Didn't go to the Dam (went The Hague, Delft, Haarlem).

[Buzzyhead]

Nice report mate , loved the bit about the Thai/Leb experience. I am now concerned though as i think someone has been in my house and used me as a model. (the resemblence is uncanny)

[Cisco]

Nice one , really enjoying this there has been a lack of good reports lately and its always good to hear more about Holland as a whole

[archambaut]

Right, thanks for all the appreciative comments - I'll try and press on to the
end.
Enough of my short term memory has now become medium term memory that I have
been able to remember how the rest of this day went.

Got back to the hotel around 4pm, and knocked up one j of Utopia Haze and one
j of super polm. Immediately I set out for a short (1/2 km) walk to the
VriedsPaleis, now the ICJ (where, who knows who might one day appear, eh, Mr.
Blair ). Since this was along residential roads and a wide boulevard, I
smoked up the utopia haze and was feeling quite warm and fuzzy when I got
there.
The weather had dulled down a bit by now, making the pics look a bit dingy,
but there were still somr interesting things lying around the gateway,
like these very seventies benches:





And the Peace Flame, though I think somebody needs to put a shilling in the
meter.



All in all though, there isn't a lot to see here, and us oiks are kept firmly behind
the gates, so I crossed the road and hoped on the Tram number 1 all the way to
Scheveningen beach, for a look at the sea.

[archambaut]

One fairly long but warmly stoned tram ride, I finally make it to the
terminus, right at the northern end of the town. Another 150m walk gives
me access to both the dunes to the north (hmm, bleak but beautiful)



Or to the resort area to the south (yuk):



About all they share incommon are the horizon and badass
clouds, and much as I could have wandered north for hours,
the wind was chilly, and I felt it could start tipping down soon.
I torched up the super polm j, and wandered down to the water's edge
to smoke it, though I reckon the seagulls got more of the smoke
than I did as the breeze was quite stiff.

Picked my way back to the end of the seafront and started walking
along it back towards town. The further I walked the more brash and
tacky it got, and it seemed to go on for ever.



So after about fifteen minutes I dicked into the parallel high street.
Even worse. A quick consultation of my map soon had me heading towards the
Blue and White CS, once I got away from the main drag the architecture
becaome a lot less offensive.

[archambaut]

Blue and white is a cosy, but roomy place, with mostly pre-weighed
bags of 0.9g deals. About 6 of grass and 6 of hash, nothing particularly
exotic. I pitched for some Power Plant (an old fave) and some double zero
hash 7E each (so 7.80 E/g, not bad).. The budtendeuse was friendly, and
made me a decent espresso, which helped defrost me a bit whilst I rolled a j of each.



'Blue and White Power Plant'



'Blue and White 00'

By now I was getting knackered and my feet were aching, so I left quickly
for the tram home, as I wanted to e back in town in time for some food.
Smoked (I think) the 00 joint along the way, but was a bit too stoned to
really pick out any distinctive effects (other than it making me a bit more
stoned).
Another long ride back to a stop near the hotel and quick walk back to the
room. I had a long sit down, then took out the other J of PP. Sat out
in the cool grey evening smoking it. The taste was good, and though the buds
looked a bit lean and battered, the energising effect was there.

After a while of getting pleasantly boxed, I headed out to a local pizza joint
for a cheap and not bad pizza and an azzuro.

Got back after dark, rolled another couple j's, smoked them outside and
crashed, this time at least in private, minus any whitey, and with my
self esteem a little restored.

[archambaut]

Second full day - The plan (if ever I have such a thing) today was to hop on a train to Den
Helder and try and spend a day on the island of Texel. However it is a 2 hour
train journey plus 30 min ferry, so to get there before lunch would have meant
being at breakfast at 7 am sharp. Well, it was 8.40 when I came to, so that got
canceled .

Went down for breakfast - not really up to much, coffee from a machine (ugh)
and rather pasty looking selection of rolls and cold meats. Necked a bit of it
anyways, and went back to my room to formulate a plan B.

It had rained overnight, and filled up the ashtray with water (and left a
soggy butt end in there). Tidied up a bit and considered spending a day in
Haalrem instead. It's about a 30 min train ride, and I had to change some
cash to Euro's, so had a nice slow wake and bake before doing so.

The PP was really starting to grow on me, so I rolled up another, and a
double zero doob for my day out.




'Kenau Park Haarlem

[archambaut]

Haarlem is a lot quieter and smaller than The Hague, but bigger than Delft,
so it has a bit of bustle about it.
The canals seem wider than in Delft, and there were plenty of folk out in boats
and walking dogs. It wasn't so crowded that I felt bad about smoking though.

Like The Hague, it has a mix of old and new architecture sittin happily side
by side, I liked like these funky windows (complete with fauna) in a church tower.



'Funky pigeon windows'

Stopped in at WW Sativa before hitting town proper. I was looking forward to
gong to this CS, as I read a lot of good things about it on the ACD forum.
I was a bit disappointed to find a rather poky CS, with only a few tables,
and machines for everything bar freshly weighed buds and hash.

