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Travelogue 4 of 9 (part 1)

It's 2010 and the man, no longer young, allegedly wiser, feels again the siren-call from his youth. He has loved, worked, played, but the memory of the sparkling lights still haunts his dreams. And now life mellows, the man has leisure to daydream of gentle waters flowing beneath ancient bridges. A child has grown to womanhood, and his self-imposed exile from the Promised Land draws to a close. Proper Citizen he never was, but protected the eyes of infancy must be. Love's price paid, the City of Sin reaches for him once more.....

A few brief words to the bride of his heart, and a fresh voyage will commence, the joyous past made new again! Yet, a caution sears his fervor. He has played the Jester too often, he will brook no more foolishness. The mysterious pathways of this Eden must be divined in advance, all delights anticipated, for therein lies the path to salvation in this Promised Land.


(The stories up to now have been old ones dredged out of my slow-roasted brain. A lot of details and none of the coffeeshop names or prices stayed with me, just a few highlights and lowlights. These newer trips I can recall most of them, even have some notes, and I'll fill that info in wherever I can. Hope it's not too much detail to be fun reading.)



Alright, I've been to my favourite place on Earth three times now, and managed to get it wrong in some way twice. It's NOT happening again . Before I go I do research: I talk to friends for their experiences of the past. I read the Amsterdam map book I bought from cover to cover. I get books from the library. I read Dutch news(in English) on the net. I learn some Dutch. I chat (carefully) with my 3 Dutch neighbours. But most importantly; I learn the name, location and opening hours of every coffeeshop from Hoorn to Eindhoven. There is just no way in Hell that I'm coming back with both my lungs from this trip!



And then I discover the Cup. I thought I was only joking about the Holy Grail, but there it is . So, I'm pretty much dumb-struck, I call the wife and point speechlessly at my computer screen. Within 5 minutes I'm looking up flights on the net, passports scattered across my desk. Okay, it's done, we're going, but I book for two weeks and she can only stay for one. No problem, I've got two buddies who will be very happy to make Amsterdam's acquaintance. The Mrs. and I will go over the week before the Cup(she didn't wish to attend) and my friends will join me for the Festivities. Brilliant ! The Viking has been a couple of times before, but the BoyRacer is a newbie to Amsterdam. This should be fun!

Trip time, November 2010: my wife and I are flying through London to Amsterdam, 10 or 11 hours before we make it there, I'm not staying sober that whole time! A half-dozen borrowed cookies set me straight(what an odd phrase to use...) and the flights went swimmingly. THIS time the hotel was booked (and confirmed, and re-confirmed). Strangely, I just read Craig Bell's very moving thread, and we were upgraded to the very same room he described. Great private balcony, but they've screwed the door shut in recent years (we got our own screwdriver, which is now in the ceiling panels directly above the pillows, if anyone needs it, but replace it please ). Will have to check if Craig's pipe is still behind the drainpipe when I go in February. But I digress.

Day 1
The hotel was the Hem, and we arrived in poor weather. Anyone remember that huge windstorm and hail the week before the Cup in 2010? Our room faced the wind and we found water blowing through the window seals, running down the wall. The electric heater failed to operate and we were given a space-heater. Every time we turned it on the fuses blew out on half our floor . This is the point were we got the upgrade to the room from Craig's narrative, #403. As he has said, it was very fine , huge space, balcony, giant room-length windows, and the Jacuzzi(which also got severely bumped later). Plus, the rooftop of the third floor is right in front of your windows and you can put your booze, etc,.out there to keep cool. Just watch out for the pigeons, they'll eat anything they can peck through! Lost some ice cream and cakes to the little horrors.



Now, this time I'm prepped, I know there's De Kroon about 6 blocks east of me (not on the CS map, south of Hoofdorpplein), Bullwackie about 5 blocks north-east of me, and my glow is long gone after that game of musical hotel-rooms. It's time to find the real Amsterdam. De Kroon is a private type with mainly hash, buy and fly is the rule, but we bought a few g's of Cheese (about 9e each, I think) and they allowed us to stay for one round in their backroom. Nice smoke, a little bit harsh, but worked just fine. Great flavour (my first cheese taste), fair count, bought 3 more g's on the way out. Back to the hotel to unpack, blissfully wrecked .

Now we're dressed and ready to head out, the munchies have set in. The new room's nice and warm, and everybody's smiling. Bullwackie is the next stop, another buy and fly just a short walk away. The menu seems a bit thin, but we settle on a haze-type for the bride, it was around 11e. We roll a couple and walk. She liked it, got her up and active. We tram to the Leidseplein and stroll around for a restaurant. It's still rainy and chill, and we pick something close; the Italian food area east of McD's. Actually not bad for tourist-menu food, pasta and pizza were cheap and quick. I don't remember which place was first (ate at most of them before leaving), but I knew we were in a REAL Italian place. I knew it because we there several minutes before any of the staff or the owner could tear their eyes from the Italian football match on TV and notice us! Great service once they looked up, though. Owner very friendly and joking constantly, served us himself. It might have been Mimo's, but don't quote me.

