Arch's trip live 6-8th July

[archambaut]

...first left into a side street and about halfway along.

The shop front is quite small, but they have a huge comfy
smoke room at the back, with games and internet (which
some guy was hogging). The budtenderette was very nice and
welcomeing and supplied good coffee.

Bought Ooie Cheese at 10E/g and Twizla at 9E/g. The cheese was
very strong and quite moorish. I seemed to smoke most of it in
one day.

Wandered slowly back to the docks, and sat down again to smoke a j
of the Twizla - it too was strong and spicy, but a bit harsh. got on the
third ferry that came, and stood near the front from where you can get
a great view.

strange_tiles1.jpg (187.36 KiB) Viewed 1795 times

[archambaut]

Right, this is where things start to get very hazy.
Grabbed some food on my way back through CS, then
Tram 26 and 10 (I think) to Nogal Wiedes coffeshop.

This place in in the middle of something of a coffeeshop desert,
and is quite out of the way altogether, but was kindof on the way
back to Zeeburg, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Walked in and asked for a gram of Orange bud (at 7E/g). The budtender
gave me a look and said 'It's just bits'. Stupidly I said that's Ok, I also got
Super Polm at 6E/g). Went in but though the space is large, they only had
a small and already packed smoking booth. I just stopped long enough to
roll up and go.
The orange bud was weak and fairly tasteless - certainly not what I expected,
but I guess the budtender tried to warn me. The polm was long thin sticks,
quite hard and dry looking, but surprisingly nice smoke.

My legs had turned to lead by now, and I somehow got back to Zeeburg,
but not quite sure how or what route I took. I have photos, but no idea
where they are from:

where_is_it1.jpg (242.34 KiB) Viewed 1792 times

If anyone recognises this, please shout up.

[archambaut]

Got back to Zeeburg and chilled out in the wagonette for a
while, smoking more cheese and resting my tired legs. It's
true that the Amsterdam streets are particularly on the legs
when walking around.

Had a nap and then sat out on the balcony a while, observing
the various residents on site - a curious mixture of stoners,
backpackers and family groups.

Slowly pulled myself together to do something, and headed off on the
tram to het Ballonetje. Got some Silver Pearl (9E/g) and Nepal hash at
7e/g. My notes say the Silver Pearl was strong mad and rushy so a good buy.
the Nepal was soft and squishy a nice black hash with a clear high.

I don't remember to much about het Ballonetje - even though I stayed
for coffee, but their gear is good and at good prices, so I will go back again.

I took the tram round to de Pijp, but was pretty mashed by now, and couldn't
really decide which coffee shops I wanted to go into. wandered around aimlessly for
a while, popped first into de Graal then Kabouter looking for a pure pre-rolled.
I smoke roll-ups so didn't want to buy one made with crappy fag tobacco.
Out of luck at booth, so got a gram of Power Haze from Kabouter (8E/g).
St down by the canal to roll one up - but it wasn't that great. Snapped a few
pics of dusk and headed back to Zeeburg.

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[archambaut]

It was dark when I took the long slow tram journey and
hike back to Zeeburg. I was abit worried about getting to
the site after dark, but there was nobody untoward hanging
around - that's the dam - a pretty safe place on the whole, even
for those mashed out of their tiny minds .

Smoked some more cheese and crashed heavily.

Awoke the next morning at 10am, check was out at 11, so
rushed about clearing up and packing and checked out with
a few minutes to spare.

Tried smoking a j on my way to the tram but was coughing so
much I had to chuck it away. something I bought must have not
been properly flushed, though I'm not sure which (perhaps the cheese,
but difficult to verify as I had smoked it all by then).

Got into town and headed to Voyagers. My visit here was based on
good reports from ACD, and it turns out to be a ncie shop with a good
friendly atmosphere. Prices are high, but the quality matches.

Got a gram of OG18 (13.5E/g) and a gram of Chocolope (9E/g).
The coffee machine was busted, so In had to put up with Looza (it is OK,
but I really needed a coffee).

Sat for a goodly while smoking the Og - it was strong and well cured with a
very clear high - then the chocolope which got me quite nicely stoned.
Of the two I think I preferred the chocolope, but that's just me.

