©2022 Snapping the Globe, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Amsterdam is known throughout the world for its Red Light District.
Throngs of visitors head to this area of the city for various reasons. Some are curious and want to discreetly gaze at the sex workers posing in the windows wondering what brought them to this profession. Some want to “engage” with these workers and still others want to have a few cocktails and visit the sex shows or sex shops.
Many years ago, my friend and I visited Red Light Secrets, the museum about prostitution. Located in a building that was once a brothel, the museum’s mission is to educate and demystify its guests about sex work in Amsterdam. (Check it out here: https://snappingtheglobe.com/?p=1266). It was an interesting and informative stop with a fun bit of posing in the museum’s own upstairs “window”.
Recently, on a trip to Amsterdam, I was perusing the internet, searching for something interesting to fill my afternoon. Something called Tour de Bonton caught my eye. Advertised as an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of one of the most famous high-end strip and sex clubs of Amsterdam, it claimed to answer any of “your burning questions” about how things work at this particular club. At first glance, it seemed similar to the Red Light Secrets museum, but not located in the Red Light District.
Yes, I had lots of burning questions! I needed to do this tour!
After a quick metro ride from Central Station, during which I purchased my on-line ticket for three-thirty, I arrived about forty minutes early to find the door locked. Assuming that I needed to return closer to the entry time, I headed to the Irish pub around the corner to have a small pint which I assumed would help me to overcome my hesitancy of arriving alone.
At the appointed time, I returned to find the door open and a young lady seated behind a desk, just inside the opening. Showing her my on-line ticket, I was instructed to ascend the narrow staircase to the next floor where I discovered a well-appointed bar area. Two small platforms with stripper poles were located in the center and surrounded by lush, red-velvet banquettes. The walls were covered in a rich, teal and gold wallpaper, the ceiling in an etched copper tin and the floor in a herringbone patterned wood. It was not the typical, grungy strip club you would normally envision and seated in the banquettes were two couples and three older English ladies on holiday. Not the lot you would normally expect to find in a grungy strip club…but of course, they were also there for the tour as the club doesn’t actually open for regular business until 9:00pm.
After a few minutes of waiting, the lady who had greeted us downstairs came in to take our drink orders, which were included with the purchase price…I guess it helps to loosen up the tour-goers, but I wish I had realized this before I paid a visit to the Irish pub!
Taking a seat in front of the bar, Felicia, proceeded to explain how things work in the club. Girls, are paid per dance on the poles as well as for lap dances and engage customers as they congregate in the bar area. We spotted the champagne bottles lining the bar and she related how lucrative the selling of one of these bottles, preferably the most expensive (bottles range from $160-$2500), is for their pay. Finally, she went on the the part that most of us were interested in, the VIP rooms upstairs.
After a steep climb to the top floor for a quick tour to each of these uniquely decorated rooms (plus the dressing room), she explained how these VIP rooms are “rented” to the customers for a half hour or hour’s time, for $300 or $500 respectively. This is for the room only…any other interactions with the girls in these rooms are extra and at the discretion of the girl. The burning question for me, however, was how these customers made it up (and back down) the steep, narrow staircase, after a few drinks, to begin with???!!!
A bit of quick addition led me to believe that after the $50 entrance fee per person, one would definitely expect to spend A LOT of money in a night’s time! Which led to another burning question…are many of these customers on expense accounts?
Felicia was an open book and answered all of our questions without any inhibition. She was funny and interesting and had some amazing stories! I won’t reveal her secrets…its up to you to visit for yourself and discover what makes this place so exclusive in a city full of sex.
Were all of my burning questions answered? You bet!
For more pictures, check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.
Tour de Bonton
- https://tourdebonton.com/
- Address: Stadhouderskade 64, Amsterdam, NL
- Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 1230-1930. Last tour starts at 1830 and tours last approximately 1 hour.
- Admission: At the door, €21.00 per person, Online €19.50 per person.
- Getting There: Metro 52 to Vijzelgracht (exit Vijzelgracht), Tram 1, 7, 19 (stop Vijzelgracht), Tram 24 (stop Marie Heinekenplein)
After doing some research on the 2017-2018 Amsterdam Light Festival, I discovered that the land exhibition had been relocated to the Marineterrein area near the Maritime Museum, making it much more accessible to visitors arriving through Central Station.
Setting out during an extremely cold evening, I walked from Central Station along the water, following signs marking the way to the exhibit. Information booths were located at both ends of the exhibit, where you could obtain information about each of the light displays and purchase information guides.
Okayyyyy…
The next display, Innersense had me waiting for at least twenty minutes. I was admitted into a small space where I was instructed to step onto a small round platform under a “shower head.” Two Dutch ladies looked over at me and asked if I was feeling anything. Anything? No, just a shower head with lights changing color, giving me a “light shower”. Hmmm.
Another confusing one…Fields of Frequencies. Ushered into a small room there were benches and a screen. The light on the screen changed color to different frequencies. Exciting.
One of my favorites, however, was the small tin building with millions of small holes drilled into it. Brocken 6 A. After entering, we were subject to a smokey interior which reflected the light entering from the outside, offering thousands of rays of light. Another, Save Our Souls, was a projection onto one of the buildings which showed a stormy sea with an SOS light in the distance. I think we were supposed to wonder who might need help? Still, the projection was pretty awesome.
