Day three: Waterloo and Amsterdam
We transferred to Amsterdam today. But first, I took pictures of the Waterloo Monument, where Napoleon lost a major battle. This happened in 1815, which marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The main thing in this monument site is the Lion’s Mound. “It was completed in 1826. It commemorates the location on the battlefield of Waterloo where a musket ball hit the shoulder of William II of the Netherlands (the Prince of Orange) and knocked him from his horse during the battle.” (from Wikipedia) I don’t know much more than that, but I thought it was important to see something related to the Battle of Waterloo since I stayed there a few days.
The drive to Amsterdam was about 2.5 hours or so. When we got there, we went directly to the boat tour that we had booked. Again, the sites were wonderful to see. I again, somehow did not put two and two together until I was there and our boat tour was at the foot of the Anne Frank house. You have to book tours weeks in advance so we did not get to go in and see it, but it was surreal to see that this is where she lived for all that time.
This is the Anne Frank house – I think they have enclosed it so you can’t even really tell what it looked like from the street.
After the boat tour, we went and checked in to our hotel, then we went to a really fancy dinner at this restaurant called Pesca. This was a dining experience! We got to go to the fish counter and pick out what we wanted then they sent it off and cooked it. Super fresh! Of course, they picked out awesome things and the food, wine, vibe, and conversation were phenomenal.
Then, of course we had to walk around the red-light district, because, well, because we were in an Amsterdam. It’s interesting that they have made legal and regulated sex work.The women here have rights, they can form unions, and it is thought of as a job and not quite as stigmatized as in the US. I’m sure it’s not all sunshine and roses, and there’s probably plenty of problematic issues that occur, but one thing the Netherlands has realized is that if you legalize something then you can have much more control over it than if you ban it.
They have done the same thing with marijuana – legalized and regulated it. And it’s a big business, especially for tourists. The coffee shops here are notorious for selling pot, as well as coffee. There are plenty of coffee shops all over town. These and the red-light districts are open 24-7. It was fascinating to walk around and see all of it. I might add that there were SO DAMN MANY TOURISTS walking around the red-light district on Saturday night that the police were out and had to redirect walking traffic. It just felt so weird and voyeuristic that this is what people want to see, but, we are human, I guess! I do like how there is no air of judgment about sex work or pot from what I can tell. I’m not sure I’d say it’s normalized here, since Amsterdam is known for tourists coming to smoke pot and engage in activities in the red-light district. But I do appreciate that it does not feel so Puritanical or “judgy-wudgy” around these parts. I wonder what the average Dutch person thinks about all of it. I would like to think they have been able to move beyond the moralistic, conservative viewpoint that demonizes these things and stigmatizes people who do sex work or smoke pot.
Day 4: Brunch in Amsterdam then back to the UK
Sunday morning, we got up and had breakfast at a cute little restaurant called Cau. Then we strolled around a bit more to see what the red-light district looks like in the daytime. And sure enough, there were still women in their windows, but it was much less crazy than Saturday night as you might expect. After that, Ashley and Anna walked me to the train station, and then I flew back to Manchester.
Ashley and Anna showed me a great time and were wonderful hostesses. And it was great to reconnect. We had so much fun! It was really cool to see all the beautiful architecture in both countries, have amazing meals, drink some great wine, and have interesting conversations!
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