Kansas sucks, I wanna go back to Oz!

[cattales1960]

great reporting Edgar!

[gapie]

sorry missed ya at basjoes the last night

[Rusty Shackleford]

Great start cant wait for the rest

[geoffk]

[Trad]

Nice report and some great photo's too. Thanks for taking the time.
Did you stay at Paul's apartment A?

[woodz60]

Great report so far, Edgar!! Your trip is off to an amazing start. More installments soon, please!!

[TwoCanucks]

"Can I get a half a gram?" He gets the wax paper, zeroes the scale, and cuts off a massive chunk... "here's some extra... welcome to Amsterdam!"

Classic James, that's what makes him The King.

[geekymonkey]

I'm loving the report so far- thanks for taking the time to write it.

Mmmm Terminator with James' weed. My mouth is watering and I'm jealous. Also, that the heaven haze was good while you were in- it's been awhile since I've smoked some of that and it was so yummy.

[FriendlyEdgar]

Thanks for all the kind words! Trad- yup, apartment A!

Wednesday, Dec 14

I wake up in Amsterdam for the first time. I walk to my local AH to stock my fridge- meals, munchies and beverages. Food and drink are the one area where I am paying attention to my budget. It absolutely blows my mind how expensive food, and especially drinks are, and the ability to save money by cooking for myself will be a defining factor in my trip. Sure, I missed out on what looked like a ton of incredible food in Amsterdam, but I didn't come here to eat- I can get good food in Florida!

After the grocery store, I wake and bake with the heavenator... this may be a mistake! About 3 hours later, gapie calls me and we arrange to meet at Grey Area at about 4. Finally, at about 3pm I leave the apartment. As I reach Haarlemerplein, I reach for the map to verify which way to go... oh shit, I forgot the map! Fucking stoner!! Oh well, guess your on your own now. As 4pm approaches, I have my phone in hand, hoping for a "where are you?" call from Gapie, which comes right at 4. He misunderstands where I say I am the first time. Finally we work through the confusion, and he realizes I am in fact right around the corner- I went one block too far before turning! 2 minutes later, there is gapie on the other side of the street.

We swing by Grey Area for a buy n fly. I go top shelf, Quaze Haze and Grey Crystals. The budtender recommends using Quaze to wake and bake before smoking anything else. Then gapie leads me to T'Nes to meet DC. I am 3 times gapie's size, but I do my best to keep up!

We hang out with DC until gapie is ready to head home. I have him lead me to basjoe- I want more terminator, just in case it sells out! Tonight James' son is working. I get 2g Heaven Haze, and 1 terminator. We smoke a quick joint and head back to central. When I get home, I realize I got a different flavor of terminator... it's still very nice, but damn, now I have to go get more!

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[gapie]

nice read man

[FriendlyEdgar]

Wednesday, Dec 15

As my grand plans to go to Paris had fallen through, I planned to meet DazedandConfused at Paradox in the afternoon, instead of latenight at Voyagers. This motivates me to get going at a reasonable time, and I leave the apartment at noon. Today I forgot my phone, but at least I have the map!

This is my first time exploring the Jordaan, and I quickly realize that my map doesn't have many street names in this neighborhood! I feel completely lost for 45 minutes, until I find Egelantiersgracht, which IS on the map, and realize I am almost there!! Not only that, but I have taken a fairly direct route there.

I am over half an hour early to Paradox. There is only one group of people, so I take care of business with some Kandy Kush and Super Silver Haze, and settle into the bench by the door. The cat comes over to inspect me, and decides I'm cool enough to hang out with for awhile. I'm starving and watching the other groups sandwiches being made is killing me! I'll wait for Dazed until 130, but then I'm ordering food! I end up getting the works, ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato, on a quality roll that is nicely toasted. It is as no frills as it gets, but it is delicious! I wait for Dazed until he is over an hour late, and then decide he might have stayed in the central area due to the rain. He probably called to let me know, but I forgot my phone! Today is the hardest it rains during the day the whole time I'm there!

I walk in the rain to Basjoes for 420. Young Dread is working when I arrive, so I just get some Amnesia Haze and hot chocolate and settle in to warm up. This is the first day I pay attention to the clock and engage at the proper time! After a while I notice King Dread behind the bar, so I go to investigate the terminator situation. I get 1g of the original flavor terminator and I'm glad I didn't waste any more time, as it looks like only 1-2g left!

