Amsterdam - An eye-opener...

When I visited Amsterdam, sure, I loved the place with it's scenic beauty of canals everywhere, old buildings and an old-ward charm of it's own, but more importantly, it was an eye-opener for me in many respects.

Some "standard tourist places" ( I hate this tag, but the places I assign this tag here to, are great, nevertheless..) I visited were the canals, dutch countryside (with classic dutch windmills etc.), Anne Frank's house (too good a place), and other such places...

But the more unconventional and not a commonplace experience (in fact, it's as far from commonplace that you can get), were the Red Light Area and the so-called "coffee-shops" (which sell drugs). For the ones who don't know, drugs and prostitution is legal in Amsterdam... About the drugs, I really don't want to comment whether making drugs legal is right or not. It's a clash between individual freedom and the responsibility of the Government.

Red Light District was a bit of a cultural shock for me, where the whole concept is as simple as window shopping.You see it, you chose, you make a deal, and that's that. It takes a very different kind of mindset to fathom this. But, in a way, it makes sense. Well, prostitution has been the oldest profession in the world. So it's actually hypocritical to ban it, when, in reality, it exists in EVERY corner of the world, whether you ban it or not. It's like running away from the reality... There is a saying - " We can wake up the one who is sleeping... But who is to wake up the one who acts to be sleeping ?"

An eye-opener indeed...