Below is my travelogue from my trip to Amsterdam with my gf Dec 6-8, it’s quite epic so read in instalments if need be
After weeks of texts between myself and my girlfriend teasing each other with ‘Only x days until we go!’ the time was almost upon us. We woke up at 4 a.m. on a cold and dark Tuesday morning but my excitement allowed me to spring up out of bed and into the bathroom. After quickly getting ready we were out the door with bags in hand. It was a brisk 20 min journey up the M1 to Luton airport (the roads are calm and quiet this time of day, wish they were like this during daylight hours). I had paid for speedy boarding passes(basically queue-jumping) for us so my gf could sit by the window on our flight, we were travelling with easyjet who operate a free-for-all seating policy. After a short delay (the pilot said there were strong winds in NL so the airport was down to one run-way) we were off but no sooner are we up in the air than we are descending again. It was a nice smooth journey
One of my first tasks on arrival was to buy some air mail priority stamps from the news agents at Schilpol so with these safely tucked away we made our way down one of the array of platforms onto our final destination. Amsterdam was looking grey, cold, windy and cloudy when we finally came out into the open air but we were happy and free to roam, after all of the queuing, hanging around and anticipation we experienced for the last few hours we were finally here.
First stop was always going to be Voyagers. We headed off in an 11 o’clock direction from the station with my gf’s luggage making the obligatory trundling noise across the pavements and tram tracks (I recently bought a large Berghaus rucksack from ebay for this trip. Very comfortable and didn’t feel like I was carrying much weight at all. It’s the best way to transport your luggage if you can get away with not packing your life into a suitcase) towards our first stop. We walked past Central coffee shop and I get my first whiff of green and a smile appears across my face but I’m not tempted at all by this place. We enter Voyagers but the hot drinks machine is broken so no tea or coffee to warm us up so we buy water and looza instead and I take a look at the menu. A few changes from the CC menu but I get a couple of g’s of Super Lemon Haze at €8/g I think (maybe €10 though), it has a nice hazy citrus smell as expected. We sit down and chill for a bit taking it all in, these moments are precious and ones which we all hold on to whilst at home living our everyday lives but it’s only about 10 in the morning so too early to check into our hotel. One of the cats (the lighter one) gets very friendly with me and proceeds to have a good sniff of everything, I cooked up half a dozen sausages the night before for breakfast and to keep the hunger at bay thus avoiding the temptation of buying crappy food along the way, so I think he/she could smell those. After giving up the chase the cat settled down and found a nice spot on my lap and had a little snooze.
After taking a few snaps of each other and unwinding for a bit we decided to try our luck and see if we could check-in to our hotel (The Avenue) even though it was still only about 11.30, check-in is usually around 1.00-2.00 for most hotels but after the short walk we were able to go to our room straight away, bonus!! Also, it’s probably the largest hotel I have stayed in on all of my trips and is the first time I used a lift to get to a Dam room, I spent the previous weeks telling my gf what a death trap Amsterdam buildings can be due to their tall, narrow stature. It was a novel experience for me but I was very happy. We got to our room, it was nice and clean and a good size. Excellent start, and a great location. We briefly unpacked then went to explore. Turning left and then left down the first alley brought us to Betty Boop and a bit further along is coffeeshop Ben then Wok to walk then Burger Bar. I was very happy indeed with our location!
Walking further along our street we came across a tiny waffle house close to the shopping centre behind the Palace and we went in as we were getting peckish and it smelled amazing as we walked past. This place was awesome, the waffles are freshly made (you can also get crepes and fresh smoothies too) and come with a choice of toppings. These are not like the hard dry crappy ones you get from virtually all other places in Dam, especially those deli’s in central which tempt you by showing their wares through the glass counters along the street. I had nutella and my gf had fresh whipped cream. Very, very nice and surprisingly filling
It was bloody cold too, when we stepped off the plane at the airport the wind and rain were almost horizontal but was now a lot calmer. We had a wander around the tourist shops and bought some gloves each (obviously not to share that would look silly) to go with our woolly hats we bought from home and we now felt much happier out in the open.
