The last days of our eight-day adventure in various European cities were slowly approaching.
On Friday night, Mark, Ana and I arrived in Amsterdam where we were sleeping, and went on a tour the following day. We had just one day in which to try to see as many sights as possible, and experience as much of the city as we could. I am sure you will agree with me that having only one day in which to visit such a great city, that offers so many opportunities and attractions, is not enough. In the late afternoon we went to Antwerp, because Ana had bought tickets for a concert a couple of month ago and she was supposed to go that evening with her friends from work.
While walking around Amsterdam, the every-day sights and sounds of the city had a much greater impact on us than those in our own home town, where we had seen everything many times over. Every detail was emphasised, and we studied and analyzed as much as we could.
Just the scenery alone seemed to have been created to inspire artistic expression.
An intricate array of elongated façades greeted the eye: diverse medieval houses of vibrant colors, the reflections of which could be seen in the city's canals, and exceptionally well-designed walkways, and breathtaking squares with sun-reflected beams over the rivers and lakes, making them glitter and shine.
The panorama of the city, with its numerous canals, with tourists filming their own experience and selecting scenes complemented by random passers-by, bikers, cars, tourist boats, buses and trams, was filled with the murmur, buzz and bursts of different sounds, overpowering the silence that was never even expected in such a scene.
Our attention was drawn to numerous shop windows. We wandered from store to store, and as ordinary tourists we bought souvenirs, which will forever remind us that we visited this beautiful city once.
"Look at that show!" Ana exclaimed, and went towards an exposed car.
It was a Tesla, an extraordinary line, whose red color seductively attracted the attention of both male and female passers-by. While watching it we watched it, we all felt a strong desire to know what it felt like to sit inside.
Mark sat in the driver's seat and gently slid down with both hands on the wheel, murmuring something under his breath. He then gripped it firmly, looked at us, and said decisively: "girls, I'm taking you to the stars!", that made Ana laugh: "what a cliche Mark!".
As we walked one of the streets, our attention was attracted by a cat that climbed the glass stand without moving or breaking any of the figurines on display.
"They put the cat in the window just to attract the attention of the people", Mark commented. "They managed to draw our attention", I added.
"We still haven't had a chance to see something like that in our country, but it is probably
only a matter of time until this trend comes to us".
"Some of the trends will not arrive anytime soon", I told Mark, thinking about the Red Light district and the coffee shops.
"Amazing surprises are provided by Amsterdam, which we do not have a chance to see in our city."
"You are aware that curiosity was one of the factors that took us to this city as well as it did the other tourists."
We had heard many stories about Amsterdam as a city of free spirit, about the famous Amsterdam Red Square, where girls are dancing and whose services can be used in legitimate brothels, about bars where you can legally buy and consume light drugs, which the liberal Dutch laws allow.
That evening, when we arrived in Amsterdam, we walked through the district. It is known for a number of shop windows illuminated with red neon light, in which scantily-dressed girls expose their bodies as an invitation for bartered intimacy.
Shop windows are carefully looked after by pimps, and many tourists from all over the world visit here. Apart from the red-light windows, this neighborhood offers many other attractions such as the Moulin Rouge erotic theater, the striptease bars, the sex shops, the coffee shops. Taking pictures is absolutely forbidden, and an unsuspecting photographer can easily be left without a camera.
We were expecting to see a few of these windows, but we were shocked when we saw that it was a series of them on streets side-by-side with many other red-lit windows.
We walked from one street to another until one of the streets led us to the center of the area. Here we found the Oudekerksplein market, where the oldest church of Amsterdam, the Oude Kerk, is located. The square also takes it's name from the church. We stopped in front of the church wondering why it was built here.
After seeing the Red district, we entered a coffeeshop curiously and began questioning the waiter about what they had on offer. A waiter showed us the different types of marijuana and hashish products they had at different prices. He told us that the products vary in geographic origin, and you should choose depending on how "high" or "stoned" you want to be. The sale of harder drugs is not allowed.
Finally, we sat and drank coffee.
"The concept of a coffee shop for tourists, who come to visit and relax in Amsterdam, does not seem that bad to me", Mark smiled.
"Tourists come, enjoy themselves, and then leave, but what about the people who grow up and live here"?
"From an early age everything is too accessible for them; from light drugs to the girls dancing in the showrooms", I said in a bit of an anxious tone still thinking about the background story of each of these girls.
"We could walk while we still have time", Ana interrupted us.
"As you know Amsterdam is a city of museums where art lovers can easily find
a museum for their taste".
"Unfortunately, we will not have the time to visit any museum, but we can
walk to the famous Museum Square".
"You will see three great famous museums there, the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum, and the Van Gogh Museum", Ana continued to explain.
As we walked toward the museum area we heard the clatter of horses. We stopped for a few seconds and watched the carriage from which tourists were looking at the city. It passed us by. "Look how beautiful the horse is", I added, while the coachman held the reins in his hand like a maestro determining which direction to go.
It seemed as though he had returned us to a moment in time before the invention of automobiles, the time we had only seen in the movies;
"Imagine if we had to go to Antwerp by coach, with no lighting, no paved roads, no mobile phones or navigation.
How long it would take us?", Mark asked,"and today you sit in a Tesla and you are there in a moment".
Obviously, he was still thinking about the image of the car.
We came to the Museum Quarter. The museums were surrounded by spacious lawns whose
green color was virtually inviting people to take a walk there. Against the backdrop of dark rain clouds approaching from the horizon, and intensely bright rays of sunshine skirting the edges of the clouds, this spacious quarter had an idyllic quality.
We walked through a nearby park and arrived in front of the Rijksmuseum.
It was large and spacious. We got through the crowd and walked into the lobby where
a lot of people were walking, waiting for a sightseeing tour or relaxed sitting in a cafe that was part of the museum itself.
"The second time we come when we will stay a few days longer we will go
on a tour of the museum". "It's too late now and our car is far away".
"We should go to the car", Ana said.
"We were fortunate enough to have good weather. The whole day was sunny
with just a few passing rain drops for which we should be more than grateful", Mark added.
When we got to the car we were exhausted, and a long drive to Antwerp lay ahead of us.
Authored by @lufcija
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