Weeper's Tower
There is a small tower that sits on the edge of Amsterdam called the Schreierstoren where young 15th century women would wave farewell to their lovers and hope that they would return one day soon. In English, this place is called the Weeper’s Tower.
While I’m not sure I will return to Amsterdam anytime soon, I doubt there was any weeping for my departure. The city has a life of its own and its cares are reserved only for where the next drink or puff will take place. Its nonchalant attitude is one of its many charms and the only tears you can expect come from the skies to quickly wash away any remnants of the previous night before sun breaks.
Since the city was littered with aspiring Millie Browns last weekend, it was probably a good thing the rain pressure-washed the streets each day that we were there. The aftereffects of the city’s raucous evenings could be seen in the desolate streets during the morning. Women in regular street clothes were found in the glass display cages of the red light district eating breakfast and reading magazines as they waited for their clientele to wake from a heavy stupor, and the only pedestrians were foreigners like ourselves touring the windows of the condomerie (condom shop), gazing at the creepy dolls above Café ‘t Mandje (the first gay bar), and wishing there were still monkeys at the Café Int Aepjen where travellers short of cash once paid the barkeep with foreign animals until there were too many to handle. The monkeys eventually became the first inhabitants of the Artis Royal Zoo.
Amsterdam
Around noon on Sunday, the city was back up and running (literally) as what appeared to be the entire city decked out in costumes ranging from The Mask to brides and rock and roll stars jogged between the canals in a citywide marathon. By Monday morning, everyone returned to regular working schedules and could be viewed in their own corporate glass display cages along unlit streets. The Dutch seem to have a good balance of play and work in their daily lives that works. I’d like to transport this mentality along with the express food walls back home with me, but alas the souvenir stands only carried clogs.
This amazing trip was both sponsored and organized by the awesome team at Transat Holidays! To take part in a real night of Dutch revelry, start by visiting Air Transat for a schedule of flights. They operate up to four weekly flights from Vancouver, two from Calgary, and four from Toronto until mid to late October, 2012.
