Okay... Firstly apologies for the lengthy delay!! Secondly , during the whole fiasco of me having no electricity and getting our roof repaired I managed to lose my notebook with references to my Amsterdam trip. So the rest of my report will be straight from memory.. Things will be more to the point but I’ll do my best.
So I awoke around 10 am.. My head still felt a bit cloudy so I showered for 30 minutes to wake me up… I felt like a new man once I’d gotten out... Made my way downstairs for breakfast and decided to plan out my day..
Random Duck. Why not?
First stop was Voyagers. Ordered myself a coffee and a gram of the Silver Bubble which I found to be a brilliant morning smoke.. Spent an hour or two chatting to a guy from Heuston, I think his name was Malik?? Nice fella, had to teach him how to roll a joint .. Would you believe that’s the 4th time in 6 trips that an American asked me how to roll a joint? Of course I had no problem giving this guy a hand.. He had mentioned to me that smoking with pipes/bongs is more popular than smoking joints in the States. Whether or not this is true I don’t know..? Although it was interesting at the time..
Anyway today I decided to venture out of my comfort zone, I’d heard great things recently both about 1e Hulp and Hugo de Groot, so I decided to make my way down there during the afternoon.. (and considering the location I may as well hit Paradox on the way back to the city centre.)
First thing is first I needed to have some food. Got a delicious fresh corn on the cob down at Nieuwmarkt… I seriously cannot recommend this enough…… Sat down on a bench and rolled myself a spliff of Citronella for the road.. Enjoyed the walk to 1e Hulp and found it easily enough with the help of the ACD map of course.. I think it only took me around 15-20 minutes to get there for those wondering how long a walk it is from the centre…well worth a stroll! I hadn’t seen this part of the city ever before!
Almost there!
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Bingo!
In I go to 1e Hulp.. I ask for a look at the Cheese as there had been some great praise about this on the forum.. Geekymonkey definitely had me curious about it anyway…. All I can say is WOW.. Finally a cheese that has done it for me and it was only 10 euro for a gram! Took a seat upstairs in the back and enjoyed a few spliffs of the Cheese.. The coffee here is very good by the way! Within the hour I was seriously stoned… Needed to get some fresh air though. I wandered off in a daze and got myself a cherry coke somewhere…
After 15 minutes of walking in no particular direction I remembered that I was supposed to pop into Hugo de Groot as well today! I checked the map and realised I’d been walking in the wrong direction.. When I eventually found the place I was glad to see no queue inside, so at least I’d have time to browse the menu.. I can’t remember exactly what I looked at (lost my notes) but what really stood out to me was the Amnesia, outstanding sample of the strain. Finest I’ve tried to date. I must say I preferred it to Voyagers version, which is saying something. I think it was €1 more expensive.. But worth it for those fond of a nice Amnesia.. Also picked up a gram of Gruis, which is a steal at €5 a gram
Amnesia I think.. Not a great pic.
I made my way up Rozengracht in the direction of Paradox. I was really looking forward to getting a coffee and chilling out here for a while.. I really like this place.
Some graffiti I saw on my travels..
When I got up to the counter in Paradox I realised I only had €5 in my wallet… In my stoned stupor I forgot to stop off at a cash machine… Fecksake.. Just had enough to get half a gram of Turkish! Couldn’t even get myself a coffee so I decided to make my way back home…(remembered to stop at a cash machine on the way). My legs were fairly tired when I got back so instead of getting a coffee I ordered a bottle of Heineken and smoked a lovely fat spliff of 1e Hulp's Cheese and Utopia's Temple Ball.. It knocked me on my arse in a good way.. Somehow I floated up the winding stairs and moonwalked into bed… It was time to lie down and enjoy the stone so I kicked back and listened to some music.. I think I drifted off to sleep for around 2 hours or so..
After I woke I decided it was my time to head over Grey Area/Amnesia direction. I had a look at a few bits off the Grey Area menu but nothing really stood out for me. Being honest I haven’t been too overwhelmed by this place in a while.. Not since I had some very good Casey Jones and Kuchi from here 2 or 3 trips ago. I ended up getting the Pot of Gold as I wanted to compare it to other versions I’d tried.. To be fair it was very tasty, as to be expected with Pot of Gold. But I have had nicer. I also came across 5 seeds in my gram, which is honestly a first for me.. Wasn’t too happy with this.
Went around the corner in to Amnesia where I got some G13-Haze. This never ceases to impress me me.. I’m pretty sure I’ve got it every time I visit and it always seems constant in quality. I had a look at the LSD as well but it didn’t smell or look as good as previous batches so I gave it a skip this time. Rolled myself a lovely joint of the G13 and sat outside with a milkshake.. Life is good.. I went for a walk as it had brightened up a bit.. I then chilled out for a while on the edge of a canal and had another joint of the G13.
I text a friend back at home to rub it in a bit .. “ Just sitting by a canal with a J.. How’s work going for ya!?” .. Needless to say the text back was a string of jealous abuse
I'm sure he’d do the same to me if he was in my shoes!
