Amsterdam Dreams

[CesarJeez]

Here's a little writeup of some AMS dreams I've been having lately. Guess its been way too long. Before I get deep in my story, let me give you some background info….


I’ve been to the ‘Dam three times, with my last visit being a month long stay in November of 2011. It’s very likely that my next visit will not be until Nov/Dec of 2014. Like many ACD’ers, it’s my absolute favorite place in the world.


So I’ve been having dreams. Exciting dreams, yet very disappointing at the same time.

These started early this summer, and I seem to have an intense one about every two weeks.

The dream begins with me finding myself in “Amsterdam”. Sometimes it doesn’t look like the same ‘dam that I know. Sometimes it looks like a scene out of a Norman Rockwell painting, or occasionally the nice smallish downtown area of a lesser-populated town we’d find here in the US. But in my mind as I know it, it’s The Dam.

There are coffeeshops, cafes, bikes, the Dutch…things I associate with the Mecca.

I’m always there for a short period of time, maybe just a day or two, and I never get to have any fun. I always get “right there”, but never where I want to get to.

I might be at a work meeting that never ends, but then I get to my apartment/hotel room, and can’t seem to get out.

Maybe I’m trying to do something on my phone or computer, and my hands just won’t work, always screwing up the password or what not. Maybe my body just doesn’t move the way I want it to, and I’m sitting down somewhere and just can’t move.

This HUGE feeling of anxiety comes over me, knowing that all I want to do is get out there on the cobblestone and get lost along canals, floating to and from CS’s, meeting people of all types, trying and tasting new things.

I just can’t get there though. It’s very similar to the type of dreams you have when you’re trying to run away from something, and your legs just won’t go. Right when I’m about to break free, I seem to wake up.

I try to make sense of it. I know I REALLY want to be there. It’s not about the smoke though. At any point, I can go into my basement and open up a mason jar and get what I need. It’s about the environment, and the feeling of being “there”.

During the most recent rendition, I looked my wife dead in the eye and said…”Baby, promise me this is real. Please, promise me this is real.” She kind of gave me a blank stare, as if she knew something that I didn’t want to hear. I pinched myself, looked around, smelled smells, heard the bikes, laughter, real shit. I wanted it all to be real. But I just knew it wasn’t.


I know this happens to a lot of you, and probably pretty often. I’m curious to hear your version of events, what kind of things you see, feel, and get from your ‘Dam dreams. Maybe your story will help me to get a better feel and understanding of my own.

[seanlyall]

I dont know if I can help you make sense of it man. You are not alone though. I think it might be something like wanting what you cant have right now. Had similar dreams with gambling (big gambler btw) and ive won the jackpot but cant collect anything and no one helps me. The Amsterdam dream are exactly the same as you describe it though

[Slip & Sal]

Hey Dude! What's cracking?
I daydream about it. I smell it all the time. I dream about it at nights and I wake up pissed off. I bitch that I have to drive into town instead of ride the tram. (I fucking love trams and I don't know why?) I miss my Amsterdam Granny bike. I also miss the smoke and the coffeeshops. In Australia I can't wear my beanie much . Amsterdam tobacco is way cheaper and I think most things are compared to where I live.

Also miss some mates I made as I enjoyed hanging out with all of the ACD Crowd, just never enough time.

I have a whacked dream about it though. Always start at Grey and end up smoking with you and all the other ACD er's that me and sal met at Basjoes.. I know it's bullshit when the tiles are the same as my kitchen and I getted served a Bundy rum can at Basjoes. I get really smashed as in my dreams Bonglord always spoon sammies everything!

Always feels fresh in my dreams though. Like November.

[Dimon]

I am always dreaming that i am in Amsterdam.And it is always a night and i am going to that new coffeeshop were i have never been and always want to check out,then i am getting there and really liking that new place ,and i am hanging there big time and smoking joints ,and there is always my good friend with me there. And then i am waking up.......

[Skyrat]

i used to get this quite a lot, not so much now as i've been back a few more times. after my first trip the dreams were endless; i would always get this indescribable feeling whilst thinking about or dreaming about the place, like i simply just needed to return there, and that's what i did! haha

similarly to you i would never actually end up doing anything in any of these dreams, i'd just be wandering aimlessly or something. the twisted, red-lit alleyways of de wallen haunted my mind the most, and as you said even though the places in my head weren't the same as the amsterdam i know in real life, at the time i would be totally convinced that it was genuinely amsterdam.

so you're not alone! i still get the odd amsterdam dream but they are so rare now that it is actually nice to have one. i spend plenty of my time whilst "awake" day-dreaming about this place, though!

[CesarJeez]

Slip good to hear from you bud! I think it’s cool that some of you were able to smoke in Amsterdam during your dreams. It just adds another element, especially when you link to a certain coffeeshop or type of strain.

I have a really fuzzy memory of finally being able to light up one time in AMS during a dream a few months ago, but it wasn’t as clear as my typical experience where I never get to.

It was a dark coffeeshop, barstools, kinda looked like Dampkring but not as big inside. It was in this area with no canals nearby, and it was all just one or two story buildings.

If there’s anything else I can throw out there, I think the reason I normally don’t get to smoke in my dreams is simple…I miss the shit out of that place, and the feeling that comes from being in a state of mind that is very hard to reciprocate.

It’s not to say I’m not missing it more than anyone else, but maybe I’m handling it the wrong way, perhaps with a hint of anxiety? A feeling of being held back at the moment? It’s kind of what makes dreams fun to poke and prod at, putting things together.