Amsterdam 1996

[Ganjaforlife90]

my first post among you will be here to try to bring back good memories of A'dam from the 90s. The driving license in my pocket since few weeks, with friends from high school we had dreamed of going to Amsterdam, you had to be a little crazy to think about it but even more to realize it, then my grandmother lent her car and that my friends found some money to make the dream come true. It was 1996 in April or May what a pity not to have taken pictures of this first trip but fortunately the memories are still there!
Here we are, left early in the morning to face 750km of road through France Belgium and the Netherlands the atmosphere is good 3 good friends and Eddie's girlfriend who has already ridden on Dam twice, he will be my road instructor and thereafter our precious guide. At that time each customs is an obligatory control and we are very happy to pass them without incident, we take a short break in Maastricht to stock up on the road, I let the friends take care of it not wanting to risk the food. car our families do not know us for this crazy destination. I remember not having smoked too much on the yellow turkish hash joints, but the smell and the quality of the product announced a lot of change of scenery to come. the last 200 kilometers seemed so long to us the rain mingled with the road and the young driver that I am tired of it luckily that the signs indicate each time the remaining mileage my heart vibrates when my friend tells me to follow Centrum everything is different from France but already in the first traffic jams the atmosphere is good around us a few meters further on we are offered products our French plates betray us. Direction central station we park the car in the car park Eddie has already warned us that we are going to leave a lot of guilders there but too bad we have something to take advantage of and not enough knowledge yet to find a better plan. What a slap I take when I come out of the elevator, the beauty of the city now appears to me to be fully freed from the wheel. Centraal station and just next to Damrak we follow our guide who warned us it's direction the red light district every step I make me vibrate and the view is magical the architecture the people the atmosphere is unique in Amsterdam. Twilight zone at the entrance of Wallen will be my first coffee and we immediately order hot drinks at that time I don't know if it was everywhere like that but the grass and hash menu was on every tables , skunk and superskunk are on the menu it's time to order at the counter now. What a difference with our clandestine consumption in France although I know that we had consumed cannabis much too young by smoking our first joints around 16 years old we were already well supervised by the older friends never to cross the barrier of hard drugs. We are back at the table preparing our joints; we were very surprised to have pretty buds in our packages, the first hits bring a good high after a few minutes with a very different effect from the hash on the French market. I began to scrutinize the decoration of the twilight zone I remember the green colorful walls, table and high stools, music at the top as well as the atmosphere, I allow myself to analyze the clientele made up of a few tourists and a single man tasting His joint reading the newspaper gives me even more confidence and conviction that this tolerant system for cannabis use is necessary and useful. The street calls us we are the 4 well stoned it is time to pass in front of the window of Pakistanis and Indians to take a slice of pizza and to continue the visit by following our guide Eddie. we quickly find ourselves in the middle of the wallen and the discovery of red windows as well as the street sale and the use of hard drugs surprises me but I get used to it quite quickly, my friend explained to us that here you come for what interests you and the rest you do not pay attention to it but I remain amazed that despite all this there is not the slightest violence and aggression still a lot of contrast with France. We are going to have hash and weed in a coffee shop along one of the canals of the wallen and it is time to drive to Dugerdam camping to set up our tents and rest from this incredible day. Having been to the Netherlands many times and lately this summer I still wonder how we managed to find our way without GPS at that time, probably more observant than now. We are steep, it's Saturday evening and it's party time here at the campsite reception restaurant, we pay for our night and will set up our tents at night, fortunately there is still light on the plots. A few more joints with the much sought-after high effect, we can do the next day's program. I will admit that I no longer have too many memories of this Sunday and the names of coffeeshop in which we entered but we marketed a lot Eddie explaining to us that to have better prices it was necessary to leave wallen, at that time it was a reality and can you confirm to me that in 1996 we could buy and hold 30 grams of cannabis? The years go by and each return from the Netherlands the same nostalgia seizes me, and each of my trips I visit differently, Amsterdam has changed a lot just like our societies, me too nothing comparable when you are in your forties when I I was 18 on my first trip but what is certain is that with my friends we knew this old Amsterdam before it became a big tourist area and that we will never forget.

[HitTheNorth]

Nice memories. Wow, the twilight zone, that takes me back

[woodz60]

Thanks for sharing your memories of your virgin trip to A'dam. Details of mine (also 1996) are quite sketchy, as I had been off of weed and whatnot for a while before traveling over for a blues festival in Utrecht. I dove headfirst into many grote biers and mounds of delicious greenery! Getting lost in Amsterdam (several times) was a most wonderful time for this super-stoned American. Subsequent trips to Nederlands have each been amazing in their own ways, but the first time was most impressive, for me.

[Comus]

we wre doing the foldback at drum rhythm that year .... my memory of it is a bit hazy but both the Funkadelic gigs were hilarious