I decide to head back over to Paradox as I never got to sit down and enjoy a spliff there earlier on. I order a coffee and take a seat, then roll up a joint of the Turkish hash.. This is easily one of my all time favourite hashes that can be bought in Amsterdam.. Those who’ve tried it already will know what I mean.. Those who haven’t need to try it for themselves.. A truly delicious hash! I bought myself another gram of it just before leaving..
It’s time for some grub so I head over to the nicest fried chicken place of all time! Not sure of the name, but it’s that small little place in the Red Light District, near the Old Church I think. They honestly do the nicest chicken burger I’ve ever had. The burger is just a massive fried breast of chicken with onion rings and cheese in it…. Delicious, I’ve never had anything like it in any other fast food/take-away… Highly recommended!
I begin to look for a place showing the football match. Wandered past Stones Café and saw they sell beer and let you smoke inside… Perfect, especially as it just began raining! I was dying to have a pint of beer and a few spliffs of Amnesia from Hugo de Groot.. I was really impressed with this stuff My face was tingling bit.
It was Real Madrid vs Barcelona that was on the TV inside, great game! I spent the rest of my night inside here until I decided it was time to hit the bed.. I remember smoking the last of my Blue Cheese out the window before going to sleep… I was out for the count after that..
DAY 3
I awoke with that horrible gut wrenching feeling…. Yep.. I go back home today.. Back to real life.. But I still have 11 hours before my flight
Good thing I booked the latest flight home possible! I wasted no time in getting out of the bed. Showered for 15 minutes.. Then packed my bags and checked out. Made sure to get myself a breakfast before leaving the hostel though.. Went over to Voyagers where the usual routine ensued… (Coffee, Silver Bubble, Cherry Coke)…on repeat for at least 2 hours.
Considering I wasn’t flying home until around 9pm I decided to pop over to Utopia for a while. Here I met a different budtender to the first day. She welcomed me with a massive smile which was reciprocated by myself.. Immediately I queried about the Citronella… and yes they still had some, excellent! Picked up another gram of this.. The budtender was extremely friendly. We need more like this! I sat my ass down over at the seat by the window and rolled myself a spliff… Happy days.
Mini Joint of Citronella:
(I usually roll with a bit of tobacco but I made this pure simply because it's such a great tasting strain..wanted to get the full flavour)
I decided to have a look at some of the hashes on offer.. I had already tried the NTB which I was pleased with but it was not as strong as others I’ve tried.. But keep in mind its only €8 for a gram so I was happy.. Very tasty... Today I decided to get the Caramello though.. It was quite solid at first but became lovely and pliable in the fingers when it warmed up a bit. Delicious.
I took out my laptop for a while and messed around for a bit… Began making small notes on my trip etc.. After a while the budtender came over and asked me was I from the ACD forum .. She gave me a free coffee as well which was delicious with my joint of Caramello! I never caught her name but would I be right in guessing she is ‘Nel Ze Bub’ that has been recently posting?? If so “Hi Nel!.. Thanks for your informative opinions on everything. I enjoyed chatting with you and will be back!”
These two guys came in not long afterwards and it wasn’t long before all of us were engaged in the usual stoner banter! Finding this spot was the highlight of my trip, hope it continues to get better!
I decided to go get some food then head back to Voyagers for a while (slightly hoping that the Kosher Kush came in early)…. No joy though.. Sat myself down and ordered a gram of King Kong and a cherry coke.. The King Kong has to be some of the densest bud I’ve had in a long time. The gram even looked small in the bag (obviously I had no doubts in my mind that it was weighed correctly….) That’s how dense it was though.. One lovely solid bud that just exploded in the grinder… It was just as good as the batch I had back in October. I only had one joint of this and decided to save the rest for a rainy day
I think I briefly met Gapie in Voyagers…well we fist bumped… and I heard someone call him Stan so I used my detective skills to figure out he was Gapie.. he seems like a cool bloke! Also met a guy from England who had me laughing hysterically with his stories for ages… I picked up a gram of the Silver Bubble again.. This batch was ridiculously good in fairness, it kept me coming back anyway.. Not sure exactly how long I spent in Voyagers but the rest of my evening consisted of good company with good herb.. What more can you want?
Not gonna bore you with the details of my travels home.. I was extremely stoned so it was enjoyable.. My souvenirs arrived home safely too
I’ve already gone on much longer than originally anticipated so my apologies for that.. Hope some of the information was of some use to people planning their next trip. Happy toking ..
Oh yeah, I bought these cheap alternatives to Oreos in Schipol Airport…They were even nicer! Funny name though...
Top Herb:
Amnesia @ Hugo De Groot
Citronella @ Utopia
Cheese @ 1e Hulp
Silver Bubble @ Voyagers
Top Hash:
Well considering I only tried a small selection..... They were all very nice.. My favourite is the Turkish from Paradox.. But Utopia's NTB and Caramello were definitely up to standard in my books!
Until next time!!
