23/10/08 Day 84
We drive to Amsterdam and find the campsite without too much hassle. The campsite is a good one with large pitches with garden hedges on both sides for privacy, a good little shop and only a 200m walk to the metro which goes straight to the centre of the city. The sun is even out today although the top is 12 degree's so Rob is in love with Amsterdam already!! I have to tell mum to make sure the beer fridge is full and the dogs are polished as first impressions are everything to Rob, hence he dates me!! We sit outside in the last of the afternoon sun and laugh at the visitors guide we picked up at the site, it's written by the tourist board and you just have to love this place when this is the police input in this publication concerning the red-light district, and I quote...
"Too much alcohol often causes irresponsible and childish behaviour... Please don't make a fool of yourself. Have some fun but show some respect...... If you visit one of the women, we would like to remind you, they are not always women. Don't take pictures of the women, it might get you into trouble.... In case you have any problems with a girl or pimp, don't hesitate to ask a policeman/woman, we know why you're here and you can hardly surprise us anymore."
We have a pizza from the site shop (lovely) and both start a new book and have a nice easy evening.
24/10/08 Day 85
Headed into Amsterdam this morning and went to the tourist office which is our routine, very few guided walks on offer so with guide book in hand we head off to do sections of the worn which are outlined in the book. We head off wanting a drink and some warmth, finding ourselves in the old red light district without intending to. We are doing a tour of this area tomorrow night so we just settled for a drink and a defrost. Rob got to see his first window lady of the night and his luck with the ladies remains, very large with a big gap between her teeth I think robs hopes were dampened right then, though it is a Wednesday morning so maybe the night shift has more to offer, we shall see. Its weird to be in such a liberal city, the identifiable smell of cannabis floats past you, shops with "buy your gear and smoke it here" with "no hard drugs" on the doors. You forget where you are and then the smell hits you or you see what looks like an old barbers jar for combs and in it is free cigarette papers to roll you joint. it's a beautiful city but god we get lost. All the roads, like the buildings themselves bend and curve, they are crisscrossed with canals and side alleys so you head up one road heading east and at the end of it you are facing southwest and don't know where to go next. And the cyclists.. Ohhhh my they are Italians on bikes here, they give away to no one, cars, pedestrians and alike have to fling their heads back and forth just to make sure they wont be run over. They peddle like they are trying to break the land speed record on bikes older than me so they are not stolen. Its looks like a great way to get around, king of the roads ad with bikes adapted to carry babies, kids, mums, dogs and goods are everywhere, as long as you know where your going, have a strong finer to ring your bell and courage. They get more walkway than pedestrians and get quite annoyed if you step over the boundary, still I love the fact that people of all ages, sizes and desires are riding around doing their day to day chores. We visit the Dam square and see the palace, national monument and the Nieuwe Kerk church before heading off to see the house Anne Frank lived in for two years during occupation of the Nazis. The guy at the tourist office told us we would have to wait at least 2 hours to get in as its so small its one out before one can go in and the reserved tickets for the next week were already sold out so we didn't see inside it. We have lunch in Rembrandtplein after walking around the local area and the vodka and oranges in Europe are getting out of hand, my face look liked a cats bum after sipping the second one which even Rob agreed that the half pint had mere traces of orange in it. We wander back in towards town and get Rob a new pair of fashion sneakers as the ones he has have literally got holes in both sides of both shoes and are the colour of his hair. As they are the most expensive and prettiest shoes he has ever had we now cant walk on grass or stop every 200m to admire them anew. We walk back to the central train station which is a landmark in its self and head back to the camp with full bellies and tipsy toes.
25/10/07 Day 86
Lazy morning before heading back into Amsterdam for a few drinks and a wander before our tour of the old town and red light district. I have been dubious about this tour and what it would focus on, if fact it was a great tour, with only another German couple we had a young native man who was very animated and knowledgeable about the Dutch history, history of Amsterdam and provided the practical insights into the history and practices within the red-light district today. Rob, who yesterday blushed and got whiplash turning away from the window ladies is now a full on perv and after the tour took me down every street before picking his number one lady. This is not an exotic place, the ladies are often beautiful, though others must aim for a specific market (to put it kindly) but the practicalities and reality of it is anything but erotic. 50% of Amsterdam's tourist revenue comes from young British men alone (Rob says they like to do their bit) and the Dutch take full advantage, a pint is more expensive than two half pints as only the British order pints. Pubs that sell Guinness for example are avoided by the locals as they are aimed at the British market thus more expensive all round, English breakfasts are offered everywhere you go. When we did robs tour after dinner the British boys were already in force and singing football chants with good humour. Our guide told us to be out of the area by midnight and we could understand why, it was busy, bellies full of beer and pent up excitement. Its about 50euros for 15mins with one of the ladies and they work hard to get your attention due to the competition, poor Rob was in luck until they saw me, then he was ignored. There are live sex shows up and down the roads but one company called Casa Nova showed their ingenuity and won a court case to defend the fact that although they have 5 theatres which sell tickets, only one has the show, so the boys who leave a pub only have a stagger to any of their places and once they have a ticket they are directed to the real theatre. Obviously concerned they would get distracted if they had to walk all the way down the street to buy a ticket. Over 50% of the women are from East Europe and although now a recognised legal profession since 1999 fewer and fewer are working independently. To try to curb illegal aspects such as promising a lady from Romania a job cleaning then taking her passport and making her prostitute herself, they all must have EU documentation and their passports with them while working. We wander home and Rob become overlord on the Xbox.
26/10/07 Day 87
Got up and not so well, so today I spent the day in bed with a hot water bottle and Rob became overlord of the world.
27/10/07 Day 88
Got up and had a shower on returning I found Rob wandering around looking confused with a splitting head ache, so I dosed him up and put him back to bed and went and did what I do best... washing!! Made us some breakfast and now updating the diary as Rob sleeps, I think our bodies are protesting about our ending holiday which really means we are not seeing much of Amsterdam so may as well be at home anyway... ironic. Hoping to head into Amsterdam this afternoon if Rob is feeling up to it. He does and we head off for a final walk and look around Amsterdam, cold as always but dry and a good chance to just wander around for a few hours. Head back to base and prepare for our last campsite.. Brugge.
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