Amsterdam – A City of Surprises

by | May 23, 2013 | General | 2 comments

By Lucy Felthouse

One of the infamous canals – there really are lots!

… and not necessarily the ones you think I mean. I just got back from Amsterdam where I spent a few days exploring and hoping for lots of inspiration for one of my erotic series. One such surprise is that I wasn’t as inspired as I thought I would be. It’s a city known mainly for its Red Light District – despite the fact there’s lots more to it – and I figured I would get lots of ideas from that alone. I admit I’m slightly disappointed (only by the lack of inspiration – the trip itself was wonderful!).

The Condomerie – surrounded by giggling
idiots. Yes, I was one of them.

I didn’t see all of the Red Light District, it goes on for quite a way, and thousands of football fans made us beat a hasty retreat before it all got rather nasty. We went back the following day but it was early and not much was happening. Despite that, there were women in the windows, there were an abundance of sex toys in the other windows, and it really wasn’t very erotic. I can only comment on what I saw with my own eyes, of course, and this is just my opinion, but I just didn’t think it was sexy or seductive. I thought it was pretty damn trashy. I haven’t got anything against the idea of prostitution, especially in that kind of environment where it’s much safer and heavily policed, but I tried to see it through a man’s eyes and what might be hot about it – and failed miserably. If I was a single man desperate to be with someone, I still wouldn’t go in there. I may as well go next door and buy a Fleshlight.

Wonkiness is apparent here, and I hadn’t
even walked past a “coffeeshop” yet

Otherwise, it’s a very beautiful city with lots of wonky buildings (and no, I didn’t touch any drugs, though I’m sure I got a fair whack of passive highs as I walked past the many “coffeeshops”) and a pretty laid back atmosphere – none of the rushing around you see in London, or the massively over-crowded shopping streets. There are bikes literally everywhere and crossing the road is an incredibly dangerous thing to do. It’s much smaller, I believe, than London, Paris or Rome, but I still found it quite difficult to navigate – and I’m pretty nifty with a map. Having said that, though, we didn’t get lost, so it’s all good πŸ™‚

We visited lots of museums, churches and of course, went on a canal cruise, and we didn’t manage to do everything on our itinerary, so it just shows there’s tons more there than drugs and prostitution, and although I haven’t got a bazillion ideas running through my head, I’ve definitely got enough to be going on with for my erotic series, and I’m sure other things will probably come to me at a later date, as they so often do.

I hope so, anyway. I do love penning different locations.

*****

Lucy Felthouse is a very busy woman! She writes erotica and
erotic romance in a variety of subgenres and pairings, and has over seventy
publications to her name, with many more in the pipeline. These include Best
Bondage Erotica 2012 and 2013, and Best Women’s Erotica 2013. Another string to
her bow is editing, and she has edited and co-edited a number of anthologies.
She owns Erotica For All, and is book
editor for Cliterati. Find out more at http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk. Join
her on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to her
newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/gMQb9

Lucy Felthouse

2 Comments

  1. Lisabet Sarai

    Hi, Lucy,

    I was just in Amsterdam myself last month and really enjoyed it. One high spot was the Katzen Kabinet – a museum of cat art (and cat kitch) in one of the canal houses. Bizarre and fun!

    I do have a story set in the red light district ("Shades of Red"). But it's heavily based on fantasy. Also, I've been in Amsterdam a number of times over the years and I'd say the red light district has become less sexy – and less diverse. It used to be that the different women in the windows had distinctive styles, different costumes, props and attitudes. This time (yes, I admit my husband and I went wandering around in those alleys!) they all looked alike.

    I'm a fan of variety!

    • Jean Roberta

      Lucy, I love the pictures! I've always wanted to visit Amsterdam, not only because of the famously liberal Dutch attitude to sex and dope. Having been in the sex biz myself, I know the kind of desperation that often pushes women (& some men) into it, and even though making it legal & safer everywhere on earth would be a big step forward (IMO), that in itself wouldn't eliminate desperate motives. I've always wondered how the sex workers of Amsterdam differ from those in other places — if they do. Someone should write a book. πŸ™‚

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