Amsterdam: dirty, beautiful, and PG-13

It’s official!  I am no longer cruising the Baltic.  We have successfully completed the full Baltic season on the Voyager for 2009 and it went fine, but we are SUPER PUMPED to get to new ports.  It’s going to be really good to head south, too, because we really haven’t had much of a summer. 

Today was the first day in a new port; we arrived at 10:30 in Amsterdam, Netherlands!  What a beautiful and extremely unique city.  I was traveling first with Lindsay and Brett because we had a mission; Lindsay’s four best friends from college were actually spending a week in Amsterdam and we were working on meeting up with them.  By noon I had the great pleasure of meeting Cristina, Glenn, Gina, and EJ, all four characters that gave me an even clearly insight into who Lindsay is.  It was nice to hear people from home and see my closest friend on the ship in an environment with so many people who know her so well. 

We quickly headed into the city looking for a quick bite to eat (I led the way, of course, guidebook in hand).  We stopped at a tiny, but colorful place called “Foodism” where we had sandwiches, a smoothie, etc.  Then we walked around to the famous Red Light District of the city, where their hostel was located.  Seeing this part of the city was really eye-opening.  Prostitution is legal here, of course, and even in broad daylight there are hundreds of girls standing around basically in bikinis just soliciting passerby’s all day long.  They are usually in rooms just big enough for a doorway that are tiled like some sterile bathroom. They will be drinking a soda, smoking, talking on their cell phone or just sitting there waiting… waiting.  It may be one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.  I know these girls probably end up making pretty good money, but I also know that most of them must hate their jobs.  They look jaded and tired…like they are just about over all of it.  I could hardly stand to be in that part of the city for more than 20 minutes.  I know it sounds weird, but I just wanted to give these ladies a hug and let them know that they are loved by a big God that created them just particularly the way they are.  I wonder what He thinks about the whole situation; he must just want to pluck them out of there and save them from all that muck.  Ugh.

I split up from the rest of the group after that for a bit and headed out toward a museum and park area in the southern part of the city.  There I went to the Van Gogh museum, which features tons of pieces by the master.  It was nice to spend some time on my own walking through such a pretty city after that.  Amsterdam has such a specific look to it with the brick houses lining canals.  There are so many trees along the water tickling the intricate gables, making it all so picturesque.  Another thing that is legal here…marijuana is somewhat inescapable.  There are coffee shops everywhere and they all sell coffee and the drug, so just walking down the street you see people everywhere smoking and can smell it all over the place.  It is so strange! 

I met back up with the whole gang to go to the Anne Frank House before dinner.  The office and secret annex where Anne wrote her diaries have been protected and transformed into a wonderful museum.  It was fascinating to climb behind the bookcase through narrow passages and up steep staircases thinking of how quiet and dark this home was for 4 years while the families were hiding here.  I had forgotten how wise and immortal Anne’s words were until hearing them again throughout the museum as they guided our way.  This 13 year-old girl was so far beyond her years and it was just stunning to think about her experiences and the experiences of so many other Jewish people for whom she is a symbol.  What an amazing ambassador! 

By the time dinner came around we were all sufficiently moved… and hungry.  We stuffed ourselves with Italian and then finished off the night with one more walk around the Jordaan neighborhood, over bridges and canals, down more cobbled streets lined with those gables and trees.  It was beautiful.  Oh!  How can I forget?!  There are bikes EVERYWHERE!!! They line every street, they have their own lanes, they have their own multi-level parking garages.  They have officially taken over! 

To end the day Lindsay’s friends came onboard and really quickly took a tour of the ship, including the theatre, decks, and lounge.  I so appreciated it because they were blown away!  We have been on for so long that we sometimes forget how really incredible this life is.  They just kept saying how amazed they were and I was so glad to see it!  What a great end to a very FULL day.  Hope everyone is doing well and I hear from you all very soon!

Love,

Tripp