"A Day In Amsterdam" Amsterdam by lamentforicarus

I spent only a brief time in Amsterdam. Upon arriving at Centraal Station, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people crammed into each terminal. Teenagers with studded leather jackets and blue mohawks pushed past businessmen, and grizzled old men with long, wooden pipes laughed along side kids with dreadlocks and tye-dyed shirts. I managed to locate an exit, and preceded to wander out into a sea of bicyclists and con men. Adjusting to the intensity and counterculture of the Netherlands was a bit of a challenge. After all, I had lazed away the last three days in the story tale town of Brugge, watching graceful swans glide by on the tranquil Lake of Love. This was culture shock.

I passed countless coffee shops, overhearing uproarious laughter from within. I passed store windows displaying a wide variety of sex toys and erotic apparel. This was a city unlike most I had previously encountered, but it was the city I had come to see.

After taking in the sobering and heartbreaking images at the Anne Frank House, I sat white-knuckled in the back of a taxi as it rampaged through the city’s car-choked streets, narrowly missing dozens of jaywalking locals. I managed to unwind in the incredible exhibits of the Van Gogh Museum, and explore the Museumplein in a short two hours, before shuffling into an overcrowded tram headed back to the station.

Though my impressions of Amsterdam are somewhat limited by the short amount of time I spent in the city, I was certain of one thing: with its liberal laws, extraordinary counterculture, and wealth of history and art, Amsterdam is a gift to the adventurous.