Venice is for women; Amsterdam is for men

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Ahh yes,

We are finally in Amsterdam and have felt the circle of human experiences complete. We have seen the two sides of Michaelangelo's work--the holy paintings of the Sistine Chapel in Rome and pornographic scenes of Fawns and Nymphs mating in the Sex Museum here. Now we feel more balanced, and I'm convinced he was an artist before being a religious painter. Well, we've seen the infamous prostitutes in their windows, and the coffee shops abound, full of the young, foreign, excited males ready to indulge in debauchery and the unknown.

As in Paris, wandering the streets is fun, and I always feel a sense of grounding after I've seen the local neighborhoods by foot and unpacked the room just the way I like it. It disturbs me there is little thought of the dangerous side of sex, and no emphasis on the consensual nature of sexual experiences.

We've seen the Anne Frank House, and there was such a sense of sadness and it was very sparse. The message here was clear, Freedom of Speech, Religion, and Press is important and many challenges exist to threaten these principles today (Church censorship of Gay Rights, Racism and Hate Speech against the Different, and US Government Invasion of Privacy). There seems to be a proud ideology centered around freedom(s), and common respect among the locals, and the tourists are some what upsetting to them in there lust for thoughtless acts of debauchery.

Erik liked the Van Gogh Museum, most of the works were done in 10 years time, and it is amazing he accomplished so much. At the end of his life he seems to have gone mad from epileptic seizures...but who really knows how mentally ill he really was before going into the sanitarium.

Well, we should head out now to Explore more! I have so much more to say about all the places, but so little time right now!