5 October (part b)

For a full list of all trip photos, click here. For more on the technical specs behind these photos, click here. For the text entry that accompanies these photos, click here.

Part 2 of our crazy 24-hour roadtrip to Amsterdam. (Click here for part 1.) This is a continuation of my afternoon walk through the central city district, this time now on the southeast side.

Ladies and gentlemen, the smallest car in the history of the human race. You wouldn't believe how many of these you see in Amsterdam.

Mein Weed, back at the hotel. This is actually the first bag I bought, which I accidentally got wrong and ended up buying stink weed; the second bag, bought later that night, much more did the trick.

Next four shots: the view from and inside our hotel room.

Next five photos: more shots of the National Monument plaza, just half a block from where we were staying (The red-light district was half a block in the other direction.)

Inside one of Amsterdam's many fine trams. Most large German cities have trams as well, and they really are one of the most remarkable things: imagine the low fares, frequent stops and aboveground views of a city bus in America, but this one electric and on tracks instead of diesel and on tires. Do yourself a favor and skip all the horribly expensive guided bus tours when you're on vacation; simply plunk down a euro and a half, jump on one of these trams, and let it give you a panoramic and leisurely view of the city, without some shill barking in your ear the whole time.

Next three photos: Yet more shots from Amsterdam's central city. Man, you could literally take a photo on every damn corner in that city and still not run out of things to take pictures of for a long, long time.

The only photo I took of the red-light district, up on the north edge near Oude Kerk. "But Jason!" I hear you asking. "After all your stories about half-naked women lounging in glass doorways, why didn't you snap a billion pictures of it all for us?" Well, for several good reasons, actually: 1) I didn't want to be pulling out a $500 cellphone and waving it around every ten seconds while down there; 2) if you stop in the red-light district for five seconds, literally to take a photo or tie your shoe, you are bombarded both with barkers for the sex clubs and drug dealers making their shady sidewalk rounds; and 3) I was afraid that if I started taking pictures of prostitutes, the barkers from the brothels would run out and start demanding money from me, like what happens in Egypt when you take a picture of someone's camel. Anyway, that's why there's no photos documenting the pure insanity that I found in the red-light district during my first visit there. Sorry, suckers!

A furniture store that had been decorated to look exactly like that creepy old guy's house from Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.

Next three shots: random photos of Amsterdam at night. Man oh man, it is just literally impossible to not fall completely in love with that city whenever you're there.

Karin, enjoying a drink down at the random slacker bar we chose in the Rembrandt Plaza district.

Dies ist mein Kiffe. Ich liebe mein Kiffe. Viva la Amsterdam! (This is my joint. I love my joint. Long live Amsterdam!)

My new friend Joris (center), flanked by his roommates, about to go home and watch Fahrenheit 9/11 for the first time. Joris and his buddy Jasper (our bartender that night) had all kinds of great things to tell me about Amsterdam, about where to wander the next morning to find cool residential neighborhoods, und so weiter. You can read all about it in the text part of this travelogue.

This series isn't over! Click here to view the photos from part 3 of my 24 hours in Amsterdam.

Copyright 2004, Jason Pettus. All rights reserved. Although this material is presented here for your enjoyment free of charge, it is still illegal to repost this material without my permission, and especially so if you charge others money to see it. I am usually happy to let others reprint my work in the context of a free artistic publication, so please don't hesitate to contact me at ilikejason at hotmail dot com if you are interested in doing so.