Sarasani closed?

Tell me it isnt true! Please! I heard that the first coffeeshop in Holland, Sarasani, has been closed due to a multi kilo bust by the politie. Can anyone in Utrecht confirm this for us please? A sad day. Truely! Peace.

I have received confirmation that indeed coffeeshop Sarasani was closed down. The news article, in Dutch, is here: http://www.blikopnieuws.nl/bericht/57115 What a friggin bummer! I guess owners greed took down another great coffeeshop. I will miss it. Peace.

Dammit. Sarasani was my favorite place to hang out in Utrecht. The police have been cracking down on them for a while due to complaints by neighbors (the place was always packed these days). It's a really sad day when I hear that my favorite coffeeshop in the Netherlands is gone after so many years. For all who have been there, keep Sarasani's in your memory. The smokey canal-side cave, with its excellent music videos, great times with friends, and dank buds will live forever in mine (good thing i found a couple bagseeds in their Super Cali).
RIP Sarasani

Dr. Bloom said:

Dammit. Sarasani was my favorite place to hang out in Utrecht. The police have been cracking down on them for a while due to complaints by neighbors (the place was always packed these days). It's a really sad day when I hear that my favorite coffeeshop in the Netherlands is gone after so many years. For all who have been there, keep Sarasani's in your memory. The smokey canal-side cave, with its excellent music videos, great times with friends, and dank buds will live forever in mine (good thing i found a couple bagseeds in their Super Cali).
RIP Sarasani

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Sarasani was a favorite of mine also, Dr Bloom. I know any other coffeeshop would not be the same but when in Utrecht check out the Culture Boat, Wittevrouwensingel 206, if you havent already. It's a nice chilled coffeeshop. It's a converted old former paddle-wheel boat that use to take tourists up and down the Rhine. It's very spacious and has a very chilled atmosphere. Nice place to smoke away a few hours. Peace.

Yes the culture boat is one of my other favorites in the city, though more for the atmosphere (the prison across the canal provides a great view lol) than for the wiet. Though I do suggest the "Bio Shiva" as it has a great flavor and a nice high. Still a bit expensive, and nothing on the menu compares to the amnesia haze from Sarasani. I also like Wietstock, which is usually only visited by locals, the downside of the place is that while the weed is cheap, it also differs in quality more than other shops in the city.

Boy do I wish I still lived in the netherlands. Ik heb voor vief maanden in California gewooned. Ik was niet in het nederlands voor meer dan tien maanden.
Sorry, mijn nederlands is niet goed. But at least i try. Thanks for reading.
-Dr.

Dr. Bloom said:

Yes the culture boat is one of my other favorites in the city, though more for the atmosphere (the prison across the canal provides a great view lol) than for the wiet. Though I do suggest the "Bio Shiva" as it has a great flavor and a nice high. Still a bit expensive, and nothing on the menu compares to the amnesia haze from Sarasani. I also like Wietstock, which is usually only visited by locals, the downside of the place is that while the weed is cheap, it also differs in quality more than other shops in the city.

Boy do I wish I still lived in the netherlands. Ik heb voor vief maanden in California gewooned. Ik was niet in het nederlands voor meer dan tien maanden.
Sorry, mijn nederlands is niet goed. But at least i try. Thanks for reading.
-Dr.

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I also like Wietstok coffeeshopje. A small shop but a nice place to chill and watch people pass by. Andersom, a sister shop to Wietstok is also a great place. It's big and dungeon-like but I love it downstairs. It has a large mix of locals and internationals. Definitely worth checking out, if you are in Utrecht.
Why did you leave, doc? Peace.

Interesting Puffin, I didn't know Andersom's was a sister shop to Wietstock.

Anyways, I was only studying abroad in the NL, so I had to come back to California and finish my schooling up (future PHD in the netherlands?). I had an amazing time while i was there, and Utrecht is kind of a second home to me now. The city (and the country) are amazing, and I envy those who call it home. I miss so many things about being over there, although I have to say that the Southern California weather really does make life very pleasant.

Dr. Bloom said:

Interesting Puffin, I didn't know Andersom's was a sister shop to Wietstock.

Anyways, I was only studying abroad in the NL, so I had to come back to California and finish my schooling up (future PHD in the netherlands?). I had an amazing time while i was there, and Utrecht is kind of a second home to me now. The city (and the country) are amazing, and I envy those who call it home. I miss so many things about being over there, although I have to say that the Southern California weather really does make life very pleasant.

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I, too think Utrecht is an beautiful and amazing city/village but you definitely cant beat So Cal for the weather. I hope you make it back over here to get your PHD, doc. Better yet, I hope you are able to relocate to finish your studies and work at your profession. Peace.

It is almost awkward to see foreigners speak of my land like that. I didn't know Sarasani was the first c-shop here? Interesting. But I never go to c-shops anyway. As for weather, well, the fall can be real nice here you know. And winters due to climate change are getting wetter but warmer. As are summers. And more dry they will be.

In California I would not like to be in the coming decades. Those areas need water. And a lot of it. And guess what, water tables are drying up.

I agree with you Verger, i hope i haven't insulted you in any way. I enjoyed the seasons in the Netherlands, as it is something I had never experienced before.

Nonetheless, feeling the sun in the winter (especially after months without it) makes you feel so happy, there's really nothing to compare to it. And yeah, water is and will continue to be an issue here, but we will have to wait and see how that goes. BTW, our water mostly comes from mountain runoff, something the NL sadly does not have (I love the mountains and live at the base of one).

