  'So… Is this your first time in the Netherlands?'… is something that taxi drivers, waiters, bartenders and just about everyone else in Amsterdam has said to me every time I've ever been there, and that's quite a few! Actually this time was a first of it's own as my good friend Becky EnVérité and I had booked a couple of cheap flights and were going to 'do' Amsterdam en femme, for the first time. Amsterdam is renowned for being a laid-back and accepting city and we thought it was worth putting this to the test.◀ First off, a couple of the obligatory 'hotel room' pictures taken before we set foot onto the cobbled and chilly (especially for late May) streets of Old Amsterdam (well, the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal to be precise). |
 First stop on our tour was 'Lellebel', Amsterdam's top tranny night-spot, or so it claims. Becky and I arrived around 10 p.m. (it opens at 8 p.m.) to find that we increased the number of t*girls present by 40%. The other three trannies already there turned out to be the bar staff!As time progressed, a few more people began to roll in, until around midnight when there were about 6 t*girls of various flavours and 25 admirers. Not exactly our cup of tea. With no real sign that the male/female/tranny proportion would change we enquired of a likely looking local lad (called Sebastian), who kindly directed us to the 'Dutch' gay part of town (as opposed to the 'Tourist' part, the 'Leather' part and the 'Americans and Bitter Dutch Men' part… the mind boggles). The more observant amongst you will notice that in the pictures taken in the hotel room, I am wearing some fetching fishnet tights whereas in the bar I am not - I'll leave you to figure out why! |
  ◀ Becky and I realised that from most of the pictures we had taken, we could have been anywhere in the world, so here's one that clearly illustrates that we aren't kidding about our internationally trannying exploits!▶After exploring the 'Dutch' part of gay Amsterdam, which has a number of fun, friendly and mixed bars that were much more interesting than Lellebel, we once again bumped into Sebastian who told us he was on his way to the city's top gay club, 'Exit'. Exit turned out to be a fabulous place, probably not quite as mixed as it could have been (i.e. it was mostly men) but it's very stylish with a great atmosphere. That's me at one of Exit's 3 bars.  ◀ And finally at around 3 a.m., we returned to the hotel. Apparently when many of the gay bars in Amsterdam close (at 2 to 3 a.m.) a lot of revellers move on to Exit which doesn't close until about 6 a.m. but by 3 we were ready to call it a night.Amsterdam was fun, and there are certainly plenty of places to visit if you are the kind of tranny who gets out there and struts her stuff with attitude. But if you just want a quiet drink with other transvestites and transsexuals, then Lellebel is your best bet, and that isn't, I have to say, particularly impressive (it's certainly not up to the same par as Lodnon's Way Out club or even some of the bars around So-Ho). To give it some credit, maybe it livens up and more girls arrive later in the night but given that the whole place is only big enough for about 50 people and that by the time we left there were at least 25 guys there, I wouldn't hold out much hope. Many of the bars on Amstel, by Rembrandstplein were good fun, especially the Mix bar and the Dutch certainly didn't sully their reputation for friendliness on our adventures. I will, of course, provide full write ups of all the venues in my Venue Review section in due course! |
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| Click on a score to rate these pictures | Trans-MISSION - TX23 (5 June 2004) ►◄ Sunday, Sunday (2 May 2004) | ||||||
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