Amsterdam: Red Light District: Pizza on the Canal

 I had no intention of visiting the red light district.  But the more I read about the area the more I felt it was deserving of a walk.  This is the oldest part of the city and there is much more to see there than just red light sights.  The red light district is known for allowing sex (prostitution) and marijuana.  Marijuana is technically not legal in Holland, but they don't enforce laws against its use in small amounts.  Prostitution is legal within the confines of a few blocks of the Old Town.  Some travel guide writers have extolled the  virtues of this system and the Dutch "progressive" attitudes about sex and marijuana.  In actuality there is serious and contentious political discourse about this policy.  The current mayor of Amsterdam has stated that she wants to stop the sale of  marijuana to foreigners.  She is also looking into ways to further limit the amount of prostitution in the city.  She simply feels that Amsterdam has become a destination for sex and marijuana tourism and that type of tourism isn't what a city already overrun with tourists needs.  Over half of the sex business and two thirds of the marijuana business is conducted with foreigners and she'd like to see that stopped.

With that information Sandy and I took off for the red light district.  In most respects this district looks like any other part of Amsterdam; old, picturesque, and leaning buildings.  Cobbled and bricked sidewalks and bicycles everywhere.  In the space immediately surrounding the Old Church, however, there are a number of shop windows with working girls standing in them trying to attract business.  Sandy and I were there around noon, and most, not all, of the windows were vacant.  Later in the evening we understand that the windows become more active.  Many of the alleys radiating out from the church circle have what they call "brown cafés.  These are coffee houses that also sell, that mostly sell, marijuana that can be consumed in the café or packaged to take home.  If this all sounds a little sleazy, for about two blocks it was.  However, once outside of that area it was just a pleasant walk through a well preserved old city.

This beautiful "Old Church" is in the center of the debauchery

The long red light over the window indicates that at times women will be standing in them.

The Bulldog café, reputedly the first marijuana café in Amsterdam

In this oldest part of town the front doors opened right onto the canals.  

Without a boat you went nowhere

After our walk around the old city, Sandy and I took a Pizza Tour on one of the canal boats.  

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