Well, readers, my trip is now over! I write this on the flight from Amsterdam to Atlanta. First I’ll talk about what I did on my last couple of days, and then I’ll wrap up.

I didn’t plan much for my day in Amsterdam, since it was an unexpected side effect of a flight delay. I took a bus to the city from my hotel and meandered around the central area, as well as the red light district (De Wallen).

Warning: This post contains a long and frank description of prostitution in the Red Light District! Skip forwards a bit if you don’t want to see it…

The city of Amsterdam did indeed seem like a much bigger version of Utrecht. It’s very flat, made up of canals and alleys. As with the rest of the country, bikes predominate here. House boats and small tour boats drift through the water. Near city center, the canals form a fan pattern that’s fun to wander through. I walked through the areas with shops and restaurants. Popular attractions include Amsterdam’s art museums and the Anne Frank house.

The quirk that makes Amsterdam infamous are its citizens’ legal access to two things: cannabis and prostitution.

Cannabis has a strange place in the culture of the Netherlands. It’s legal for specialty stores (euphemistically called “coffeehouses”) to sell, legal to possess and use in small quantities, but not legal to grow. In other words, it’s very easy and legal to buy, but still farmed and sold via a black market. Efforts have been made by the government to restrict coffeehouse patrons to Netherlands citizens only, using some kind of Weedpass card. This strategy has been implemented across the rest of the country, but not in Amsterdam. The city protested strongly against more restrictions. In practice, it’s still easy for tourists to buy cannabis in Amsterdam.

And it’s easy for tourists to hire a sex worker. I learned a lot about this at the Museum of Prostitution in the Red Light district. Although the Dutch government has been trying to move prostitution out of De Wallen, their efforts have not come to anything yet.

De Wallen was originally an area by the docks where sailors would carouse. Today, the “hey there sailor” tradition continues. A number of full-body windows with red curtains line the alleys — the prime area of business for sex workers. Once the curtain is opened, the window is illuminated with either red or blue light. Historically, red light was used to hide the skin lesions associated with sexually transmitted disease. Red light is still standard. Blue light is used by transgender prostitutes.

Prostitutes in De Wallen must be officially licensed by the Dutch government, and do pay taxes on their income. The cost is ~$150 for them to rent a window for 10 hours. From there, they must make the money back (and a profit on top of that, of course). The prostitutes display themselves in the window and try to beckon passing men. Typical rates are ~$50 for the most “basic” type of encounter with a sex worker; anything more is extra and must be negotiated beforehand. Sex workers at the De Wallen windows face pressure to make the encounter short, in order to see as many customers as possible, so at that $50 price it’s usually around six minutes or less. It is difficult work, especially with how boorish and demanding drunk tourists can be.

So what do you think is the most dangerous job? Fishing, logging, serving in the military… or sex work?

It seems to me that humanity’s “oldest profession,” a form of work so marginalized that it is not even seen as legitimate work in most countries, is surely one of the most unsafe. Not just because of the risk of being brutalized by men — but also the fact that it lacks legal legitimacy, employment benefits, and societal respect.

Indeed, sex work is one of the most dangerous jobs in existence, though the Dutch have certainly made it safer. Legal systems are in place to help women separate from an abusive “loverboy”, or pimp. Prostitutes have various views on their job; some enjoy it, and some regret it or are coerced. Trafficking is still an issue in Amsterdam, though patrons are required by law to report it if they suspect something is wrong.

It was a really hot day when I was in Amsterdam — the temperature nearly reached 100 degrees F. Also, it was a weekday. So there wasn’t too much activity or nuisance tourists. However, I’m sure the beautiful streets and canals of De Wallen are victim to rowdy crowds on most nights.

On the more wholesome side, central Amsterdam has some really good shopping and eating! I don’t want to make it sound like the city is all about vice — it isn’t. The grand art museums and Van Gogh museum are proof of that.

I started my day with a latte macchiato and waffle with banana slices. Then I went to maybe the most unique place to shop, the Flohenmarkt, a bunch of floating stalls on the canal. They mostly sold touristy goods like flowers, knickknacks and all kinds of tulips — bulbs, seeds, bouquets, and painted wood imitations. Besides tourist stuff, they also sold a lot of flowers. I really appreciate how cut flowers are for sale everywhere in the Netherlands, and appear to be a part of the culture.

I considered going into Ripley’s Believe it or Not and Madame Tusseaud’s. But I think the Ripley’s is pretty much a copy of the one in LA (which I have already been to) and Madame Tusseaud’s contains mostly local Dutch celebrities I wouldn’t recognize.

One of these Dutch celebs immortalized in wax is someone I do actually know, though — the YouTuber NikkieTutorials. Nikkie is one of the most popular makeup artists on YouTube. She’s known for her sparkling, lovable personality, and her skill with makeup.

But one day (I believe around 2020), someone online threatened to out her — she was blackmailed. As it turns out, Nikkie is a transgender woman who transitioned in her teen years. No one in her online audience knew. She decided to reveal it herself to get out ahead of the blackmail. Since then, she has become an icon not just for the Netherlands, but for transgender women as well.

Anyway — instead, I headed to the science museum. The museum was somewhat focused on children, but the 4th level (all about the human body) offered more for adults, including preserved human anatomy specimens. There were also some interactive “social experiment” type exhibits that would have been more fun with a second person. Overall though, it was a nice place to walk through in order to escape the searing heat outside.

The rest of the day was more wandering and window-shopping. If it were a cooler day, it would have been great fun to rent a bike.

I eventually ended at a sort of small pan-Asian district, and ate eye-wateringly spicy Chinese food for my last dinner in Europe. (I realize now that is a bit ironic — but even the Dutch themselves are not too excited by their own cuisine.)

Back at the hotel, I dumped all my toiletries to lighten my backpack’s load — and then it was time to go home. But the journey was not easy. Amsterdam’s airport, Schiphol, is going though a staffing shortage of epic proportions, and it’s complete chaos inside. I battled through crowds and waited in the wrong security line for 30 minutes before realizing my mistake. Fortunately I was able to switch and make my flight on time — I had arrived at the airport 3 hours early, which turned out to be enough, though it was recommended to get there 4 hours before.

I’m ready for homecoming. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve yearned to be back, even while having a fantastic time. I want to start dating again, and eat healthy meals at home, and wear more than my assortment of five travel outfits — and, of course, arrange all my souvenirs for display in my bedroom. Soon I’ll be doing some volunteer work for school and moving into a co-ed medical fraternity house.

As I settle back into Omaha, it feels as if I’ve only been gone a few days. It feels like I haven’t changed at all, and I’m the exact same Eva as before.

But — I know I have changed. I learned history about Germany and Hungary that I’m sure I’ll remember for years. I gained confidence in my ability to travel… and the ability to enjoy my own company. There’s definitely confidence that comes with knowing you can handle being abroad alone without totally losing your mind. (Instead, the tally of what I lost on this trip was: 1 set of noise-cancelling earbuds (borrowed from Dad), 1 travel bottle of soap, 1/2 of a really cute swimsuit set, 1 sock.)

If you made it this far, I’d truly like to thank you for reading along and commenting. It was fun to travel by myself, but it did get lonely at times. Writing this blog and reading your comments really helped with that!

Stay happy and healthy, and eat more pretzels,

Eva