D144 -- A city full of contrasts

We met a really nice couple from Munich at breakfast this morning who told us about a photo exhibit we should check out. First things first, though – Sarah and I did a little shopping and stopped by the closest sweet shop to buy some Dutch chocolate. Mmmm.... chocolates.

An indoor exhibit seemed like a good idea since it was cold and wet out, so we walked to the oldest church in Amsterdam where the World Press Photo 2006 exhibit was being shown. On the way there we passed by numerous scantily-clad prostitutes in windows “showing off their wares” as my mother would say. The prostitutes came in all shapes, sizes, and ages, and only a few of them were actively trying to entice customers. The rest were watching TV, talking on cell phones, or eating lunch. Interspersed among the windows of prostitutes were sex shops and “coffee” houses, which are actually places where you can smoke marijuana. They are everywhere in Amsterdam, and you usually smell them before you see them. We decided that between the sex and the drugs, my mother-in-law's head would explode here.

The photo exhibit was was comprised of award-winning press photos from around the world -- murdered gang members in Guatemala City, scenes of New Orleans looking like a third world country after Katrina, Pakistani earthquake survivors, starving children affected by the worse-than-usual drought and locust plague in Niger, and depictions of the human toll of the Iraq war. The exhibit was amazing, challenging, thought-provoking, sad, tragic, and definitely emotionally exhausting. I highly recommend checking out the photos on-line.

On our walk home we passed by a pub on wheels being cycled down the street by 10 very happy people. One minute we are despairing about the evils plaguing humanity, and the next we are laughing at a bunch of cycling drunks. Amsterdam is crazy.

Besides our walk through the red light district, our other Dutch culture experience was dinner at The Pancake Bakery. Pancakes in the Netherlands are very large and thin and come with any number of vegetables, meats, or fruits mixed in. Sarah and I got more dinner-type ones, while Thomas got one that was more of a dessert: chocolate sauce, whipped cream, caramel and pecan ice cream, and almonds. Although he loved it, after the first few bites it was basically too sweet for him to eat.

-Elva