Amsterdam in Photos: Floating on the Canal at Amsterdam Pride

hustletoparadise (67)in #travel • 7 years ago

Amsterdam: City of Canals

Amsterdam, Netherlands is one of those cities known purely for how the city lives around its canals. I can think of one other city in Europe that does that extensively which is Venice, Italy.

That being said, Amsterdam canal system is systemically set-up in a cross-hatch manner, where the canals intersect and criss-cross conveniently so that the boats can get anywhere in central Amsterdam easily.

LGBT-Friendly Amsterdam

The Netherlands has always been one of the most LGBT friendly countries within Europe. They were the first to legalize gay marriage well before most other countries decided to even consider it.

The canal set-up makes Amsterdam's Gay Pride quite special and interesting. I had the chance to hope on one of the boats in the canal and enjoy the parade from the boat. While watching the parade from the street or bridge still offers great views, nothing beats being in the boat on the canal floating with many other people, who are quite drunk.

Being in Amsterdam during one of these big events is definitely a spectacle to experience. The other big event is King's Day, which many Dutch from other parts of Holland will come to Amsterdam to come celebrate and party hard!

The Small Con of Amsterdam Canals

That being said, I'll say, the water in the canals is absolutely gross. I do see trash floating around from time to time (and that's not just because of the pride party).

My friend who I rode the boat in told me that once his girlfriend had accidentally feel into the water. The water is quite opaque, so all I could think about was mixture of trash, as well as many guys end up using the canal to pee in when they get a bit drunk.