The menu was bit poor too, so I took some White Widow (10E/g) and some
Temple Balls (8E/g) and went quickly. There was quite a crowd of locals
in there, but I didn't fancy hanging around.

Headed into town, down the main shopping street to find the VVV and the
customary free map. I remember grabbing a sanwich along the way, but I'm not
quite sure where or what as I was a bit buzzed by then.

Got the map and a self guided tour for the town, which I sort of followed, and
eventually found myself standing in the Grote Markt by Sint Bavos. Stopping at
one of the busy square side cafes for an expresso was a mistake as the service
was poor and it took nearly 30 mins for it to arive (and about 30 seconds to
consume).
Paid (a bit huffily) and went round the main square to get some photos.

Tried to get into St Bavos to do some photography, but it waas closed early
for an organ recital. The guy said I was welcome to watch, but I would have
to sit still. I said I probably couldn't do that, so thanked him and
left. Bit of a bummer really as I had wanted to see inside the place, but
it was starting to get late, do

Unfortunately I couldn't get a good view of Sint Bavos as there was some
cookery festival taking place in the middle of the square for which huge
marquees had been put up. I climbed the stairs of the town hall to try and
get a better view, but ended up realising that sometimes in Holland, you just can't
get far enough away from big buildings to get a decent pic

[archambaut]

Ok folks, I have once again run up against the hazy edge of my short term
memory. I'll need to stop for a bit to work out what sequence of events
follows - it's nor a complete blank, but there's still a bit to go.
So watch this space.
Laters
Arch

[archambaut]

Nice report mate , loved the bit about the Thai/Leb experience. I am now concerned though as i think someone has been in my house and used me as a model. (the resemblence is uncanny)

iirc, it was titled 'My Father', so maybe the artist's old man was a bit of a serious pothead . It looks like marble or some other hard stone, and the amount of detail (much of it hidden by crud on the greenhouse glass) in it is quite incredible.

Arch

[titus wong]

Gr8 storytelling -- thx 4 sharing

[Willjay]

I am late for work reading, now I'm real late but your report is bringing back fond memories of our time in Delft and Den Hague. Did you get to the panorama mestang(sp) in the Hague, was the interactive virtual game still available at the Esher, and the bells stop in Delft in the evening for the night. We stayed in delft at a hotel/bakery, yes breakfast was great. so is your report, hope you get some more memory back, we need more report.

[Dimon]

Reall cool story.

[archambaut]

Hi all, thanks for the kind comments, I see that there is demand for my verbal
diarrhoea, so I'll push on.

So, after the Grote Markt, I started following the 'self-guided' tour I got
from the VVV. I was a bit wrecked, so I did this in a haphazard manner, taking
wrong turns, and missing the 'sights' along the way. As a I got semi-lost, in
a nice stoned kind of way, wandering through the maze of streets in the SE
quadrant of the city. This is really quite a quiet and pleasant, mainly
residential area, but like many places, the backstreets are often more
rewarding than the tourist attractions. Despite the lack of a square inch od
bare soil I saw a lot of greenery, and woke up a few cats.






Although there are a few CS listed in this area, I managed to miss them all.

[archambaut]

Still following the tour, I stumbled across the new church (only built in
1613) and then decided to head south to Willie Wortel's Sensimilla.



The route took me down this lovely little street where the residents have
really pushed the boat out gardening-wise:



By now I'm starting to think that one day might not be enough to see as
much as I would like of this place especially since I missed St Bavo's, and
I may have to come back here sometime.

[archambaut]

So I cross the canal and plod down to Willie Wortels Sensimilia, there is
a door leading up some stairs to a counter, but no turnstile this time.

Puzziling over the menu, I plump for some Power Plant(8E/g), and then start
asking about the hash. Maroc Honig interested, so I asked how that was
different from polm. The guy said he didn't really smoke hash, so couldn't
advise. I'm from the Netherlands I smoke marijuana, homegrown (sic). He then
went on to recommend Primero Bullit (8.50E/g). There was a queue forming
behind me so I took his recommendation, paid and went through a door into
the seating area. This is a nice big area, but was quite empty - a tourist
couple, and a couple of locals with their shopping. Train seats and tables, but
drinks only from a machine, so I had my second machine coffee of the day
(ugh).

Sat down on the seat, which are the comfiest yet used in a CS, and rolled up
a Primero Bullit j. The dope looked OK, and crumbled nicely, but I was to
discover, not the best. Left after a few mins (N.B. Trekken means 'Pull' when
seen on a door).

Headed south to the Provinciehuis - not yer typical dutch architecture:



and then behind it to a nice park to chug on the j. I found that it was OK
strengthwise, but had a rather nasty and harsh 'burnt' taste. So I guess the
budtender's lack of knowledge about hash was true. I did the trick though,
and after glugging some high energy drink, I headed back over the canal to town.