How many kinds of tulips are there? One. There is one kind. The tulip. This statement is quite misleading, however, because there are many different groups of tulips each with their own specific characteristics and classified into a system of 15 different groups, broken down into shape, heritage and flowering season.
Should bulbs be dug up every year? In warmer climate zones, digging of the tulip bulbs is advised after the flowering periods and new bulbs planted during the following fall season. For zones 3-8, the bulbs do not need to be removed.
Can tulips be brought to your home country (USA)? Ensure that the bulbs have been approved by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Flower bulbs remaining within the European community can be exported throughout Europe with no problems.
The audio guide led me up the stairs and to the various parts of the theater, including the VIP room, the secret, almost-hidden Moroccan room and the main theater, the Grote Zaal.
The beautiful details throughout the building…the light fixtures, the stained glass, the woodwork…all lend to the opinion of it being considered one of the most beautiful cinemas in the world. However, not just a place of beauty, the theater in its time was considered to be revolutionary with its unique heating and ventilation system which kept an even temperature throughout the building and the state of the art Wurlitzer organ with 850 pipes that could make just about any sound, including voice.
Over time, the theater underwent many changes including one to its name when it was retitled “Tivoli” during the Second World War and began screening German made Nazi anti-semitic films. Sadly during this time, Abraham Tuschinski and most of his family were deported to Auschwitz, never to return. The theater name was changed back to Tuschinski in 1945 and used for many concerts starring big names of the day such as Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Dizzy Gillespie and Fats Domino. More changes came in more recent years when the theater was renovated to its original style between 1998 and 2002 and expanded to add more auditoriums. Today, the theater goes by the name Pathé Tuschinski and the Grote Zaal has a capacity of only 784, however, five additional screens can accommodate 105 to 191 more patrons each.
As I walked through this incredible, historic theater, I was moved at how much attention to detail and thought could be put into a place of business and I imagined that I would see movies more often if I could come to a place so extraordinary.
As I returned my audio guide and collected my complimentary cup of tea, I checked the time schedule and discovered that “The Greatest Showman” was playing later in the day.
What I did find, however, is that the Katten Kabinet offers a look at the role of the cat in art and culture throughout the centuries, displaying hosts of art in the forms of posters, original paintings and sculptures paying homage to cats. The most interesting display, however, was a host of letters written to the museum and its cats from other cat lovers expressing their love of felines!
Founded in 1990, by William Meijer, a wealthy Dutchman, the museum pays homage to his feline companion, John Pierpont Morgan (1966-1983) and is housed in a structure that commands more attention than the collection displayed in it. Built in 1667, for William and Adrian Van Loon, the museum faces the historical Museum Van Loon, an identical floorplan, just across the canal. After a draw, which decided which of the brothers were to receive either of the homes, it was William who acquired the property at 497 Herengracht. Throughout its history, the house has hosted several famous people, such as the Mayor of Amsterdam, Jan Calkoen and former American president, John Adams. It has been rebuilt and redecorated several times, though most of its current state represents the 19th century.
After walking through a couple of the rooms in the museum, I finally did encounter two of the five cats that are reported to live on the premises. Stretched out on a window sill, a black and white feline stared impassively at the visitors wandering through its home. A short while later, another mostly white cat paced back and forth behind a glass-pane doorway, obviously hoping to be released from its confines by the owner who currently resides on the top floor.
One museum, the Sexmuseum Venustempel, located on busy Damrak Street, has been around since 1985, welcoming curious visitors by the thousands. With its convenient location near Amsterdam’s Central Station and many of the city’s hotels, plus its relatively cheap admission, it has evolved into one of the most visited museums in the Netherlands, with 675,000 visitors in 2015 alone.
As you make your way up the stairs, plastic body parts line the stairwell and each floor offers encounters with various exhibits including Asian Art, Sex Through the Ages, Sex and Artists (with a depiction of Rembrandt painting a nude subject, Demons and Sex and numerous phallic representations, displayed singularly and in groupings. In the architecturally compelling atrium, which houses the Venus Gallery, make sure to look up at the window where a leather clad sex worker perches asymmetrically atop a stool.
Though not for those easily offended, the museum is both amusing at times and quite compelling. Judging from people’s reactions when I mentioned that I visited, it is also probably not what most people imagine it to be. You’ll definitely get your five euros worth (and maybe more!).
Though the bridge, which has accommodated only pedestrians and cyclists since 2003, is high enough for the many low-profiled sightseeing boats to pass without opening, the bridge is opened throughout the day for other river traffic. In 1994, the bridge’s opening was automated, however, prior to that time, a bridge keeper was responsible for opening the bridge several times a day by hand.
During the era of Amsterdamse School, architects in the Netherlands were experimenting with new forms and developing remarkable designs, which included red brick motifs and elegant, curved facades. These architects were often involved with municipal projects, many commissioned by Amsterdam’s local government, producing avant-garde residential and public buildings. Aside from the well known, Het Schip and the Olympic Stadium, the architects worked on civic and utilitarian amenities including bridges, postboxes and yes, public toilets.
Though a small example of the Amsterdamse School’s ideals, the City Hall Urinal captures its essence with its curved western wall and modern statue, fist raised in the air, created by Hildo Krop, one of Amsterdam’s most prominent sculptors. Definitely a must see for architecture aficionados!