XXX 2: Jay Versus The Volcano (5/12 - 5/16) (Pics Added)

[FenixNYC]

I'm home and will be updating the thread with some sort of writeup/travelogue in the coming days, along with pics very soon. I don't think I got many great bud shots but hopefully theres some nice weed porn for you guys & gals in my camera somwhere.

Also, a humongous THANK YOU to the board, Boner especially, for promoting the hell outta Burger Bar. Holy shit, those were some good burgers! Bacon & Blue Cheese was good but the Sauteed Onions & Cheddar was more intoxicating than any herb I bought out there dude, seriously, lol.

I accomplished all my culinary goals too, Burger Bar, Wok To Walk, Chocomel and the infamous FEBO. Oh yes, there was FEBO!

Thanks again to everyone worth a damn on this site for keeping us occasional 'Dam visitors with a wealth full of good info about any & everything Amsterdam.

Stay tuned for updates, pics & my awful intro to Basjoes...........
[/b]

[FenixNYC]

This is my attempt at a travelogue. Was going to just post the smoke list, some stuff I did/tried and like/dislikes with some pics but I figured I'd give a TR a shot. Here goes...........

Day 1

Fast forward through all the boring travel details, I walk out of Centraal Station and I realize, shit, I should've brought something warmer than this hoodie. It's cold, grey & misty out and there is apparently a garbage srike cause trash is strewn everywhere, in mountains. I quickly find my way over to the Hotel Mallemoolen. Really cool desk guy who resembles Kevin Spacey checks me in and tries to give me a quick tutorial on how to roll J's, I fail yet again, lol.

Room # 3 located on the first floor, niiiiiiiiiiiiiice. Get into my closet, I mean my room, unpack and sit down & smile and say out loud "You finally made it back to fucking Amsterdam." As far as Mallemoolen, the hotel was cool. Room was tiny but cleaned daily, fresh towels, heat worked, shared shower/toilet were clean, breakfast was quiet and good & the room was not as noisy as I thought it'd be, and I'm far from a heavy sleeper. Not the best but better than I expected and the staff, mainly Kevin Spacey, was real cool. Free internet also always worked. Alright, back to the TR. I'm sitting on my bed in the 'Moolen talking to myself when I decide, alright you've waited over a year, let's do this shit, again!

Head out the door and make a beeline for Green Place. Step in and already know I want some BB Cheese but ask to see the Purple Kush & OG out of curiosity. Wow. The Purple was really nice, purple tinged, frosty buds, real stanky and the OG was amazing. Best smelling bud I saw, errr, smelled and nice tight, little OG type nugs. Beautiful bud, some super kushy looking/smelling herb but at 15E, out of my price range. Get a gram of the BB Cheese (smelled awesome, a bit on the dry side but smoked amazingly) acknowledge Hestia's 420 Cup certificate on the wall and tell the tender they get great reviews and mention ACD. He smiles and says they just try and be good at what they do and as all of you know, they are very good at it. Ask if they have a smoking room for blunts and he says just smoke it wherever, but head to the back anyway. I'm the only person back there, tennis on the tube and smoke half an L and I'm already gone.

The combo of the BB Cheese & lack of sleep for 30+ hours floors me yet I'm able to amble over to the computer and drop a live update on here for a few. Sit in GP for close to 30 mins online listening to the Jay-Z & Snoop tracks blaring through the speakers before I begin my planned walk over to Mellow Yellow. On my way I get lost a bit but eventually end up at MY, weariness really starting to kick in and head over to the tender and ask to see the Blueberry Not very large buds but good enough to buy some bulk, so I cop the 4 gram special. I inquire about the superior haze at the moment, Super Silver or Amnesia to which the tender nods his head no and cooly drops the tub of S5 Haze onto the counter. Yikes! It glistened with trichomes and had such a smell that one could get a contact buzz off sniffing the tub alone. Took me about 3 seconds to order a gram and heard the guy after me order 3 so it was definitely selling. Decided to buy & fly and head over to Basjoes which was unfortunately closed, so I aimlessy walked around for a better part of the evening, exploring and taking pics. Rolled up a nice Blueberry blunt, which would be my staple smoke for the first day, and sat along the canal on the bench almost opposite to Green Place chiefing away when it hit me, I haven't eaten anything in almost as long as I haven't slept!

