amsterdam: the coffee shops.

bryndia loves holland. they love a country that believes in the legalization of marijuana. and a country that is successful in regulating responsible businesses that are cenetered around the production of cannabis. the two of them spent much of their week in amsterdam visiting different coffee shops, making friends with strangers, taking it in. it felt good to be with people in a place where marijuana is not a taboo. it is a lifestyle.

going to amsterdam soon? these were our favorite coffee shops.

AMNESIA. it's small but never packed. the wall paper is a royal purple with shining swirls and the windows are always open. there are big blank books filled with drawings and messages by people who had come from all over the world. there are colored markers and pencils and the employees, and token stoner regulars, are incredibly encouraging of your art. they make incredible fresh squeezed juices and the door opens right on to a canal. when the weather is nice, you can sit with your feet dangling over the edge and smoke in the sun. be careful. there might be a dutch rap video being filmed out front.



DAMPKRING. where george and brad smoked pot in ocean's 12. the waitresses are gorgeous, they stomp around in their cowboy boots and big hair and call you "baby". and there is a cat that roams around but doesn't let you pet it. fresh mint tea tastes like a dream. the weirdest part? the walls are covered with anti-smoking posters. http://www.dampkring.nl/

GREENHOUSE. the floor is a giant aquarium. below your feet swim orange and black fish that are as big as your arm. the walls are adorned with hundreds of pictures of celebrities who have visited the shop. (this includes a fresh picture of 50 cent rocking a Blazers throwback while lighting up a fatty.) two levels of seating and lots of internationals. induldge in the chocolate spacecake. yum. http://www.greenhouse.org/index1.htm



ROKERIJ. what tarren calls the most well known and established coffee shops in amsterdam. (a coffee shop chain!) amsterdam hosts four of them. feels like you're transported to morocco. the tables are low and the seats are small wooden stools or big cushions. the chocolate muffins are huge and bomb. just ask caitlin about them. an easy place to go and spend hours. especially after a dave matthews band concert. http://www.rokerij.net/

COFFEESHOP MILLENIUM. the small shop that tarren and dani live right above. the cheapest bud we found, probably because it's not in the center of the city. you can buy prerolled joints. and the guys are nice. there is a pool table. but we never played.

finally. our warning.

DO NOT GO TO LE JOLLY JOKER. the waitstaff was rude and short tempered. the people were boring. the drinks were way overpriced. that is all.

the best thing about the coffee shops is the people watching. the tourists and the locals. older married couples who are traveling to amsterdam to partake in a little ganga together. it's romantic. the college kids. the hippies. the brits. the homeless. vagabonds. we all share an appreciation. a plant unites us. it's wonderful.

amsterdam.

Upon arriving to Amsterdam after a 10 hour bus ride from Berlin, Bryndia are greeted by a friendly cabby at 5a.m. who zips them along the canals to Mr. Dani Bruens & Tarren Wilson's apartment. "You guys want to smoke weed?" he kindly asks, "Don't worry the shops will be open in an hour and a half."

Tarren & Dani had just moved into a new apartment, so Bryn & India had no idea what they were in for, but any place with a blow up mattress sounded good at this point... & if all else failed Bryn knew he could just wonder over to the Red Light District to lay down real quick.

"INDIA!!" yelled Tarren as we arrived. "Memur!!" responded India. Bryn thought to himself, "Thank god she is awake considering we don't know which apartment is theirs & don't have a cell phone number." Things have been working out quite well for Bryndia this trip.

(this is the truest statement. how bryn and india have been able to survive so far is based mostly on divine luck. like how david knowles lived two blocks from our hostel. berlin is a big city. and two blocks away? come on! or how we thought we were going to have to spend three hundred euro on train tickets but then met a nice guy who got us cheaper ones in first class. ooh la la.)

Amsterdam is beautiful. The canals lead you in a cresent moon around the city. Bryndia walked in circles and loved it. The houses are crooked, stacked on top of water and cement, some sag to the side, look like they're melting.

Tarren took Bryndia to markets where they ate fresh falafel and hummus and warm cheesy pastries and white chocolates and pomme frites and bought fresh produce for pennies. Tarren and India cooked feast upon feast for Dani and Bryn who passed the time by indulging in xbox360. (Dani is weak at Soccer games on Xbox360 & Bryn is the truth. Watch out Conor & Connor when Bryn gets back.)



Bryn and India were lucky enough to catch Dave Matthews while he was in town on his Euro Tour. What can we say? THE SHOW WAS UNBELIEVABLE. Dave spoke a lot of Dutch and the audience raged. He played our favorite song and prefaced it by saying "This is my favorite song to play." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgrYbMguzvM (A video of him performing at the gorge since there aren't any on youtube from the HMH yet.) Seeing music that is familiar and comforting in a country that is new to you is strange. In a wonderful way.

Bryndia met up with Chrissy & Caitlin (friends from U of O teaching in Spain) who were also in town for Dave. they drank fresh mint tea and ate pizzas with olives and walked through the Red Light.

let's talk about the RED LIGHT. it is, in a way, amsterdam's main attraction. (does legal marijuana count as a "main attraction"?) the district is centered around a small canal. foot bridges zig zag across it, presumably to make it quicker for the anxious clients to run from window to window. because that's what the red light is: window after window of prostitutes that shake their shoulders, bat their long lashes, wave their pointer finger at you. they draw you in like a fish on a line. "come here daddy. you like what you see?"

every girl is different. tarren pointed out the "sections". the building filled with blondes, the building filled with asians. different parts of the district for different desires. big women. huge women whose silhouettes take up the entire frame of the window. women who are next to girls a fourth of their size. girls who look too young. the pretty ones don't even try. they sit on their stool, twirl their hair, smoke cigarettes. men come up to their windows, knock, they let them in and draw the curtain.

each window has a different colored light to let you know who you are looking at. a red light for women. a blue light for gay men. a purple light for transexuals. the lights help. sometimes, you just can't tell.

Amsterdam felt like a recouperation period after Berlin. The Dutch are a slow moving, relaxed people. You don't "chill out" in Amsterdam because your whole life is chilled out. Leaving such a laid back country is hard. But Bryn & India want to make it to Majken in France for her birthday.