Bikes, Prostitution and Marijuana

How clever

The train ride to Amsterdam was uneventful, I was able to stay on the same train all the way to Amsterdam and finding my hostel wasn’t a problem. It is really rainy and cold and isn’t supposed to get better until Thursday.

Normally when you cross a street you just need to look out for cars, not so in the Netherlands. There are more bikes than people in this country and outside of the car lanes on a semi sidewalk are bike lanes. Everyone rides a bike, everywhere they go, or so it seems. People on bikes pass from behind you and they ring their bell to either let you know they will be close or to move if you are in the bike lane. Instead of moving out of the way I instinctually turn towards the sound and step into their path and close to them. I had a man on a bike actually ride into me because he was ringing his bell for me to move out of the way. I heard his bell but I didn’t know what it was, it sounded far off and then I turned and he rode into my side. Luckily he didn’t fall, he just swayed and was able to stay on his bike and ride off. I can imagine the confrontation that would ensue if he had fallen down and I’m glad it did not.

Prostitution is legal here and prostitutes actually pay taxes on their earnings. I’m not sure what prostitutes are legally allowed to deduct as work related expenses but I bet the list is pretty interesting. There are buildings with windows that face the street and have red lights in the windows. The women pay a fixed fee for the window for a specified time and then stand in there attempting to entice men to come and partake in their services. I walked through a small part of the Redlight district and only so two women working but one was my grandma’s age and the other looked to be 300 pounds.

Marijuana is also legal, up to 5 ounces per person, and can be bought at “coffee shops” which are everywhere. My hostel, like most in this city even have their own smoking room where people hang out and smoke.

The rain here is absolutely miserable. The rain starts and I pull out my umbrella. Then the rain stops and I put my umbrella away and then it starts to rain again. Make up your mind!