One of many colorful boats floating down the Amstel River during the Gay Pride Weekend

Of all the major events in Amsterdam, only the UitMarkt and Queen’s Day draw bigger crowds. The Canal Parade is the weekend’s highlight with a flotilla of boats crusing the canals of Amsterdam’s Centrum.

The Prinsengracht or the Amstel are both great places to see all the boats as they pass – but if you expect to see anything from the edge of a canal or a bridge rail, you’d better stake out your territory earlier in the day for a really choice location. Last year over 250,000 people turned out for the parade! My last visit to the parade left me hopping up and down trying to see over the heads of rows and rows of the very tall Dutch people in front of me.

But wait! There’s a lot more to it than just a bizarre floating parade with bands, divas, dancing boys and girls! Also planned are: An Open Air Film festival on the Nieuwmarkt, “The Club Beautiful” in the Theater COC Amsterdam, Musical concerts, Religious services, Art exhibits, The sQueeze Picnic, and a Fundraiser for Aidsfonds. They have a website with a lot more info. So get there early and have fun, you’ll never be the same after doing Gay Pride!

Amsterdam’s Chinatown has exploded in the past few years. It’s gone beyond it’s confines in the Red Light District and is now spilling over past the Nieuwmarkt. To call it “Chinatown” is a misnomer of course, because the area include numerous Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian restaurants, shops, salons, apothecaries, markets and more.

A transformation in a good part of the Red Light District has occured thanks to the success of the many restaurants in the area, and the introduction of new ones. Add to this the reconstruction of many façades, and the repaving of the streets, and this district has been metamorphized from seedy to inviting. The hordes of hungry tourists in the area can attest to this.

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