10 reasons why Amsterdam is one of the greatest cities in the world

When I was in my late teens and early to mid-20s, Amsterdam was one of those mystical, mysterious places like Bora Bora, Rio de Janeiro and New Orléans.

It was the land of hippies, backpackers and legal drug use.

I always wanted to go to Amsterdam and almost did in 1989 when my buddy Jango Edwards invited me to tag along with him and work one of the spotlights during a European tour.

I met Jango, who was a professional clown in the true European tradition of clowning, when he was performing in the 1988 Just for Laughs Festival in Montréal. I was a photographer working for the Montréal Daily News at the time and we hit it off right away. So much so, that when he made a return engagement in 1989, he invited me on his European tour.

I decided not to go and stayed in Montréal, but have often thought about how different my life would have of been if I had of gone.

It would be another 28 years before I would get another invitation to visit the Dutch city, this time from a pair of young ladies I met during a vacation in Cuba.

I took them up on their offer in October, 2020, and was blown away by how beautiful the city, its residents and the culture is.