Tobacconist in Amsterdam?

[pantsBoots]

Hi from a Dutchman! Hajenius has been mentioned. If were talking pipe tobacco we must disappoint your friend; there is zero to none interesting stuff here, mainly STG and Macbarren stuff, HU stuff doesnt make it here. There are some My Own Blend offerings which are largely aromatic.

Offcourse there are LcdH and Habanos Certified sellers which might have a interesting selection. To bad lounges have been closed from 1.1.2022, smoking inside anything (even a tobaccoshop) else than your house is banned. If I may give another suggestion let him visit www.cigaragua.nl for cigars, its near the LcdH in the Van Baerlestraat. Really interesting shop with only a Nicaraguan selection of cigars, but still one of the biggest selections of the country. I don't think it has a larger offering than you can get in the USA though.



Thank you for your kind words I guess ?. Joking aside, you indeed generally get a straight to the point attitude, but this also depends in what region you are. When visiting the larger cities in the West (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht) people can seem a little snobbistic, which is more to be understood as your described straight the point and efficient way. Going the Eastern and Southern part you can expect a more friendly approach I have experienced when visiting on holiday. You could even say the Southern part is almost equivalent to the American Southern Hospitality mentality.

They were absolutely meant as kind words. I'm an engineer by trade and appreciate straight, direct, and efficient, even when carrying on late night with my friends. The jokes are short, they may be subtle, and they usually hit their mark (in our opinion, anyway).

Funny you mention the American South as that's where I live. The next time we visit Holland, we fully intend on leaving the big cities and getting through the countryside. Is English very common in the smaller villages? We know some German, which while similar, is not similar enough to get by with native Dutch speakers.

 

[DanWil84]

They were absolutely meant as kind words. I'm an engineer by trade and appreciate straight, direct, and efficient, even when carrying on late night with my friends. The jokes are short, they may be subtle, and they usually hit their mark (in our opinion, anyway).

Funny you mention the American South as that's where I live. The next time we visit Holland, we fully intend on leaving the big cities and getting through the countryside. Is English very common in the smaller villages? We know some German, which while similar, is not similar enough to get by with native Dutch speakers.

I was just kidding, I fully understand how we can be the way we are!

English is very common! My kid in 1st grade elementary school (7 years old) has a few hours a week English, higher grades on elementary school have an English teacher and English mandatory till kids leave highschool at 16 till 18, where some even have full English education at highschool. Television is all English with subtitles. German will be more difficult, while Germany is a important trade partner most schools scrap it because Germans are learning English a lot.

 

[karam]

Is English very common in the smaller villages? We know some German, which while similar, is not similar enough to get by with native Dutch speakers.

My experience travelling in Europe is that the Dutch, Danes, Swedes, Norwegians and Finns speak English better than some native speakers - I don't believe it is out of necessity, they just have excellent schools.
The rest of Europe is pretty scetchy for English. The Germans are fairly OK, Swiss and Austrians are marginally better, Italians and Spanish are pretty bad, especially people over 40, Portuguese are better in the big cities and touristic places. The French are the absolute worst including in highly touristic areas which, as a Greek this makes zero sense for me - I was in Nice and couldn't negotiate buying a pack of cigarettes. Balkan countries, including Greece, are fairly good for English.
Central/Eastern Europe (Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine) depends on the overall education level, people with university education speak English very well, people in the service industry speak English as their livelihood depends on it (that's why French in touristy areas not speaking any English was puzzling).
Going out of Europe, Israelis generally speak decent English, Turks on the coast and any touristic place either speak well or they will make a huge effort to communicate to facilitate business/trade/selling you overpriced stuff that you can haggle down to 20% of the asking price (they are still making a good profit!).
Then we have native English speakers who thankfully speak English otherwise they couldn't communicate with anyone