Cool! I got to spend a day in Amsterdam with my family two years ago as part of our trip to Holland. It was a beautiful and historical city.
Not sure what you are saying about vibe, whether it is lacking here in the States or over in your native area. The vibe I most noticed in Holland, especially in my mother-in-law's home city of Arnhem, was a remembrance of the pain of WWII, and almost as the area still had some PTSD that had flowed down through the generations there. Given what that city had endured, I suppose I could understand it. What I am trying to say is that it is like a type of realism vs. optimism that seems to pervade as compared to the States. Though I would say that that traditional US sense of optimism is starting to get a little rough around the edges these days too. Not wanting to comment on anything politically, just an observation of comparative "vibe" if you will.
Steve Thompson
Sun Valley, Idaho
Guitars: Fender 60th Anniversary Std. Strat, Squier CVC Tele Hagstrom Viking Semi-hollow, Joshua beach guitar, Martin SPD-16TR Dreadnought
Amphs: Peavey Classic 30, '61 Fender Concert
Effects and such: Boss: DS-1, CE-5, NS-2 and RC20XL looper, Digitech Bad Monkey, Korg AX1G Multi-effects, Berhinger: TU100 tuner, PB100 Clean Boost, Line 6 Toneport UX2, Electro Harmonix Little Big Muff Pi, DuhVoodooMan's Rabid Rodent Rat Clone, Zonkin Yellow Screamer Mk. II, MXR Carbon Copy Delay
love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart. . .
- j. johnson