1st timer back home wishing i was still their!!

[hooperman]

Went for my 1st time at the start of December.

Has taken me 40 years to get to the Dam but can see me booking up very soon for part 2, wow what a place and the vibe about the city is cool.

We stayed down near Rembrandt Square in a very nice hotel, as soon as we got settled it was about lunchtime so we decided to explore, freezing wasnt the word, now its cold in the UK just now but this cold was unreal.The only thing that mattered now was to find somewhere warm and welcoming and the 1st coffee shop we found was

Balou

As i said was our 1st time so didnt really know what to expect but the young girl behind the counter was very welcoming, off the menu i decided on the Amnesia, 13 euro for the gram, so upstairs we ventured with two cups of tea(this was a challenge going up these crazy stairs)
What a smoke, crazy over-powering stone that really hit us two hard, the music was cool and relaxed and the other couple up the stairs were friendly, i immediately liked this place, so ventured down stairs for another couple of teas and a look at the menu again, Super Polm stood out so that was the next, not the dearest but a nice smoke never the less.

After a nap and a bite to eat it was time for another coffee shop

Old Amsterdam Coffee Shop

On entering the cool dude behind the counter welcomed us and after asking what he recommended he pointed us in the direction of the Blueberry, another gram which was 10 euro and another great smoke, very fruity with a great all over feeling, we didnt stay in here for too long, it was a nice vibe but they didnt do good drinks so we retired to the hotel as we started feeling the effects of a long days travelling.

Will post day two later.

[smokseyj]

glad you had a good time buddy....looking forward to the rest of the write up

[badbone]

good to hear that you had a good trip .. and that you already thinking about next time .... just like about 90% of everyone else in here
ps. blueberry weed is also one of my favorites .. have personally never gotten a bad batch

[ftcarer]

Nice start , I like the shop write ups , have read & heard very little about them

[Rufus]

And so you have found, Amsterdam is addictive I'll look forward to the rest.

[cattales1960]

Sounds like you had a great time. Good for you

[spidergawd]

Thanks for taking the time, looking forward to the rest .

[hooperman]

Cheers guys for the nice words, any way here is day 2.

Woke up very bleary eyed and looked out into the early morning cold and thought, this is the place, me and the missus were having a good time, not a care in the world.Said to her what do you want to do today? thinking she would want to do some sight-seeing or shopping i was surprised and delighted when she said, "lets go to a coffee shop" ah i have picked a good one here thought I lol, After a quick but delightfull breakie we went to

Smokeys(Rembrandt Sq)

First impressions was this is a big shop, never saw a menu though as everything was bagged up under a glass cabinet, another thing i noticed was the bouncer on the door which didnt bother us but found it strange, they had some selection and for some reason or other I choose the White Widow(10 euro for the gram) It looked ok and was fresh enough, Rolled a big one for the two of us and imo I would say it wasnt in the same league as the Amnesia or the Blueberry we had purchased from the other CS.Was hard hitting but didnt come close to the others, a good smoke though with a lovely after-taste.
A nice wee touch about Smokeys was they bring your drinks to your table and the guy was friendly and gave us a bundle of skins/ and roach material.Nice touch

We soon left though as i fancied a wee place I had noticed the night before next to our hotel

Arabica Lounge

Straight in and the bloke behind the counter gave us a warm welcome, he seemed happy to see us which made us feel at ease, I scanned the menu and fancied a bit of hash, The one that pulled me in was the Rel Creamy(sp) 10 euro for 1 gram, he pulled a block out and let me inspect it and he sliced a bit off which was slightly over in weight but he took only the agreed price, cool man, he let us in the locked door into the shop through a buzzer door, we took a table in this medium sized shop and ordered the tea and rolled a big one to try this stuff.........smelt great, looked great and after heating it in your hands it broke up finely, the first few draws were nice with a great taste, then bang......straight to the head, oh what an over-powering stone, my legs actually went lead like and i passed it over to the eager wife who liked it aswell, we sat and watched the tv in their and didnt really say much, what a crazy smoke this stuff is, if any one can shed any light on the origins of this stuff i would be delighted to hear!!!

My better half said she had to leave for a lie down in our hotel which thankfully was just down the street lol

More to follow

[HasjDreamer]

Hooperman, welcome to the club!

It's funny, in one fell swoop you ran the gamut from commercial shop catering to tourists (always be weary of a cs with a bouncer at the door!) to a relatively "locals" establishment (a North African one at that!). Quality shoots up tenfold... from the coffee to the hasj!

The little places are always my favorite and Arabica was top on that list last week!

[hooperman]

Cheers Hasjdreamer, i have been reading your thread and its a topper mate, great pics and you seem like one interesting guy who would be great to have a right good session with. Your description of the hashes is simply inspiring to try them.

Since it was our first time in the Dam we didnt really venture to far from the hotel, we were basically keeping close by to home base lol, passed another few shops like Sevilla and Stix but they were too mobbed to go in, Next time we will spread our wings.