Popped into Wok To Walk for my first night's meal and ordered the Egg Noodles w/ Pork & Garlic & Black Pepper Sauce. It was good, sauce a bit too much after awhile but it hit the spot. Stomach full, back to Green Place where I ordered a gram of the Trainwreck. Stickiest bud of my 5 days there, exceptional smell and IMO the buy of the trip, as at 10E a gram it was great quality for the price. Bought a peach looza and camped out on the terrace for the better part of the night, people watching and fading fast due to lack of sleep for what was now 40+ hours.

I stumble back to my hotel room at half past 11 to call it a night and get ready for the coming days ahead. I didn't know it at the time but all the walking I did on my first day was going to catch up to me, big time, hampering some of my future plans. Lying in bed I fire up a fat blunt of some Blueberry before I hit the hay and make a mental note to pick up some empty pre rolled cones in the AM so I can start smoking some J's.

Pass out around midnight, completely mangled from the past 2 day's events yet eagerly anticipating what the the next few have to offer.............

Day 2 Coming Tonight!

[Twichaldinho]

I'm hooked. Hopefully day 2 will be up when I get home from work

[islandgurl]

cooly drops the tub of S5 Haze onto the counter. Yikes! It glistened with trichomes and had such a smell that one could get a contact buzz off sniffing the tub alone. Took me about 3 seconds to order a gram

Exactly how I felt when I first looked at and smelled it, Fenix! Very unique smell and flavor, wasn't it? I ended up buying 5 grams @ 50 euro since it was such a better deal then 13 a gram.

back to Green Place where I ordered a gram of the Trainwreck. Stickiest bud of my 5 days there, exceptional smell and IMO the buy of the trip, as at 10E a gram it was great quality for the price. Bought a peach looza

Sheesh we have the same taste in weed, Fenix. This is also one of my fave smokes (a must try at GP) and I'm a Looza girl too, but I get pear mmmmmmmmm good stuff.

Nice report, man, looking forward to the rest.

[FenixNYC]

cooly drops the tub of S5 Haze onto the counter. Yikes! It glistened with trichomes and had such a smell that one could get a contact buzz off sniffing the tub alone. Took me about 3 seconds to order a gram

Exactly how I felt when I first looked at and smelled it, Fenix! Very unique smell and flavor, wasn't it? I ended up buying 5 grams @ 50 euro since it was such a better deal then 13 a gram.

back to Green Place where I ordered a gram of the Trainwreck. Stickiest bud of my 5 days there, exceptional smell and IMO the buy of the trip, as at 10E a gram it was great quality for the price. Bought a peach looza

Sheesh we have the same taste in weed, Fenix. This is also one of my fave smokes (a must try at GP) and I'm a Looza girl too, but I get pear mmmmmmmmm good stuff.

Nice report, man, looking forward to the rest.

The Trainwreck was really good but the S5 was phenomenal. Super frosty and the smell that bursts out when you crumble even the smallest bud was intense. A truly amazing haze!

Day 2

Got up, ate breakfast and packed some pre rolled cones I bought and headed off to Haarlemerstraat. My weed itinerary for the day included Jack Herer from Dampkring 2 and the OG Kush, which was the best smoke of my last trip, from Greenhouse. Pop in to Dampkring and it's the same tender who nicely told me not to touch the merchandise last year when I reached into a tub of Mako Haze during my first hour of overwhelming exitement of my first trip. Hopefully he doesn't remember me.

