I almost spelled it right...I think this might be where I'm heading...

Maastricht, the oldest city in the Netherlands, differs from Amsterdam in numerous ways.

"Maastricht is about as diametrically opposed to its northern cousin as two cities within one European country can be," said a visitor named Kifwebe. Where Amsterdam is dirty and bustling, Maastricht is impeccably clean and quiet. Amsterdam is the hub of Dutch heritage but Maastricht, situated in a finger of land between Belgium and Germany, reflects heavy
French and German influences. Amsterdam has 725,000 residents, about 600,000 more than Maastricht.

However, there is one important shared feature: "coffee shops" where world-class marijuana and hash are purchased and smoked openly. "[Coffee shops] exist solely to provide a safe, clean place for people to legally buy small quantities of hashish and marijuana to smoke on the premises or take home," said an unnamed traveller who sampled the Maastricht wares. "That's extremely high-quality hash and wacky weed: Pollen, Double Pollen, Moroccan hash,
gold or red Lebanese."

In Maastricht, city ordinance forbids the sale of alcohol in coffeeshops; weed only.

Costs are comparable to those in Amsterdam, with marijuana starting around the equivalent of four dollars for a gram or $6 per gram for hash. As in Amsterdam, the stoner culture has been firmly established in Maastricht.
BongSmokityDuo Reviewed by BongSmokityDuo on . Who's been to the Netherlands? The girlfriend and I are planning a trip over there for sometime in the next few months, and I was hoping to get some input from people that have gone recently. Has anybody been to the cannabis cup? Is it really anything other than just a busride to the coffee shops and a weed voting ballot? Also, since we're not exactly interested in hitting up the red light district, is there any reason for us to go to Amsterdam instead of some other city? Oh, and also if you want to share how much you Rating: 5