Trip VII - Travelogue I

[aVeryOldLady]

August 24th - Day 3

On this lovely warm and sunny morning we were heading to Pancakes Amsterdam around the corner from Batavia when I saw something you normally think it does not exist because everybody talks about it but you have never seen it and nobody has any pictures. Yes, it was a boat on a Gracht pulling all sort of stuff out of the water, but especially bicycles We stopped to stare at it for a while



After we were finally able to move on, we made it to the pancake house. I went for the chili, banana and bacon pancake as I can get normal pancakes at home Nice combination, fruity spicy savory - good way to start the day.



After that we had the rest of Amnesia's NYCD, then the rest of the 1e Hulp UK Cheese in the last cigar paper in the hotel. On he way out we met the lady who checked me in last time. I told you my check in was quick this time - I suddenly remembered why that had been so. A conversation started that my friend participated in right away as he did not know for what amount of time this person is capable to talk. Don't get me wrong - I like her, she even remembered me. But some people just talk about so much stuff while I'm not able to follow in my confused state.
Next stop: Body Worlds - The Happiness Project. Incredible exposition if you keep in mind that these were real living humans. The most amazing "piece" was the head of a man cut into two pieces so you could look into his skull. (Google pictures: http://www.johannemiller.com/wp-content ... ler-19.jpg) I know that the exposition has a little controversial background though.
After that we went to Utopia for their Amnesia Cream at 12€/g. I asked Ingi if it was still as good as it had been in March and she said it is amazing. After smelling it we went for a gram and smoked it with some of de Graal's Santa Maria. Still an awesome hash at a good price. I remember it to be a little more oily and soft, it is still quite soft though. After that we went to Easy Times for East Coast Sour Diesel at 15€/g and vaped half of it. I just love some good Sour Diesel, one of my favorite strains. Generally, I like all (most) Diesel strains. My friend didn't understand at the time why I didn't want to throw the weed in an ashtray but back in the bag afterwards
This served as a good base to keep us awake during the Banksy and Warhol exposition at the Mokum museum next to the Van Gogh. However, we thought it was funny that every artwork had a picture which told me "what Banksy wanted to say with this picture". How is that possible if nobody knows who he is??





As we were in the area, we made out way over to de Graal for their High Rise at 13€/g as they were out of Blueberry and had all of it on the upper floor sitting by the window that goes out into the backyard while playing cards.



After that we went back to the hotel for some food, the rest of Voyagers' LA Fire which was followed by the rest of Utopia's AK47.
Next we visited Siberie for their Chocolope at 13€/g. This gave us the most uplifting high so far which made us go for a stroll right afterwards. This stroll ended at Utopia where we went for the Grape Ape Kush at 15€/g (again). This was the nicest tasting bud in our opinion with a special taste we couldn't quite find words for (although I have earlier according to my notes ) Sat down on the nice bench outside and had all of it while watching the nightlife go by. On the way out we grabbed more Super Silver Haze at 13€/g.
Afterwards we walked over to Green Place for their Blueberry Yum Yum at 13€/g which gave us a relaxing stone and was followed by another stroll. Back to the hotel for Utopia's Super Silver Haze and the rest of Greenplace's Blueberry Yum Yum as a nightcap.
We were offered drugs a couple more times so this is indeed a bad sign. Maybe we were the targets simply because we were staggering down the streets

[pengaldinho]

Enjoying your report, keep it coming!

[LLMReb]

I took FOD's post as an analogy that Club Media is discriminating, which is shameful and disgraceful alling a parallel of other discriminatory practices. Respectfully, I didn't read that post as a direct question as much as an unacceptible CM policy.

[aVeryOldLady]

August 25th - Day 4

This morning we went to La Grotta for breakfast. Really confused young waiter, first brought us the piece you put under your cup of coffee (I don't have the right word for it right now) as an ashtray. Nice breakfast, was followed by the rest of Easy Times East Coast Sour Diesel while playing chess and cards.



