Amsterdam in a short story

two days in XXX

By Francisco Morais

August 16^th, 2018

Everywhere you look in Amsterdam you see the city's XXX symbol, you see it on flags, buildings, municipality trucks, street poles, garbags, on the pavement ... simply everywhere you look. But what is the meaning of this symbol. I hear you thinking seXXX, yes that's true, even in the sex industry it's a common use, but the symbol of amsterdam has nothing to do with sex.

Amsterdam is a city of tourism. Sexual tourism, drug tourism, cultural tourism. The tourist version of cities is always lightened for tourists. During the visit I saw whores, drugs, and streets made of walls of madness, plastic penises and red lights. I do not know what the pro version of Amsterdam will be, but it surely is pretty fucked up. On the same hand I saw flowers, beautiful museums, respectful and helpful people. In the walls of the thinnest street, near the old church, one could read: “Photograph art, respect the ladies.”.

It has the views for the postcards, a beautiful face and an awesome personality. Crazy city, indeed.

Amsterdam is one of a kind capital. You often see streets full of restaurantes selling huge pizza slices and right after that you face whores in cabinets and right after that strip clubs and sex shops. Incredibly, it’s something faced like “normal” by the locals and an enormous joy for tourists.

The coat of arms of Amsterdam is the official symbol of the city of Amsterdam. It consists of a red shield and a black pale with three silver Saint Andrew's Crosses, the Imperial Crown of Austria, two golden lions, and the motto of Amsterdam. Several heraldic elements have their basis in the history of Amsterdam. The crosses and the crown can be found as decorations on different locations in the city. Under the shield is a White Ribbon with the motto of Amsterdam: Heldhaftig, Vastberaden, Barmhartig, "Heroic, Steadfast, Compassionate". In 1947 Queen Wilhelmina officially decreed that the official meaning was that they represented three moral virtues: Compassion, Resolution and Heroism. The XXX symbol is three St. Andrew’s Crosses in white on a black stripe on a red background. On the flag they appear horizontally. St. Andrew was a fisherman who lived in the 1st Century AD and was said to have been crucified on an X-shaped cross. The Amsterdam XXX symbol dates back to the year 1505 when the city was a fisherman’s town, so the coat of arms was established as the symbol for the city itself and it also flew as a flag on all ships registered in Amsterdam.