The red lights of Amsterdam
Walking through the red light district of Amsterdam was like walking through the Harry Potter world of Diagon Alley; although instead of wands and beasts you had dildos and breasts.
The district is surprising well organized and you cannot help but admire the professionalism that follows through. The girls are all self employed, each renting out their own window. They have control over the rate the charge, the hours they choose to work and the clientele they choose to accept.
Furthermore the red light district is separated into zones; you have your eastern European girls in one section, your fetishes together in another, trans in a group of their own to avoid any confusion and then there is the ‘upper class’ end of the district where you pretty much pay more for the same thing.
Walking the canals of the district was an interesting experience; the red glow of the windows made a lot of the girls looks more like mannequins in a shop window rather than flesh and blood – you almost wanted to stop and stare just to see if they moved. Some of the girls took advantage of the lighting, wearing florescent lingerie and doing a little dance by the window – it was all very much a parade of Peacocks (excuse the pun!) – Which girl had the largest tail feathers to attract the audience of men that passed by. And on that note, there were some pretty big tail feathers on some of these girls too!
For those curious enough to wonder how it all works for a tourist, here is a 101 for the Red Light District of Amsterdam: (note none of this is from personal experience, I just happen to be very well informed)
The whole process is rather simple; knock on the window of a girl you like the look of, and if she likes what she sees she will open the window where the two of you then begin negotiating the intricacies of the session and the rate.
The base rate for the district is around 50 euro, which includes a suck and duck, muck.. or the one starting with ‘F’. Strictly one position, so choose well, as deciding to swap midway will incur an additional fee. There is also no bonus cuddle session for finishing early; so if you finish well before your 15 minutes are up, tough luck I am afraid, better luck next time!
Other activities such as kissing or removing a bra etc also incur an additional expense. On a good night a girl can turn over 1000 euros.
All that aside, it should be said there is a lot more to Amsterdam’s red light district than just sex. There are a number of things to do from live sex shows (okay, bad example), nick-nack shops, coffee shops (that sell coffee as a secondary thing), plenty of pubs and even the odd high-end clothing boutique store (Amsterdams answer to lifting the stigma of the red light district).
As a matter of fact the district is shrinking every year. It turns out the Amsterdam tourism board doesn’t like to be recognised firstly for its open views on drugs and sex. So with each year that passes more and more window are closed down, rates of the available windows are increased and slowly but surely the red light district is being cornered into a single canal avenue as opposed to today where although the majority of the action runs down a single canal, there are dribs and drabs of red glowing windows throughout the surrounding streets.
Some locals argue that the Red light district of Amsterdam is already a family friendly experience, for instance a local kindergarten is located immediately next door to four windows (as well as both the kindergarten and girls being located opposite a cathedral). When the children were asked what they thought of it all they innocently replied, the pretty girls are just selling kisses!