At long last, my trip report! It should have been from the 21st to the 24th, but that big cloud of ash put paid to that!
The Volcano did it's hardest, but some of us still managed to get over there for a somewhat reduced holiday break, and for some of us - The Stoner Chicks - an extended break!
Tuesday 20th April
As with a lot of us, I had been watching the news and checking the various websites to see what was cancelled, what was flying etc...
I checked out the webcam wave, waved back at the screen, all that stuff - sparked up at 16.20 on the dot... BUT...
I had almost reached the point of giving up after my flights out on the Wednesday morning were cancelled, but by now it was too late to cancel the hotel reservation as I would still be paying for the first night anyway, so I decided that two days away would be better than none - if I could get re-booked...
Wednesday 21st April (supposed to be the first day away)
I had already checked in online a few days earlier, and after much waiting on the phone to see what the airline could do as regards changing my flights, I finally got through to them about mid-day and re-booked for the Thursday morning 06.45 flight, due in at 09.10 into Schiphol. I printed out my new boarding card and packed my bag.
I still wasn't sure this was going to come off, and having already lost one full day to the damned volcanic ash cloud, I was just hoping against all hope that the skies would clear sufficiently to get me over there... I had contacted the hotel and let them know the situation and got confirmation back that they had changed my reservation, so I knew I wouldn't be sleeping on the streets if I did make it!
As the day wore on, it looked as though I may actually get over the North Sea after all, and I double checked everything I could think of that needed checking... Passport, check. €'s, check. Boarding cards etc, check.
Clothes, check. Fine. All sorted.
The plan had been to save myself about £30 on taxi fare in the early hours by getting the late buses out to the airport and hanging out there until they opened the gates, and this came off just fine. 23.15pm and I was on the bus into town. Midnight came and I was on the bus to the airport.
Thursday 22nd April
Walked into the airport at about 00.30am - dead quiet, even for that time of night. Positive thoughts, I said to myself. I took a look at the departures screen, and there was my flight, still showing as on-time. Sweet.
I wandered upstairs to the departure lounge and found the security gates were closing down for the night - I'd have to come back at 05.00, so I went back around and found myself a seat and a hot chocolate in the only cafe area that appeared to be open. 4 hours til I can get through security. Time to kill...
I could suddenly smell what I thought was a beef & onion pie close by and I looked up to see a couple of very drunk homeless individuals crashed out on the benches nearby - it wasn't the aroma of a tasty meaty pie that had reached my senses, it was the scent these two "gentlemen" were giving off...
I moved as far as I could downwind of them and tried to ignore the drunken rants as they argued with the airport staff about where they could and couldn't sit.As I was finishing my drink, one of the cleaners from the cafe came over and told me they were closing that section of the concourse for cleaning and I would need to sit somewhere else please... Unfortunately, the nice comfy (and previously occupied) massage chairs behind me had now been claimed by these two rather fragrant itinerants, so I moved to the other side of the concourse and waited til 05.00...
Security opened on time, and aside from from all the waiting, I was now eager for the off... The plane loaded up (half full!) and taxied off up the runway.
We're off!
The plane touched down about 15 minutes early, and after a good long trot through the miles of Schiphol's corridors, I was ready to find Angry Pirate, who should have already landed 30 minutes earlier. As I switched on my phone, a text appeared - AP's flight had been delayed! 5 minutes later, a second text came through - the replacement plane was being re-fuelled and he should be on his way shortly - good job they'd opened the bar earlier for them!
I was out through passport control as quickly as I could and straight through to catch my train to Centraal station.
I emerged into the early morning sunlight and made a bee-line straight for the Vijaya, dropped off my bag and was off towards Green Place.
First choice was the Chocolope, and after chatting with the very pleasant budtender, Aziz, I got my spliff on!
I had a good chin-wag with Aziz, talking about the events of the 420 cup, and mentioned that the Green Place had came #1... Aziz said someone else had been in and mentioned the ACD site and the cup but he couldn't find the right URL for it, so I showed him on his PC behind the bar, and brought up the topic relating to the cup and the winners!
I took a quick pic of the menu, intending to fully document the trip from start to finish - this didn't happen sadly, as the smoking gradually took it's toll...
Another text came through from AP - he was landing. Right now.. Hope the plane don't crash cos you've got your phone on m8!
"Any BBC?"
I bought a lovely bag of the BlueBerry Cheese, and took a pic of the tub for good measure...
I took up station outside the Green Place and enjoyed the bursts of intense sunlight, followed by the still quite chilly spring air, whilst I enjoyed the BBC... As I was sitting there, a couple of Police horses came up Kloveniersburgwal and stopped opposite me. One turned its head towards me and started licking its lips
- I nearly choked on the remnants of the BBC smoke that was still in my lungs as I tried to look cool whilst at the same time trying not to piss myself laughing at this crazy scene!!! I remember saying to myself at the time, "You don't have to make your own entertainment in Amsterdam, it just comes to you!" This carried on for some time, including being interviewed by a tour party who were passing by and looking very interested at the goings-on in the coffeeshop!Angry Pirate arrived not long afterwards and we proceeded to start the trip off in good style!
