Does the Amsterdam Red Light District Live Up to It's Reputation?

When I tell people we spent some time in Amsterdam, one of their first questions is, "did you go to the Red Light District?"  I answer, of course we did. There are not many places in the world where you can buy marijuana, sex films and toys, or sex so openly, it is hard not to be curious about it and want to check it out.

Now having said that, we did walk through it often to get back to our hotel due to where our hotel was located. But we didn't mind, we love the vibrancy of the area and would have sought it out anyway.

We love watching the tourists gawk and awe at the ladies in the windows lit up with red light (apparently they chose red as it makes the ladies look better). We also like the energy of the area. You have grooms and brides to be on their Stag and/or Doe weekends (or bachelor or hen night parties), military men from many different countries on leave walking around, young people, older people. The energy is light and party like, with now judgment (at least in my experience). It's a real mix of fun, especially as we were there during the World Cup and Holland was in the Quarter and Semi Finals.

We even did a tour of the Red Light District to learn more about the history of the area and to be honest how it all works. Every tourist we talked to wondered the same thing. What we learned was that the prostitutes are paid anywhere from 30 to 50 Euros for 15 minutes of their time. They rent out the "windows" or work areas for 8 hours at a time. Their services are regulated and they must pay taxes on their earnings. There are also rules on how each girl is to dress (must where a bikini of some sort). There are girls of all shapes, sizes, nationalities and age and sexes (blue lights mean that they are actually transvestites). Whatever you do DON"T take a picture of the girls - in my mind out of respect - but also they will get REALLY angry with good reason.

Trying to catch a breeze in his apartment during the heat wave in the Red Light District

This is just like any other neighbourhood really. There are schools and apartments, restaurants, pubs and coffee shops, even art in some windows (the city bought out 1/3 of the windows to try to "clean" up the area and display local artists work).

You will find live sex shows too.... On our visit in 2004 a doorman at a live sex show told us that it would save our marriage if we saw the show - thanks but our marriage is perfectly fine.

Overall the Red Light District is a lot of fun. As the majority of visitors to it are tourists it really feels like a big tourist attraction.

Have you been to the Amsterdam Red Light District? We would love to hear your experience - Please comment below.

Read More

Back from our Romantic and Relaxing Trip to Europe

Wow. I didn't know it was possible, but Warren and I managed to have a relaxing vacation in Europe. We visited Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nice France and Paris France.

In my younger days (fine I am only 40 but still) I always felt like I had to spend every waking moment experiencing the places I was visiting. I wanted to pack in as much as I could.

This trip however we didn't do that. We actually took it easy and really experienced these cities. Instead of waking up early, rushing from tourist attraction to tourist attraction, we changed it up. (It helped that we had been to Amsterdam and Nice before and I had been to Paris as a teenager).

We slept in, got some brunch (it was rare we woke up early enough to get breakfast). Then either visited a tourist attraction or just walked and experienced the city. We enjoyed dinner (we made it an experience most nights and sat outside watching the people go by), and chose something else to do, either to walk and explore or shop a little.

Holland was in the quarter finals and semi finals of the World Cup while we were there. By taking it easy, we got to enjoy the games with the local people and get excited for them. And we aren't even Football (soccer to North Americans) fans!

In Nice we enjoyed the breeze and sun on the rooftop pool overlooking the Mediterranean and the city of Nice. We still managed to get to Monte Carlo, but for touring that was about it.

If we didn't do the typical tourist things (like we didn't make it up the Eiffel Tower as the line ups in July are way too long), then we were OK with that. After all, chances are these attractions aren't going anywhere. This allowed us to consider things that we wouldn't normally do. Like falling asleep in the park in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower or climbing the Arc de Triomphe just because we ended up there. This style of travel also allowed us to enjoy our hotels and hotel rooms. It took the pressure off to see and do it all.

Don't tell Warren this, but I think I am enjoying this style of traveling more (shhh don't tell him or I won't have the option of going back to trying to jam pack all sorts of activities into a holiday!)

It was one our our best romantic vacations ever!

Please share with us how you like to travel? Are you a pack it all type of traveler or a slow down and relax traveler? Leave a comment below we would love to hear from you!

Read More