Now, right next to these fine establishments was the Rokerij, this one being my favourite of the four we'd eventually find(alas, all gone now R.I.P.). Cool, dark decor, wall niches full of candles and Eastern statuettes. And not bad drinks either. I believe we bought lemon haze and more cheese. Stayed for awhile for the atmosphere and tea, liked the cheese better than De Kroon's, smoother, tastier. The bride's smoke is fine, she says. I have a hit and it's fairly sweet-citrus. Nice change-up to the rich, heavy taste of mine. We decide to move downtown now the rain has stopped and head for Centraal on the tram after a quick stop to split a Fries Swimming In Mayonnaise.



We bustle through the station crowds and walk towards Barney's on Haarlemmerstraat, but stop at the Greenhouse first. Some nice, really sticky black hash, can't remember what they called it, but it was 18e and stuck to the table the moment you let go of it. Later I'd bring something cold in with me, to put it against. Problematic to break up, being that sticky, but well worth it, strong and tasty with a lasting glow. The under-floor fish tank was a novelty, fun to watch while smoking. On to Barney's for the last shop of the evening. It was Crimea Blue and I believe it was the most powerful weed I saw that trip. Fast, strong high and tasty, but a little harsh. Came down hard and fast though (later in the trip I actually fell asleep before I could finish writing the date, on this stuff). Walked back to the tram for the midnight run home. Scattered the various left-overs on the room-desk for morning and crashed. Not too bad for a first day, considering my past efforts.


Day 2
Breakfast is served downstairs until 10, we stumble in at 9:50. There wasn't a lot left, but better than nought. We do some grocery shopping at the mall across the highway, roll a few from yesterday's leavings and walk to the Vondelpark. It's chilly, but there is almost a meter of snow on the ground back home, so we're still pleased. Burn a couple beside the lake, on that big slanting tree, then a stop for tea and hot chocolate at The Blue Tea House in the park. We're off to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and overpriced drinks, after a short look at the fellows playing on the giant outdoor chess-board in front. Some interesting signed instruments on the walls, guitars, etc. The Rokerij is our next stop, near the Leidseplein, and we buy Lemon Skunk (about 10e). This was disappointing because it was so sour, I thought I was buying a sweet one like the haze from earlier. The buzz was fine, but not the taste. Ended up mixing it in with other sweeter things and I could still taste it coming through! Instead I bought more cheese.

A day of sight-seeing now, in the rain, but we'd brought umbrellas. Dinner at a steak house on Brouwersgracht, supermarket trip for ice cream and cakes (read earlier about pigeons), then to Barney's for more Crimea Blue and something haze-like for her. To the Greenhouse for more sticky black hash and put it with the ice cream. It's kind of early by Amsterdam standards, but we're tired and head back to the hotel for a smoke-in and early night.


Day 3 to 7

We did a lot more of this same thing. Explored the Jordaan and coffeeshops Spirit, Paradox, Grey Area, Amnesia, etc, etc. Next day started in Rembrandtplein and explored towards De Pijp, Albert Cuyp market and coffeeshops Rokerij, Smokey's, Bushdoctor, Barney's Lounge,Mellow Yellow,etc, etc. Never found Katsu, though, I read on this forum that it's a great place, will look this next trip. We walked all the road-route into town from the Hem one day, not through the park. Long walk, but lots to see, we love the old buildings and stained glass windows. We found the City Hall market and coffeeshops Reefer (with the cool below-ground seating), Bluebird, Basjoe, Rusland, etc, etc.



Somewhere in here we found the place that would eventually become our favourite coffeeshop in Amsterdam to this day, and it was Voyagers. It wasn't on the map back then, looked kind of dingy from outside, but we heard laughter coming from the BT and the seats were full(both good omens). Strolled in, were treated very friendly, BT cheerfully showed and explained any strain we asked about. We bought Amnesia Haze, and this might have been the time (or the next trip in six months) we got that most delicious strain of all; Purple Strawberry Bliss was the name, I believe. I was told it later got renamed Shoreline, but haven't tasted that yet. It smelled and tasted like a strawberry milkshake, Yummy! Good buzz too. I still rave about it. I did a lot of business here with various Kush and Haze strains over the next ten days, or so.

So a few more days like this and my bride headed back to the Frozen North. She'd smoked herself out, and had business back home, anyhow. The Viking and BoyRacer were due the next day and we were all sharing a room on the Rembrandtplein. I spent a quiet night packing up and making notes for the guys. I had managed to save a small taste of everything with notes on strength, taste, buzz-length, etc. for each.

