Cartwheeling Down Centreline: Shopping in Amsterdam

Real, Wooden and Future Flowers at the Bloemmarket

Last week, I went to Amsterdam for a conference on partnerships in Ethical Business. This could include things such as a coffee producer teaming up with a Fair Trade certification NGO, and the result is a fair trade coffee in the shops. I really dig this stuff, and am optimistic that doing business "the right way" continues to catch on. It's quite a big market share here in Europe, so maybe????

I LOVED Amsterdam. What a fantastic city - beautiful, safe, everyone rides bikes or walks, canals, flowers, etc. etc. I would happily live there. It's that great! And the shopping - I have no idea how the Dutch (or maybe I mean Amsterdammers) create a business plan. "Hmmmm, think I'll sell Christmas ornaments year round, ummmm, and patterned tissue products. Oh, and drug paraphernalia." Then the shop down the street says, "I'm just sticking with my strengths - I'll sell nothing but toothbrushes."

The first shop I went into, in Schipol airport, was a department store. (I pronounce that 'ski pole'.....not sure my Dutch is 100% accurate.). It sold, among other things, funky stationery, mens and womens underwear, cooking utensils, tools, clothes. I guess what wouldn't you want to buy, in an airport? Perhaps you had your fave screwdriver taken away when you tried to take it through security in Germany or Switzerland? How handy to be able to buy another as you get off the plane in Amsterdam! I did not see any travel-related stuff for sale though. No suitcases or luggage tags, or even electrical adaptors. They didn't sell ski poles or other sports goods either. They did stock fashion shoes, and cheese graters. (If I had a dollar for every time security has removed a cheese grater from my carry on...) Anyway, I bought a gorgeous bright pink patterned apron for my friend for her birthday, because I thought it was probably the strangest thing I've ever bought in an airport. It's not a souvenir apron or anything. Just pretty. Could have come from Ikea, that kind of pattern. Ikea Airport?

I read a pretty funny story in the papers the other day, about Amsterdam. The city is famous for its "coffee shops", where marijuana and hash are legal to buy and smoke. Like most places, Amsterdam just brought in no smoking regulations for tobacco. The newspaper quoted a few kids who are travelling through Europe saying, "Oh, the skunk is totally pure marijuana, and it's so harsh and made me cough. I barfed all night long." Awwww, poor little kids on their gap year, spending daddy's money. I just hope this terrible experience doesn't cause permanent harm, like make them become card carrying republicans.