Jorge Cervantes Visits Cannabis College

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World-famous author and horticulturist JORGE CERVANTES visited the CANNABIS COLLEGE on Saturday, September 29, 2001. Jorge was in Amsterdam to present his new book “INDOOR MARIJUANA HORTICULTURE – THE INDOOR BIBLE” and sign copies for guests.

A party for Jorge was held in the Cannabis College, located on the Oudezijdes Achterburgwal in Amsterdam’s recently renovated Red Light District. Invitations were sent to “potsenalities” and media representatives from around the world, and the public was also invited to attend.

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Amsterdamse Bos

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Need an escape from the hectic pace of Amsterdam? Why not plan a day at the Amsterdamse Bos? It’s a huge park on the edge of the city where you can leave behind the hustle and bustle and chill out in the woods or picnic on huge grassy lawns.

Planted in the 1930s and 40s, the Bos is now a mature forest covering almost 800 hectares. It offers a diverse range of outdoor pleasures including lakes for boating, wading pools for the kids, the Openlucht theater presenting outdoor plays and music, a bison reserve, a campground, numerous bike, horse and pedestrian paths (all separate), and a wonderful feeling of being far away from the city.

 

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Hartjesdag

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The annual Hartjesdag parade harkens back two centuries when one day a year, the local people were allowed to hunt deer on a large private estate. A public feast would follow, with lots of drinking, music and dancing.

Today, it’s pretty much the same, including a public brunch, a speech by the mayor, some street theater, music, lots of drinking, and oh yes, a parade with drag queens and drag princes.

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Gay Pride Weekend

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One of many colorful boats floating down the Amstel River during the Gay Pride Weekend

Of all the major events in Amsterdam, only the UitMarkt and Queen’s Day draw bigger crowds. The Canal Parade is the weekend’s highlight with a flotilla of boats crusing the canals of Amsterdam’s Centrum.

The Prinsengracht or the Amstel are both great places to see all the boats as they pass – but if you expect to see anything from the edge of a canal or a bridge rail, you’d better stake out your territory earlier in the day for a really choice location. Last year over 250,000 people turned out for the parade! My last visit to the parade left me hopping up and down trying to see over the heads of rows and rows of the very tall Dutch people in front of me.

But wait! There’s a lot more to it than just a bizarre floating parade with bands, divas, dancing boys and girls! Also planned are: An Open Air Film festival on the Nieuwmarkt, “The Club Beautiful” in the Theater COC Amsterdam, Musical concerts, Religious services, Art exhibits, The sQueeze Picnic, and a Fundraiser for Aidsfonds. They have a website with a lot more info. So get there early and have fun, you’ll never be the same after doing Gay Pride!

Amstel Station

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Amstel Station Office Towers & the Amstel River

Amstel Station is a huge hub, south of Amsterdam’s city center, on the Amstel River, that provides transportation links further outside the city and to the rest of Europe. Besides the Metro and Trains there are city buses and trams (no. 12), and Eurolines (international buses) has a hub here. One block away is EasyRentaCar.

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Chinatown

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Amsterdam’s Chinatown has exploded in the past few years. It’s gone beyond it’s confines in the Red Light District and is now spilling over past the Nieuwmarkt. To call it “Chinatown” is a misnomer of course, because the area include numerous Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian restaurants, shops, salons, apothecaries, markets and more.

A transformation in a good part of the Red Light District has occured thanks to the success of the many restaurants in the area, and the introduction of new ones. Add to this the reconstruction of many façades, and the repaving of the streets, and this district has been metamorphized from seedy to inviting. The hordes of hungry tourists in the area can attest to this.

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Things to do Around Amsterdam

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Amsterdam can be a pretty intense place, especially in the summer months when it becomes overrun by tourists. If you find yourself getting stressed out, you can escape to a number of places where you can “chill out” and find your center again.

Bloemendaal Beach
If the weather is nice, you could head to the beach. But you want to avoid the packed beaches of Zandvoort and Scheveningen. So go to Bloemendaal a few kilometers north of Zaandvoort where you’ll find lots of space to be mellow. Just south of Zaandvoort is the nude beach, but this has gotten more crowded lately. You can venture further south, too. But really if it’s a hot day, you can be sure that just the ride to the beach will be stressful if you take the train.

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Get Drunk in Amsterdam!

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Staying out late and getting drunk with friends is perhaps the most popular sport in Holland. Yes, far more Dutch people get drunk than use other drugs! Brown pubs are everywhere and serve as the center of social life for many Dutch people. These cozy, smokey bars have a lot of charm and are a great way to mingle with the locals.

If you’re a beer fan, you’ve come to the right city to indulge yourself. Amsterdam is the home of several great beers including the world’s #2 seller, Heineken. And their old brewery is one of the best places to get sloshed as they let you drink all you can in half an hour at the end of the tour. It’s probably just as well that they limit you since more time would result in some serious complications, no?

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The White Bicycles

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The White Bicycles (Witfiets) can be found at various locations in Amsterdam. They represent a revival of a concept that was tried in Amsterdam in the 1960s. Back then, Luud Schimmelpennink an environmentalist, along with an activist group dreamed up a plan to put free bicycles on the streets of Amsterdam. They figured if there were enough bicycles people could just grab one wherever they were and leave it at their destination for someone else to use. So a number of bright white bicycles were set out for the public.

Unfortunately the bikes were quickly stolen, and the program was cancelled. Yet the idea caught on and many other cities, especially in America have experimented with similar systems with mixed success. A battery powered vehicle program called the WitKar was tried in 1986, but there were so many problems with the vehicles, that unique experiement was quickly abandoned.

Then in 1998, this idealistic vision was once again revived by Luud Schimmelpennink, and with the help of new technology and corporate sponsors, the white bike is back! Electronic locks and hidden microchips in the bicycles help ensure they don’t get stolen.

There are now 19 depots around town, with 26 more planned for a total of 450 bicycles. Some of the places you’ll find them are: The Waterlooplein, Kerkstraat, the Artis, Nieuwmarkt, Westermarkt and Korte Prinsengracht.

It seems they’ve avoided the most touristed places, as the system is geared more to locals than visitors, especially since the Depo system requires you use a smart card or “chipper” to get a bicycle. The way it works (as far as I can figure) is that you insert a card, enter your pin number, then a bicycle is released to you. You then have a half an hour to get to your next destination. You may have it out longer, but if you keep it out too long, you’ll risk being denied the use of the bicycle next time!

Update: As of now (March, 2002), I no longer see any of these bicycles at their stations. There goes another great idea, down the tubes!

Get Laid in Amsterdam!

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So you’re horny as hell and need some relief. In your home town, you’d probably go to a video store and find some porn to keep you company or perhaps visit your favorite bar or club and pray you get lucky. Well, here in the Red Light District of Amsterdam, you can just walk around a few minutes, take your pick of a bevy of beauties and unless you look like Charles Manson, they won’t say no! Of course you DO have to pay, with the standard price now €50 (about $45), but it will be safe sex with a pro.
 

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