Wandered up to Hill St at the Market for some Himilayan Gold (10E/g?), then
across town to Kadinsky (Rosmarijnensteeg)for some TransHimalayan.
Unfortunately they were out, so got 5g of Nepal Cream instead (8E/g).
It was soft and sticky, spicy and smooth, but not quite so nice as TH.
Sat next to the cat with my coffee, the cat looked really stoned, and only
came back to life when the budtender came up banging a bowl full of food.

[StonedSince67]

Smoked some more cheese and crashed heavily.

thanks for the report ... and you certainly did cover a fair bit of ground in your travels, no wonder you slept so well at night ... amsterdam is a city which can be seen by walking, but the surfaces of the pathways are tricky and do put an extra load on the feet ... it is vital to wear good strong comfortable shoes for the adventure

and yes doing the smoking is the easy bit, remembering what happened and then getting it all down into words is a lot of work, so your complete report is appreciated ... a nice read

[archambaut]

After lunch I took a trip out west, first stop La Lucifera (just
along the road from Hugo de Groot). Got a gram of Bubblegum
(8E/g), which was ok, and sat in for a coffee. Though the shop
is bright and in a decent location, I was the only sit down customer
the budtender seemed unnerved by my presence and kept getting up
to potter around behind the bar whilst not sitting gazing out the
window.
There was a constant stream of locals doing buy and fly, so it must
have a decent reputation.

Next stop was a buy and fly from Hugo de Groot - some Super Polm
at 8E/g, which was a bit harsh on the throat. More on that later.

Finally hobbled down to 1e hulp. Picked up 1g of Buddha Cheese Haze (10E/g)
and some Cream Balls at 7E/g. The BCH was very strong and very nice.
The cream balls In have had before - soft spicy and a nice smoke.
Spent a while there slowly drinking coffee and keeping an eye on the time.
It was around 4.30pm when I decided it was time to head off to Hoek van Holland
for my boat home.

Arrived at the port around 7pm, so decided to pay a visit to Hoek van Holand's
one and only coffeeshop - de Storm. about 100m fomr the railway station, even
my tired old legs could make it.
A bit of a strange shop, the menu is a bit of a mind meld with neither round
weights nor rounded prices. For instance I got 1.8g of Super Polm for 14E (wtf!).

Asked for a coffee, and for the very first time in a C/S was required to show ID.
Note that he didn't need it for me to buy, just to come in (more wtf).
Still, the guy was OK, and the inside was worth it. Really large smoking area
with a long soft sofa against one wall, onto which I happily flopped.

I was chilling out quite nicely, smoking my polm and resting my pins, supping
one last coffee and listening to some reasonable music when suddenly it switched
over to some nasty grating techno bullshit.
I stood it for about three minutes before I had to get up and go - which was a
shame, as it wasn't a bad shop otherwise. The prices weren't bargains, but then
it's the only coffeeshop in town, but as a place to while away an hour or two
before finally boarding the boat, it is just fine.

[archambaut]

SS67 - yes it is a Dam special - I've wandered around other
Dutch towns and not suffered nearly so much.

[archambaut]

Trip summary.

All in all not bad, I got some excellent smokes and got to
visit some 'unusual' shops.
This is the first time I've actually stayed in the dam,
other visits I have stayed elsewhere, and done day trips in.
Zeeburg is decent value (50E per night in high season), but was too
far out of twon for my liking, especially when you need to take a break
in the middle of the day. A closer tram stop would help a lot.

Two nights isn't long enough, I tended to smoke too much and expend
too much energy running between shops to really chill out and enjoy
the place - so my next trip will be a bit longer and slower paced.

[oooh aaar traktor]

Nice report. Im doing liverpool st > harwich > hoek > zeeburg by bike next year, so this report is pretty helpful!

[angry pirate]

Nice report. Im doing liverpool st > harwich > hoek > zeeburg by bike next year, so this report is pretty helpful!

Agreed, good read that.
@Traktor- go through the old travelogues, you'll find two great bike trip reports by Adamster and Spidergawd. Could be useful. ..soz for the mini-jack..

[geekymonkey]

Thanks for the report. I enjoyed it.