Day 13 - Edam and Amsterdam

On the final Saturday of the trip, we headed to Amsterdam. I was already feeling like it was bittersweet getting to our last stop - of course I was excited to see another new place, but knowing it was our last day on the coach and that we were heading into our last new adventure made me feel sad. I feel sad typing that now! It was such an amazing trip in so many ways and I really didn't want it to ever end (despite the fact that if I kept up that pace forever, I'd die).

We drove most of the day, with a service stop somewhere along the way. I had Burger King for lunch for the first time in who knows how long - I always think it's funny to eat American fast food in another country. I was pretty sick of pork and German food, though, so a whopper and fries tasted pretty good at that point. I never would have considered eating that in France or Italy (and would rarely eat it in America!) but German food? Not my thing.

We entered the Netherlands and it didn't seem like we drove long before reaching our first stop, Edam. The first thing we did there was visit a shop where they make both cheese and clogs - a Dutch girl explained the cheese making process, and then we were shown how to make wooden clogs. The guy showing us actually carved a clog during the demonstration - it was kind of amazing how quickly and easily he was able to make a chunk of wood look like a shoe. Obviously his work needed some polishing before you could wear it, but it looked like a clog by the time he was done!

Carving a piece of wood into a clog - with a really big knife!

The shop had all different kinds of cheese, and they were set up to taste. I tried every one of them - I think they were all different kinds of Gouda, which is one of my favorites (it's very good-a). I probably could have bought several of them, but I ended up purchasing one with black pepper in it. Amazingly, they were packed so that they didn't need refrigeration and you could bring them home. I also bought a beer bottle opener in the shape of a clog.

All different types of cheese to taste

We loaded back up onto the coach and drove into the town of Edam for our bike ride. I recall thinking "wow, the Netherlands kind of looks like the midwest".

Farmland... this looks like my daily commute

The town of Edam was very cute. We got off the coach and walked through several streets and over bridges to get to a bike shop. 

This shop had a ton of bikes that were nearly identical, and you just basically chose one that was your height. They too had brakes where you had to pedal backwards (like in Munich) but seemed to be weighted differently so they were a little easier to ride. Or I was just a professional granny bike rider by that point, perhaps.

The bike shop

We took an easy bike ride through parts of town and followed the river for a while. It felt good to ride a bike again and it was an enjoyable, slow paced ride. We stopped a couple of times to hear a little about the town and take pictures.

The town of Edam

Clearly, I'm a pro granny bike rider by this point in the trip

The entire tour group that took the bike ride

A little different than what you see in Iowa

Edam was a nice stop, but we were soon on our way. It wasn't very far to Amsterdam - maybe an hour or two, I can't recall. While we were on our way, Sarah told us she was going to see a sex show that night and that we were all invited to come along. I did not know this prior to the tour, but apparently it is not uncommon in the Red Light District to attend live performances of - well, sex. I had never heard of such a thing and I wasn't sure what to think of it, but pretty much everyone was into going so I figured why not. YOLO. I'll probably never be anywhere that this is a "thing" again and it's kind of a funny thing to do and to be able to say you did it. That's what she said.

After we paid Sarah for Sex (haha) we arrived at our last hotel in Amsterdam. The hotel was again very basic and we were sharing a room with Alyssa and Kayleigh. We actually had some time to get ready - I think we had over an hour which was unheard of on the trip. Dinner was in the hotel basement, and after we ate we had a little time to kill before taking the coach into the city.

It was Saturday night and we got off the coach pretty close to the Red Light District. We were told we were not to bring drugs onto the coach but that if we could convince a prostitute to come back on the coach, that would be fine (which was more funny than a serious set of instructions!). Sarah walked us through the Red Light District, where cameras are not allowed so I don't have any pictures.

The Red Light District is an interesting place. As most people probably know, it's a place where prostitution is legal, as is marijuana. It's also a place that oozes sex and oddball behaviors. There are tons of sex shops, and just about every street is lined with floor to ceiling windows featuring a girl in skimpy clothing (usually some version of bra and panties) trying to entice customers to come in and pay her for sex. Most of the girls are actually really beautiful - I tried not to look too obviously, but it was hard to avoid noticing that they had nice bodies and pretty faces. 

