I think you'll find that we put together a pretty respectable list in the five days my buddy and I were in Amsterdam. We bought at most of these places, but a few we just smoked at and soaked up the vibe (or lack thereof).
1. Abraxas - Loved the atmosphere; bought cakes that didn't really have much effect.
2. Barney’s Breakfast Bar (twice) - Absolutely brilliant. What a way to start the day.
3. Central (twice) - Well, we actually started a few days here, before walking to Barneys! Our plane landed at 7AM; a brown box filled with wonderful goodness was being opened for us by 9. I knew we were in for a great time...
4. Dampkring - Very cool vibe during the day. Loved it.
5. De Kuil (Twice) - We'd find a place to 'close' every night. The criteria; it had to have a table so we could play dominos, and had to serve booze. 420 fit the bill 2 nights in a row.
6. Greenhouse Centrum (twice) - Another place to close out another great day.
7. Grey Area - OK, I see what people mean about the atmosphere, but we had something called C-19 that was the second most powerful thing I've ever smoked.
8. Hill Street Blues - Greenhouse Centrum was full on our last night, so we searched and searched for a place to close. We found it here; not as mellow as we would have prefered. It was great until they inexplicably closed the basement at 1AM.
9. Homegrown Fantasy - Quick duck in for some great bud.
10. Hunter’s Pub - We closed out our first night here; just a place to drink and smoke and smoke and drink. Not our cup of tea, as we found others we preferred.
11. Kadinsky (3 times) - I'm not sure if this is the original. It was small, had 2 tables up front, and more in a loft space above. Really friendly, and had what was my favorite smoke of all time: Brown Sugar Hash. We made this a regular mid-day stop.
12. Kadinsky (another one) - don't know where, just ran into it. Same vibe as the other, but with a cool red room downstairs.
13. Katsu - And the winner of the strongest smoke I've ever had: Katsu! and their amazing crystal ice-o-lator insanity. I thought my face was sliding off my skull. We did a whole strip through a bong; which might have helped.
14. Rokerij (I can’t believe we only went here once) - This had the coolest vibe. So chilled; perfect decor, awesome down-tempo (but not depressing!) electronic tunes.
15. Rookies - Kind of unremarkable, but a decent place for a smoke and a drink.
16. Stone’s Café (twice) - See Rookies, above. Second place we hit, 10AM on day one. How decadent is that, as we tear into bag #2 and a few beers...
17. Tweede Kamer (twice) - A great place to get nice and stoned before heading to Kantjil for an awesome dinner.
18. Willy Wortel’s Sativa (Haarlem) - Went to Haarlem on a Sunday. It's a shame, because everything was closed! (That is, everything but WWS). Super cheap, good toasties, and friendly staff. We had some great purple humboldt.
19. Some place by Bluebird that I can’t remember the name of - Yeah, that doesn't help you much, does it? I remember lots of wood tones, and two levels. We needed to stop for a smoke (and pick up a cake) on the waty to Katsu.
20. Some really nasty place across from the Greenhouse Centrum - The GC was full on our last night - and we though we'd give this place a try. Don't even want to remember the name...
All of this, AND, we bought a bong for the boat (we stayed on a totally cool houseboat near the Centraal Station). Every morning, we'd get up at around 9, hit the bong, get ready, and go. Every night, we'd come back, hit the bong, watch some fascinating dutch TV (weird call in game puzzle), eat our munchie food (Shaorma, waffles, fries...eck!) and passout.
So, my shop for smoke: Kadinsky 'cause of the Brown Sugar.
Fav for the late night drink, smoke, and chill: Greenhouse Centrum
Fav for atmosphere: Rokerij
And the winner (for me, this time) is Rokerij.
But believe it or not, I love Amsterdam even more. We didn't stay long at most of these places, as my favorite thing to do was just wander around and take it in. Beautiful town, great people. I miss it so much already.
Sorry for the long post...had to get it all out. You know...closure.
Josh
5 days. A lot of shops. And here are the winners
Re: 5 days. A lot of shops. And here are the winners
the perfect note of vacation decadence!la2019 wrote: 16. Stone’s Café (twice) - See Rookies, above. Second place we hit, 10AM on day one. How decadent is that, as we tear into bag #2 and a few beers...
Thanks for a nicely, detailed report - interesting to hear descriptions of the atmosphere at the various CSs.So, my shop for smoke: Kadinsky 'cause of the Brown Sugar.
Fav for the late night drink, smoke, and chill: Greenhouse Centrum
Fav for atmosphere: Rokerij
And the winner (for me, this time) is Rokerij.
But believe it or not, I love Amsterdam even more. We didn't stay long at most of these places, as my favorite thing to do was just wander around and take it in. Beautiful town, great people. I miss it so much already.
Sorry for the long post...had to get it all out. You know...closure.
Josh
I can't recommend it enough, Mr. Vega. One thing - I'd imagine that it gets pretty crowded at night; I don't see how it couldn't! But during the day (when we went, at least), we got our own table. The Bud Tender did have a little attitude there, but it was a small price to pay for the terrific ambience.Vincent wrote: I think I'll have to add Rokerij to my list.
Josh
Re: 5 days. A lot of shops. And here are the winners
Nice!!!!la2019 wrote: 13. Katsu - And the winner of the strongest smoke I've ever had: Katsu! and their amazing crystal ice-o-lator insanity. I thought my face was sliding off my skull. We did a whole strip through a bong; which might have helped.
Being pedantic and knobbish since 1972
Not at all, Doog. Besides, we don't go over there to sweat the details, right? For me, the act of posting about my trip will be key to remembering it - I might not get a chance to do that again for a long, long time! So really, no one benefits from that list more than me...Doog wrote: All the info you could need. Puts my lazy ass trip report to shame for sure.
For the foreseeable future, I'll be visiting the shops vicariously through all of you!
But if I do get a chance to go again, the places I highlighted (based on the the things I've read here) are:
Amnesia
Greenhouse Tolstraat
Picasso
The Doors
Something to aspire to!
Josh