Out of La Grotta, in Green House around the corner for their Super Lemon Haze at 15,50€/g. Super Lemon Haze is their only strain I purchase there on a regular basis, even though the price is a little up compared to other places. Sometimes I come here for special strains I cannot find on other menus. The pond is kinda trippy, my friend hadn't had seen it until he had had walked over it a couple of times. The Super Lemon Haze has a nice citrus taste, just as one would expect. Now we are wrecked, this early in the day. Playing some more cards until some guy tells us that we cannot play cards here and this was the moment I remembered: We are at Green House. So we left. Nice smoke though.
From there we walked to Magna Plaza to get some gifts for the family. I was thinking about something and only physically there while walking through the shops on the lowest level as I noticed I was standing in a clothing store although I had been standing in a store that sells cacti just seconds before and I had not entered a new store, at least it did not seem like it. Turns out the stores on this floor don't have "borders" or they were all the same store with different sections that had nothing to do with each other, I still don't get it. Trippy



In order to get back up to the level we are used to we made Hill Street Blues our next stop, sitting by the window on the upper floor (as I remember downstairs to be their tobacco area). Looking over the water, we played cards, had a Hertog Jan beer and the rest of Utopia Amnesia Cream with the Easy Time's already vaped East Coast Sour Diesel and a little bit of the Siberie Chocolope followed by the rest of the Chocolope on its own. This was funny as my friend took the joint only knowing that it contains Amnesia Cream and later asked me why the hell I was too lazy to get the ashtray at Easy Times to throw the vaped weed away and what had happened to the vaped weed Also added our own drawings and signatures to the tables.



At the hotel we had the rest of Utopia's Super Silver Haze with the rest of Massawa's Primera. After that the rest of Green House's Super Lemon Haze with half of the remaining half of Massawa's Royal which put us in the mood for a stroll.
We ended up at Barney's for Pineapple Chunk at 16€/g (after Easy Times did not have it on the menu anymore). No vaporizer with the reason that it is too hot inside. I have heard this a couple times from various shops during the stay, same thing for bongs. I may understand it with the vaporizers, but I am not so sure I can follow the reason that it is too hot inside for not being allowed to use a bong. Had all of it right there, sweet fruity smell, unique taste. Induced relaxing effects with a clear had that made us just want to stay there.After we managed that we made our way to Voyagers for Kushdee at 12€/g. Also had all of it right there, rather fruity smell and taste (we guessed, in our condition) with a stony buzz.
Regarding our condition, we just couldn't get a grasp on what was going on in the city. There were huge groups of boys or girls strictly divided running around the city singing, shouting and lighting fireworks.
Buy'n'Fly at Amnesia for their Critical Kush at 15€/g and Acapulco Gold at the same price. Now we are stocked for another session at Utopia. Haven't seen the Asian-ish looking budtender before, nice guy, chatted with him for a while. Also went for the Skywalker OG at 15€/g. While waiting for the bench outside to get free we started with Amnesia's Acpapulco Gold. It had a really sweet citrus flavor, strong but still alert high. It was followed by the Skywalker OG that had a rather citrus Diesel smell and taste, which got us even higher but made our heads a little bit more clouded. We then got Girl Scout Cookies at 16€/g which the budtender told us is what he smokes all the time and Grape Ape Kush 15€/g and then moved to the bench outside. This was followed by the Amnesia Critical Kush which made us cough the most out of all strains so far, induced a stone that kind of counteracted the Skywalker and thus gave a strong clear high all in all.
Back at the hotel we tried Utopia's Girl Scout Cookies which had a sweet, just a little earthy smell. The earthiness comes through more when burned and gave a strong, well balanced high. As a nightcap we had Utopia's Grape Ape Kush.

[Willjay]

For "aVeryOldLady" you smoke like it's 1969 thanks for sharing

1969 summer of WoodStock

[CopenhagenCouple]

@averyoldlady:
Thanks for some of the best reporting we have read for quite a while here, probably only rivaled by the top posters a pengaldinho, DLN and a few others! We love that you report very detailed (and well informed) reviews of the smoke, yet find time to comment on shop feel, sights of the city and general experiences...w e also enjoyed the grape ape and blueberry yum yum, and the am cream at utopia is a lovely, clean smoke for the money! Say hi to Ingi from everyone here he you get the chance!

with respect to Banksy someone must be aware of his (or maybe their) identity or at least has some form of communication with this entity as he / they are credited with several works
(directing among these) that requires interactions. that being said we completely agree that it is not the role of the gallery to "subtitle and paraphrase" the artist!

