It’s internationally known for sex, drugs and dreadlocked tourists. Camus once called it a “bourgeois hell.” It’s Amsterdam, and it doesn’t give a damn ‘bout its bad reputation
Digital Journal — As the lights dim in the famous Casa Rosso Theatre, a tall blond woman dressed in white lingerie and matching three-inch stilettos walks to centre stage and carefully positions herself on a round bed. Clouds of smoke swirl around the stage and heavy trance music thumps into the hundreds of chests in the audience. A man enters stage right wearing nothing but a long, chocolate-brown robe. He approaches the woman, kneels down and throws his entire body atop hers. They take turns taunting and teasing one another until it’s time for their big finale. The bed begins to rotate. People in the crowd tilt their heads from one side to the other to get the perfect view. The woman falls on her back and throws her legs in the air as the man starts to thrust in and out. Thirty seconds later, she’s on her hands and knees. His muscles flex as the couple rocks slowly to a sensual rhythm. Their bodies are glimmering with sweat and their mouths are breathing silent moans.
Welcome to live, three-dimensional porn. Welcome to Amsterdam.
There are few places in the world where you can watch a live sex show. In Amsterdam, however, live sex is just another roadside attraction on a highway littered with vice. Amsterdam is, above all else, a city whose tolerant laws have shaped its image on the world stage. It’s a city known for its sex and drugs: The red-light district and the liberal marijuana use are always big tourist grabs. Often overlooked is its progressive character that gives it a reputation beyond quenching carnal desires. In a 2005 survey for overall quality of living, Amsterdam ranked in the top 12 globally, according to Mercer Human Resources. That’s quite a standing, compared to Paris (31st), Tokyo (34th), London and New York City (tied for 39th).
But any casual conversation about Amsterdam will usually turn to the city’s brazen embrace of sex, drugs and out-of-control nightlife.
Amsterdam does have a dark side; an alarming number of expatriates from all over the world wander the streets intoxicated, babbling mindless drivel; some people complain that drug dealers constantly approach them trying to sell hard drugs or anything else to get their traveller’s cheques; and many restaurants across the city serve food greasy enough to clog an artery in one sitting.
Undoubtedly, though, the best-known facet of Amsterdam’s dark side is the red-light district. Whether you are into it or not, visiting Amsterdam without exploring the red-light district is like ordering a Coors Light at an Irish pub.
Strolling through the infamous district, you can’t help but catch a glimpse of the prostitutes lounging behind their windows. These women look like perfectly poised mannequins. Red lights from inside their parlours reflect on their barely clothed bodies and the sidewalk below. It’s difficult to look away when they all peer suggestively at anyone who saunters by, females included. One of their popular tactics is to act preoccupied — they nonchalantly talk on their cellphones or paint their nails while they wait for an inquisitive customer.
Despite prostitution being readily available in the ‘Dam, few visitors make it obvious they are there to procure these services. Customers quietly and quickly go up the stairs to the ladies’ den and when the deed is done, escape back onto the street, head down, mingling into the crowd.
Perhaps the shame stems from the age of the girls. Tourist offices and books will claim that some of the window-prostitutes are just students, working to get through university and pay their rent. It’s obvious, though, that some of the working girls are well beyond the university stage; they’re sagging in places where their proteges aren’t. Under heaps of makeup, their faces are statue-still and their eyes look exhausted.
Many people believe prostitution was always legal in Amsterdam, but in fact, the practice of window prostitution was legalized nationally in October 2000. Before then, prostitution was still rampant, but now it’s allowed under clear regulations: All ladies must be tested for viruses and their establishments must be sanitary.
Another indulgence that seems to be synonymous with the city is marijuana. While the plant is not entirely legal or illegal, it’s tolerated in small quantities. The Netherlands is the first country, however, to sell cannabis and offer it medicinally; it’s available through a prescription at more than 1,500 pharmacies and sold at 800 designated “coffee shops” throughout the country. All along the tiny, winding streets of Amsterdam, you will find dozens of these coffee shops selling small amounts of marijuana and hash.
When you walk into a big coffee shop like The Grasshopper, you’re hit with a surge of smoke so potent and powerful you instantly feel dizzy. Loud house music reverberates through the room and people all around you holler to speak over the music, laugh giddily and look like they’re enjoying themselves more than frat boys at a kegger. Lights are particularly low in most establishments to complement the mellow attitudes of the patrons and staff.
The best way to place an order is to consult the menu that’s plastered on the wall or behind a glass case. Orders are limited to five grams of your favourite fix: straight herb, brownies, cake or pre-rolled joints. Although smoking in coffee shops is sanctioned, smoking on the streets is seen as a breach of etiquette. While this non-law seems a bit wishy-washy, the use of hard drugs — cocaine, heroin — is strictly prohibited. That could explain why Amsterdam welcomes 3.5 million visitors each year (come for the canals, stay for the bong hits) and enjoys one of the lowest crime rates worldwide (who wants to rob a bank when they’ve got the munchies?).
Amsterdam’s residents are certainly an interesting bunch. More than 200 nationalities and ethnicities make up the city’s population of more than 750,000. The city folk are politely blunt, efficient, culturally enriched and bicycle-crazy. Bicycling is a national pastime and hobby; at last count, there was at least one bike per person living in the city.
What can’t be reached by bike is usually accessible by water. A nautical playground, the city is divided by more than 150 canals that total more than 100 kilometres in length. Boaters enjoy cruising through these elegant waters by day under the glistening sun or by night, when thousands of lights illuminate the sky to create a floating wonderland. Many of the Dutch residents also own their own boathouses, allowing them to enjoy the city’s landscape at their own leisure.
Back at the Casa Rosso, another show begins an hour later. In fact, it never really stopped. From the side of the stage, the man in the brown robe emerges. He greets the same woman in the white lingerie on the bed and they perform their scene again, this time to a new audience. The performers’ expressions are exact replicas of the ones they held an hour ago. The second time around, though, it’s obvious how rehearsed this sexual dance can be, how real but amazingly anti-climatic it becomes. This time, it looks like sex has turned into work.
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