Asked to see the Jack & White Choco and both were running low so asked if a new batch is coming and tender says 30 mins so wander on over to Greenhouse. Step in and look at the menu to see a Temporarily Unavailable sticker next to the OG Kush, nooooooo. The Hawaiian Snow was really nice last time so I look at it and looks/smells divine again and for the price, I'll take a gram of that, please. Make my purchase and look for a seat only to find an empty one downstairs. Sit down and about to spark a pre rolled of S5 when the waitress comes down and says I can roll (had my bag of Snow on the table) but can't stay unless I order something. Unsure of if she meant in the shop or downstairs, it still rubbed me the wrong way seeing as I just bought a bag, and especially when you top it all off that this very shop was the only shop last year that I got any attitude from, so yeah, I was a little annoyed. I played nice, ordered a pear looza and smoked my haze & sipped my juice in peace and left shortly after the last puff but customer service wise, this place just went 0-2, in my experience.

It was about 30 mins later but decided I needed a milkshake from Amnesia so headed that way. Midway there as I felt as if an pneumonia might be possible considering the once again gray nasty weather and my flimsy hoodie, I figured tea would be a better option. Step in Amnesia and damn it's warm inside. Too warm, even. Step to the counter and stand there for what feels like an eternity before one of the pretty bartenders takes my order, Japanese Green Tea. Grab my drink and head outside for a smoke & sip in the cold and as I'm about to leave I realize the bench I've been sitting on is wet and I have sweatpants on...........

Shit.

While heading from Amnesia over to Green Place I begin to notice my knee feeling a bit sore but figure it'll pass and keep on moving. Get there and have a look at the Headband, very nice, 1g of that please. The Headband was some nice tight, compact buds that really broke up well and reeked of funk. It just smelled like a nice, stoney indica. Ordered an Ace looza and stepped back out into the cold and grabbed a seat out front for the last of the S5. Got to chatting with an attractive, older woman who sat next to me who was from town not far from Amsterdam. Quiet at first, probably leery of me but really cool once she opened up and got to talking. I think she got the impression I was flirting with her, which I probably was , but what can I say, older women do it for me and she was sexy.

Baked, hungry & still trying to figure out what my attempt at kicking it to a Dutch MILF was all about I head over to the much heard about Burger Bar for a Bacon & Blue. Grab & go and head back to the the hotel and devour my burger. Super good, if not super messy but a real good belly bomber. Witnessed the poor guy who works there get yelled at in front of everyone for leaving a customers burger on the counter for too long.

It was getting late and too cold for comfort so took cover in the back of Hunter's Bar drinking & smoking the night away.[/b]

[StonedSince67]

Day 1 Fast forward through all the boring travel details, I walk out of Centraal Station and ...

Day 2 Got up, ate breakfast and packed some pre rolled cones I bought and headed off ...

enjoying the read so far ... eagerly looking forward to the rest ... so, thanks and more please ...

[FenixNYC]

Day 3

Wake up, shower and head downstairs for breakfast and realize my knee is really hurting this morning. That walk to Mellow Yellow in the mist on Day 1 really did it to me. Eat breakfast and head back to my room to chillax a bit more before venturing out. Smoke a fat cone of some Trainwreck and lie in bed for another hour or so before peeling myself up and heading out onto Warmoestraat.

The sun is actually semi-out this morning so decide it's a good day to walk, painful knee and all, so head back over to Haarlemerstraat to see if Dampkring 2 has better bud in stock of what I was after yesterday. Different tender today, young guy with longer dirty blonde hair, ask to see the Jack and the tub is full, nice! Order 1g of Jack Herer, hand the tender a 20 and wait for change. He gives me some coins, I move to the side and starts helping the next customer when I realize he only gave me back 3E. After he finished up with his customer I point out that I gave him a 20 and was short by 10E. He looks at my change and laughs, saying it was a mistake and saying it happens when you're high all the time. I smile & laugh, though only half heartedly believing his story. I suspect he took me for just another clueless tourist who didn't know any better or wouldn't speak up about it. Maybe it was an honest mistake, maybe not but what would happen during Day 4 would make this little episode all the more ironic. Anyhow............

