On my way home from Africa, I stopped for a few days in the Netherlands. I hung out a few days in Amsterdam (solo). The city (and the people) were just fantastic. I thought the "red light district" would be very seedy like the US's porn districts. I was shocked at the elegant buildings and appearance of the red light district. It wasn't seedy at all. At night, it certainly was interesting to walk up and down the alleyways and see what was going on.
Another misconception I had before visiting was that of the "infamous coffee shops" that sell marijuana. I assumed these coffee shops must also be located in the red light district. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that was not the case. The coffee shops were located throughout the city. I also stopped into a small store which specialized in selling psychoactive mushrooms. It was quite a culture shock to have the clerk educate me on the varieties of mushrooms and their expected psychoactive effects.
Getting around Amsterdam using public
transportation was a snap. Locals were friendly and spoke English.
During my final day, I visited the outlying cities of Volendam and Marken using
a tourist bus. I was amazed that the tour guide translated the narration
into five languages!
Click a picture to see a larger view and explanation.