Going to amsterdam for 4/20

(bragging)

the company is sending me and i'm taking another week of vacation.

leaving saturday morning, arrive sunday morning. i have to keep myself in order for monday and tuesday conferences, then it's time for fun.

i'm excited. i haven't been to europe before, i don't technically have my new passport in my hands, but it's in the metro area somewhere. i don't technically have a flight or hotel, but the travel agency does.

i get 2 nights at the sheriton by the airport which is supposed to be posh. then i'm gonna hostel and/or sleep on the train. i don't know where i'm gonna go.

bad things: the exchange rate and leaving behind car work and a budding garden.

i won't be buying much, the car can wait another two weeks and the garden has months of waiting.

PS: this is my first post, been lurking here for a while...

I used to live about 4.5 hours from Amsterdam...been there maybe 50-60 times. There is plenty in Amsterdam to keep you busy for a week or you can travel by train relatively cheap.....well from 1997-2001 it was cheap....dunno now. The country of Luxembourg isnt too far by train and the city Bastogne is close to Luxembourg. FYI Bastogne is the town where the Battle of the Bulge took place. If your not traveling by train then stay away from France because their highway tolls are freakin expensive.

Oh and if your gonna be there for 4/20 then your prolly gonna have to sleep on the train if you have no reservations....or go to another town to sleep.

the company is picking up first two nighs lodging. 4/20-4/22

any recommendations on a hostel for later in the week?

I cant remember the name of the one I used alot.....The Flying Pig maybe. Also the Van Gogh museum is nice if your into art, Heineken brewery, Anne Frank house, and take the canal tour its pretty cool and you get loads of info about Amsterdam from it. Also there is a bar in the red light district called The Excaliber, go in there and ask for the menu, really good shrooms in that place...just be carefull with them because the potency fluctuates.

I found that Amsterdam wasn't as awesome as I thought it would be.

I ran into a lot of assholes there, which was definitely a downer. The service (as in a lot of places in Europe) is not the best. The bud was good, but not anything I haven't smoked before. Sat in a big line, took me about a good 30mins to finally get my bud and another 15-20 to get a seat at 'grey area'

The strip clubs/party places are kinda cool, a little of its overboard in my eyes. One lady signed my body with a marker using her female parts to hold/write with. Not really my cup a tea.

I also found the amount of prostitution, and unhappy looking people kind of depressing.

I did enjoy smoking openly in public, even as a mmj patient I still have some good paranoia/limits. Taking a bike ride well puffing on a fatty whizzing through crowds was real real fun.

The smart shops there, were you get your mushrooms and 'smart drugs' are pretty interesting, kind of neat some of the zanny things they have in there.

Just my two cents.

Have an awesome trip, make sure to keep a close eye on your valuables! be safe!

Also I recommend, Pax de boot, and barneys! They were really cool and, new there stuff!

Ive had both good and bad times in Amsterdam but I truly believe that it becomes what you make it. Yes there is alot of prostitution and alot of "thugs" in and around the red light district. As a matter of fact I got robbed at knife point the very first time I went but the police caught them within an hour and I had to go fill out a police report. If you decide to have an active night life dont take a camera or anything expensive out with you, especially if your not gonna be in a group of people.

Yeah the exchange rate is awful. Just take double as much as you normally would.

thanks everyone for the input...

i got my passport and my flight/hotel reservations today, all clear for take off.

i'm thinking about trying to get out of amsterdam for few days. i want to take the train to marsielle. i don't know if that'll work or not.

i'm travelling alone which is the usual for me. i won't be taking anything valuable with me and i'll be cautious at night.

i got a reservation for my first night at the flying pig, it seemed a little overboard in getting pot smokers to stay there.

nashbar said:

thanks everyone for the input...

i got my passport and my flight/hotel reservations today, all clear for take off.

i'm thinking about trying to get out of amsterdam for few days. i want to take the train to marsielle. i don't know if that'll work or not.

i'm travelling alone which is the usual for me. i won't be taking anything valuable with me and i'll be cautious at night.

i got a reservation for my first night at the flying pig, it seemed a little overboard in getting pot smokers to stay there.

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well sound good man, good luck. I'm sure you will have a great time. Make sure to tell us how it goes once you get back!

Awesome man!!! Let us know how it went.

i survived 8 days in amsterdam. it was a beautiful experience, mostly because of what i made of the trip. i understand some peoples opinions about amsterdam posted above.

i got in fine and had a few days of meetings for work. flights were shitty, but the schiphol sheraton was good for catching up on sleep.

i got rid of the coworkers and got to the hostel on tuesday. the hostel was fantastic. a bar and smoking area on the first floor, something like 100 beds. the blues brothers coffee shop across the street had some good pot.

i wandered around the first day, got lost and checked out a few of the sights. by dinnertime, my feet were sore and i was worn out. that was the last day i walked around.

i'm an avid bicyclist so i bought a bicycle on my second day. what a wonderful place to ride a bicycle. i snagged an extra serving from the hostel's continental breakfast, a few beers, some water, some weed and filled up my backpack. i set out for the north sea on the bike. took more than an hour, i was drunk and high enough that it didn't matter how long it took and holland is so flat that i never got tired.

every day following, i loaded up my backpack and got on the bike first thing in the morning. i picked a compass direction (n,s,e,w), checked out what tourist sights were in that direction and started riding.

one day, i rode ~40km from amsterdam to the city of utrecht. didn't have much time to check it out but hit all the little towns along the way. i bought a liter of milk from a farmer for 1euro that was still warm from the cow.

the last day i was pretty worn out, so i got some mushrooms and tripped out on the museumplein and in vondelpark.

the flight back sucked, some child crying for 8 hours. i ate a good chunk of hash, a cannabislolly and half a spacecake before getting on the flight so i was plenty relaxed.

all in all, i spent ~$450. i smoked 3g of good pot and 2g of blonde hash. ice, sour diesel and white widow from blues brothers, the doors and the gray area. i ate 25g of fresh mushrooms, a cannabislolly, 3 spacecakes/brownies and a bag of cannabiscookies. i drank more good beers than i could count. i sampled a couple powders from people in the hostel. only thing i didn't get was a woman.

Sounds awesome man!

like i had said riding the bike around was one of my favorite parts!


Im glad to that you had a great trip, and that you are back safe!

Thank you for sharing with us!

that sounds like an awesome trip! i wish i had that kind of personality to just sort of take off and know that i'd be safe and enjoy myself. i'm too much of a hermit i guess. never been out of this country, never lived in another state either.

i don't suppose you took any pictures?? that'd be rad.