Of course, no visit to Amsterdam is complete without a visit to one of its famous coffee shops. While I imagine they all do serve coffee, that is not what they are famous for. The coffee shops are the places you go to take advantage of Amsterdam's relaxed attitude to marijuana. Strictly speaking, possession of it is illegal, but apparently this is ignored when small quantities are involved.
So I sampled a few of these places. The first was a place called Siberië. It was a peculiar experience, walking up to the bar and being presented with a menu featuring prices for "grams" and "pre-rolled joints." But I gave it a shot, selecting a pre-rolled joint (and a coffee) and taking a seat to enjoy it. It turned out to be pretty mild, and all in all, it was a pleasant experience. I liked this place--it was not too big, not too crowded, and it offered free magazines and newspapers to pass the time (although most of them were in Dutch). I later visited another place, Goa, that struck me as similar in atmosphere to Siberië. Both seemed like casual, un-touristy places. I get the feeling that a lot of these places are tourist-focused, as the greatest concentration of them seems to be right around the train station.
On the second day, we went to a breakfast restaurant/coffee shop called Barney's. I figured that breakfast and a joint ought to have been a good way to start the day. Unfortunately, the joint we had here was a bit stronger than what I had expected, and that kind of messed up the morning for me. That was not the experience I was looking for. Barney’s disappointed me a bit; it seemed touristy and was rather crowded. Plus, I spent a few hours rather confused.
That was almost the end of my coffee-shopping in Amsterdam, until a last-minute change of heart brought us to a place called Greenhouse. There are several Greenhouses in the city; we went to the one farthest south, past the Rijksmuseum. And it was a good thing, because this was the coolest place of all. It was the kind of place that would have been nice to hang out in even without the novelty of marijuana for sale. The atmosphere was great, the staff was friendly, and I was disappointed when we had to leave because it was closing.
Overall, I had a good experience with Amsterdam's coffee shops. The Dutch attitude towards cannabis seems to be an effective one. I hope it spreads...