Greetings from The Red Light District
The sentence "Greetings from The Red Light District!" would have to be the most popular feature on postcards for sale in Amsterdam.
These postcards usually feature pictures of naked women, naked men, or marijuana and associated paraphernalia. The stereotypical images of Amsterdam.
Perhaps a little surprisingly, they are also incredibly accurate images of Amsterdam. This place seriously is totally littered with "Coffee Shops" whence wafts the distinct odour of pot, live sex show bars, and brothels.
Of course I can't tell you whether the pot is any good, but I can tell you it doesn't smell any better.
The brothels are strange .. The women stand in windows at the front of the building, wearing usually some lingerie or something like that .. just enough to keep from being technically naked, which is presumably either illegal, or considered giving away the merchandise for free. The booths in which they stand are generally lit red on the inside, and they all have black lights on the opposite side of the window so the girls clothes and hair and makeup glow. It makes them look really surreal and not at all appealing.
If you walk past one without looking, they will tap on the glass to get your attention. Though I'm sure that had I been with a tour group I'd have experienced slightly less of the "hard-sell" than wandering around by myself, as I was. :)
The most disarming thing about it all though, is that the women are seriously good looking. I don't know if you've seen a prostitute in Sydney, but I've seen them on Canterbury Rd and thought I thought you'd really need to be concentrating on something else to get your money's worth .. The girls here look like models. That is, when they aren't glowing like joke-shop ornaments. Apart from the fact that they smile and beckon you to come and "talk" to them, they also don't do anything particularly slutty. Often you'll see one sitting on a stool reading a book or talking to the girl in the booth next to hers. They certainly don't dance about or go touching themselves or anything.
If you are easily persuaded I would suggest you don't wander around here with money in your pockets. I suspect you would leave with only a smile on your face.
Oh, and if you try to take a photo they close their little curtains until you go away. :)
The other parts of Amsterdam are really nice! A very pleasant city, where the furthest you can live from a bustling cafe and restaurant district is about 500m.
Worth a visit, but don't stay near the Red Light District. Just go for a wander in it one night. :)
Also worth noting: The gallery function is now available! It features all the photos I've uploaded so far, and will feature all the photos I upload in the future.
