Stymie said:

I recommend the Anne Frank House....however it's best to get there
when it's not too busy....it's small and has steep, narrow stairways.
My daughter and I didn't actually go in until the third time we were
there within about two days, for that very reason.

Like you and abierman said it's a beautiful city just to walk around
and boat in...amazing architecture and landscaping.

`
[Edited 9/25/08 9:10am]

I didn't go through the whole 6 pages of threads, so I'll just ask:

I'm curious, anybody has been to Russia?..

AndGodCreatedMe said:

It's really the first place I have ever been to where I felt that I fit in. Especially visually. I saw bruthas walking around with playings cards stuck in their hats for an example. Many weren't dressed middle of the road. I saw black cats who weren't afraid to wear their hair long. Again which is something I can relate too. Out here in the states, especially in So. California, everybody is always asking me shit like " You MUST be a musician." Even though that's true, that's not why I wear my hair long. I've had long hair all of my life and always liked it being long. Even when I was a little kid. Has nothing to do with because I'm a musician. But in Holland, I blended in more visually. I've been to Holland twice and both times, it was the same thing. I didn't stick out as much as I do here. So that's one reason. Second, the Red Light District. I was a kid in the candy store there. Some of the most beautiful women from all over the world are employed there and it was totally natural for me. I would never consider paying for anything sexual in the U.S. Largely cuz I don't have to. But in Holland, the vibe there just exudes a "freedom" type of thing...and the women, their aura, their beauty, some are so exotic in their beauty, it's just part of the experience to me. And the women were so professional and at the same time, so loving. These were women and not girls. Big difference. I'm not talking about age, I'm talking about in mentality. A lot of women out here are girls in the head. I don't smoke although I got a serious contact high just from standing out front of Bulldogs. But I don't smoke or drink,..never have. So my vice is beautiful women and sex. Period. If I lived in Holland, I know I wouldn't get caught up in the Red Light District. That initial appeal would be gone for me then. But it's my most favorite place in the world that I have been to. The buildings, just the way it looks there. I dig it.
[Edited 9/25/08 0:45am]

FuNkeNsteiN said:

I know, I know...

blackguitaristz said:

That's nice to hear about my homecountry and I am happy for you that you like it that much! Yes, people are liberal and nobody really care how others look, there's space for everything and everyone. Also, I'm glad to hear that it is not the weedsmoking that makes you like Holland. I hate it when I ask foreigners what they like about my country and the first thing they come up with is the weedsmoking-thing.....it totally pisses me off, eventhough it is maybe not their fault. The Redlight District, you are right, it totally loses its appeal once you live here. I live approx. 5 minutes bike-ride from it and I haven't actually walked there in over 3 years.....I just avoid it. It is nasty, dirty and the (drunk) tourists are very annoying. The girls that work there look sad to me, really, the working-girls that I've seen in Bangkok seem happier than the ones in Amsterdam.....makes you wonder, eh?
Anyways, you'd not need the Redlights at all, there are tons of beautiful women here and they all have good legs.....why? Because all of them ride bikes!
The climate would piss you off though, coming from SoCal.....

I'm glad you enjoy Holland!

abierman said:

But that's Amsterdam, really. It's like NYC not being entirely American, if you know what I mean.
Dutch peeps from the country come to Amsterdam for the liberal feeling of it, to be themselves or to re-invent or discover themselves.
The Dutch countryside is as unforgiven to outsiders as in any other country. Why do you think people like Pim Fortuin and Rita Verdonk get so many votes? Cuz most Dutch people are as narrowminded as the peeps that voted for Bush in the US.

HamsterHuey said:

Yeah, well I like New York for that very reason. Because it is so much more varied and they have so many cultures there.

