2004.09.11 in Amsterdam
We did a tour of the city's many canals for the afternoon - Amsterdam is sometimes called the Venice of the north for a reason - it was boring but learned the city's old history and facts. Its surprising that with so many vices and 'illegal' activities being tolerated in the city, crime doesn't seem rampant or that you could generally feel safe walking around.
Saturday was an even more touristy day and the RLD at night was particularly busy with onlookers and customers. After seeing the RLD 3 nights in a row, it's clear the area's like a zoo and the popular 'exhibits' develop crowds and receive more patrons.
The only real Dutch people we met in Amsterdam were retail employees since everyone else was a tourist.
Other notes: At night in the RLD, we got accosted many times from shady characters who roam looking to sell you X or 'coco' - it's funny because sometimes they walk right by you whispering "x or coke" and you don't know what you just heard or what's the point of whispering these drugs around there. Whenever we felt our daypack being touched we got paranoid; everyone smokes something around here, so you better be able to tolerate some type of second hand smoke in a restaurant or bar. Unfortunately, we can't stay another day as food is becoming a major expense here!
Questions to ponder: What's the point of the Dutch language when all the ads, music, and natives know English fluently? Why does a lighter's flame always burn upwards? What state of matter is fire? An unseen RLD souvenir: baseball cap with a red glow on brim
Saturday was an even more touristy day and the RLD at night was particularly busy with onlookers and customers. After seeing the RLD 3 nights in a row, it's clear the area's like a zoo and the popular 'exhibits' develop crowds and receive more patrons.
The only real Dutch people we met in Amsterdam were retail employees since everyone else was a tourist.
Other notes: At night in the RLD, we got accosted many times from shady characters who roam looking to sell you X or 'coco' - it's funny because sometimes they walk right by you whispering "x or coke" and you don't know what you just heard or what's the point of whispering these drugs around there. Whenever we felt our daypack being touched we got paranoid; everyone smokes something around here, so you better be able to tolerate some type of second hand smoke in a restaurant or bar. Unfortunately, we can't stay another day as food is becoming a major expense here!
Questions to ponder: What's the point of the Dutch language when all the ads, music, and natives know English fluently? Why does a lighter's flame always burn upwards? What state of matter is fire? An unseen RLD souvenir: baseball cap with a red glow on brim
posted by ET at 10:32
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