After this I made a sensible suggestion of going to the big Albert Hein a couple of streets behind the Palace to stock up on supplies. We bought a big tub of blueberries, grapes, a smoothie, wine, a couple of sandwiches and 3 big bottles of water. Safely back at the hotel room we had a munch but after such a long day my gf wanted to have an executive power nap. Feeling fine and dandy myself I took this opportunity to pick up a few supplies, I used my ACD map to plan my route and made my way out. The shopping included 5g Northern Lights from Green Place @ €35 (I actually asked for the most sativa-dominant strain from the strains with the 5g deals i.e. NL, Jack Herrer, AK-47 and white widow I think so I was very surprised when the bud tender suggested NL. I thought it was mostly an indica?), a €6 glass pipe from the head shop a few doors down and 3g G13 Haze from Basjoe @ €45. The NL had a wonderful aniseed/liquorice smell and the G13 smells very very similar to a batch of Hindu Kush I bought from Club Media when I last went in August. Strange considering this is a hardcore sativa dominant strain and the kush is a pure indica
During my trek I got rained on and had hail stones the size of peas fall out the sky. Ouch that hurt my ears. Looking like a drowned rat I made my way back to the hotel for a shower. I made up my package and went on a hunt for the post box down the Singel, on the way we went past Tweede Kamer so I decided to go in and look at the menu. They have the same looking menu as Dampkring (I’m assuming same supplier too) and I bought 3g Laughing Buddha to smoke later with my gf hoping we would get giggly. It looked like a small Christmas tree, a big fat weeble-looking bud that was nicely dried. From here we ended up being directed to the American book shop where there was a post box on the corner, I gave the package a kiss (not suspicious at all huh!?) and put it through the overige box
Soon after we made our way back towards the centre again, I wanted to take my gf to Abraxas as it’s an aesthetically pleasing and fairly commercial establishment compared to many others as I’m sure you’ll agree so we nipped down the narrow alley and ducked in the psychedelic balloon that is Abraxas. As a side note I really must get myself back to the Supper Club at some point I have had an amazing time each time I have been although it is an expensive experience, back in the days of shorroms I was tripping on one of the beds upstairs watching the crazy collages appearing on the wall and taking in the surroundings. My feet were over the edge of the bed and I could have sworn they were getting wet haha. And when the lighting turned I even felt cold! Anyways I digress, we headed straight to the bud counter (which has moved since the last time I was there) and bough 1 g chocolope, I’ve been meaning to try this strain for some time and my gf obviously loved the sound of it and it smelled great with a definite chocolatey scent from the dense bud. Also of note the gear is pre-bagged. We made our way up the perilous steps but alas no space, I wasn’t particularly surprised as it was about 6 p.m. i.e. peak time so I suggested we go to a more chilled out establishment where there would likely be places to sit and also listen to good music. Basjoe.
Always a place I go to on each trip, it never disappoints without actually trying to please if you get what I mean. What you see is what you get. As predicted it was fairly quiet, I went to the counter and asked for the menu. Not sure who was serving me but he was a young looking black guy with short hair and a highly stoned demeanour, the first time I’ve not been served by James or his nephew. As it would actually be our first smoke I decided to start us off lightly (mainly for my gf) and bought a g of Jamaican for €4, I was also curious to see what it was like as I’ve had Jamaican at home before and it was very good. We borrowed a grinder and picked up some rizzla from the front and I made a pure J from this. It had little bag appeal and was not very strong but it was pretty much as I expected it to be. Filler. After this my gf wanted more. I made a pure J of some of the Laughing Buddha I bought in Tweede earlier which we both enjoyed although it’s not the strongest of strains but relaxed us even more. Again it was a good starter for the evening to build upon. We sat and chilled and drank for a bit watching the nature program on TV (migrating wildebeest, some being caught by crocs as they waded through the river etc etc) and then a familiar looking guy walks in, I’m pretty certain it was the guy in the record sleeve on the wall by the counter (no not James lol) I recognised the frizzy hair. He sat at the table next to us with a slim asian (Indian) guy and started talking business, particularly sleeve artwork, promotion etc, then a guy who looks remarkably like a younger James (clearly a family member) came and sat with them although he hardly said anything, perhaps he was mediating or meditating. I was zoning in and out between the nature program and the business meeting which made for quite a nice relaxing evening, I bought 1g Bas Special and made a pure J with half, again it did not get my gf particularly stoned but I was well and truly stoned. I mentioned space cake to my gf and she was very keen so we shared a piece between us, it was a nice (although fairly dry) piece of tri-coloured sponge with a slight hashy taste so I don’t think there is a huge amount in each slice.
