The new economy has brought prosperity all
around evident from growing business zones and transformation of the general
landscape surrounding ancient town houses and canals.
With about ¾ of a million of populace, the
transformation of Amsterdam
from a hippie haven to a buzzing business city is not yet complete. The culture
of free thinking and collective living has not yet gone away. Only the free
culture is not an offshoot of semi legal toxic and exotic plants, but a by
product of successful economic growth today.
Today’s Amsterdam does not welcome the
hippie youth that thinks getting high on hash is a part of the city’s culture
but prefers youth that have a spending capacity. It’s not that one can’t smoke
hash but Amsterdam
has slowly transformed itself into a city where you can smoke hash and enjoy
the city without a big damage to the pocket.
It would be wrong to think that the locals
are addicted or are always high on marijuana. They are busy planning and
remodeling a few town houses into various centers of innovative business, they
are busy biking around or tasting ethnic food or just relaxing watching life
from the sidelines reading newspapers on a sidewalk café.
English is most prevalent language of Amsterdam ; it is spoken
fluently by a major portion of the populace. The basic attitude of people here
is very friendly and carefree, as much that one could chat up a local in course
of one beer.
Each province of Netherlands
has its own tourist organization strewn around with multi lingual attendants.
These Associations for Foreign Travel, as they are called or in short VVV
(fay-fay-fay), book accommodations, help making travel arrangements and keeps the visitor abreast with latest
programmes. They also publish Amsterdam Day by Day, a monthly magazine stating
programmes for the month for a mere $2.50.
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