No worries, I got my 10 and proceed upstairs. Place is nearly empty so grab a cork seat by the window and blaze away watching the world go by. Watch some poor dude fall flat on his face while walking out of Popeyes which was pretty comical. Finish up my cone of Trainwreck, I believe, and decide I want to make my way over to Grey Area today. As I'm getting ready to leave a hot, studious looking blonde girl comes in and sits at the next table by herself, lights up and opens up a book. Maybe staying would be best, I presume. After trying & failing to strike up a convo due to this cutie not speaking a lick of English I head out the door and down to Grey Area.

Walk in and see John behind the counter. I never saw him last trip but feel like I know him due to the various reports and videos by Blueberry. Say what's up, we crack some jokes about the volcano and how he had some friends in NY who also had their 420 plans go to shit and then proceed to business. I ask to see the 4077 Medicinal Leaf. Big, golf ball sized nugs that have a very funky, indica aroma to them. Not an eye opening aroma like the S5 Haze or OG Kush from Green Place but an almost medical smell to it that was really interesting. Order 1g of 4077 and ask what's looking good right now from the lower priced strains. Instantaneously he pulls out a massive tub of Grey Mist and says it just came a few minutes ago. Huge, huge crystal covered spears of sweet cheeba, a very fresh smell that jumped out at you as soon as he removed the lid and at 8.50E a gram, dirt cheap! I order 1g of Grey Mist, a cassis Fanta and his the Vapo stand, as it was the only place free. I light up a cone of some of the Jack Herer I bought and just take in my surroundings, surprised that Grey Area is actually playing reggae and not the rock they always seemed to be blasting last time. The line was growing larger so decided to exit and try and make my way over to Paradox.

Between walking from Grey Area to Paradox I noticed now BOTH my knees were really, really bad. Shooting pains everytime I took a step and I was literally walking around from this point on for the rest of my trip as if I was handicapped. Severe pain. Anyway, I rough it out and make it over to the lovely Jordaan area, which I've never seen. Journey up & down the charming, quiet blocks taking tons of pics when I run right into Paradox. It looked like a real nice shop but for some reason I had no urge to enter or buy anything, as I was quickly accumulating weed that I wasn't smoking fast enough so I passed and just hung out on a bench admiring the lovely streets of the Jordaan area for an hour or so.

Limp my way back to ground zero and head into Burger Bar for dinner. Black Angus w/ Sauteed Onions & Cheddar and a small frites with curry sauce, it is. My order takes almost 20 mins to fill so I stay inside and watch the show, which consists of the same guy from yesterday getting yelled at by his manager, yet again. Poor burger guy. Head to the hotel room for dinner, cone rolling and a break, inhale my burger and proceed to pass out on my bed for 2-3 hours. That shit is really intoxicating!

Wake up a mess and with time running out on the night I head out to the RLD to once again view the lovely ladies. I bounce between walking the RLD alleys to heading to that favorite bench of mine opposite Green Place to smoke every hour or so. It's late at this point, closing in on 3AM, so I decide to head back to my room. Pass FEBO on the way there and figure, fuck it, you only live once and go in. Grabbed a single burger & a chicken sandwich from the little boxes and enjoyed each, thoroughly. I don't see why people trash this place, it's no worse than any other fast food establishment.

Still heading to my hotel.......

Midway through the street that connects Warmoestraat & the one Hotel Vijaya sits on and I see someone approaching. First, I noticed the funky high heels and very short skirt. I look at the face and the person is wearing equally funky sunglasses but it was the face that struck me. She passes, surrounded by what I'd call a mini entourage, what little people are still left on the street, like me, semi-staring at her and it dawns on me. That looked ALOT like Lady GaGa. I wait about 15 seconds until I decide I must follow this GaGa lookalike to see if it's really her. Unfortunately, I walked backwards only half a block and couldn't find her again. Now keep in mind, it was dark, very late and I was super baked but damn it, I know what I saw!

