Goodbye, Amsterdam! (pictures to follow)

I have truly enjoyed my time here in Amsterdam. The past four days have been incredible and sharply changed my views that I had on the city before arriving here.

This morning, we took a 3-hour walking tour of the city that focused on the history and the many sights of Amsterdam. Our guide, Julian (a nice australian guy) said one thing that resonated with me: "Before you came here, you probably thought of two things when you thought of Amsterdam: Drugs, and Sex. Now I hope you think of this, a bridge over a canal with hundred of bikes chained to the railings."

Amsterdams beauty is extremely natural. The canals go everywhere and because of them, narrow shop-lined streets unfold around them in almost limitless amounts of photo-ops. Everywhere you look it seems like it's a postcard. The people are very wonderful. They are nice, polite (just don't get in their way while they're on a bike)and most of all, they are tolerant. This is truly a city in which you can be yourself. Nobody is going to (or allowed to) say any differently.

With the electric trams and the thousands of bicycles, this place is a pedestrian's dream (just get out of the way when you hear anything resembling a bell). Traffic is non-existant. Seriously, there are like no cars driving around here.

Some before-and-afters:

5 days ago: I thought that with the tolerance of Marijuana, escaping the drug would be impossible and that I would be pushing stoners out of the way just to walk
Today: If you came here, not knowing that pot was legal, and not interested in trying it, I seriously doubt you would know it was here. Just don't go into any coffeeshops trying to buy a cup of coffee.

5 days ago: I thought that the red light district would be a dirty, crime-ridden and sleazy place.
Today: Well I was definitely right about the sleazy thing, but the area is actually one of the safest and prettiest parts of the city.

5 days ago: I thought that with marijuana legal, the city would be crawling with other drugs such as cocaine and LSD.
Today: According to my tour guide, Rick Steves, and others knowledgeable on the subject, by *not* enforcing laws against marijuana, police have re-distributed resources to battle other harder drugs. Currently, the rate of use of *hard* drugs is lower than the average in the rest of Europe.

5 days ago: I thought this city was two things: Marijuana and Prostitutes
Today: In reality, Amsterdam has little to do with either of these things. This is a seriously AWESOME place that I would come back to again and again. It's defined by its people and it's beauty, and I would return many times over to keep exploring.

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Amsterdam, to me, seems like a really unique experiment that is unreplicated anywhere else in the world. A very long time ago the city forced people of different religions, colors and sexual orientations to co-exist together. It enforced tolerance, and turned a blind eye toward the restrictions so common throughout Europe against those of other faiths or sexuality.

When faced with a rising drug problem, Amsterdam had the gall to turn conventional wisdom on its head. When faced with prostitution, The city chose to take something that was happening anyway and regulate it, legalize it, tax it.

By all accounts, Amsterdam should have failed a long time ago. But it hasn't. It's working. It's beautiful. It's thriving.

I am reminded that in the earliest days of the United States, the first documents referred to the not-yet-formed-government as "The Experiment in Democracy." Experiments are good things.

Amsterdam will face problems just like the rest of the world. But if they can continue to summon unconventional solutions to these problems, I have high hopes for the city and the country as a whole. And think... one day many years from now my own son and his two buddies can giggle like schoolboys as they stroll safely through the red light district.

I'm not saying we did that. I'm just saying.


Talk soon,

Greg



p.s. Tonight we board a night train from Amsterdam up North to Copenhagan. It is something like a 15-hour trip, and we have 3 small beds in a 6-bed "couchette." It should be verrrrrrrry interesting. Let's go!

p.p.s. We have some pictures from A-Dam that we need to upload, but we're in a public library and don't have the wires. We will try to do them later before we get on the train, or tomorrow after arriving in Copenhagan.