I Amsterdam

      A 4 am wake-up call began the three most interesting days in Europe so far.  My early morning flight had myself and friends in Amsterdam for a full day to start discovering.  To my surprise the use of English was a lot less prevalent than I had assumed.  As we tried to find our hostel we struggled to find someone who understood us,  and all the signs were in Dutch, confusing us even more. So far I have yet to travel somewhere that did not provide an English translation for everything, making me feel even further away form home as we wandered around looking for directions.
     The first thing I noticed about Amsterdam was the significant amount of bikes! Everyone rode bicycles; it was strange to see more bikes than cars!  When people are not riding bicycles they use the tram to get around.  We used the tram to get everywhere; it was fairly easy to figure out and only cost 7 Euros for three days.
     The second thing that surprised me about Amsterdam was how low key the smoking of Marijuana way.  Going to Amsterdam I knew it was legal, so I assumed it would be everywhere,  but it's actually only a small part of their culture.  It is only allowed in designated coffee shops,  not out on the streets like I thought.
      The third thing that amazed me about Amsterdam was the Red Light District.  This area is unlike anything I have ever seen.  In this area women stand in windows selling their bodies to anyone interested who walks by.  Walking down this street I wondered how these girls could do this night after night.  It made me sad that so many girls find this as a career.  Amsterdam was a very interesting city to visit.  Their flag with XXX across it couldn't be more fitting for this risky city.