Cutting through dense clouds and rocking the plane from side to side,
the captain started to descend towards Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
Touchdown! Boeing's wheels bumped of the runway bringing it back to the
air for no longer than two seconds. A group of young Irish lads clapped
timidly. Scared, eh? Afraid of getting lost in Amsterdam? This is what
you boys came for! Welcome to Amster-fucking-dam!
 |
| An art-work seen through gallery's window. |
The weather was awful. Cold and wet. Not much different to rainy Dublin
on the day of my flight. Before I got off the plane I watched the
airport crew getting soaked while unloading luggage containers. 'Fucking
awesome', I said to myself 'enjoy your stay!'
 |
| Amsterdam at night |
Unlike the shy boys from the back of the plane, I flew over not to get
wasted. Well... that'd be a lie. Of course I couldn't say no to a few
(or a few too many) big fat, legal spliffs! But my plan wasn't to party
hard, get lost, wasted or raped by one of them silicon-boobed girls from
behind the glass. I came in hope to capture the real Amsterdam, I mean
the stuff behind all this dope, partying and noisy Brits.
 |
An emigrant from Venezuela is seen rolling a joint in the Leidsplein area. Just in front of the Bulldog Coffeshop
|
But, I didn't even know what was supposed to be
the real Amsterdam. I had no plan of action. All I knew was that I was ready to wander
around with my film Nikon, looking out for the city's real spirit. In a short space of time I learnt what this place was about.
 |
| Due to the number of spliffs I had I forgot their names. All I remember is that they were from Venezuela and Brazil and that they have lost their jobs and are unemployed now. The Brazilian, holding a joint, approached me asking for some coins to buy a bag of dope. Jah said to share, so I reached a bag of 'White Widow' in my pocket and shared a big fat spliff with mates in need. |
Strangers in the night exchanged glances. 'Shhh',
'Pssst', 'Hey' voices called. I knew what those lone retailers wanted.
Where the market is, the salespeople appear. I wasn't interested. Not my
cup a' tea. I had pockets packed with the finest dope, so why would I
bother with their gear? 'Fuck off' I thought, but at the same time
asking myself how to take a few snaps of their business. That wasn't
possible. I learned that two days obviously isn't enough time to capture
the real spirit of Amster-fucking-dam. I'd need a month or two to get
some quality shots. Nevertheless, I carried on wandering around stoned.
Passing by one of the main streets I spotted a group of a very noisy
British boys. They shouted something and I heard swoosh of a flying by
bottle that soon shattered on a nearby wall. "Excellent!" I thought.
 |
| A Brazilian emigrant is seen smoking a joint in front of the Bulldog Coffeshop. Thanks dope for making me forget names of all the people I met in Amsterdam. |
It was getting late so I thought I'd sit down in the Leidsplein area and
relax a bit more. Puffing a joint, I observed the crowd. Suddenly, I
heard shouting that sounded something like 'NYPD', just as you hear it
in those Yank films. What? 'Too many joints man, too many' I thought and
then I saw a number of police officers jumping on two guys in front of
my face. 'Wow! This is it!' - I got aroused! An adrenaline kick
instantly got me on my feet. I cocked the shutter and started snapping
away. Some guy saw me photographing and he began to pose in front of my
lens. This was the real Amsterdam. The one I was looking for, where
crime and stupidity comes together and have plenty of fun!
 |
| A man is seen posing in front of a police squad arresting two men. |
What a lovely evening! After this short performance I decided to carry
on with my reconnaissance. It was cold and late, about 2am. However, it
stopped raining so holding my hands in my pockets I walked towards
Amsterdam Centraal train station surveying faces of those who, like
myself, stayed out until late. But they weren't tourists. Most of them
were business people, if you know what I mean. I felt strange - like I
took a jet from Dublin and travelled back in time to mythical Sodom and
Gomorrah. Fantastic! Marty McFly! I went back to the hotel, think I
needed sleep...
 |
| Dutch police officers are seen arresting two men. |
The next day wasn't much different. Joints, walking, Nikon and more dope
all day. I even witnessed another arrest, where out of nowhere officers
jumped out of a squad car and arrested a guy. Likewise with the other
arrest the night before, I have no clue what all of these guys got
nicked for. 'What's wrong with this town?' I thought. I had been there
for less than 24 hours and got so much to see and document. I started to
question myself. Is it my luck or this place is actually so bad? I
asked around and it seemed like I've a special talent for trouble. That
was proved on many occasions before.
 |
| A man is seen being arrested by Dutch police. Amsterdam. |
 |
| A man is seen being arrested by Dutch police. Amsterdam. |
 |
| A man is seen being arrested by Dutch police. Amsterdam. |
Amsterdam is a great place to go, if you don't mind the noisy people who
are doing their best to get lost. Don't be discouraged by my words. I'm
nuts. I had a lot of fun, and yes, I did enjoy myself. I just like a
different type of fun.
 |
| All one needs for a nice city walk. |
 |
| Dizzy Amsterdam |
 |
| A man is seen smoking in front of Amsterdam Centraal |
