Trip to Amsterdam

flickr: Big Cheesy Grin

It is such a different concept to travel in Germany compared with America. In the US you can drive hours upon hours and still be in the same state. Germany however, is located in the heart of Europe, and surrounding it there are nine completely different countries to visit. Starting in the North and working clockwise there is Denmark, Poland, The Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and The Netherlands. This past weekend I took full advantage of the border that lies just to the West of me and visited Amsterdam, located in the Netherlands.

Now, Amsterdam is very famous for many things, especially their citizens liberal attitudes which allow the Red Light district and ‘coffee’ shops to run freely, but there is so much more to this wonderful city that gets overshadowed when visitors talk about what they experienced there. Such as the bikes. Never in my life have I seen so many bikes in a city. The population of Amsterdam is around 750,000 and there are over 600,000 bikes in the city. They are literally everywhere. Outside the main train station there is a bike park (similar to a car park), with bikes all lined up and locked, waiting for their owner to come back and ride them. I noticed that it wasn’t only environmentally friendly to ride these bikes around, but also quite practical. The city was consciously planned around a canal system that was built in the 17^th century. The remaining roads are really too thin for cars to drive on and parking is very limited. Biking is a much smarter option. During the trip, I went on a canal boat tour and learned that on average one

public urinal

car still falls into the water a week. No wonder there are so many bikes.

The next thing I saw I couldn’t believe. They had standing urinals for men to use right in the middle of the street. Now this isn’t a potter potty with a door and a lock. It is just a urinal with absolutely no wall to block out anyone’s curious gaze. I consider myself a liberal person, but this, this was just too much. To have men peeing in the middle of the street as I was on my way to get a croissant at the deli, I was disgusted. That evening though, my thoughts about this public, outdoor urinal changed completely. As the parties began and people were drinking boys were running to and from the urinal using it very diligently. I thought wait, this is a great idea! These same boys would be peeing right on the street or on the side of the building if there hadn’t been a urinal there for them to use.

Here are just two of the amazing, quirky things I saw while travelling this past weekend and now I can’t wait for my next vacation.