We both then headed back to the hotel I think to check in (or was that later?) and made our way to BurgerBar, followed by a quick stop at De Kuil for some Super Silver Haze of course. Onwards to Hunters, where a sweet example of NYCD followed.. AP left me there to go meet his mate who had just arrived, then I think we met up again, still in Hunters before heading back to the hotel?
I dunno - it all goes a little hazy at this point, but we ended up heading for Cisco's T&T at Basjoes, where we met the legendary "Stoner Chicks" - Island Gurl, Hestia and BlueBerry, and Lampshade and Soulrider. After that? Well - I'm relying on reading snippets from other people's reports here as the cones were whizzing around, most of which had been supercharged with Terminator! Cisco - where are ye!
I vaguely recall heading for t'Nes with the gang, via the fair that was going ten to the dozen in the middle of Dam Square - I think Bratwursts were on the menu that evening - I did think long and hard about the 0.5m long Bratwurst, but in the end I just had the regular one, followed by some freshly done poffertjes - YUM! On to t'Nes, where we sat in the entrance, schmoking the night away. A quick visit to Albert Heijn for some munchies with IG followed, but I managed to lose her amongst all the snacky goodness on offer, and so made my rather unsteady way back to the hotel on my own. I had bought a carton of what I thought was chocolate milk to help wash down the waffles etc. and for the second time I managed to buy the wrong stuff again. Note to self; CHOCOLADE VLA is NOT like chocomel. I bought the same stuff last year, and I told myself the same thing. It's nice, don't get me wrong, but it's not easy to chug it down when you've got a thirst on!
Ah well. Bedtime.
Friday 23rd April
Missed breakfast. No great shakes.
Myself, Angry Pirate and his mate made our way around to another new place for me... Coffeeshop Babylon!
Quiet little out of the way place down by Hotels Beursstraat, Ben and Frisco Inn - we sat down after selecting a nice smoke each and got on with business.
I think my purchase was a nice big bud of bubblegum? (Can't be too sure...)
Buddha haze...
Nycd haze...
This was followed by a fantastic fry-up breakfast at O'Reilleys, suggested by AP - top man! Great nosebag, and superbly priced at under €10 - take that Barneys!
We were due to meet up with the Stoner Chicks and everyone else back at Amnesia for about 1pm, so after a pit-stop at Anyday for a play with the Verdamper (nice!) we headed over to destroy some more brain cells!
AP had gone to do some shopping, so AP's mate and me met him back at Amnesia, where Cisco had made an appearance! He got a bit of gentle ribbing about missing his own T&T the night before but as was well - he had made it at last! Once again, there were too many cones circling around to make much sense of who was smoking what and from where, so we just went along with the flow! I honestly cannot remember what it was I bought in Amnesia - but it sure looks nice! {Edit} Amnesia Haze. That was it!
And when the time came to move on, we joined in with the Stoner Chicks and headed off to the Albert Cuyp Market and Katsu! Hestia and myself had bought a couple of punnets of fresh strawberries and IG had bought a big bag of grapes, so we all sat munching fruit and smoking Black Widow til the rest arrived! Verdampers and strawberries - sweet.
AP, his friend and myself eventually got the tram back into the centrum some time later and via a stop at Rookies - again no memory of this - just a picture...
... We ended up back at BurgerBar - surprise, surprise! This would have been getting on for around 7.30 - 8pm and we bumped into Lampshade and IG again! Damn, those burgers are good.
After that, I'm afraid, it all goes south... I woke up in my hotel room with my phone beeping at me. It was 22.45pm and AP wanted to know where I was. The last night at t'Nes was impossible for me by this stage - my body had finally given up the ghost - too many hours without sleep on the way out and way too much time spent trying to keep up with the Stoner Chicks while I was there.
The mind was more or less willing but the body had cashed in its chips.
Saturday 24th April
I had set my alarm good and early as I had to get to Schiphol for my 09.45am flight back, so I looked at the remains of the weed I had bought and not finished - I made two fatties out of the Amnesia Haze, then bagged everything else up and left it tied to Angry Pirate's door - there wouldn't have been enough time for me to comfortably get to an early opening coffeeshop to smoke everything anyway, and I wanted to make sure I was at the airport with time to spare...
I left the hotel about 07.30am and stood outside by the canal smoking the first of my last two Amnesia Haze spliffs... The sun was rising in the sky and the Saturday morning was bright and crisp - damn, I wished I'd had that extra day...
The journey back to Schiphol was uneventful and so I headed out into the sunlight once more to fire up the last spliff - I wasn't alone out there! Another chap waiting for his early morning flight was blazing away as well, and as stoners do, we started chatting about the usual nonsense...
Eventually though, it was time to go... Straight through security - trying hard not to look as high as I really was, and with my time perception altered sufficiently by that Haze, I was home in almost no time at all...
I tried not to get too depressed heading back to my house - I had lost a whole day of my holiday (and still had to pay for it!), but I had caught up with some good old friends and made some great new ones.
And at the end of June, I'm doing it all again!
I just hope that damn Volcano keeps calm the next time...
