Sin City

Why do they call Las Vegas "Sin City"?! The name should belong to Amsterdam!

A brief recap on my week. Location: Amsterdam

Hostel
Arrived last Thursday and found out I had somehow booked a Christian hostel. I'm not picky or anything, and it was a nice experience, but I can truthfully and honestly say I didn't go to Amsterdam to strengthen my faith...
Anyways, the first hostel was outside the city center (in the Jordaan district) but I made a switcheroo the next day and went to the one located in the HEART of the red light district. Just imagine this scenario, you are walking down the red light district and there are prostitute booths left and right. Then, out of nowhere, a Christian youth hostel...seems out of place to me. The hostel in itself was actually pretty nice, good groups of people, and bible study every night. The bad was: a 2am curfew, no smoking, and no drinking. This was a double edged sword though...on one hand, it made a great sleeping place when you got tired (minus the last night when I think there was a devil-possessed grizzly bear snoring next to me) but yet, it felt like it deflated half the fun of going to Amsterdam. Whatever, good location was what mattered to me!

Drugs
Drugs were everywhere. You had your soft drugs that were "legal" including weed and mushrooms. Pot was sold at "coffeeshops" and 'shrooms were sold at "smart shops". So after taking a tour of the city, I learned that both of the above mentioned drugs are technically still illegal, but yet no one has been busted for it in 30+ years. The cops and city allow it to happen but focus all of their attention towards the hard drugs. Another surprising tidbit of information: only around 9% of the Dutch population actually smokes weed! This is an incredibly small percentage compared to other places such as 33% in the US and 44% in New Zealand. For Europe alone, its not even one of the top five smoking nations and you can buy it EVERYWHERE!!

At night, there were "Charlie" guys roaming the streets. I'll enlighten since I didn't know what Charlie was. Charlie = cocaine. These guys would wander around at night and approach you discreetly in attempts to sell coke, X, etc. By discreet, I mean, they'd whisper (annoyingly) into your ear as you walked by. I have more to say about this, but I need to first set up the story.

On the first night, I met these two Welsh guys and went out with them to get some drinks and stuff. By the end of the night, I realized they were much crazier than I but since there was no one else I had met yet, I chilled with them. By the end of the second night, one of them lets slip that he's a coke head and needs some "sniff" (these are all new words I learned...haha) and buys some off a guy on the street. He said it was really good and cheap stuff. BUT when I took a tour of the city, the guide explained that the majority of the guys selling stuff sell baking soda and random stuff. That is why it is actually very hard for the cops to do anything since they technically aren't drug dealers!

Alcohol
The Heiniken (sp?) Experience is in Amsterdam. Its a self guided walking tour through the old brewing factory. Very interactive tour such as a ride called "The life of a Heiniken bottle"! In the end, I was completed brain washed to only ever drink Heiniken though. Oh, along the way, you get 3 free beers as well as a gift at the very end!

Otherwise, alcohol was expensive in the city center. I'm talking around 5 Euro for a half liter of beer. I spent way too much money.

Prostitutes
Prostitution is legal in Amsterdam. The ladies operate behind these glass booths with, you guessed it, a red light on top! Not really sure why they use red, but it is what it is. The area consists of (I believe) over 300 booths! This is how it works: the ladies pay between 75-150 Euros for a 8 hour shift at a booth which depends on location, time of day, weather, etc. They charge around 50 Euro for 15 minutes, but this includes alot of upsell once inside. Think: used car salesmen tactics. How do I know this...I would like to clarify I didn't do anything, I took a tour of the red light district for educational purposes only!

Now of course I wandered the red light district at night with people. It was fun, but somewhat degrading. Anyways, the girls can't be naked because that would imply they are prostitutes...so they are clothed in the smallest outfits possible. There are usually different areas for different type of girls. You have the fat girls, foreign girls, REALLY hot girls, and of course, the girls that are only girls from the waist up. I didn't get this at first, but I'm going to put it bluntly, they have dicks. At one point, I found this street, and I have been scarred for life. I don't think I ever walked so fast out of there.

Finally, about the girls, I got harrassed twice. In what is known as the premiere alley (for the hottest girls), there is an indoor building that is all booths. Inside this building, the girls are allowed to be outside of their booths and...interact...I guess. The first time I walked through here, one of the girls tapped me in my...well...you know. It hurt pretty bad and she laughed at me. I stumbled out with the people of my group laughing ahead. The second time (why did I go back, I don't know...) I was with another guy and this girl just GRABBED me and wouldn't let go. If I were smooth I would have been like "baby, I'm going to have to charge you 10 Euros for my time" but instead I was like a deer caught in headlights! Thats as close as I got to the ladies of the night for all those wondering!

Misc
Stroopwafels are delicious. They are basically two flat waffles fused together by caramel. You can find these at the AH grocery stores all around town. I ate so many I think I have new cavities.

I took a diamond tour (suggested by my tourbook). It basically sucked because the lady wouldn't pay me any attention. I wonder if that was because of my smelly and dirty clothes along with my massive bed head?! Either way, her loss. I was about to drop 300,000 Euro for their biggest rock. Instead, I guess I'll save it and buy some other petty toy.


Thats all for my update. Oh, I also went to Rotterdam for a day, but it wasn't all that great. I didn't know what to do and the receptionist at the hostel didn't either. I ended up just wandering around and found some crazy architecture!

Have fun reading =)