Home safe and sound from our Amsterdam trip, no matter how nice it is to be away on a trip, it is always lovely to come home. Smooth travel thanks to Easyjet and the impressive Amsterdam transport options, we traveled on the tram to our hotel. My first time on a tram, although my Mum told me back in the day trams operated in Belfast. We dined in a Nepalese resturant on spiced lamb, excellent! Then went off in search of the Iran protest meeting in Dam Square. the arranged time, 7.30pm as posted on twitter, came and went. No sign of any protestors. I approached a group of people as I spotted one guy was wearing a green wristband, but no. He had not a clue what I was asking him about, and my gestures( waving my arms around) accompanied by shouting Iran? Protest? Human Rights? Soon had the lot of them scarpering in the opposite direction, they probably thought I spent too much time in the Coffee House! I was a little gutted but mostly sad for the tweeps supporting the protestors of the human rights violations happening in Iran. So we did not let this setback get us down and headed straight off to the Red Light District, Scams was curious :) Again I was struck by how different Amsterdam is to Belfast. The prosititues are protected by law and have even formed their own trade union! Business was brisk and we saw quite a few 'occupied' booths. The atmosphere was good natured , and when we visited a sex shop I was suprised to see several lone female shoppers quite comfortably browsing the products on offer. We didnt know what most of the goods were, and did a bit of childish giggling, but I can honestly say that I am no longer a porn virgin, 3 TV's screened graphic penetration way too up close and personal. I did not find it a turn on, I think for a lot of women, the offer of a cup of tea, or I'll do the dishes tonight, you put your feet up, love, is much more of an aphrosidiac than the (painful looking) shagging going on there. No, we did not buy porn, we did make a modest purchase but I won;t go into too many details, except to say that we bought the same product for our Sons-in-law as a keepsake of Amsterdam(and they both were mightly pleased their pressies)! We did visit a coffee shop and Scams had coffee. I had one of the other 'goods' on offer, but kept it real, no over indulgence to regret. On our way back to the hotel we heard some shouting, and hopeful that the Protest was at last happening turned to investigate, A group of Belfast Boys singing 'the sash my father wore' were the culprits, so we did not join in the singing. Amsterdam memories? Bikes, everywhere, all over, coming from all directions, all the time. Beautiful canals,candlelit dinners, eaten outside, strolling along a particular canal back to our hotel, the long tall buildings luminious in the darkness spilling light and laughter onto the still water. Holding my husband's hand and feeling safe because he was there, celebrating our past 10 years of being in love, by remaining in love. We will go back to Amsterdam, maybe in a few years, and as long as I am with my Scams I am sure it will be just as special.
No comments:
Post a Comment