between window brothels
I eat alone
from one window brothel
to another...
a street dog and I
surrounded by girls
in the window brothels...
me and the Oude Kerk
Notes
1 De Wallen, a major tourist attraction, is the largest and best known red-light district in Amsterdam, in/famous for its "window brothels" ("one-room cabins" rented by sex workers).
2 Sichuan cuisine is known for its spicy, tongue-numbing dishes.
3 Founded in 1213, the Oude Kerk ("old church") is Amsterdam’s oldest building and oldest parish church.
There is another internationally famous church called "Our Lord in the Attic" (a REALLY tiny, hidden church) in De Wallen, which is sandwiched between window brothels.
ReplyDeleteBelow is excerpted from the Wikipedia entry, De Wallen:
De Wallen is located in the heart of the oldest part of the city (Amsterdam-Centrum), covering several blocks south of the church Oude Kerk and crossed by several canals. De Wallen consists of a network of alleys containing approximately three hundred tiny one-room cabins rented by prostitutes who offer their sexual services from behind a window or glass door, typically illuminated with red lights. The area also has a number of sex shops, sex theatres, peep shows, a sex museum, a cannabis museum, and a number of coffee shops that sell marijuana.
You have really captured something of Amsterdam's red light district in this series, Chen-ou. I haven't been there in about twenty years, but they first time I went, there was something about it that made me feel as if my heart had been wrenched out and squeezed and when it was returned to my body I was changed forever. You and your 'street dog' reminded me of that.
ReplyDeletemarion
Marion:
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your encouraging comment and for sharing your experience.
Chen-ou