Photos : Holland/Amsterdam Photos
Bikes, Canals, Street Walking And Arrows
After returning from our Tien Shan hike 2 weeks ago we thought we needed a break and decided to join some friends in Amsterdam for the weekend. Amsterdam is a city that could be called aromatic aka pungent or red light savvy or touristy or canal or eclectic or bicycle rich. All would be correct but none entirely.
The trip from the airport was quick and painless. The trains are new, smooth and clean (except for the muppet who spilt their coffee and failed to extend a common courtesy of cleaning it up). The main train station is located in the heart of the city so all places of interest within Amsterdam city are generally within easy reach. Central Amsterdam is constructed in a spiral fashion which radiates outward. Then there’s the canals. Many people think of Venice when you mention canals however Amsterdam has a canal system that probably betters Venice. It’s different and unique because each spiral is separated by a similarly spiraling canal system.
Amsterdam and indeed Amsterdam’s airport is below sea level. Amsterdam is in fact 6.7 m below sea level and is built on reclaimed land however unlike Venice, you can get around the city on bikes, foot or in cars, or boats. Whilst there is around 100km of canals the most common form of transport is bike. There is actually more bikes than permanent residents in Amsterdam, can you say ‘love affair’?
You have to keep your wits about you when walking around the city as the main paths are reserved for bikes and not people. If you step out at the wrong time or walk in the middle of the bike path, you will hear the bell or a yell. The expression is ‘if you hear the bell, run like hell’. There are something like 1.5 the number of bikes to people!
All the bikes should be locked as they have a habit of wandering and being resold however there’s plenty of bikes unchastened. The other common thing to happen to an unlocked bike is they go swimming, swimming like a stone that is. This pastime is especially an ‘on the way home late at night’ thing. Let’s not forget about the cars. You can drive in most parts of the city but you won’t find any large multi story car parks in the city itself but rather car parks along the edges of some of the canals and some open areas. There’s rarely a buffer/barricade between the car parking and the canal so as people back into the park they occasionally misjudge and end up in the drink. Approx 50 cars per year are fished out of the canals.
The canals are the roadways of Amsterdam however unlike Venice, the smell isn’t pungent. Why? Cleanliness is next to something or other, however in Amsterdam cleanliness is being pumped 3 times a week…the water in the canals that is. 14 of the 16 existing water locks around the city close, so clean water can be pumped in from the big lake IJsselmeer. The current that IJsselmeer creates pushes the dirty canal water out through the open locks on the other side of the city. There’s also specialsed cleaning boats with big scoops and nets patrol frequently to clean surface dirt. Good thinking I say.
Do Red Lights Mean Stop Or Go? A short And Inaccurate History
Amsterdam has some obvious and not so obvious sites. Our first day we did a self guided tour based on the Lonely Planet guide book with Yokey playing the tour director. We meandered around much of the city with only a vague idea of where we were going to end up. It’s hard not to walk the Red Light district which has been around for as long as the churches (around 12th century AD). I found the area interesting however not maybe in the way you’d immediately expect. From a somewhat voyeuristic or curiosity perspective, you almost feel compelled to check out the area to see what the ‘hype’ is all about however for me the most interesting thing was how the industry was came to be a part of Amsterdam and how it is tolerated by society and government. We found out more about this on our second day tour.
With any society, it will change over time. That change can be from the government and its law or equally society changing its opinion/acceptance. The laws have varied over the years in response to society’s moral values and changes in Government. Today the government is conservative however it has not repealed the laws around the oldest profession. The reason can be summed up in one word….money. The government has legalised the profession and reaps the financial reward in taxes, employment and tourism.
Way back when in the middle ages, prostitution was not frowned upon as much as later times. I can’t see this happening today, but in more conservative times, ladies had a dress code and had social ‘liberties’ imposed e.g. they were not allowed to be married. But the bit I like best is the marriage situation wasn’t only limited to the workers but to the customers too! It was deemed that a married man was not allowed to visit the ladies under any circumstances. I wonder how that conversation went between the married man and the worker! “No really…I’m not married I just can’t take this damn wedding ring off because my hands are swollen” or maybe “look at my hands. No calluses so of course I’m not married”
The division or unison between Church and State has been around since the man upstairs was in short pants however during the 16th and 17th century, the influence of the Church on governments was non-discreet and sometimes overt. With such control it could influence the government’s policies and in many ways society. What was accepted as moral yesterday was not today, what was a sin yesterday was today a crime. In Amsterdam, although the oldest profession was still illegal it was tolerated as long as people were discreet.” Hear no evil, see no evil” was the motto I believe. The Red Light area is located where it is due to the proximity to the Church too. Sailors would come ashore and visit the ladies and afterwards, racked with guilt, they would go to church to repent….or at least that’s the story.
