Red Lights & Coffee Shops

Sparknotes:

• Went to a sex museum that may have scarred me for life. Haha
• Took a stroll through the red light district
• I spent the afternoon with a random woman who bought me a tea and coffee
• Had one of the best conversations I’ve had this trip with a 55 year old Shaman
• Experienced “Occupy Amsterdam”
• Elisabeth = Great chef and amazing person

While Elisabeth was at school on Monday, I decided to head to famous Amsterdam for the day. Stoked! As usual tho, my morning got off to a late start and I found myself peddling as fast as I could to the train station to make it on time. It was a semi long train ride of 2.5 hours, but I finally made it to the city famously known for its marijuana tolerance/legality, red light district, and canals throughout the city requiring over 1,000 bridges.

Despite being fairly chilly and windy all day, the sun was out so it wasn’t so bad. After wandering around the streets for a bit, I stumbled into the sex museum a friend of mine had told me about and insisted I check it out. Well, it was interesting all right… That is, if you like seeing ancient artifacts and art with penises and every sex position on them, sex diorama photo shoots, peep hole machines, porn from the 1930’s, and everything else SEX. Haha While amusing at times, it was more shocking and disturbing than anything else. If you ever do go here tho, please DO NOT go into the showcase room that says “WARNING: Enter at Your Own Risk.” Resist your curiosity to go in, and save yourself years of nightmares from the pictures you’ll see.

While already feeling kinda dirty, I decided to get the red light district over with next. Haha It was a lot different than I was expecting, and was just a block away from some really nice shops. It’s pretty much right in the middle of the city center (which is incredibly huge btw). The dark alleyways with red lights were packed with guys walking around, checking out the half-naked women in the windows. It was definitely a bizarre atmosphere as the girls were always tapping on the windows trying to get you to come in, groups of guys joking around asking girls “how much?”, and the occasional dude who quickly snuck in or out of one of the rooms. I tried to start a slow clap for a guy that walked out of a room, but I guess the slow clap never really caught on with Europeans. Haha

After getting in enough creeper time for the next 10 years, I made my way down to the largest park in the city to hang out. Along the way I saw a number of "coffee shops" which are places you can legally buy and smoke marijuana. You can also smoke on the streets and in public, but I think there are certain regulations prohibiting it in certain areas. I also bought a new book along while walking to the park, and after walking around the park for a bit I headed to a café to get some food and tea (and to start my new book). After moving outside to enjoy the fresh/brisk air at a table, I was approached by a woman who asked if I wanted a tea. What?! There was only one table outside, and I guess she wanted to smoke a cigarette over some tea, so she offered to buy me some tea and sit with me. Cool. Haha

The woman was 33 years old, married, and is a professional artist of sorts and gets to travel all around the world for her job. She was somewhat of a mystery woman tho. She wore a long black jacket, sunglasses, a scarf, and a hat, so essentially her entire face was covered and I had no idea what she actually looked like. Haha Oh well, it was nice talking with her, and we actually decided to get a coffee somewhere next. We wound up in a little plaza, sat outside, and observed the semi-life sized chess game in front of us. It was cool; you had a bunch of people standing around watching and commenting on the players moves. Taccini and Wholesome should face off in Amsterdam. Haha Oh, and I forgot to mention that she bought me the coffee too. She was super nice and kind of my suga momma for the day. J She even walked me across town after to another cool café she thought I’d like. Haha

The next café had a really mellow atmosphere with low lighting and interesting people. Most interestingly tho, was an older guy I sat next to at the bar who I ended up talking to for a couple hours. haha We had one of the better conversations I’ve had on this trip, and even in my life actually. It’s hard to explain what he was like, but if you know my friend Michael Crivello, he’s pretty much a 55 year old version of him. Very wise, observant, generous, and has a unique perspective on life and how he views other people and himself.

We talked about a number of different things, but spirituality and understanding ourselves was at the heart of the conversation. He asked me what my passion was at one point, and I gave a surprisingly quick answer: “people are my passion.” That’s something to think about as I move forward in my career and everything I’m involved in. But he also pointed out that I can really do no wrong in whatever career path I choose, which is something I’m moderately stressing about right now. So it was definitely great to talk with him and to have his support. I definitely plan to stay in touch with him.

After leaving the café, I found myself walking towards a large area with tons of tents, people, and signs everywhere. “Occupy Amsterdam” had taken over a parking lot, and was a pretty impressive to see in person. People were rallying together, huddling up in tents (it was pretty cold by this point; I have a lot of respect for the people camping out and braving the weather), serving/eating food, and in general just talking about what needs to change. A very cool atmosphere, and after debating making some friends and camping out there myself, I thought “better” and took a train home.

Home was good, and after returning the bike I borrowed, Elisabeth made me an amazingly huge dinner! Haha She made me a typical german dish, complete with sliced potatoes (3 of them), an onion (grilled with the potatoes), and 4 sausage links. Oh man, it was SOOOOOO good. Thank you so much again Elisabeth. We had another good talk that night, but we both had to wake up early the next day so we said good night after dinner. Amsterdam was definitely a cool city with laid back people, but it’s become too commercialized and I think it’s lost a lot of its original appeal/flavor. I’d like to come back eventually, but I’m not necessarily in a hurry to see it again.