Everyone has an image that comes to mind when they think about Amsterdam. Most images involve the Red Light District. Half-naked girls dancing in windows, trying desperately to get the attention of passersby. Perhaps some late-night news report comes to mind of ragged, coked-out women who have found themselves with no other options but a life of crime. Sound familiar? The added rumors that photographs aren’t permitted in this part of town and that guards will appear if you violate this regulation only perpetuates the naughty and off-color reputation this area maintains. In many ways this one small district epitomizes the whole of Amsterdam to outsiders. Between this idea that the entire city consists of prostitutes and their scum-of-the-earth patrons, and the city’s reputation as a drug culture, it’s easy for travelers to get the idea that this is all the city has to offer—that it offers nothing to the everyday traveler.
If you find yourself pondering these same things, you’re not alone. I too wondered if I would even enjoy my time in Amsterdam, not being a social deviant or a pothead.
I’m embarrassed to say that I could’ve easily skipped over Amsterdam in my search of world-travel domination.
I got an incredible deal on airfare and an Air BnB that I just couldn’t refuse, so I decided to go. Truth be told however, before departure I certainly worried about my free time there. Would I even enjoy myself? Would it be full-out debauchery everywhere?
Luckily for me, the real Amsterdam couldn’t have been a starker contrast from my fears. It was SO much more than the Red Light District and seedy coffee shops I’d read so much about in anticipation of my trip.
The real Amsterdam is winding canals, and tulip-lined streets. It is passersby doing everything you could imagine on bicycles, from talking on the phone, holding umbrellas, taking selfies, to having back-and-forth conversations with other cyclists. It is energy and life and art. It is some of the most delicious food I’ve ever eaten—stroopwafels and apple pancakes. It is impromptu flea markets and floating flower markets. It is hand-crafted beer. It is cats lounging on restaurant tables. It is Van Gogh and Rembrandt. It is Anne Frank. It is survival, innovation and ingenuity. It is windmills and Gouda cheese and the tallest swing in Europe. It is taking the harsh realities of society and finding peaceful, safe solutions. It is rowboats and bike bells and laughter. It is hospitality and friendliness without asking for anything in return. It is shadow-churches and daycares and China-town. It’s meeting new friends from different countries and sharing new experiences over food and wine. It is wooden shoes and grachtenpand canal houses as diverse as their inhabitants. It is families, businessmen, and couples jogging in the park. It is so vibrant and full of life.
As usual with fear and anxiety, Amsterdam was none of the things I feared it to be.
I was so glad I trusted my gut and visited this city for myself instead of letting its false reputation scare me away. I laugh to think of my accidental run in with the Red Light District.
We were stumbling along looking for Chinese food and boom, there was a girl in a window. All this time I had been nestled right next to this elusive district and hadn’t even known it. Ironically, our apartment was only a street over from the Red Light District--sandwiched between a church and a daycare in a quiet little neighborhood. That’s how little it stood out against the beauty of the real Amsterdam. It was a mere shadow amongst an otherwise brilliant and inspiring city.
Aldous Huxley once said, “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” This was certainly true of my time in Amsterdam. Truth be told, even the Red Light District was no match for my imagination. It was quiet, and safe, and clean. It had been so easy to walk by unaware of where I was. I was glad to be wrong about this gem.
I encourage you to push the boundaries. Don’t ever let fear stop you from exploring and experiencing life. Different doesn’t always have to be scary. It can be incredibly beautiful too, and is most of the time. You might be surprised at what you uncover when you throw caution to the wind. It’s like the old saying goes: Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.