to imagine living there with the fear of discovery... It was surreal. The story has a sad ending, unfortunately, with all but Anne's father, Otto, dying in concentration camps. The interviews with Otto were powerful as he described the conditions in which they lived and the way that life was, including after they were discovered. It was a very powerful morning, if you ever come to Amsterdam I highly recommend a visit to this sight.

This morning we made the trek (pilgrimage?) to the other staple tourist attraction: The Heineken Experience. We visited the famous beer's first brewery which has been completely converted to a tourist sight. It was okay, a little too touristy for my liking, although I didn't complain when they served us samples of their product.

Alright... Off to the grocery store to buy stuff for dinner. We are having a great time here and have 2 full days ahead of us. Talk to you soon

Greg