Doctor G: At the 'Dam

The Doctor at the â??Dam
As is so often the case these days thank god for my kids. Youâ??ve got to remember Iâ??m a grandfather, not the wild young punk I was, and I sure canâ??t keep up with them for anything. My #2 son and his wife joined me in Amsterdam and we have had too much fun. As this is not our first trip we find it easier to act like semi-locals, rather than whoopee tourists. It honestly is not necessary to wake and bake out here. The selections are all wonderful. There is a variation in potency that can be detected, but for the novice, it is all pretty blinding.
As usual there are a couple of â??do not missâ?� stops on our tour, a shop called Styx is an old favorite, some place we have been visiting for seven years. Chocolata is still the best baked goods of any shop. The hash bon-bons should be approached with care. You donâ??t realize it takes almost 2 hours after a meal for the things to kick in. By then itâ??s easy to have gotten carried away with all the other fine offerings.
We also booked a couple of side trips, and a coach trip around the country as well. There are some really neat little towns just a few minutes out of town and they are great fun to wander through. Of course we did a couple of museums as well and a day on the Canal Bus. The kids as I call them had a lot of fun when my younger sister flew in from London and stayed at our hotel for a couple of days. Sis has been in England for almost twenty years and she runs her own business. With her at our sides shops and restaurants beware!
Yes we are seeing some changes in the coffee shops. The menus are no longer written on a large blackboard behind the dealer. Gone are the sandwich style signs in front with prices and flavors. The menu is supposed to be out of direct sight, although they will on most cases put a printed list in your hands eventually. There seems to be no lack of coffee shops but the local word is they are not issuing any new permits. The old ones can be renewed; if there havenâ??t been any problems, but there is some effort at control. Indications that public smoking is not welcome are all over if you just look. While the rule of use and possession only on the coffee shop site has been widely overlooked, there are signs that smoking in public is not welcome and at least being ticketed.
I can never say this enough times, but really, DONâ??T BUY IN THE STREETS.
That is a very big no-no and they will make a lot more trouble than you want to deal with I assure you. To add insult to injury street goods tend by 99 to 1 to be bogus; crap not worth your time much less the risk.

We'll be here a few more days. God it's nice here...
Doctor G

another doctor G story, i love em! always well wrote and a good read. nice to see u still about. Im planning my trip to dam soon ;)

haha sounds good doc, enjoy yourself i would love to be there right now smokin one with ya!

sounds fun...I shall visit someday...on my world tour

:smokin: I wouldnt want to leave either ;) Mmm chocolate/hash bon bons :stoned: