by Yzzy Quarker

Created on: January 30, 2009   Last Updated: February 12, 2009

Until my first visit to Amsterdam, just after my 53rd birthday, I hadn't been farther out of the U.S. than Mexico. I had taken a few trips in the United States but I had never left the country until I lifted off to visit Amsterdam for two weeks. Alone, on a plane full of strangers, on my way to Amsterdam, I had never been more excited. But why pick Amsterdam?

What made me choose this cosmopolitan village over the many glorious choices throughout Europe? When I finally decided I was going to Europe I had to determine to where. At first I planned to spend a month travelling on trains and such across Western Europe. In a daydream I pictured myself standing with my small, lightly packed rolling carry-on, waiting on a wooden platform for next train to the next little village. It seemed idyllic until I remembered how easily I get lost and how travelling to a place for only a few days frustrates my need to really experience a place. I mean, it takes me three days just to get oriented in a new place and I did not want to travel using the "get in and get out" technique. I wanted to experience a European city, not just see Europe.

Further research was making Amsterdam more and more enticing. It is small, the guide books all said, pedestrian-friendly with a great tram system. Everyone speaks English, I read, which led me to believe Amsterdam would be foreign and exotic without being overwhelming and strange. There are the standard touristy things to do: visit museums, tour gardens, feel the spirit still living in old churches and literature was teaching me that Amsterdam offers them in classic-style as well as irreverent-style, meaning just my style.

The city offers museums ranging in interest from the Van Gogh and Modern Art Museums to the Torture and Sex Museums. Continued reading informed me that Amsterdam has a population enlightened enough to realize soft drugs (marijuana and its derivative, hash) and prostitution (the oldest profession) are not going away no matter how much money you throw at them, and they are pragmatic enough to make laws that benefit the people of the city regarding these issues. Legalization, taxation, and observation keep these activities nicely controlled by the city making bicycle theft Amsterdam's biggest crime.

More excited than I can explain, this old lady with a hippie heart arrived at the airport several hours earlier than necessary. It was a rainy day in L.A. and the tarmac glistened like slabs of hematite. Amsterdam was waiting. The flight

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