Thunder Road

I’ve decided I don’t really like tourist hot spots. Across my travels so far I have touched some tourist hotspots and other places that barely any tourists go to. It’s those “off the beaten path” places that I really feel better in. I like to meet the locals, go to places tourists rarely find out about, learn abit of the local language and immerse myself in their routines. I ask what’s typical of people in the place I’m visiting.

This is a little hard to do when almost every person you meet is visiting from somewhere else. Worse still, in places such as Prague or Amsterdam where so many tourists flock, get high/drunk and become obnoxious and ignore local road laws or just generally become boisterous, they give other tourists a bad name. The locals just learn to blacklist all incoming tourists. But I digress.

Having said all the above, we did meet some interesting folk.

For example – Miss Rachel Lynn Sebastian. A self-proclaimed modern day rockstar on tour from California. We got talking about how she started in the music business, where her favourite performances have been, where she’s performed, tips on song writing. For a music enthusiast such as myself, this was quite a nice meeting. Check her out – she’s pretty talented. http://www.reverbnation.com/rachellynnsebastian

And on the last night in Amsterdam we walked randomly into a bar in the red light district from which we heard some good music. Had a pint, met some English guys just fresh from a stag party. Intended to stay for one drink, then stayed for several more, listening (and singing) to the likes of creedence, rolling stones, springsteen, nirvana, guns n roses, pink floyd, INXS, etc. with our new mates from Newcastle.

While I’m on the red light district topic.. it’s.. interesting there. Rows and rows of windows with women each more beautiful than the last. Perfect strangers knocking on glass and beckoning you to come in, flashing a beaming and all-knowing smile. The second they see you pass, that expression changes to a deadpan faster than anything, and you see them locking eyes with the next passerbys. A little bit of haunting imagery for you, sometimes they open the doors at you, as if to remove one of the barriers between you bringing you one step closer to walking in. Opened so many times each night, the doors become squeaky, and all you hear as you pass is creaking doors opening and shutting for each new eligible bachelor (or not in some cases unfortunately!). The streets flooded with intense red light which adds another dimension to the already intense experience. Some girls are more into their work than others though. By which I mean some are dancing about, some making eye contact with you as you pass, others are having a smoke or on their phones (probably updating facebook statuses, texting, etc.).

At the end of the day, it’s just women standing behind glass windows.. you can spot the pimps as well.