After awhile I make my way back to the apartment, and I discover Dazed did in fact try to reach me throughout the day. Oh well, I send a pm to confirm our wake n bake at Bluebird in the morning. I prepare the heavenator, now with crystals, and settle in for some LotR... it will take me almost a week to get through the trilogy!!

[FriendlyEdgar]

Observations from the first 3 days; I should have prepared more for the technical details of the trip, rather than just the fun stuff! I was not prepared for the fact that there is only 7 hours of daylight! The fringes of the Red Light District that I accidentally stumble through are not where the hot girls are!

Friday, Dec 16
As a result of some of the details above, this turns out to be the first Big Day of my trip. I got a confirmation from Dazed for our meeting, 930 @ Bluebird. When I leave the apartment at 845, it is still dark-ish!!

I make it to Bluebird with no hassles. I get some Grinspoon and some Sky Hash. In hindsight, I wish I had followed my original intent and gotten the Tbisla, as the Sky never impresses me. I settle into the lounge and put my map on the table. This draws an inquiry from a guy from South Carolina. As we introduxe ourselves, Dazed recognizes my name and joins the conversation. Dazed also chose the Grinspoon, so we start the day on a nice sativa high!

After an hour or so, Dazed and I head to Leidseplein so he can pick up his Holland pass. I get one as well, but I end up regretting this. The museumkaart is a much better deal for the museums, and I am underwhelmed by the attractions I use my hollandpass on. 3 of my 7 tickets don’t even get used, and I forget to even give the green ones away!

We leave Leidseplein in search of lunch and smoke. Our first stop, Dolphin. I get the White Dolphin, pay the deposit, and get a lesson in how to use the Verdamper. While the bag vaporizers are nice, they don’t hold a candle to this beast, and I fall instantly in love! After a nice vaporizer session, we must find food!

We end up at a chain bakery/sandwich shop, B+M or something. I am impressed by the sandwich the girl is making, so when it’s my turn I order “one of those!” It is the Italian style roast beef, and it is so good when I finish I get another one!
Dazed and I go our separate ways after lunch, planning to meet at Basjoes for a 420 tnt.

I go home for a little while to freshen up and relax. When I get back to Basjoes, Gapie shows up, but he is the only one. I never see Dazed again.

After hanging at Basjoe for awhile, Gapie starts preparing for the end of his day, so I ask him to help me get to Anyday. We take a quick detour to Bluebird to see if his friend is working, which he is. We get some drinks then settle in to smoke a bit. I supply a taste of terminator for gapie’s friend, who if memory serves was also named James (It will be interesting to see if, in 20-30 years, Inch Long Dread James reaches King Dread James level!), and then we head for my first visit to what will be, by the end of the trip, my favorite coffeeshop!

I examine about half the menu before settling on Champagne Haze and Sharkzilla. The Sharkzilla is nice, but it is the Champagne that is one of the true standouts of the trip. We head upstairs for my second verdamper session, both of the day and ever!

While we’re at Anyday we meet a group of 5 young guys from Manchester, England. Gapie, to put it bluntly, scares the crap out of them! It’s pretty hilarious, actually. After the Manchester lads run away, gapie and I walk back to Central and head our separate ways home.

I settle in for the evening with sharkzilla and terminator, LotR, and a good night’s sleep after my busiest day so far! I have no idea of the catastrophe tomorrow will become for me!

[geekymonkey]

Sounds like another great day! Thanks for the reporting

[cattales1960]

Was the south carolina guy and ACDer? and LOL, what did gapie do to scare the young guys.

[FriendlyEdgar]

SC guy seemed to be a lurker... he obviously knew where my map came from, but he didn't seem to be a member. At the very least, he didn't provide a screen name or anything.

Gapie didn't "do" anything to scare the brits, he was just his loud, hyper, adhd self, and even as young guys, probably early 20's, being British they were a little more low-key. Gapie offered to tour-guide them around, and they were like "ummmm.....okaaaaay?...," clearly being too polite to just say "hell no!" We all went outside, then Gapie ran back in for a second, and they just took off running- I mean, full sprint style running- down the street before he came back out!