Sometime between 9 and 10am I woke to the news that screwed the plans of over 40 of ACD’s finest..
My trip report should begin on Monday morning, me and 2 mates jetting into Schiphol’s sunny welcome, busting with the anticipation of the 420 smokeout. Unfortunately, some nasty little lump of rock halfway to Santa’s gaff thought it would be funny to fuck up the global aviation industry, with no thought spared for those who had, ironically, been dreaming of Volcanoes for weeks.
So, Monday consisted of checking the news on tv and lappy while sitting on hold for some overworked Aer Lingus staffer to pick up the call. Flights were changed, first to Wed 6am, then Thursday 6am, ruling out my 2 mates due to work commitments.
Tuesday April 20
As the ones who made it celebrated 420, I was sat at home with a few herbal consolations...
Thursday April 22
I’ll keep this brief, plane broke down on tarmac, we got off, hit the bar for the last real pint of Guinness for four days, jumped on a replacement plane and, 3 hours late, we took off.
No, really, we did.
Sitting back on the plane, I thought of all the problems myself and others faced over the previous week. Now I allowed myself a smile, I was actually on my way.
Landed around 11ish local time and clicked my phone on to snap a photo to send home, letting my girl know I had made it.
DaveS had been on the wire, I was due in 30 mins before him, now he’s sat in Greenplace, teasing me with tales of chocolope and how it would be all gone if I didn’t pull my finger out and get on the move.
Blinkers on, cue “Snatch” style montage....
Ticket-train-Centraal-Vijaya....HELLO!!!!
Quick change of footwear and off towards Nieuwmarkt, still wearing the “fuck me, it’s real!” smile i’d been sporting since we left irish soil.
Dave was sat out front with his shades on, pure BBC doob in hand. “Alreet fella, nice day for it!!”
20 seconds later, i was soaring, gibbering away and enjoying those first spliff moments. It’s always good to get back here, but this time there was an extra buzz. Too many times in the previous 7 days, this scene never looked like happening. I nipped indoors for a pear looza/gram of Blueberry Cheese to roll my first of the day. As I sat back down, Dave handed me a welcome pack in the form of a bag of Chocolope. Rolled two, one dirty and a pure to share with my nicotine free buddy.
Over the next few j’s, we set out the plan of action. Coffeshops and T&Ts were discussed, then our stomachs chipped in with their demands. Now, here’s a thing...Mr ”Never seen a salad” has never tasted the delights of Kolksteeg 2. WHAT????? YOU???!!! NEVER???
Ok then, a quick stop off to check in to my room, then over to Burger bar for the inevitable collision. Discovered room 31 in the Vijaya is essentially a corridor with en-suite wetroom. Two single beds ran along one wall, back to back, split by a wardrobe. I took the bed by the window, had a quick spliff, then went to find Dave.
Some time later, the two smiley smokers head into De Kuil, buzzing in the afterglow of Black Angus beef and Blueberry Cheese. Between us, we bought 2g Super silver Haze, 1g Nevilles Haze and a gram of Parvati cream. Dave twisted off a pure SSH j, as per, and I grabbed a few drinks as we settled into the surroundings. Always loved the vibe in here, wish you could still get a beer. Oh well.
Now, that was the easy bit...from here onwards, i’ll be piecing together random memories, so if you were there, feel free to put me right. I’ll try to keep it worth reading if I can. Took no notes, just dived in to the festivities.
...Back to the trip... It was heading on for 3.30 now and my mate PC was due in from Newcastle soon. I’d told him we’d meet outside the Barbizon hotel across from Centraal when he arrived, but so far i’d had one text telling me he was boarding, then nowt. My calls went to his voicemail, leaving me wondering where the fuck he’d got to. Dave and I hung round for a few mins then decided to drop in to Hunters so I could keep checking back. Dave got a g of the nicest NYCD i’ve tasted in a while, super lemony. I headed off out again after a few mins and when i got to the top of Warmoesstraat i heard my name shouted and turned to see a relieved looking bald Geordie smiling back. No roaming set up on his moby,..tit.
Hadn’t seen this fella in nearly five years, so we caught up on the way to the hotel. Lots to fill each other in about. Got to the room and I knocked a Chocolope j up, nice, real sweet. Had PC blabbering away in no time as I just lay back giggling. We then went and got Dave and chipped over to Basjoe for Cicso’s T&T. Time to break out the heavy artillery....”Any Terminator?”. James smiled back, “Aah, you love the Terminator man..!!”. Spotted the stoner chicks at one table. Thought i’d head outdoors to roll up, then nip back in after a j to say hello. James was doing the usual, service is prompt unless you order termy, he took ages sorting out my gram of goo, dropped a little on his own spliff, nodding in appreciation, eyes just about open. What a man. Grabbed a g of special too then took the outside seats to twist it up.
Dave nipped back inside to say hello and a few seconds later I heard “Angry pirate?” in an American twang and turned to see the smiling face of Hestia approaching. Intros exchanged, we headed inside to meet Islandgurl, Blueberry and Lampshade. I am informed that Soulrider was here too, is that right? Me and PC plannedon catching the Atletico/L’pool game in Coco’s later, so I thought i’d lay off the sticky stuff til later....no chance. Joints were bubbling all around the table. IG’s notes are possibly the only documentation of what got smoked here. Conversation centred around Cicso’s whereabouts...no show on yer own T&T? Bad form that, lad...just joking, I know you had a fecker of a journey.
Me and PC did off for the game, sat in the smoking area in Coco’s, me with a frosty Heineken, blobbing goo on the joints of anyone in our radius. Met up with one of the bar staff who had been out with us on a previous trip, Jaime, a Spanish lad. The next pint was free, cool. Things got hazy after this, made an unrecalled purchase in Bushdocter, possibly Big Buddha Cheese. I know we left for Burger bar after midnight, meaning t’Nes was closing as we arrived. Oh well, back to the room with a few stubby beers for a nightcap. Some time later, i crashed out on the bed i thought i’d never see.....
Sweet dreams, days 2-4 to follow, natch.
Peace, AP.
. Then it was back to the usual spliffy-go-round, with extra verdamper and a side of strawbs & grapes, yum. Aah, the life...
