DAY 3 (Tuesday July 10th):
For some reason I have almost no notes for this day in my book, either nothing much happened or I smoked so much I forgot to write it down.
Either way all I have is that I visited Voyagers on Tuesday night for the “Taster Tuesday” special. Luckily HB had just a little bit left of the taster and I was able to get 1g for 10 euros. Sadly I have no pictures or notes on what it was. Also purchased on this day was 1 gram of the El Cid @ 13 euros per gram. That’s all I’ve got so I’ll share a few more pics with you.
DAY 4 (Wednesday July 11th):
On this morning I started off my usual walk to the Metro with a mixed joint of Old School Haze from Amnesia and what was left of Voyager’s Tuesday Taster. After work was feeling a bit run down so I chilled at the hotel for a couple hours. Feeling refreshed I decided it was time to visit another old friend, Café 420 aka De Kuil. From the hotel it’s a brief walk down Nieuwezijds Voorburgwaal, then across on Nieuwezijds Kolk, then Kolksteeg (passing the Wok To Walk and Burger Bar) and finally onto Oudebrugsteeg where the familiar windows of De Kuil came into view. I walked through the double wooden doors and into the warm wooden vibe of this classic coffeeshop. The place was lightly populated, not a surprise on a Wednesday night, but I was greeted warmly as I approached the bud counter.
As a side note, does anyone besides me have a hard time calling this place “Café 420”? De Kuil sounds and feels so much better, I just can’t let go of the name.
Anyway, back to my story. On my last visit in March I had gotten some absolutely killer Neville’s Haze from here so I asked to see that first. But what I was shown looked completely different from the previous batch and smelled a bit off, so I gave it a miss. Next up I asked to see the NYC Diesel, as I had not yet gotten a decent example of it on this trip. The NYCD smelled great in the tub with a characteristic grapefruit smell. Went with a gram of that and settled at one of the side tables to skin up my purchase. Upon smoking this joint I’m sorry to report that the smell didn’t really transfer to the taste, which was a bit harsh. The ash also seemed a bit dark, perhaps a sign of incomplete curing/flushing? The stone was typical hybrid but nothing particularly special. A real shame, I’d rate this one at 6/10.
I finished the night off smoking a joint of the El Cid from Voyagers and wandering the canals with my camera.
DAY 5 (Thursday July 12th):
After work on Thursday I had plans to check out a shop I’d never visited before, Solo. So instead of taking the Metro all the way back to Centraal, I jumped off at the Nieuwemarkt stop. As I emerged from underground right in front of me was the Waag, and I spent some time walking around the square and just enjoying the vibe. The rain that had been an almost constant so far on this trip had finally let up, and I was being treated to a very pleasant evening, with fluffy white clouds filling the sky, birds tweeting happily, and that wonderful golden light that lasts for hours on a summer evening in Amsterdam.
Feeling peaceful and ready for a smoke to enhance the mood, I pulled up Google Maps and navigated my way east of the Nieuwemarkt along Keizersstraat, left on Krom Boomssloot, and Solo is right there at the corner on Korte Koningsstraat.
Solo is located in this sweet residential neighborhood and when I entered the shop I immediately loved the looks of the place. There is a long bar/bud counter on the left, wooden booths on the right, and a largish bar/skinning table at the front of the shop directly in front of the large window. I dropped my bag and coat there and went over to the counter. This shop has one of those menus that is hidden behind mirrored glass that you have to press a button to view. I understand that the shops are not supposed to advertise weed but these always seem a little ridiculous to me (not to mention annoying if you want to take a picture).
Looking at the menu I decided to go with 1 gram of the SSH at 14 euros, 1 gram of the Cheese at 12.50 euros, and 1 gram of White Widow at 10 euros.
Solo – White Widow:
Solo – Cheese:
I took my purchases back to the large window seat and immediately saw why this shop is a favorite for folks. This has to be the most amazing window seat I’ve had in any coffeeshop in Amsterdam.
With the front window open, the birds chirping, and a peaceful little canal right in front of you as you enjoy your smoke…Wow! Nice music playing on the stereo as well, including some jazz, which I don’t often hear in shops. I highly recommend this shop to anyone looking for a nice place to chill that is slightly off the beaten path. If you are lucky you’ll also get the added entertainment of watching people try to parallel park their cars on this narrow street without backing over the edge and into the canal….
The SSH from here was nice, nothing spectacular but a solid example of the strain, well cured, burned cleanly and provided a solid sativa high, I’d rate it 7.5/10. I have no notes on the White Widow but I remember thinking that it was well cured and a very decent smoke for the price (7/10). The Cheese was very nice, quite sticky but still burned nice with a heavy body stone. (9/10). I think I sat in this shop for at least an hour and a half, enjoying the view, the mellow vibe, and the beautiful Amsterdam evening. But eventually, hunger pangs took over and I made my departure, waving farewell to the budtender and promising myself I would come back for a return visit to this shop before I left Amsterdam.
After dinner I wanted to see Nel again so I walked down to Utopia. He greeted me warmly and immediately began to make me one of his wonderful cappuccinos as I chatted with him about my trip so far. Coffee sorted I reviewed the menu for strains I had not yet tried, and settled on the Kandy Kush at 13 euros per gram. The shop was not busy so I hung out at the bar doing bong loads of the Kandy Kush (using one of the fine house Roor bongs) and just enjoyed chatting with Nel. I finished off the night with some bowls of the Cheese from Solo, which was a very nice example of Cheese and delivered a strong body stone with that wonderful warm fuzzy blanket feeling. Just the perfect thing to send me off to sleep so I said good night to Nel and made my way back to the hotel and to bed. Good night to all!
Any chance you guys need help setting up security for a mainframe over there??
