Even after 20 years of visits, I always need a day to adjust to the wonders of Amsterdam. So I spend my first day here checking out small changes in the city -- a new handbag museum, a church turned into a mosque, a free ferry ride to an industrial complex where there is a skateboarders' warehouse filled with teenyboppers.
There are always changes to note as cities carve and mold their future. This city recently bought out a major landlord in the red light district and now all his tiny rooms with big windows display high fashion rather than teasing hookers.
Not that one of Amsterdam's most notorious tourist attractions is going away. I realize this as I stand at an outdoor urinal -- pondering the canal as I often do when in Amsterdam. Above me there are white puffy clouds blowing past Golden Age gables and, at my side, the clatter of bikes giggling over the cobbles, as they cross a toyland bridge. Then my gaze settles appreciatively on the fine, heavy ironwork of this pre-World War II structure. Its heavy green paint job and the mesh pattern of tiny plus signs let me enjoy an idyllic street scene. I just assume I am alone.
Then my focus changes and beyond that green iron wall of plus signs -- just across the lane -- I see a jaunty woman wearing a cliché of lingerie. She is making eyes at me from a plush window draped in red. It's strange to be doing what I am doing while finding myself being forcibly flirted with. The whole episode seems to last longer than your typical trip to an Amsterdam WC.
Prostitutes like her are businesswomen. I think she probably chose a very good window to rent. Location, location, location. As I walk away, I have to pass closer. I give her a friendly wave.
It happens to be Gay Pride Day. The city is strewn with litter and just feels like it has enjoyed one big blowout party. I see two boats hovering ghost-like just below the canal surface. Still tied to their docks, they are lifeless ... drowned. My friend explains that troublemaking party animals see how many people can stand on the deck of an unfortunate boat and eventually they submerge it -- the canal equivalent of rolling over a car.
