We got to sleep in a little. A rarity. No alarms this morning, but I did wake up with the anticipation of wanting to be somewhere. I was looking forward to trying some of the freedoms of Europe’s most experimental city.
We woke up an hour earlier than we thought. James hadn’t set his mobile phone clock right. It was perfect, though, as we got to have coffee with Gertrude and Johan, one of her roommates. Johan is apparently from Greece, doing work for a company here in Amsterdam. He’d heard that I was a web designer and his company apparently needs a web developer with java and xml skills. That’s not me, but it was interesting to hear there are opportunities out there. Johan had to go to work, and Gertrude and I had a great discussion about energy work, holistic therapy, the path I’ve directed my life, etc. She’s quite perceptive and could tell I’m a bit of a free-spirit right now. It is nice to meet people like her.
We hopped a bus and a train to Amsterdam and were there around 11 am. The tourist information line was long, so we skipped it and started walking into the city center. We had my Rick Steves book, and found a nice breakfast spot, even though the name in his book was outdated.
Once we ate, the next stop was the Anne Frank House Museum. There was a half-hour line out front, and we decided to wade through it. This was probably the must-see item on both of our lists. And, we wanted to get it out of the way before moving on to other things. It was definitely worth it. I read Anne Frank’s diary in one of my literature classes and remembered being moved by it. Visiting the museum was definitely stirring as well. The only thing that I didn’t expect is how much room they actually had. While it might have been tight for the 8 people living there for as long as they did - in hiding, without ever leaving - it wasn’t anywhere remotely close to what I had in my mind. That doesn’t make anything any better, as the situation they were in was horrifying. The museum did a very good documentation job without making it too depressing. There were a few videos of actual concentration camps that were hard to watch after walking through the history of the place, but it was easy to move on and not watch those!
Next stop - the Paradox coffee shop. It was highly recommended by Rick as a good, low-key neighborhood shop. We wandered a bit, trying to find the road, but the maps in the book didn’t prove to be enough. After not quite finding our way, we bought a pocket-size map for 3.95 Euros and found what we wanted instantly.
Yes, we bought some “Bio-Green” dope, rolled a joint and smoked it right there with some of the other locals. I’m not sure how long we were in the shop, but it was nice. I was anxious and my hands were even a little shaky doing the rolling. It was definitely not something I was used to doing out in the open. I’d always done it with shades drawn and lights dim. I knew in my mind it’s totally legal in Amsterdam, but the act of doing it was almost too much. Luckily, it was really good stuff and I was instantly calm. And, shortly thereafter, very stoned. 
And no, I don’t think I will (ever) be able to try out the legalized prostitution. We did walk through the red light district, and I must say - the women selling themselves in the windows were QUITE beautiful. Way, way more better looking that I thought they would be. Now, I don’t know for sure if you actually get what’s in the window, or if they are just window-dressing, but I can only imagine. I almost feel to conservative about this. I’m not really sure. I just know that if it’s something I’m not really drawn to do, I’m not gonna force myself into something. If it’s gonna happen, it will. (And, probably won’t.)
The plan, then, was to visit the Van Gogh museum, altered. We did find the museum with no problems, even in our stupor. The museum was awesome. I spent way to much time getting sucked into certain paintings in the permanent collection. I didn’t make it through the whole museum and probably missed the section with the most famous works on display. Oh well, though, I was high and didn’t care. I’ll see it again some day I think.
We stayed at the Van Gogh until closing and moved on to diner. After a short period of indecision about where to go, and an interuption from some Brazillian girls trying to find a hostel (they saw us silly Americans standing in the middle of the side-walk with our guide book out), we ended up at this great cafeteria-type place called La Place (also recommended by Rick Steves). They had a tremendous selection of food. I had a killer salad and James had quiche that he had to have re-heated twice before it was to his liking.
James called Gertrud and found out what would be an acceptable hour for us to return. She asked that we be there before 10(!). Which, I had absolutely no problem with. Even though it sorta seemed to bad that we wouldn’t get to stay up late in Amsterdam. We decided to walk through the red light district on our way back to the station. Other than being harassed for 5 Euros by some deranged black man near an alley we shouldn’t have been near, the red light district was interesting. Like I said, the women were far more attractive and plentiful than I thought. There were two whole streets, actually only two sides of a canal, with women showing their goods. I think about half or more of the windows were empty - the assumption being they are busy with a client. We had read in the guidebook that good prostitutes bring in 300 Euros a day at, apparently, 25-50 Euros a pop. We don’t know for sure!
So … our bellies full, our high mostly gone and a teeny bit wary of almost being mugged, we headed back to Hoofddorp for the evening. We chatted with Gertrud for a little bit. She told me she looked up my reading (numerology) and from what I’ve told her, I’m on the path I should be on. And that doing something with web design and similar disciplines definitely has a place in my life - along with doing something in nature. Certainly right on the mark with who I am and where I’m going. I just need to find the right opportunity! It will come.
Just now I finally got internet access on my laptop again and can upload all these blog posts!