USS MULLINNIX DD-944

Amsterdam 1979

Pictures Courtesy of George Cochran


Ah, Amsterdam - The city were everything goes --- no shit!

















And now, the world famous Red Light District

If you were in the Navy (and I know you were if you are viewing this page) and travelled the 7 seas, you have encountered virtually every way to engage a “lady of the evening” - so to speak. Maybe even made up a few on your own (send an email to Woody to explain these if you did). Everyway except, the Amsterdam way. The Amsterdam way is as simple as window shopping for a pair of shoes or a new coat. Don’t believe? Check out the YouTube link above. You may still not believe it until you've experience it first hand. No shit! You don't have to buy anything, you can literally ONLY window shop, if that’s all you want to do.

Woody's Personal Memories

I love the Netherlands! While with Halliburton, I travelled to Holland many times in the latter 1/2 of the 1990s while I was a Performance Consultant in the "People Development" department. As always, my trip started by flying into Schiphol Airport. Then catching a taxi to Shell Oil’s Training Centre, Leeuwenhorst, Noordwijkerhout.



Though I’ve been to Amsterdam a number of times, and ‘window shopped’ the red light district, and toured Anne Frank’s Home and Van Gogh’s Gallery and navigated the ‘river streets’, my favorite pastime was hanging out on the North Sea Coast in the little hamlet of Noordwijk (Noordwijk aan Zee).



It was either a 5 minute taxi ride from the training centre, or you could walk it in about 20 minutes if you wanted to brave the cold wind blowing off the North Sea. The only thing between the sea and the main drag (The Strand) are man-made sand dunes (The Netherlands actually gets bigger each year as they reclaim land from the sea).

The Strand is littered with small coffee houses (The Netherlands’ version), bars, and pubs. Whether it be the Breeze Bar, or The Botter, or a pub on the ground floor of any of the numerous small hotels, nothing is better than shutting out the cold wind with a dark, warm, cozy pub and a cold pint in your hand --- drinking it while witnessing the light go out of the sky and an eerie darkness racing towards you. I’d feel like the sea would literally jump the dunes and consume me where I sat. After a pint, or two, or three… and a bite to eat, I’d cab-it back to the training centre.

BTW, I'm proud to admit I introduced the Dutch to Red (Tomato) Beer. No shit! Life is good…

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