Hi,
I am looking for a great coffee shop to visit in Amsterdam. I have been there a few times, and have been to all of the bigger places. This time we are a lot older!! We are staying at the Canal House near the Jordaan, and would love to know some of your favorite smaller places; I don't want to hang out with college kids(not that there's anything wrong with that!!), but want a mellow and relatively friendly atmosphere with killer buds and baked goods.

thanks!!

Can't think of the name, but there is a great biker bar in the middle of the red light district, kind of medieval theme going on, and great rock music.

Beer and sticks available at the bar

Perfectly safe and friendly people.

The Other Place, run by Hell's Angels along with the Tattoo place below it fills that description.

The Green House Centrum is full of old farts - including many American residents like John Sinclair - famous 60s radical now Blues performer and promoter and Jack Herrer himself who hold court here (there's a famous brand of bud named after him!)

My favorite shop is De Dampkring, near the Spui - a favorite with locals and older folks - actually was in the movie Oceans 11 - these are not your typical tourist oriented and priced coffeeshops that are all over.

Can't think of the name, but there is a great biker bar in the middle of the red light district, kind of medieval theme going on, and great rock music>>>>

That's the Excalibur. Many many happy times there.

Oh and while I remember (short term memory loss and all that) lots of the coffeeshops won't sell cookies etc to non-regulars, as they are fed up of people munching them then falling in the canals. The touristy places don't sell them at all.

90% of the people who fall in the canals are British. This makes me swell with patriotic pride.

there was an article in The Times (NYTimes) that says that the hundreds of houseboats lining canals have yet to have sanitary disposal and the toilet crap, etc. just goes into the canals. Happy swimming!

I can handle my drugs old chap. In any case most of them that fall in are northern monkeys and as such are used to it.

Ah but the canals are cleaned out every night! And they are gradually getting the housebaots onto main drainage.
I actually saw someone fall in a canal once. He was sat in the window of a coffeeshop on a very hot day and just fell in! Not sure of his nationality though. I was on the other side of the canal. one of his mates threw him a life belt and he was rescued safely.

well no - i have the article somewhere and will reference it - Amsterdam official said they were cleaned out every few weeks by raising sluice gates and that it would be at least until 2012 before boats were hooked up.

And at about $25,000 per boat it would force most of the old 'hippies' out and bring in a more well-heeled boat people.

It did say that the canals are much cleaner now than before but i think being cleaned out every night - could be but defies what article said quoting local health official.

Went on a stag do in Amsterdam, and towards the end asked the groom to be if there was anything left he wanted to do.

His response was "throw up in the gutter"

<b>Jenack:</b>
In a nice, quiet neighborhood in the canal rings (Singel &amp; Leliegracht, I think...but don't hold me to it) there is a great, laid-back little coffeehouse called <b>Amnesia</b>. They were very patient with a novice (me), took time to explain the menu selections, let me borrow a bong &amp; lighter for free, and let me purchase as little as a half-gram (very cheap).

Just be careful. Seriously. I ordered the &quot;Laughing Buddha&quot; and it had me bug-eyed after 3 hits.

The sluices are opened nightly to move the water through, bringing in water from the river, otherwise they would be just smelly open sewers.
Most houseboats are owned by very rich people nowadays - they go for €300,000 plus with mooring and the mooring rent is pretty steep in the centre - they want to remove many of them eventually.

Mr. Go--that sounds like a good place.....and 3 hits of a pinecone would have me bugeyed, so thanks for the warning.

The article did not say the canals were cleaned every few weeks. I believe it said twice a week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/wo...mp;oref=slogin

maybe it said the water is cleaned twice a week - time for the old water to be replaced even though they open them nightly.

I've spent many hours sitting by the canals and they do seem to have a surprising flow to them - especially at night and they seem reasonably clean.

I liked The Rookies near Leidseplein Square for a low-key, pool-playing kind of spot.

We felt comfortable at Bluebird Coffee Shop. We got &quot;carry out&quot; mostly because I was worried we'd never find our way back to our room if we smoked there, and it was great stuff.

Check out this link:

http://www.coffeeshop.freeuk.com/ACDfrmAZ.html

Have a high time!

Rookies and Bluebird are two of the oldest coffeeshops in Amsterdam and are as good as they come in being not ripping off tourists.

One of the oldest if not oldest coffeeshops, Rusland in the University district, is also neat and the real deal.

Can I interupt to say that we had a computer in the rental apartment we just had in Amsterdam? I sort of noticed that the screensaver it went to was a map of Amsterdam with dozens and dozens of stars on it. I didn't pay any attention, then one day I realized all the stars had names by them. At first I thought it must be restaurants, then it dawned on me. The screensaver is a map of ALL the coffeehouses in Amsterdam. It was really a cool screensaver -- don't know where you'd find it.