We ended up at the Sex show. Our admission price included 2 drinks, which I drank quickly because I felt kind of awkward being there. Thank goodness we attended this at the end of our tour - it was a lot less uncomfortable with people I felt I knew pretty well and felt comfortable around than it would have been if I was sitting there with a bunch of strangers. Yet maybe strangers would have been less weird? I don't know.

I have never been - nor will I probably ever be again - to something quite like this. It was basically live pornography. There were people having sex 30 feet away from me and I was paying to watch. It was kind of a crazy thing and both pretty hot and pretty uncomfortable at the same time. I don't consider myself a prude at all and I like to keep an open mind about what people do - but it was weird. Yet it was also a funny experience and I'm glad I just went for it and attended. 

The show consisted of a couple of couples having sex, a pair of women using toys on each other, and a couple of strippers doing really amazing pole dances and doing other things I won't elaborate on. There were also two segments where audience participation was involved- neither involving actual sex, but several in our tour group were called on stage to participate. Thankfully, I was not - but it was pretty hilarious to watch our friends on stage. 

After we were finished with Sex, we walked over to a bar a few blocks away. This bar had 2 for 1 drinks and was really crowded but had a fun atmosphere. There were black lights and people walking around with neon face paint, which was kind of interesting. It was a fun place to be and almost the entire group was there so we had a great time hanging out. Thankfully Kris did bring his camera along so we got some pictures!

The four of us had a lot of fun together on this trip

I don't know where Mario came from

We all had so much fun together 

I learned quickly that night that Amsterdam is a crazy place and it was easy for people to get carried away. One of the girls on the tour, Stacey, who I barely even spoke to the entire tour, ended up getting really sick from drinking too much - and I somehow ended up being the one to basically carry her up the stairs to the bathroom and help her get back downstairs and outside. I remember trying to find her actual friends to help her out and being pretty pissed off that they were not helpful at all. Then poor Danielle, who was so careful and mature the entire tour, ended up accidentally drinking way too much too and was not reacting well either. I hailed them a cab and sent them back to the hotel - I felt kind of bad sending Danielle off and not going with her, but I knew she was safe with the other 2 people in the cab and I really just wanted to stick around and continue having fun. 

We witnessed a few other crazy Amsterdam incidents - some guy stumbled out of the bar, fell down, and they actually called an ambulance. I saw a few other random people stumbling along and throwing up and just being completely out of it. It was crazy. I live in the town with the #1 party college in the US (a proud achievement, University of Iowa!) and I still don't think I've seen anyone party before quite like I saw in Amsterdam in the Red Light District on a Saturday night. 

We ended up walking around a bit and then catching a cab back to the hotel, after a quick stop for pizza on the way. Everyone got back to the hotel about the same time, so we hung around a bit and took a few more photos.

By this point it was very late in the night so it was time for bed.

Conclusion on the Red Light District in Amsterdam:

It was a crazy place. I think the vibe was kind of fun - it seemed like the sort of place where literally anything goes, and the people there are all there to have a good time and are not concerned with social norms or inhibitions of any kind.

I did feel a little uncomfortable walking past the prostitutes. Despite being legal  - I find it very unlikely that most of them are there truly by choice. I mean sure, everyone loves having sex, but being paid to have sex with random men (and likely not the highest caliber of men) - that's not something normal women would ever want to do. That's something women do because they are forced into it, either through sex trafficking or desperation or some other terrible circumstances. Being in a place where that's almost celebrated is strange to me. I certainly hope it's different with the "sex show" - but I don't know and I hope I didn't accidentally contribute to the sex trade. 

Overall  - it was a place worth checking out purely because of the culture. I'm glad that I got to experience some of that culture and despite people throwing up all around me, I had a lot of fun with my friends that night so I was glad I was there for that experience.