Still I hope to return to your country someday, and still consider the possibility of making it my permanent home, assuming that I am welcome.

At the moment, foreigners are helping to destroy our drug policies. :-( I am not as welcoming as I used to be.

I understand Verger, I have a lot of respect for your countries drug policies, and feel that they are an example for the rest of the world to follow. I am working here in the US to move our policies in the direction that your country has already established. I am sorry that foreigners are ****ing up the system, as was the case with mushrooms recently. I understand why you are not as welcoming to foreigners as you used to be as well. I do ask that you keep an open mind when you meet one though, as it could be me, and we are not all bad. In fact some of us love your country and give it the same respect that many natives do. I hope you can take this to heart at least a little, I don't want to feel unwelcome there.

Verger OG said:

It is almost awkward to see foreigners speak of my land like that. I didn't know Sarasani was the first c-shop here? Interesting. But I never go to c-shops anyway.

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Prior to relocating to The Netherlands I did ALOT of research about the new country I was to reside in. I never stopped learning about this great little country. I *love* coffeeshops and have done extensive amount of reading and talking with dutch nationals about the coffeeshop scene; past and present and have visited many cs's. If you're not into coffeeshops, then why would you know what coffeeshop was the first in Holland? Nothing to feel awkward about. That's why forums like this one exist, so we can all share the knowledge that we have; about the things we know about. I'm sure you have much knowledge that I do not have, you being a Nederlander. It's all good. Live and learn. Peace.

Verger OG said:

At the moment, foreigners are helping to destroy our drug policies. :-( I am not as welcoming as I used to be.

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Very few dutch people are welcoming.

Yeah they are kind and they think they are open, but in deep they are Xenophobic.





Anyhow i'm REALLY sorry for Sarasani... i preferred playing chess in the Anderson... but Sarasani was simply GREAT

having lived in Amsterdam for a few years I found the Dutch people very welcoming
even outside Amsterdam the Dutch people were always helpful and polite to deal with
as to the crack down on the coffee shops and other drug related industrys I don't think its all down to tourists screwing it up
I think its more that the Dutch are trying to clean up there image politically which is a sad thing as I though they had it about right

At the moment their is a witch hunt going on dutch shops also at growshops its outragieus.

gramsci.antonio said:

Very few dutch people are welcoming.

Yeah they are kind and they think they are open, but in deep they are Xenophobic.





Anyhow i'm REALLY sorry for Sarasani... i preferred playing chess in the Anderson... but Sarasani was simply GREAT

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That too has a cause. But this is not a topic for that. I welcome all foreigners who can behave responsibly and not subcome to jackass behavior, giving pause to our politicians who are ejaculating off the idea alone that there could remotely be a reason to repress us down here. And boy! We have 2 christian parties in power alongside Labor party so repression is huge here now. Our society seems to be 'christianizing rapidly with left and right overtaking each other trying to look better by sabotaging freedom and open mindedness.

oldpink said:

having lived in Amsterdam for a few years I found the Dutch people very welcoming
even outside Amsterdam the Dutch people were always helpful and polite to deal with
as to the crack down on the coffee shops and other drug related industrys I don't think its all down to tourists screwing it up
I think its more that the Dutch are trying to clean up there image politically which is a sad thing as I though they had it about right

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That is certainly very true. See my previous post.

It is partly about political image towards the EU. There is pressure I believe, although they do not admit to that if anyone was so bright as to ask, from the EU to makes us comply with the rest of the EU in their oppressive ways. I believe that our drug policy is the loose change for our saying no to the US constitution. As you know the EU is basically a compromise organization. You give some, you lose some acording to your country size, influence and loud mouth and some other factors.

When the Dutch people voted no in a referendum about the EU Constitution, we later sent our PM into the EU to shop for better terms we could agree with. he tells us, balkenende that is, that we did okay, that major countries were willing to compromise in our favor. In those private sessions, perhaps in the hallways I believe they told Bakenende tehy would go along with some of our demands if we were to stop being silly with our drug policies. perhaps this was not so openly addressed even. perhaps they gave the impression that if we were not to comply more in the future in some other event or policy they would not back us up.

Such is the EU. You give something up in the hope that a topic close to yiour heart in the future will be backed up by the others you kissed ass of beforehand.

With 2 christian parties in power they overclass Labor who's also in power. Drugs policy is and has always been a problem for christians. And now they are in power, in a society where the Evengelical broadcasting company's yearly feel good day for youth is exploding with numbers, newborn christians and people re-entering churches again after decades of secularity, they feel they can turn back on our drug policies.

And unfortunately they get a lot of support.

So they crack down on shrooms because a staggering amount of 127 or so foreigners have been taken to hospitals last year or the one before -I don't know - because they had an anxiety or panic attack sometimes mixing drugs up.

That and one fatality of a French girl who I believe to have already been latently depressed. They grab every opportunity now to change our drug policies.
So in short, the unspoken pressure from the EU in spite off a number of countries who have been easier on the weed -that is soon to halt I believe in the framework of a global streak of repression as well as the re-christianization of society perhaps partly a result of the increasingly christian influence in america.

The way it is, whatever seems to be happening in the usa, it will follow here in some degree of fashion.

There is a global war on tyranny and basically the people are the terrorists more and more.

There is a global trend going on to take civil rights and liberties away. Don't get me started.

I still miss Sarasani every single day. If I ever get to start a coffeeshop here in California I think i'll model some things after the way they had it there lol.
RIP Sarasani