Red Light District

After spending the day in the museum marveling over art, we went to the Red Light District to take in a different sort of spectacle. When night falls, the area actually glows red. Sex theaters throw open their doors and the streets are packed with people gawking at the scantily-clad prostitutes propositioning passers-by from black-lit windows. The profession is legal in the Netherlands, with a number of security measures in place to prevent violence against the women, STDs, etc.

Most of the sex workers are women. Ironically, a few years back three men attempted to follow the lead of their female colleagues. The men positioned themselves in a window, but they were instructed not to quit their day job because the women were simply not taking their bait. One of the female prostitutes even described the incident as "filthy." Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Ouch!