@FOD: fair enough, we just don't take to kindly to being compared to racists, Nazis, homophobic pricks or other such fucking wastes of perfectly good empty space for a wealth of reasons ...

[aVeryOldLady]

@ Willjay on the internet, nothing is like it seems
Edit: This implies that my had not happened as it is written, I now notice I actually mean my user name

@ CopenhagenCouple Thank you for the feedback, unfortunately I won't be able to say hi to anybody anymore as this trip happened last week The picture after the Mokum, the one of a wall with an artwork on it, I actually found on a wall close to central station. I thought that this must be an original arwork of him until I discovered that there were two other ones on the same building as well. So i guess that this was just a way pf promotion, unfortunately.

[aVeryOldLady]

August 26th - Final Day

This morning we cleaned up the room as this was our final day in Amsterdam. Lucky us, the train would not leave until around 8:30pm, so almost one more day in the city.We started into the day with the rest of the Utopia Girl Scout Cookies followed by the rest of Amnesia's Acapulco Gold (we actually enjoyed this more than most strains, hadn't even had in on the radar before the trip). We didn't have too much leftovers, only 1.5g of weed and 0.25g of hash so there was nothing in the way of us visiting some more shops today.
We checked out and dropped our bags off at central station. From there we had a short walk to Barney's uptown for breakfast which was really pricey, I would rather recommend La Grotte a minute down the road. After the food we went for the rest of Utopia's Skywalker OG.
Next stop was Grey Area for their Trainwreck at 15€/g. They also had Mexican Haze on the menu which I've always wanted to smoke, but the final decision was Trainwreck as a buy'n'fly as it was packed (if it wouldn't be packed, something must be wrong).
My friend wanted to go to the Dungeon and told me to trust him that it is going to be amazing. And indeed it was. Awesome actors at every single station.
On our way to Tweede Kamer afterwards we stumbled upon Begijnhof and stayed there for a while. What a peaceful spot in such a busy area close to the Spui. What those appartments must cost...



We moved on to Tweede Kamer for their King Hassan as it had been recommended on here many times, but it was packed (which means there were about 10 people inside), so we walked 10 more meters to 420/Dutch Flowers. Here, we got Blueberry at 11€/g and grabbed the seats by the open window inside and started with Grey Area Trainwreck with the rest of Massawa Royal. The Trainwreck had a citrus smell, together they tasted sweet and spicy and gave a quite uplifting high. The Trainwreck suppressed the effects of the Royal pretty much. Then we tried the 420/Dutch Flowers Blueberry which had a blueberry smell and taste, stronger effect than Green Place's version (at least we think).
We saw a free table at Tweede Kamer so out of the door and inside Tweede Kamer for their King Hassan at 6€/g. The female budtender with red hair told us that all the locals smoke it and that for 6€/g it packs quite a punch and indeed it did. Really spicy smell, felt kind of like wet sand when handling it. Had it with the rest of Amnesia Critical Kush and it made the Kush not so harsh anymore. Nice relaxed stone followed, truly great value for the price.
One last march up to Utopia for a space cake to ensure an interesting travel home. Haven't seen the female budtender with red hair before. At our favorite place, the bench outside, we took on the rest of 420/Dutch Flowers' Blueberry with the rest of Tweede Kamer's King Hassan. Again a nice sweet and spicy combo which tasted good and induced a relaxed feeling.





This was followed by the rest of Utopia's Grape Ape Kush and the last smoke was the rest of the Trainwreck from Grey Area.

WHAT AN END!

We walked up to central station on a sunny evening to get onto our train and off we were.





To be honest, we only made it to the next tourist super market as we were thinking about the travel home and only had 10€ left. So we bought 1 liter of water each (good choice) and instead of buying some food for the night each of us bought a double pack snickers (bad choice) which we ate right in front of the store on some chairs we found there. Oh well.