HamsterHuey said:

I don't think that the association of this subject with political figures like Fortuyn & Verdonk is really at it's place here. First, Fortuyn (RIP) & Verdonk differ a lot from eachother and can not really be compared. Also, Fortuyn's first successes were in a big city (Rotterdam) rather than the countryside....Verdonk is a blank, Fortuyn wasn't.
But you're right, it is like anywhere else, in the metropolitan areas people seem to be more liberal in their views on life than elsewhere.
[Edited 9/25/08 1:21am]

abierman said:

Thank you...Actually I love the weather there. You don't have seasons out here in So. Cal. We don't ever get any rain. It's the same all the time, all year long. The women in the Red Light District when I went both times, the deeper u get into the District, the better looking the women became. My experience anyways. I didn't witness any of them who looked sad at all. But you know, again that was just my experience. Yeah, I thought that was cool everybody riding bikes in the morining going to work. It's a beautiful country from what I saw. Friendly people too.

obsessed said:

I've been to many countries obsessed.

Perhaps 40, 50. Too many to mention.

I don't like travelling tho. It was for work purposes.

I'm surprised to see how many countries you people have been to.

Turkey ( lots of times, particularly the Aegaen coast,my favorite region on this planet)
France
USA
Poland
Lithuania
Latvia
Thailand (great food, beautiful islands)
Cuba
Costa Rica
Panama (just one day around the airport)
Holland (I like the atmosphere and the vibe, and its painters, especially Vermeer)
Austria
Ex-Yugoslavia (Slowenia, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia)
Bulgaria
England
Spain(well, only Gran Canaria)
Nigeria

Would love to visit:
Japan
NYC
LA
Hawaii
Italy(especially Sorrento and Naples, and maybe Sicily)
Spain
Belize
Mexico
and Greece in the near future ( at least some of the islands)
[Edited 9/25/08 2:56am]

blackguitaristz said:

I have been to different cities in the Netherlands several times some years ago and I don't remember the people being either friendly or unfriendly apart from Amsterdam where the people were extremely unfriendly especially the second time I was there. Of all the places I have ever been to only the peoeple in Koblenz, Germany were even more unfriendly . Usually when I travel abroad I always have the impression that people outside my country are nicer than in Austria, but in this case it was totally the opposite. I guess I was just being unlucky as I have met very nice people from the Netherland since.

abierman said:

I love places that have that vibe and sadly Vienna is not like that. I mostly had that impression in New York and also although not that much in London, Berlin and Brussels.

hokie said:

I won't kill you Jill! We have some crazys in this state.

hokie said:

No he was from here I believe.

I have never left the country..unless you think going to Mexico when I was like 7 for an hour, leaving the country.

But I have been to...

Nebraska
Oklahoma
New Mexico
California
South Dakota
Wyoming
Colorado
Kansas
Nevada
Utah
Texas
[Edited 9/25/08 5:02am]

MoniGram said:

FuNkeNsteiN said:

Aww thanks..maybe someday.

Oman (Middle East)
USA
South Korea - worked there!
Portugal - lived and worked there for years
Madeira
Spain
Greece
France
Holland
Ireland
[Edited 9/25/08 8:28am]

abierman said:

I've been there! I balanced it out with Anne Frank's house and some museums too though!

PopeLeo said:

Interesting, I have lived in the US all my life and I get the opposite impression. Most people would love to travel to the "outside world". But for various reasons don't as much as they would like to (not enough money, not enough vacation time, school, etc...)

Im my particular case, when we travel we mostly go to visit my wife's family in Mexico. I have traveled to Mexico 10 times, and up until recently, US citizens did not need a passport to go there, which is why I have never gotten one.

actionthisday said:

Too add to my list, countries I have seen (not from an airplane) without setting foot onto

Mexico (about 200 yards)
Iran (about a mile)
Saudi Arabia (at the horizon)
Bahrain (in territorial waters)
Venezuela (7 miles)
Malaysia (about 10 miles)

G0d said:

That's a lot of countries! You say it was for work purposes,
so do you not travel anymore then?

But I'm sorry you don't enjoy travelling....
it's a joy for me when I'm able to do it.

obsessed said:

Not like I used to.

I still travel back and forth between Ibiza (where I live) and Paris and London (I own restaurants and houses over there).

G0d said:

Oh, I could have sworn you were in either the Indian or Pacific Oceans,
not in the Mediterranean Sea.