Ok folks here is the final installment on this trip, sorry it took so damn long, hope you enjoy:
Day 7 – Saturday
This was to be my last full day in Mokum, and I had purposely kept this day free of any plans other than walking the Jordaan, crawling de Pijp and being stoned non-stop.
I started my day off early, with a nice peaceful morning walk from my hotel, across the Singel, and into to the Jordaan, finishing off a spliff of NL/X from Anyday. It was a cool and cloudy morning, calm and quiet…I really enjoy the city at this hour. Walking through the Jordaan is one of my favorite things to do and I meandered down Leliegracht, then up Egelantiersgracht., enjoying perhaps the most beautiful canals in Amsterdam, snapping pictures all the way.
Ready for another smoke, I walk back up Bloemgracht (was fortunate enough to spend a few nights here at Hotel Van Onna on a previous trip), make a right onto Eerste Bloemdwarsstraat and immediately see the familiar blue doors surrounded by foliage that signifies Paradox. I enter the shop and am greeted almost immediately by the friendly budtender (the younger super-tall guy with long hair). First and most important, one space cake,
alstublieft (still the same price, 6 euros). I also pick up a 5 euro bag of KD (.4g), this strain smelled wonderful and I had read good things about it here. Lastly ordered a cappuccino, a bargain at only 1 euro!
Paradox Menu – March 2012:
I settled down at one of the large tables to roll up the KD. Since I typically do 1g pure cones, I mixed the KD with some chocolope I already had. I always enjoy the “locals” vibe of this place, listening to the budtender and another person banter back and forth in Dutch. In fact, I was enjoying the vibe so much, I stayed and rolled a second joint, this one a “mixed salad” of PSG+”Kush” from Voyagers as well as some OG Kush Trichomes from Grey Area.
I don’t speak Dutch, but I was able to pick a few words from the conversation going on that they were talking about the new Apple store that was opening that day. I decided to walk over and take a look at the scene. Said my farewells to the budtender and headed out the door. After the smokes I was ready for a good walk so I decided to walk all the way to Leidseplein. I followed Prinsengracht all the way around, enjoying the scenery, the people watching, etc. The architecture on this canal is a bit grander, reflecting the wealth that was here when these buildings were built. Finally made it to Leidseplein, and as I entered the area I immediately sensed the excitement and buzz of a large crowd. Made my way across the square and found the former ABN Amro building where the new Apple store had been located. There was a mob of folks around the entrance, taking pictures of other folks in line as they were allowed in the store one by one, cheered on by the horde of Apple store employees at the entrance.
I decided to wander down to the end of the line to see how long it was, thinking I could get in and perhaps pick up one of the freebies they were giving away. I got to the end of the block, thinking that was the end of the line, but then realized there was just a gap so that pedestrians could pass through, and in fact the line extended several more blocks down, all the way to the next canal!
I give up on any ideas on getting into the Apple store this morning,
and decided to head back into the centrum to do a little shopping for the family. Grab a tram and get off at Dam, then make my way back towards Singel. First stop, Puccini, home of fabulous chocolate. Spent at least 50 euros in here on treats for my wife, she loves the hot chocolate powder from here so I always stock up. Also picked up several bags of hagelslaag, a wonderful Dutch treat that we discovered on our last visit to Amsterdam together. The Puccini version looked especially decadent. (
http://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com/2011/03/06/hagelslag/)
Puccini is literally just across the alley from Grey Area (coincidence? I think not!
), so another stop there was in order. I was delighted to see John was working so I was more than happy to wait in the short line and peruse the menu while I waited my turn. I arrived at the counter and John greeted me warmly…he has an amazing ability to remember customers which is why I always like to see him when I’m in town. Last time I was here he was having problems with his brand new iPhone, so I asked how he was getting on with it now. He laughed and remembered the very conversation, recalled that I told him to give it a week and he would be hooked. He confirmed that I was right on this, and that he was now “one with his phone”.
On to the weed, I asked to see the Silver Bubble. He smiled and pulled out the tub and passed it under my nose. “ Really good batch right now, very frosty”. I couldn’t agree more and quickly snapped up a gram.
Silver Bubble – Grey Area:
I wanted to catch up with John more and as all the tables were full I asked for a bong and moved down to the end of the counter. Yes, you heard me right; suddenly I was one of the “hangers-on” at the Grey Area counter that we all complain about, and I was loving every minute of it!
The Silver Bubble was amazing on that day through the bong, perhaps the best I’ve had, without any of the harshness you sometimes get with that strain. Passed a great hour just hanging, talking with Jon, and watching other customers make their selections. Even though it’s almost always packed in Grey Area, I love spending at least some time hanging here if I can, it’s a special little corner of Amsterdam that I will be very sad to see go if the wietpas ever comes to be.
I still had many more shops to hit so I reluctantly said my farewells to John, gathered my belongings, and headed out the door. I enjoyed a leisurely walk along the Singel to drop my morning’s purchases off at the hotel. From there I hop a tram down to DePijp, first destination Albert Cuypmarkt for some shopping. Grabbed this shot of the brewery on the way down...
In all my previous visits to Amsterdam, I always have managed to go to the market on the day they are closed (STONER!
) so I was determined to make it this time. Had a great time strolling around, picked up some more hagelslaag for the wife and some of those Dutch shoes slippers for my kids. ☺ All the good smoke from earlier was starting to make me hungry as well – luckily for me the next stall I stumbled upon was Wally’s Wafels. Holy crap, the choices were insane! I’m a huge caramel addict so I opted for just the basic plain with caramel sauce. OMFG….
Continued walking down the Cuypmarkt, just taking in the sights, sounds, and smells. Speaking of smells I guess I was still hungry cause my notes indicate my nose quickly guided me to “Bob’s” for a cone of fritz.