After such a long day we made our way back to the hotel to relax and watch a film. I brought my asus eee pad with a USB stick full of films, we fancied a funny so I put on Milton Jones Live stand-up show (the wacky-haired, Bermuda shirt wearing weird guy who’s often on ‘Mock the Week’) however my gf dozed off on my chest pretty quickly and I didn’t last too much longer, I woke up during the night with the pad still on my chest
We got up at 9 and went down (in the lift whooo!) for breakfast, it was buffet with a large selection of breads, cheese, cold meats, sausage, bacon, scrambled egg, cereal, tea, coffee and juices. We both had two plates full to set us up for the day. Todays mission, a slice of culture by going to the Van Gogh museum (I’d already been before). I’d printed a google maps route to direct us, it was fairly straightforward but a fair old walk especially when it’s cold and against a head wind. Anyways we enjoyed our time there taking in the intricacy of the paintings especially with Van Goghs thick brush strokes. My feet were also getting really getting sore. I bought some new boot trainers a few days before back home but they were really rubbing against me now and I was in quite a lot of discomfort. Even putting on a few plasters did not really do the job. I was virtually hobbling back to the hotel afterwards but we stopped off at the Black Star coffeeshop on the way to take the weight off. To try and get my gf high I asked for their strongest sativa which was either silver haze or amnesia haze. Amnesia is everywhere these days so I decided on silver haze @ €10 for 0.8g as I’ve never tried it. I bought myself 1.3g blueberry for €10 too, the bag had a very pleasing fruity blueberry aroma which brought a huge smile to my face. We were buzzed through and sat at the single above-level table and I made a pure J of most of the silver haze (just a few crumbs left over) and let my gf have most of it, this one really hit me and made me want to get going after a while as I was starting to trip out a bit and got a bit wobbly. I virtually floated back to the hotel but it also numbed the pain so it was all good. As a treat we stopped off for another yummy waffle
After changing my shoes (luckily I brought another pair) we went to get some proper food. While I was making my morning rounds earlier in the day I walked through the mini China town on my way to Green Place and saw some appealing restaurants. I spied one in particular called New-King directly opposite the temple so this is where we went. Inside it’s very modern but very oriental. The food here is amazing, not your typical greasy fare from the Chinese take-away back home but the real deal. My gf had a spicy prawn dish and the prawns (tiger maybe?) were by far the largest I have ever seen. It’s not the cheapest of places but well worth it, the food is top quality and the portion sizes are very generous. We were totally stuffed.
Next I took the gf on a guided tour of part of the RLD, she got a bit shy though she won’t admit it so we moved on. I really wanted to go to Anyday, it was close to our hotel and looking on FBN’s website the menu looked very appealing. We went in and I was surprised at how small and pokey this place is, I wanted something very stoney for my gf but I remember the top end gear in particular being mostly sativas so we left. After walking further down the Singel we stumbled across Amnesia on our hunt for Grey Area (I lost my ACD map that afternoon and didn’t print a spare), I’ve never been inside so I thought it was worth a try. It was very quiet but I like the layout. Nice decor, spacious and good music. I looked at the menu and bought 1g Vanilla Kush and 2 hot chocolates with cream. I really enjoyed this kush, it was the perfect level of stone for me and went very well with the hot choc. Again my gf was not stoned. Anyway we had a very nice time here, this was my gf’s favourite coffeeshop of the lot. Afterwards we wandered back to the hotel for another peaceful night
The final day is always the worst for me. It tends to mean packing, a bit of hanging around then flying home so I tend not to enjoy it even though I should savour every moment. This is pretty much how it panned out. We went down for breakfast and had another good feed to set us up for the day and went back up to pack. I decided to get some last minute supplies for my final package home. I bought 1g NY Diesel @ €12 from Betty Boop and 2g O.G. Kush #18 @ E27 from Voyagers , both smelled absolutely amazing the NYD had a detergent/washing-up liquid smell. I dashed back to the hotel and packed my rucksack before going downstairs and leaving our stuff in the luggage room to pick up later. We went for a last meal at New-King again and then meandered down to Basjoe to find James standing by the door smoking a very hashy smelling J. We sat down to reminisce about our adventures over a few cups of tea and take it all in once more. Til next time...
SLH – Voyagers
NL – Green Place
G13 Haze - Basjoe
Laughing Buddha – Tweede Kamer
Chocolope – Abraxas
Bas special – Basjoe
Blueberry – Black Star
NYCD – Betty Boop
O.G. Kush #18 - Voyagers
Voyagers Cat
Dam Square
Church
Abraxas
Joint of Bas Special
Basjoe Cake
Canal outside Basjoe
Basjoe