And off we were. This time for real


______________________________________


As I already said, after so many trips in winter or early spring weather, it was awesome to finally be able to walk around in a T-Shirt, sit by the water and use the outside areas of all the shops. Traveling with only one other person has a lot of benefits as, especially in the more prominent shops, it is nearly impossible to find a seat if you are in a group of more than 3 or 4 people. I had a really heavy cough which made conversation a torture for me. This was very unfortunate as I had finally found someone who was willing to go everywhere I wanted. Usually, all the people I go with eventually say that it is too much for them (meaning that they get up at 1pm and usually start whining around 4pm that they are oh so tired and want back to the hotel where they will stay for the rest of the day). And when I found that person, I couldn't really talk to him. Neither to a lot of other people we met along the way. I can only imagine what that must have looked to other people in the coffeeshops, me sometimes almost dying after each and very drag. Like somebody who has never smoked before Although it had nothing to do with harsh smokes (well, at least most of the time).
Utopia is a shop that will be greatly missed, especially the nice staff (most of them) and the comfortable bench outside. There were free seats every time we visited.

As I plan to do certain things but there is only so much time available every trip, there are several things I was not able to get to do. First of all, I was not able to chill at de Graal more than one time. The shop has an awesome vibe, the best interior of all the shops. Same as Utopia, I will miss this place.
Again, I did not find any Hindu Kush, nor any decent Critical Kush. Also, we just were too lazy to get enough filler and smoked the hash with regular weed. Normally, I don't like that too much as this overshadows the hash. Also, we missed out on Voyagers' Notorious OG, a space cake from Paradox and any ISO at all, preferably one from de Graal as these were recommended on here many times.
The (relevant) shops we did not make it to where Yoyo (really anticipated a visit here), Het Ballonetje and Boerejongens and I have never been to any of these either. Also, (again) I did not manage to get a seat at Grey Area.

But oh well, if there wasn't anything on my list for the next trip, what should I look forward to? Although I guess the next trip will have to wait a little longer than only 5 months, there are other destinations now that come before Amsterdam. Maybe I'll even manage to meet some of you on my next trip. That would be nice, but without a cough, preferably.

All in all, this was an amazing trip, the only thing overshadowing it being my heavy and constant cough every time I was trying to say something. But never mind, it was still great.

[LLMReb]

Great trip. I am really pining for a trip to AMS. I search for ways to go, then tell myself that I really don't need to go again for a little while due to obligations. If I type long enough, I will probably talk myself into going.

I very much enjoyed CS Yo-Yo. Too bad you didn't make it, as I would have appreciated your opinion. But the good thing about you not going is that you have a reason to return to AMS! AMS always seems to provide a reason to return.

Great thread! I very much enjoyed reading it. I write my own in a way for others to read and hopefully appreciate a more comprehensive view of what AMS offers the visitor. You do a masterful job of accomplishing that goal!

[CopenhagenCouple]

Our bad, don't know where we got the idea that you were live

What a nice trip, shame that you were so hindered by the cough, but excellent that you still had a great time!

Utopia has also become one of our favorite places and the grail truly has one of the most relaxed and nice moods of any shop, and yes very great value ice

We btw know exactly how you feel wrt traveling companions, most we have taken there only had a third of a trip, half at best, considering that they were either sleeping or getting ready for something they then only did half way (and then went home to sleep). Well, that was u least how we felt it relative to how much we like to do and experience...

It was great reading your very nice reporting, would love to meet you there and share some lovely nugs

Cc

[LLMReb]

I'm with both of you (AVOL and CC). I cannot tell you how excited I get when someone asks me to chat with them about AMS. This very morning at a coffee (not that sort) meeting, the person informed me that his wife will be in AMS for 1 day on a work layover. Oh man, I got so excited. Then I was very disappointed when all he wanted to talk about was the RLD. Then he got disappointed when I shared with him that AMS is not wholly comprised of the RLD.

It is astonishing how many think that AMS is weed on every corner and prostitutes in every window.

I wanted to chat with him about the museums, food, architecture, canals . . . and all he wanted to hear about was the RLD.

