The land of infinite espresso and sparkling bathrooms

Before we left for Amsterdam, I was reading entries in Travel Blog about the city, one of which struck me as odd: “This city is one of the most messed up cities I have ever been in, just because they are so lax on so many things that are illegal elsewhere.”

I guess if you focus on the coffee shops and prostitution, that would be a fair assessment. But that’s such a small part of Amsterdam. We spent five nights there and completely, utterly fell in love with it. It toyed with us constantly, luring us out of the comfort of our canal house hotel and leading us into a confusing series of serpentine streets. On more than one occasion, we thought we had a general idea of where we were only to discover that we were in a completely different part of town. We spent a lot of time walking, dodging bikes and trying not to get too lost. We also spent a lot of time drinking beer and genever with locals in neighborhood cafes and jumping from espresso machine to espresso machine as we made our way across town.

We also were amazed at how clean the bathrooms were. Even the smallest bar seemed to have spotless bathrooms. It was an amazing thing. I guess we’re easily amused.

As for the illegal parts that made the person in Travel Blog so uneasy, it’s there. Without a doubt. But it’s out in the open and regulated, unlike other cities I’ve traveled in. It’s happening everywhere. It just isn’t closeted in Amsterdam. Though I have to admit it is disturbing to see women for sale in windows. Our simple solution to dealing with this was a few quick, prurient jaunts through the red light district to see what all the fuss was about. The rest of the time we spent exploring wonderful neighborhoods like Jordaan and marveling at the incredible art and architecture in the city.

More later. We’re in Tallinn, Estonia, now and it’s turned out to be even more than we’d hoped for. So far our travel karma has been good …