(part 2 coming tonight, stay tuned... )

Eurotripper wrote:It's 2010 and the man, no longer young, allegedly wiser, feels again the siren-call from his youth. He has loved, worked, played, but the memory of the sparkling lights still haunts his dreams.

Hope it's not too much detail to be fun reading.

thanks for another tale, btw we love detail

Eurotripper wrote:[(part 2 coming tonight, stay tuned... )

yeaaa

Eurotripper wrote:Thanks for the tip Redeyez , tried it a few times, but the Registration page won't load. Maybe it's just choked, being the weekend. I'll try again tomorrow. That's what I need, though. In the meantime I'm going to try some public-domain pics and link them in, to help with the story. Thanks for taking the time to answer an old stoner!

Cheers, Eurotripper

You shouldn't need to register. On the main page just hit choose file, and select picture. Resize to Message board (640x480) and hit upload. On the puzzle page it uses to make sure you are human I jus type what I see even if it's nonsense, and not a real word. I hope this helps, picture are worth 1,000 words! Good luck. Thanks for write up!

Thanks again redeyez ! I'll get trip 4 finished and then go back and pictorialize the earlier ones.

Cheers, Eurotripper

Travelogue 4 of 9 (part 2)
Day 8


The bags are packed and I'm on the tram towards the Atlanta Hotel. Time to give a bit of background; the Viking really is one, or would've been some centuries back. He looks the part too, tall and grim with beard and hair down to his short-ribs. We've gone to the same school ever since we were six years old, I can count on him. The BoyRacer was a Champion pro-racer in his youth, but now he's got more breaks in him than a politician's schedule, I've only met him once. Looks like a moviestar, but talks like a used-car salesman. He's older than both me and the Viking, hence the name. They don't call me anything yet, but Amsterdam is going to change all that....

We all converge on the hotel about 3 pm, the Viking is flying in from England and BoyRacer is too, but on another flight. He's the last to get there. We've talked about him, the Viking knows him well, so it looks to be alright. BoyRacer walks through the door and we've got about 35 different little baggies waiting for him, all with about half a joint or more, of most flavours available. He just grins and the smoke-fest is on! We opened a window and just poisoned the atmosphere for about two hours . We all go out for food to the Christmas village that's set up in Rembrandtplein, grilled sausage on a bun, waffles, etc. and waddle up to the Nieuwmarkt along the canal, feeling stuffed. A sit down at Hill Street with our own stash and we're off wandering the Red Light District . The Viking doesn't drink and I usually don't, but BoyRacer can't let a pub go by. On the other hand, we're not letting a coffeeshop go by, so I guess we're even. After awhile it gets tiring herding BoyRacer away from the open canal sides and we steer him towards the hotel and an early night.



We're having a few drinks and smokes in the room, the large windows open, and I decide to use the window as a cooler for my orange juice bottle. There's a railing that will stop it from falling and the night is very cool. See the open window in the pic, next to the letter "E". All goes well until I close the window, forcing the large bottle of juice over the railings. Very fortunately it was a plastic bottle because it went straight down into the glass canopy that covers the restaurant tables out front of the hotel, making a huge crash but not breaking anything! Must have scared the hell out of the diners below. We cowered in the room for an hour waiting for the Police to show up, but nobody did. And this is how I earned my nickname “the Amsterdam Juice Bomber” or juicebomber for short.

Day 9 & 10

The city is filling up fast, the Cup is on Sunday and it's Friday already. All the touristy and better-known spots are filled with wasted people. Trams and buses all full, Standing room only down on the Leidseplein, with the buskers out working the crowd. The Viking and I are trying to show BoyRacer around the monuments, museums, etc. Quite crowded but we manage some sightseeing and some market shopping between coffeeshops and bars. Mostly we're sticking with Cheese and Kush, some Lemon Hazes and a little hash. And lots of Heineken. De Dampkring off the Spui had some nice midgrade hash and we bought a pile. The streets keep getting more crowded.



A fellow in the covered market on Elandsgracht had told me about the huge record/antique fair at Jaarbeurs in Utrecht. We spent the daytime here on Saturday and it was spectacular , 3500 booths of records, books, toys, furniture, china, etc,etc. We spent about 1000e in a few hours! Utrecht is a university town and quite beautiful, lots of early buildings and more canals, but we needed to get back to Amsterdam for the new tastes about to appear on menus citywide. Back on the intercity train by dinner.



Saturday evening, it's hard to get around, ducking and dodging around people, bikes, buses and cars. The coffeeshops are full and lots of good things are sold out, including the Crimea Blue . All the Cup entries are about to hit the menus, though, so we're all just treading water waiting. Quite a few shops did put out new menus on Saturday and we had a buying spree with all the new flavours . Lots of fruit on the menus; Lemon, Tangerine, