Amsterdam proved to be a real emotional relief from Berlin. I spent four days in Amsterdam from January 15 - 19 this year, obviously having departed Berlin and being on my way back slowly to London. Jokes aside about the pot smoking and red light district, Amsterdam is a very positive and relaxing place luckily with a lot of people who don't bat an eyelid to speak to you in English. Everyone has a bike as you may have heard, it's definitely true, there are millions of bicycles in Amsterdam and l think with almost everyone traveling that way it has much to do with the happier attitude. As far as work goes, got some poetry completed here as well as a full size and highly developed illustration that took the course of the stay to complete. More to come there.
Traveling on my own and thanks to my natural inclination i didn't actually touch drugs while l was there despite being confused for a dealer on my first night then subsequently offered about anything l wanted. Don't think l'm that much of a prude, seeing the drug culture was entertaining and it was sort of relieving to see it in a place where it seemed to coexist quite harmlessly with the rest of society's workings. Being in Amsterdam at the very beginning of the year was not too cold, certainly not freezing. Right now (17.02) it is though! One can actually skate through the frozen canals of Amsterdam now which would have been incredible, even just to photograph.
Rembrandt's house/studio and the Van Gogh Museum were two personal highlights of the Amsterdam stay. Nothing of interest was on sadly at The Paradiso during my stay but that's probably the most prominent independent venue in the city and l know has practically housed all the greats over the years. Commonly between the art collections that aren't hard to find, like most European cities the ancient layout and architecture of the city is fascinating, in this case broken up the infamous decadence and small inconspicuous doorways Amsterdam is known for. Definitely worth a week of your life.
Jim S
