Prostitution

Along with tolerated “soft” drugs, Amsterdam also has tolerated and semi-legalized (certainly controlled) prostitution, located in its infamous red-light district. Although there are large numbers of “professional” women here, and plenty of red lights, the district is a major tourist attraction, and it is hard to get any sense of wickedness when tour groups of camera-wielding senior citizens come walking through every hour or so. On a Friday or Saturday night the women sitting in the windows under the red neon lights are outnumbered ten or twenty to one by young men wandering the streets gawking. The whole place is more bizarre and surreal than anything else, but the district is such a part of Amsterdam that it is a virtual must-see. The crime rate here is above that of the rest of the city, but it is still relatively safe.

Hamburg’s Reeperbahn District is a bit tougher and seedier than Amsterdam’s red-light district, although it is also a major - and advertised - tourist attraction. Instead of quietly sitting in windows, battalions of multilingual women patrol the sidewalks. The district is also the home of many normal dance clubs and bars. There are other, smaller districts all over Europe, but these two are by far ^e most famous.

If you go out for the night in the Reeperbahn (and you shouldn’t go alone), beware: the oldest scam in the world has reached its highest form here. To wit: you are in a bar, or nightclub, and a very sexy but slightly tough-looking woman joins you at your table. She is dressed tastefully, speaks five languages, and is friendly in a way that, well, pleasantly violates your personal space just a little. Her name is Heidi, and she is busty, and she is beautiful. You, being slightly under the influence, decide that this person is attracted to you and only you. When she suggests that you buy her a drink, you do. The bill arrives with it, and you find that you have just paid no less than USD 200 for a glass of lukewarm champagne. That’s not a misprint: USD 200. This woman’s job is to hustle you to buy those drinks, and she gets a cut out of the price you pay. And you are going to pay every euro of that price, because outside the bar is a little tiny placard with drink prices listed, and there at the bottom in teeny-weeny black and white is the price of a glass of champagne. It’s completely legal. The police will be on the side of the no-neck bouncer. Call it a cultural experience. Similar scams are run in bars all over Europe, especially in Hungary and the Czech Republic.