Day 4 Coming Tonight (including my Basjoes disaster with James)

Edit: When I got home I decided to Google "Lady GaGa Tour Schedule" and saw she performed in Arnhem, Netherlands on May 15th.

It WAS her!

[FenixNYC]

Double post.

[ftcarer]

Wicked report mate but I have to stop reading these things while stoned , I got half way through the second posting of day 3 before de ja vu hit and I saw it wasn't day 4

[TwoCanucks]

Wicked report mate but I have to stop reading these things while stoned , I got half way through the second posting of day 3 before de ja vu hit and I saw it wasn't day 4

I did the same thing lol

[Bilbo Baggins]

Man this is a well written report, I'm actually less interested in the coffeshops and weed than I am about this dudes poor crippled legs.

Also you have to admire the capacity to sink a burger at any opportunity.

Hanging in here waiting for the next episode.

PS and yeah Lady Gaga apparently hangs out in Amsterdam any chance she gets and when shes there (According to one of these Wimmins gossip mags my wife reads ) she stays at the Park Hotel which is where we are staying in 3 weeks time.

[islandgurl]

Wicked report mate but I have to stop reading these things while stoned , I got half way through the second posting of day 3 before de ja vu hit and I saw it wasn't day 4

I did the same thing lol

Me too glad you fixed that, fenix

[FenixNYC]

Day 4

Wake up and feel like somebody took a sledgehammer to my knees and my foot has a huge blister on it. Well this is just getting better.

I've tried to stop into Basjoes for 3 consecutive days to this point and each time they were closed, today is the day (a Saturday) that they will be open, I just know it! Do some souvenir shopping during the day and pick up a fairy jewelry box from Kokopelli for the baby momma and find a nice bracelet for my daughter in the market by, where else?, Green Place. Figure I still have alot of weed left so will just smoke up like crazy today and buy a few more grams for the remainder of my stay. I'm surprised by how LITTLE I've smoked, compared to what I thought I would have bought but have thoroughly enjoyed my time, bum knees and all, up to this point.

I start my trip to Basjoes in the early afternoon at Hunter's Bar where I enjoy a beer for breakfast and a nice spliff of Hawaiian Snow. Notice that they have, apparently, a Ryan Sheckler show and it's playing on the tube which is funny and ironic, seeing as how last year the waitress at Rokerij swore up & down I was him. Have a quick laugh, finish my beer and head over to Nieuwmarkt. I stop into the flea market again in search of a gift for mi madre and while looking through some nice precious stones & jewelry I get asked by a simply stunning brunette for a light. We chat for about 5 mins as best as possible (freakin' language barrier), she's from Hungary and just there for 2 days for something I couldn't understand after she said it twice. This girl was gorgeous, like the S5 out of every girl I saw out there. If there's one thing I love almost more than the weed, it's all the hot, European women and their random, mystery-to-me accents roaming about out there in Amsterdam. I honestly almost miss that more than the marijuana.

Almost.

So I leave the Nieuwmarkt newly heartbroken after leaving my Hungarian queen behind and head on over to Basjoes to see, they're open! I walk in and see the legend himself, James standing behind the counter. Walk up to the bar, say "You must be James" and mention ACD and the great reviews I always read about. He looks exactly how I'd expect after hearing so much about him, completely blazed. He also seemed very detached and disinterested in any of my convo. I read about Leo today, who was his brother?, passing away so I guess I now know why and also why the shop was closed every time I passed. Very sorry to hear anyone losing a loved one and hope he's dealing well. I order 1g of Bas Special & 1g of the Himalayan hash blindly, per this site's glowing reviews and was more than happy with my purchases. The Bas Special was a nice fluffy, clear, smooth smoke and was very nice to look at. Lots of wild red/orange hairs. I'm no hash expert, the Himalayan was only my second piece of hash I've ever tried, but I thoroughly enjoyed this hash. This blew the Caramello I got from 420 last year out of the water. Super sticky stuff, had a very hard time getting it out of the bag. The stickiness of a lollipop left out on the sidewalk too long on a hot day. Very smooth smoke, fragrant and thick is what I noticed more of when adding this to the mix for my J's. Extremely nice and a great price.

