AMSTERDAM: BEYOND WINDMILLS, WOODEN SHOES and WEED

So this post is way overdue.  About two weeks ago I did a trip to Amsterdam  which was unbelievable.  It was the first trip I had made outside of the UK and I have to say the culture in Amsterdam is unlike anything I have ever seen.  For one thing -though the country speaks Dutch, everyone knows English, so their wasn't any language barrier at all, which caught me off guard.  The Netherlands is also very flat, which I was not aware of.  There werent really any mountains or even hills, and I noticed a lot of farmland during our scenic drive through the dutch countryside into Amsterdam.

As a city Amsterdam was also very unique.  There were no tall skyscrappers or buildings at all, and the city was very small and easy to navigate, which made it great for exploration.  One of the unique things about Amsterdam is how much the city contradicts the conservative values held by many countries, including the United States.  Within the city one can find prostitution, drugs, and sex shops-all within walking distance from a church or cathedral, it was mindblowing.  The Red Light District is the area of the city that contains the most elements of sin.  Prostitution, drugs and sex shops all lined the picturesque canal, which was ironically littered with Swans and waterfowl.  While walking down the Grand Canal through the Red Light District I noticed people from all walks of life, including an elderly couple and children.  It was also very interesting to see the brothels themselves.  Each building had a number of floors, each floor with a set of windows.  Within the windows stood the prostitutes, in little to no clothing with a glaring red light behind them.  Many seemed to be extremely young, and then to the other extreme were the prostitutes who where older.  I found it to be quite surreal knowing that the economy of Amsterdam relys heavily on this industry.  

Drugs in Amsterdam were also very prevelent, to the point where the novelty was gone.  Throughout the city on almost every street corner were "Coffeeshops", which was code-name for "yes we have weed".  It was interesting to notice how this subculture for us, is very much apart of the actual culture of the city.  I found the experience of just seeing the Red Light District and the "coffeeshops", as mindopening-that one culture's "taboo" can be another culture's "norm".  

On a lighther note the other thing I did while in Amsterdam was visit the Van Gogh Museum.  The Van Gogh Museum was probably the best museum I ever been in.  It was a very non-conventional museum which I did not expect.  The way the art was laid out and viewed was done so in a way that allowed the viewer to read each discription and actually see how Van Gogh's work progressed through his various stages.  Because of this lines formed around each piece of art, and it was like a carousel of people going from one piece to the next, carefully taking it all in.  Very unlike the conventional art museums, where people see only what interests them.  My favorite part of the museum was the part devoted to Van Gogh's contemporaries, particularly the art movement that erupted in Marmont, Paris during the late 1800s.  It was interesting to see how these artists, all from the same period interacted amoungst each other, from Toulouse Lautrec, to Claude Monet.  Overall I found the museum to be fascinating and it inspired me as an artist to visit Paris, a place I always deemed as an overrated bed for tourism.  

I also had the opportunity to visit Belgium while on the same trip.  We made a stop in Bruge.  If you ever seen the movie In Bruges, its exactly how it is portrayed in the movie, absolutely beautiful like a fucking Fairytale.  We were only there for two hours but while we were there I got to have waffles which were unbelievable.  They were covered in Ice Cream and had sugar crystals cooked into them.  I also had some Belgium chocolates which were amazing as well.