The Red Light District Experience

It never crossed my mind to see Amsterdam. Yes it has a lot of hype with its red light district and the legalization of weed… but it just never seemed like a place I would like. 

I did the typical tourist stuff.. got extremely drunk, went to a sex show in the red light district and eat a special brownie.

Now don’t get me wrong, Amsterdam is a picturesque city that seems to be overlooked by the wild night seen. Amsterdam is known for its canals, its obscene amount of bikes, tulips and windmills. So the night life is just a bonus for a place that can do so well off of tourists both in the day and night. Who needs to sleep?

I was there for a day and a half and arrive at night… so my experience started with the wild side of the city.

After a quick dinner at the hotel we ventured out into the unknown. Amsterdam was part of a Contiki tour I did and it was the first day/night as a group. What better way to get to know each other than to boat around the canals of Amsterdam in an open bar booze cruise.

A group shot lead to countless drinks as the 40 of us began a bonding experience much needed for what was to come. The red light district. I don’t know if I had one drink too many or was extremely happy to be in Europe – probably a mix – but the red light district wasn’t as crazy as I imagined it.

You know you are in the right area when you cross a few small green light pillars (no red anywhere). We walked down some narrow alleyways where there were glass doors with girls in them. Some were dancing but most where on their cellphones. I was expecting the women to be more forward in attempting to get men to come into their door.

However, what did live up to its name at the red light district was the sex show we ended up at. Thank God I was drunk because seeing people have sex on an elevated spinning stage would not be something I would voluntarily go see. Thankfully they kept serving us drinks throughout the show. Now you would think watching this was the climax of the night but it wasn’t… a few people from our group where pulled from the audience onto the stage. Let’s just say eating a banana is not the same after watching people you just met share one at a sex show.

TMI?

#SorryNotSorry

Once we stopped laughing and left the show a few of us continued to the famous coffee shop the Grasshopper, which is where you can legally smoke weed (you go for coffee at a cafe not a coffee shop). My friend and I decided to eat a brownie. You know that scene from the movie EuroTrip? Well that was us.

The following morning as we battled through the hangover we went to Anne Frank’s house. As a history lover, I was blown away to  be in the original house. They have the original bookcase that hid the entrance to the location where Anne Frank and her family hid during World War II. There are many thin, steep staircases that lead you to the original rooms. There is no furniture in the rooms but they have pictures of the original space hanging on the wall with descriptions. They do however have original pieces of her diary in the museum and a video of her father, the only family survivor of the Holocaust. It was a long lineup to try to buy tickets but it was worth the wait to see the place where a little girl and her family quietly hid from fate.

Even though it was never on my list to go to Amsterdam, it is a place I would recommend.