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The hippie movement was a youth
revolution born in the United States of America. The
movement quickly spread across the western world, and
took on a different form in different countries. The
most faithful to the original ideas of Peace &
Love were hippies mainly in England, The Netherlands
and Denmark. But hippie protests in Germany, France
and the youth revolt in Japan sometimes resorted to
violence. And there were no hippie movements behind
the Iron Curtain; though some hippie fashions and
music were slowly sneaking in through the boarder in
the 1960-70s.
The Netherlands was a popular destination for many
hippies; especially those that left America for
Europe to avoid the military draft or to find exile
from drug related legal issues. At first, the Dutch
didn't know how to deal with crowds of hippies
invading their small country. But it didn't take long
for them to accepted us and welcome us with open arms
and open public spaces. Thus, Amsterdam was born as
Europe's leading hippie heaven.
The first Dutch city I visited was Rotterdam. It was just before my
eighteenth birthday during the Vietnam War in 1969. Many young Americans such as
I left the country for Mexico, Canada or Europe to
avoid the draft. After leaving Chicago for Montreal,
Canada I boarded a transatlantic Ocean liner and headed for
Europe. Many may not know this today, but in those
days young man had to register for the armed forces
on their eighteenth birthday. Most of those from my
generation went to Vietnam. So, I lost a few friends
in that senseless war. So I wasn't eager to join
them. But I wasn't ashamed of being American; just
ashamed of my government.
So there I was, on board a ship headed for the Old
Continent aka Europe. I didn't want to leave home but
the situation drove me to it. Now looking back, I
think it was the right choice for many other reasons.
If one wants to find oneself then one should pack a
backpack and head for the Old World, and that's what
I've done and it transformed my life for ever.
So I was on the Atlantic for about two weeks headed
for exile. That's when I realized how small we are on
the face of our planet and how much we are at the
will of Mother Nature. At one point towards the end
of that journey, our ship went into a storm on the North Sea. I'll never forget those winds
and big waves that kept throwing our ship in all
directions. After docking in Rotterdam and setting my
foot on Dutch soil for the first time, I felt as if I
returned to a long lost home. I still feel that way
every time I cross the Dutch boarder, even though I'm
not Dutch and I don't speak the language. But there
was no problem in communicating with the natives
because most Dutch people spoke English as a second
language. I don't know what it is that I love about
Holland? It's a paranormal type of experience.
Perhaps I lived in Amsterdam in a past life or
perhaps there may be some other reasons? But I didn't
stay long in Holland on that first visit. However, I
promised myself to return there in the future. I've
been through other storms on ships to Copenhagen and Montreal, but I'll never
forget that one on the North Sea before we docked in
Rotterdam.. Read
more about my 1960s hippie experiences here.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono's first Bed-In was held in Amsterdam, 1969.
Here's some information I'd like to
share about Amsterdam in the Netherlands*. It's been once said that the
Netherlands is where the richest poor people in the
world live and the poorest rich people in the world.
That's probably because the Netherlands is a
Socialist country where residents enjoy many more
social benefits and freedoms then people in other
countries, but all that has a price.
Amsterdam was built on the river Amstel. Many dams were built on that
river to hold back the waters. Hance the city was
called Amsteldam and later Amsterdam. But there are
also those that believe it's a Japanese
mispronunciation of "Amsteldam" that the
Portuguese went with because they needed the trade
with Japan. Whatever the the truth may be, Amsterdam
is inhabited by about 1,350,000 tourists, all kinds
of bohemian type pilgrims from all corners of the
world including aliens from Area 51.
The city also has been called the Venice of the North
and became a sort of holy land or Disneyland for hippies, artists, bohemians and gays from all sides of the
planet. Perhaps it's the magic of the canals, the houseboats, red lights or the crooked
canal houses that make them feel high in Amsterdam.
Or perhaps it's the mixture of the peculiar sweet
scent in the air and the high concentration of
healing minerals from the sea that act like a
narcotic on creative people? Perhaps it's the Heineken beer that gives then that high
spirit? No one really knows. It could also be the
coffeeshops, Smart Shops, Head Shops, bicycles, night clubs, gay
scene, bathhouses, parades, house music, gigolos, prostitutes, Red Light
District,
museums, bars, rainbow
flags,
Amsterdam hotels, live shows, shops, parks etc.
Heaven knows?
The spirit of Amsterdam is like a fair young goddess
or god, clad in an intricate fabric knitted of all
the city attractions, and decorated with a brilliant
diamond necklace that symbolizes the city's diamond
industry and other precious things the city has to
offer. Perhaps we could find an earlier image of that
spirit portrayed somewhere in Rembrandt's best known works. But that's
another story for another time.
Coffeeshops and other attractions are an important
part of the layed-back Amsterdam culture. Without
them the city would loose a lot of its charm. But
there are some folks that feel ashamed of what the
city has come to represent. Some folks would like to
close some of those attractions down. Well, all we
can say is that we're ashamed for them, and proud to
say that we love Amsterdam as it is.