Now I grab my purchases and the hot chocolate I ordered and head outside. Smoke whatever I had already rolled up, enjoy my hot choco and take in the lovely canalside scenery. FYI, the place and the terrace were packed. So I finish my smoke/drink and proceed to leave when after about 20 paces I hear someone calling out to me. It's James, in the doorway. Confused, I head back over thinking maybe my mention of ACD or something struck a chord. I reach the door and he tells me, very nicely and discreetly that I still owe him 24E for my purchases.

Feeling like a total jackass, I walk into a dead silent Basjoes with everyone looking at me, strole to the bar and pay James, apologize and tell him it was my mistake and get out of there as quickly as possible. It was like one of those "Wanna Get Away?" commercials, utter embarassment. It wasn't me being high, I think I just got so caught up in trying to start some convo with the damn guy that I just forgot to pay. All this made me think back to the other day at Dampkring 2 when the tender screwed up my change and said he was high and it was an accident. Way too ironic.

So yeah, my intro to James & Basjoes went about as bad as visiting a coffeeshop can possibly go, aside from burning the place down. I kindly ask anyone on this board to please, PLEASE, pass word to James that it truly was an honest mistake and I still feel real terrible, especially now knowing what the man is going through. What a way to make a 1st impression.

The rest of the evening/night consisted mainly of me smoking up in various shops, just buying hot chocolates & loozas. I had dinner at Wok to Walk again, Egg Noodles w/ Beef & Coconut Curry sauce and REALLY enjoyed this combo. Tasty, yet not overpowering sauce and the second best thing I ate behind that Onions/Cheddar burger from Burger Bar. Also discovered the Magnum White bars my last night and ate about 4 of them, as I was ice cream binging. I really, really wanted Burger Bar again but I just couldn't make ot over there at this point. I think I smoked in De Kuil, Hill Street Blues & finished the night off in Hunter's Bar once again watching MMA fights on the big screen in the back.

Headed back to the hotel around 3AM to pack most of my stuff up and roll the rest of my stash before I had to check out the following morning. Packing complete, smoke a fatty of some Headband mixed with Himalayan and proceed to pass out for the night, thoughts of being back home easing into my mind as I ease off to dreamland.

Day 5 & pics, tomorrow!

Note: My pics came out really bad. I have a few clear ones I will post but most are blurry or just too dark. The lighting in my room stunk and I didn't bring my camera around to all the shops every day, as it was just another thing to carry. It seems the few pics I took where I just stuck my camera in the bag due to frustration came out the best so I should've stuck with that method. Apologies again, but I did get a few decent S5 shots.

[FenixNYC]

Man this is a well written report, I'm actually less interested in the coffeshops and weed than I am about this dudes poor crippled legs.

Also you have to admire the capacity to sink a burger at any opportunity.

Hanging in here waiting for the next episode.

PS and yeah Lady Gaga apparently hangs out in Amsterdam any chance she gets and when shes there (According to one of these Wimmins gossip mags my wife reads ) she stays at the Park Hotel which is where we are staying in 3 weeks time.

Dude, I'm home for 2 days and they STILL hurt.

Not as bad but definitely still sore. I've never had knee issues before so this is definitely unpleasant.

Yeah, seeing GaGa was the icing on the cake. I wasn't sure it was really her but if she had a show in Arnhem on the 15th it HAD to be her. That's probably why she was out at like 4 in the morning, to avoid getting mobbed.

[TwoCanucks]

I don't think you have anything to worry about as far as offending James. It is a totally honest mistake and surely happens more frequently than people think. Take comfort in the fact that you are obviously a person with morals and felt the error offended... you are a good person... burn a spliff and enjoy!