Keep It Clean
Although today prostitution is legal and workers have regular health checks to protect them and the customers, today isn’t the first time prostitutes were forced to be “healthy”. For example when Napoleon, the short French dude with a penchant for a coup d’etat and invading countries, ruled Holland the greater importance was on health over morality. Naps, as I like to call him, needed as many soldiers as he could get to keep Holland afloat plus needed a few more to be able to invade Russia and any other country that came up on his lucky spinning wheel of ‘countries I’d like to invade’. During the 18th century, syphilis was common and the result of being infected with it was not good i.e. pushing up daisies. These two facts combined meant the prostitutes were forced to have health checks twice a week.
Today the tourists plus too many buck parties, flock to the red light area out of curiosity, business or ‘entertainment’. The window work continues today and I was surprised to learn the tax and rent they pay for a window seat is EUR100-150 per shift (8 hours). Okay so I’m not sure why I’m surprised by that but did any of you even think about how much rent they’d pay? The ladies lodge tax returns and everything, apparently, is by the book and on the up and up (sorry couldn’t resist). All tastes are catered for, aesthetically speaking only. You are not under any circumstances allowed to take pictures of the windows, hence why there aren’t any on this page, but you can take pictures of the general area.
Walking around the area you don’t find the ‘trade’ nor the local men window shopping too sleazy however the tourists dramatically lower the tone. I didn’t feel the need to walk the area at night so can’t comment if it deteriorates but during the day it was fine.
Statues, Busts And Stilts
The city is an easy place to walk around and the scenery interesting. Having canals and some greenery (I mean trees and not the smaller plants Amsterdam is renowned for) makes it different from other cities. In Venice for example there’s not much greenery as you wander around the canals but here it’s different. We partook in a ‘free’ city tour. Yes I know there’s always a catch and yes we realised we would have to pay on optional tip to the host but it was interesting. The only problem was we had done much of the tour the day before on our own misguided tour.
This is a walking tour that snakes its way around the main sights of the city including the red light district, Anne Frank’s neighborhood, markets, statues, highest point in Amsterdam (a bridge over a canal!). One thing we missed on our own tour was some of the art that is actually part of the walkways outside the church near the heart of the red light district. Pictured to the left is a sculpture by an unknown artist that appeared one day out of the blue. The art was deemed offensive by some and accepted/enjoyed by most. It was removed at one point however it reappeared shortly thereafter and remains today. There’s no barricade or any protection so if you don’t look where you’re walking you may just tread on a brass hand and accompaniment.
There’s a 3D version of Rembrandt’s painting The Night Watch that claims the title “Largest Sculpture in Amsterdam”. About the sculpture. The story behind the actual painting is more involved and more interesting than the 3D sculpture but a difference is you can’t touch the painting. I won’t do justice to the history of the painting but you can look here.
Dotted around the city at all manner of places and in all manner of styles, are statues of important/revered people from the Amsterdamians (Dam’s) point of view. You can find Anne Frank’s small statue, Multatuli, Rembrandt and more. Most of these are found on any of the city walking tours but apart from the Night Watch statues all ‘same ol same ol’….or maybe that’s just me.
The buildings here are purpose designed for the city or more accurately the ground on which it’s built. Underpinning the buildings are pilings and they are driven into the soft soil that lies beneath Amsterdam. So what you say? Well it’s because of the soft soil the Dam’s decided to construct their houses leaning into each other thus counteracting the soft soil. Pretty smart…sort of as it stabilises the buildings but if you’d had too many drinks you may think your house is about to fall over!
The government tired of an unregulated building of houses that was leading to poor construction so undertook the role of putting in the pilings however not without cost aka tax. The tax was proportionate to the size or more accurately the width, of the house. Again the Dam’s adapted and figured as the tax was regarding the width of the house but not the height, they they could build taller houses with the same ground footprint thus reducing the cost. This created city with an overwhelming number of tall narrow houses all with their own story to tell and character. This also meant the width of a house was directly related to one’s wealth for the wealthier the home owner the more impressive they wanted their abode to appear.
Amsterdam is one of the more memorable city’s for its residential buildings with the style, colours, shapes and canals. The cityscape is intriguing and rich with character. We enjoyed our time here and will be back one day to see other parts of Amsterdam plus get to the sights in the countryside.