I would enjoy taking someone to AMS that really, truly, wanted to visit AMS. It is such a fascinating city! But like you, whenever I take someone, they sleep in, they complain, they drag-ass, and they do not enjoy hanging out. Back in May I went on my first extended solo trip, and it was so much fun. Yet I couldn't help but think that it would have been twice the fun if I had someone who was willing to explore the city with me. For example, I took a couple over Easter and they were scared to ride a bike, worried about inhaling to much 'of that marijuana', got dog tired after one museum, and would not shut up about wanting coffee, but did not want to drink coffee in a Coffeeshop. Bummer. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time on my own, but the good time could have been so much better.

Hmm, now I need to make a few calls to see if I can round up anyone who would like to chat about AMS. Ironically, my neighbor who cares nothing for AMS is in AMS tomorrow for 1 stinking day. Maybe I'll write him to pop in to Utopia or Paradox for me.

[OneHighMofo]

Fantastic reporting and photography - thankyou very much, I really enjoyed reading along. You've got me allexcited for my next trip.

Bravo!

[aVeryOldLady]

@ LLMReb I read your last travelogue and saw the pictures of the gear from YoYo - this was why I had put it on my list to visit. I don't know why we didn't make it as it was one of the top places on our list to visit. But as it goes, once you arrive sticking to a plan is quite difficult. I also like just floating through the city and do what I want in this very moment. The only outdoor we had was the Santa Maria, which we thought came close to being something in between of indoor and outdoor weed so not really like the gear from YoYo, I guess.
The city itself is one reason why I never use any way of transportation besides my feet. As I said, my phone told me have walked 20km per day on average.


Most people just don't seem to be made to go there. I mean they pay for the transportation and then a hotel there just to stay in their rooms the entire day. I went to the Bulldog hotel on my first couple trips which has a lounge where you can smoke. So they only had to leave the hotel for weed and only had to leave the room to go downstairs to have a smoke. This trip and the last time I went, I stayed in smoking rooms at another hotel, which was even worse considering that they didn't even have to leave bed in order to smoke By now I know who truly wants to explore the city and take them with me and if someone who just does not want to stay awake for longer than something like 8 hours per day comes along as well that is fine as long as I have someone going outside with me.

Thank you for the feedback everybody!

My goal is to find strains I really like the effects of and buy them in a couple of shops as I think for strains to have the desired effect not much quality is needed. If I know what I like, I will rather go after smell and taste for grading those strains and deciding if it is quality then. But after 7 trips, I still haven't tried everything I wanted to try, like (good) Critical Kush, Dr. Grinspoon and Grape Ape (without the Kush).
Some of the strains that are sure to be bought on every of my trips so far are for example Sour Diesel, Super Silver Haze and AK47.
Besides those strains, I also have some shops on my list that may not have any of those, thus I will get something that is not on my list and explore something new. And if something sticks out on a menu, I also like to try these strains. Also, I always look at what is recommended on here before I go to Amsterdam.

I think it is quite difficult to say what my favorite smokes this trip were.
The King Hassan from Tweede Kamer at 6€/g and the Santa Maria from de Graal at 7€/g were by far the best value for the price and both very nice. I was especially surprised by the King Hassan.
Although I liked the hash from Massawa, I cannot promise to walk that far out west every trip. I also liked the Atlas hash from Voyagers at 10€/g and I think if you look a little around, it is possible to find other moroccan hash with good value in the center.
The taste of the Grape Ape Kush from Utopia was special, so where the taste of the Super Silver Haze from Utopia and the Super Lemon Haze from Green House. I liked the uplifting buzz of Siberie's Chocolope at 13€/g as well. What I did not have on the radar before going was Amnesia's Acapulco Gold at 15€/g which was also really nice.
All in all I will rather go for strains that are below 15€/g next time as this just seems a little much for a g of weed, even if the product is good.

[Fat_old_dwarf]

Most people just don't seem to be made to go there. I mean they pay for the transportation and then a hotel there just to stay in their rooms the entire day.

You're hanging out with the wrong stoners. But I'm glad to see you're flying the flag for the seniors. I've done about a dozen trips in the past year, either day trips or overnighters. A day trip means being on the go from dawn till 9ish; with an overnighter I can shower and crash out for a few hours in my hotel room, but then I'm out to explore. I don't see the point in wasting time; I can stare at my own walls back home.

[LLMReb]

Amen FOD!