Heading towards Centraal Station on Warmoestraat brings you to Niewebrugsteeg. Coffeeshop Funny People could be found down this small alley. I say could, because it has moved. It had been functioning as a smoker friendly café for a while. A new Facebook page alerted me to its rise from the ashes. It is functioning again but in a different location in Amsterdam Noord.  If you want to catch them at their new location look them up on Facebook.

This watercolor scene was created using Japanese brushes with a faster technique. The low yet powerful Dutch sunlight creeping around corners of Amsterdam creates a unique effect. The result is simultaneous value conditions of rich colors and bleached out highlights. This special lighting has made its presence known in Dutch art for centuries.

In the background you can see a sign for the Hotel International and another for the eatery "Kam Yin" both on Warmoestraat. During long sketching sessions in Amsterdam, Kam Yin was the place to step in and have your hunger dealt with. They offer a quick hot meal with no fuss. During times of discouraging rain or just as a rest stop, the bar at the Hotel International became a comfortable place to grab some pints and a laugh or two!

Watercolor  (30cm x 40cm)

Through heavy pulls on a large hookah, one reclining customer has found out that a relaxing day in Amsterdam may have your mind drifting to the Far East. It may be surprising to find out that our friend is actually not in a coffeeshop!

Although the Lost in Amsterdam Lounge is not a coffeeshop, customers are allowed to smoke there. It is referred to as a "smoking bar". These places became prominent after a July 2007 law in the Netherlands which separated alcohol sales from soft drugs sales in a given location. Many times the smoking bar arose from a coffeeshop which served alcohol and decided to retain its alcohol license and give up its ability to sell soft drugs - as with the case with the Café Nes. On the other hand, Café Wildstyle chose to do the opposite and has since turned into Rick's Coffeeshop, while Rick's café next door retained only its liquor license.

If there is any doubt in your mind as to whether or not it is permissible to smoke a joint in a given location, there are usually helpful signs: language such as "smokers welcome" on a sign out front, or a graphic of a mascot smoking a spliff while holding a martini make for understandable tip offs.

Depending on your interest it may be enjoyable to have a drink with your smoke, and as always, Amsterdam aims to please!

Watercolor  (26 x 32 cm)

Many thanks to the artist who created this African inspired wall frieze in the Rokerij coffeeshop! It became the perfect backdrop for a group of friends taking a break in Amsterdam. This scene unfolded at the Rokerij coffeeshop nearest Amsterdam's Centraal Station. Captured first in ink, this watercolor attempts to capture the colorful, casual nature of friends meeting and preparing to smoke together.

Seated on coiled bales of rope, the group is engaged in the process of preparing a joint. For Europeans this means breaking up the marijuana or hashish, rolling a filter tip and breaking open a cigarette.

The introduction of tobacco in the joint allows for a proper burn, and is a method for regulating the strength of the joint. When increasing the ratio of tobacco to hash in a joint, for example, the joint becomes less strong. By contrast the American method is usually to roll a "pure"joint consisting of marijuana alone. This is all academic to man's best friend laying in the foreground. Having trotted through Amsterdam he is more than happy to take a well deserved nap!

Watercolor ( 30cm x 40cm )

Here are a couple of views of the main room in the Rusland coffeeshop located just outside the "Old Center" in Amsterdam. The Rusland coffeeshop has been operating for forty years now - an amazing achievement. 

Reading an entry in the 1980 edition of the Mellow Pages, an early smoker's guide, the Rusland's menu showed a healthy choice of hash and grass for sale. Half of their options were still imported strains like Thai, African, and Indonesian-showing that the Dutch domestic hybrids had not yet taken over the market.The Dutch grown strains offered on their menu during this time reflected Holland's nascent indoor growing scene: Skunk, Orange bud, Big bud, Viking and Haze. These early strains became responsible for the reputation Amsterdam would enjoy as THE place to head for exotic high potency marijuana hybrids and helped put Holland on the map as a smoker's paradise.

Located just outside the Old City Center which houses Amsterdam's famous Red Light District the Rusland coffeeshop makes a nice break from the busy streets nearby. For many smokers in Amsterdam the Rusland was their first exposure to a marijuana and hashish selling establishment. Even Kip, the author of the Mellow pages can't resist hinting at the early origins of this coffeeshop- "I still maintain that the Rusland is one of, if not the first hash coffeesop in town".

Their signature has always been a large assortment of hot teas and of course a fine selection of smoke on both sides of the menu! The Rusland coffeeshop's slogan is "Invade Russia for a change" and where better to do that than in Amsterdam!

( Watercolor 30cm x 45cm )