Eurotrip v2.0, vol III
I've never been anywhere like this. Amsterdam is perhaps the most beautiful cities I've ever visited. There are few cars, all the trams are electrically powered, and mostly everyone rides bikes. The air is clean and there are none of those harsh city noises one gets accustomed too. Being on a busy corner during rush hour is unreal, with bikes fluttering by in every direction. In America, you're used to seeing people riding bikes either for exercise or recreation, but here people are going to and from work and carrying home groceries. The importance of bikes was highlighted in the park across from our hostel - pedestrians get a muddy dirt path to walk on, cycles get a fat paved road going down the middle.
The fog here is different than in London. Things aren't as gray because it's not as thick. Most o the buildings have a much older and European look to them. It's also got a much more foreign feel than London, being that though English is widely spoken, it's not nearly as pervasive. I think Eric was right when he said everyone should spend a month in Holland.
I'm sure most of you want to know about what Amsterdam is famous for around the world: the red light district and the "coffee shops." The myth is bigger than the reality. While both exist, both are largely confined to one part of town. People keep those things behind closed doors. We haven't been solicited anything walking down the street, as we were in Camdentown in London
It would seem the Dutch, and Europeans in general, take a different approach to vice than Americans do. They seem to take the Aristotelian approach that the alleviation of injustice is the proper path for man, and that a universal and "supernatural" approach to a justice doesn't work on Earth. As such, keeping AIDS subdued and prostitutes off of the streets seems to be of more importance than false impressions of a perfect city. The same goes for drug use. It's a shame so many tourist come here only to exploit this.
I've come a Grand Theory of Europe, why Americans and Europeans are at odds on a lot of issues. I look at is in historical context, that Europe reached the zenith of their power about 150 years ago when they conquered the world through their various empires. Those empires came crashing down following the second world war. This then is Europe on the decline, and they'll be declining for quite some time. They've lost a lot of wealth, prestige, power, and population over the decades. American was at the height of it's relative power following the second world war but might have just hit another peak following September 11. It's impossible to tell how long we'll stay on top but the issue is we don't have the same historical wisdom as the Europeans have. For most Europeans, the collapse of their empire was within their living memories. One could take two paths from here: 1) Europeans are jealous of their power lost and want to hold America back so that they may regain some relative advantages in the world, or 2) that Europeans seek to warn American about the path to world hegemony we've taken and seek to restrain us so that the mast of Western Civilization, America, doesn't fall into the same trap of imperial overstretch that they did. Truthfully, it might be both. The French and Germans certainly fall into idea 1, but the Dutch and other smaller powers probably fall into idea 2.
Signing out,
Trey Menefee
Tags: Treyopia Europe Travel Amsterdam