Amsterdam is the Capitol of the
Netherlands, but the seat of the government is in The
Hague (Den Haag). The Hague is also hometown of two
legendary 1960s Dutch Rock Bands:
- Golden
Earring -
recorded the top USA hit single "Radar
Love".
- Shocking
Blue (1967-74)
- recorded "Venus", #1 Billboard Hot 100
hit single in February 1970.
There are more canales in Amsterdam then in Venice and more bridges then in Paris. Bicycles are the primary form
of transport throughout the Netherlands. Generally
speaking, the Netherlands are like another world
parallel to ours. It is what the rest of the world
could be like if people would become less restrictive
and more pragmatic minded. But that doesn't mean that
everything is perfect. Amsterdam has many problems;
though much progress has been made in resolving some
of them. However, problems will not be discussed
here, but one should be warned that roses have thorns
and that not everything is as rosy as it seems
anywhere in the world.
The Dutch have a great understanding of human nature;
its weaknesses and need for happiness. Some believe
that's because of the form of Christianity they've
practiced. But there are at least three types of
opinion groups on Amsterdam. The first are the
liberals and non-conformists that would like to see more
places like it on the map of the world. The second
are less tolerant folks and conformists that would
like to limit some of those freedoms in the
Netherlands. There also may be some among those that
may even hope to see the Amsterdam to fall so it
could serve as a bad example for others not to
follow. Finally, the third and the least noticed are
those that take what we call "freedoms" to
be as normal as nude sunbathing in Germany, for
example.
To simplify Europe a bit for those Americans who have
never been to the Old Continent, and that's probably
about 95% or more of the readers, we'll begin by
explaining the difference between Eastern and Western
Europe in a nutshell. So, imagine that most of
Western Europe is a bit like most of Northern United
States. And imagine Eastern
Europe to be
like the Sun Belt
States (Bible
Belt) in the South accept for the climate, with
Russia in the role of an oil rich and uncontrolled
Lone Star Republic of Texas. Monaco could be compared to a
gambling Disneyland like Las Vegas or Atlantic City. And
Amsterdam is a lot like San
Francisco or New Orleans in some ways. Amsterdam could
also be compared to other places such as Manhattan or
New Jersey. And on the map of the world, imagine the
Netherlands as an over-populated and below sea-level Bangladesh of Europe. Well, there you
have it in a nutshell. That's the magic caldron of
the Old Continent aka Europe.
The Dutch have also incorporated many elements from
their former colonies in Bali, Indonesia, Africa,
India, the Far East or the Caribbean making it a
truly cosmopolitan place as early as in the Middle
Ages. Remember the Middle Ages? Remember the Dutch
Masters that painted naked women? The books that were
published in Amsterdam because they couldn't be
published anywhere else due to the Vatican such as
Copernicus' book (1632)? The world's first true
central bank
was created in Amsterdam. Dutch cows revolutionized the milk
industry, which we believe Amsterdam's main shopping
street Kalverstraat takes it's name from. Well,
that's the free and innovative spirit the Dutch have
represented and spread throughout the world since the
dark ages.
Though Holland**
has changed much through the ages, Amsterdam has
managed to keep a lot of the charm that used to be
found in Haight-Ashbury, Chicago's
Old Town or
New York's Greenwich
Village in the
1960s but on a different scale. But don't be
surprised not to find many hippies or peace signs in
A'dam.
There where is a lot of freedom there is spiritual,
intellectual and economic progress. An example of
that have been the Netherlands and its Mother, the
City of Amsterdam. Amsterdam probably has been the
most congenial urban environment we've seen*** . Therefore, we're proud to
say that it's our "Paris", as it was to Balzac, Gertrude
Stein, Tennessee
Williams, Ernest
Hemingway,
tsar of Russia Peter the
Great who was
inspired by Amsterdam to build Saint
Petersburg in
his homeland, and many others like them. Perhaps it's
just a beautiful dream... But wasn't the world built
on dreams? And weren't people like Albert
Einstein, Walt Disney, Wernher von
Braun, Martin
Luther King Jr.,
John Lennon or the many men and women that
received a Nobel Peace Prize or an Academy Award
(Oscar) some of the greatest dreamers? So, lets keep
on dreaming of a better world.
Footnotes: * The name means "low-lands" because much of the Netherlands is far below sea level.
** The name comes form the words "holt" and "land" i.e. forest-land.
*** So far, I have been only to England, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Rep., France and Canada.
That's me at the Dam Square in Amsterdam.
The Dam Square was the 1960s hippie center of the world.
It still is a popular meeting place in Amsterdam. In the background,
Grand Hotel Krasnopolsky established in 1866 by a Polish immigrant.
Click here to see it on Google Maps.
Hippies used to gather, play music, sing, practice free love
and also crash for the night in their sleeping bags
around this phallic shaped Monument Of The Unknown Soldier.
It was also the place where the Provo freedom action group
used to hold its PROVOcative rallies in the 1960s.
Concept music album created in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and inspired by the 1960-70s.
Written and recorded between 2005 - 2006.
Full album was released
August 8, 2009.
Download .mp3 album in .zip file for free or listen.
AdamsCrib.com
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