Yummy!
All this eating was making me ready for another smoke, plus it was getting near 3pm which was the time I had set for my TnT at Club Media. Gapie was waiting for me as I arrived, greeted me with a hearty “Whazzup muthafucka!” and we went into the lobby to make some purchases. I opted for 1 gram of the Pot of Gold, I had read a lot of good things here on the forum about it and wanted to give it a try. At 9 euros per gram it was a bargain! Second purchase, also recommended by the forum, was Champagne Haze, 1 g at 12 euros/gram.
Club Media – Pot of Gold:
Purchases sorted, we were buzzed though into the main part of the shop and found a nice comfy spot to skin up our purchases. I ground up the Champagne Haze, but left the actual rolling in Gapie’s expert hands.
While he rolled up the joint I sorted out some drinks for the two of us. By the time I was back at the table a perfect joint was ready to be sparked. The champagne haze was a wonderful smoke, with a fantastic flavor that lasted throughout the whole joint, and a really nice haze high. While not the strongest, it was more than made up for by the amazing flavor. If you see this strain at Club Media and it looks and smells good, I highly recommend you pick some up.
For our second joint we rolled up some of the Cannalope Haze that Gapie purchased, mixed with some of the Silver Bubble I had brought along from Grey Area. And just to make sure it would have a knockout punch, I painted the outside of the joint with some of the BHO from 1e Hulp.
After smoking that second joint we were absolutely flying, enjoying the buzz and talking about other great smokes we had shared in the past. It’s always nice to have a smoke with Gapie, and I really appreciate him coming out to meet me on such short notice.
From there I decided it was time to move on, we shared a tram ride back to the Centrum and then parted ways, me headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest. GI just chilled out listening to some tunes, had some food and water and then back out the door….I had been denied a chance to check out the new Apple store earlier in the day due to the long lines so I made my way back down to Leidseplein to see if I could get in. By now it was early evening and getting dark, and I enjoyed the energy of this part of the city as I made my way across the square.
The Apple store was still crowded but no line so I made my way in to check it out. The place was packed with folks still checking out the new store. Snapped a few pics of the place for you to enjoy if you are in to the whole Apple store thing:
I browsed around a bit but couldn’t find anything cool that was Amsterdam related – not even an “Apple Store Amsterdam” t-shirt! ☹
So after geting my fill it was back out into the chilly evening air and back on the tram to Central Station. Ready for more smoke to finish out my last night in Amsterdam (and to make sure I had enough to get totally ripped before my trip to the airport
), one more stop at Voyagers was in order.
No HB working tonight but the budtender who was working was friendly enough. Opted for two strains from the menu I had yet sampled on this trip, first .7 grams of G13 for 10 euros, plus 1 gram of the Super Lemon Haze ( a good price at only 10 euros /gram). I stepped over to the skinning counter and filled up a huge cone with .7g of the G13 + .7g of the SLH + the last of the Grand Cru Hash purchased earlier in the week from Utopia. Sparked it up and the wonderful mix of flavors was soon followed by a warm fuzzy blanket stone that went really well with the tunes being played in Voyagers at that hour. I enjoyed my last coffeeshop experience of the trip, looking out the window at the passers by as they hurried on to their evening destinations.
Before heading out for the night I decided I would need two joints for the morning before leaving for the airport so I picked up one more gram of the very nice Chocolope for the road. Meandered my way back to the hotel, enjoying the sights and sounds of a Saturday night in Mokum. Used the panoramic photo app on my phone to take the below shot of the stationplein at night. Click link below to see it:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/26 ... ofull.jpg/
Back at the hotel I still had a lot of packing to do so I spent the next few hours finishing that up combined with occasional trips to the fire escape for bowls of Pot of Gold + Reserva X. After about 3 bowls of that I had the packing done and a nice warm hash stone going that helped me slip quickly into dreamland.
A 7:30 AM departure time from Schipol meant that the alarm came insanely early, like 3:30 AM early. In retrospect I probably should have not bothered to go to bed at all, it would have ensured that I would have slept through a lot more of the transatlantic flight I was soon to board. Still, the few hours of sleep I did get probably helped me to get showered, finish packing, and checked out of the hotel n only 40 minutes.
I leisurely made my way towards Centraal, smoking the first joint of the morning and just living that poignant moment that we all dread, saying goodbye to this city that we all love. I finished my second joint in my usual spot, standing on the bridge over the canal between Prins Hendrikaade and the Stationplien, looking out at the huge
fietsplats and the unfolding cityscape of Amsterdam. :sigh: Until next time, farewell my friend.
I had a bit of a freak-out when I first approached the station and found all the doors locked!
Never having caught a train at this hour I had no idea there was a separate entrance for the night treinen.
But I managed to figure it out by following the large crowds of late night partiers making their way to the platform, destined for home after a night of fun in the city. The train I rode on out to Schipol (via Rotterdam) was mainly filled with those folks, plus a couple other sad sacks like me, destined for places much farther away than the suburbs of Amsterdam.
I arrived at Schipol without incident, and found my way to the KLM lounge where I chilled out, enjoyed my last Dutch breakfast combined with the space cake from Paradox, and awaited the flight that would take me away from my “second home” on this planet and back to my real home, beautiful San Francisco.
And so ends this, my fourth adventure in Mokum. Hope you enjoyed my somtimes wordy tales, and at the very least they inspire you to make your own adventures in this wonderful place. I leave you with what is still my favorite photograph of Amsterdam that I was lucky enough to capture on my second trip, the beautiful Singel on a late winter’s afternoon….
thanks for taking the time and effort to put this up 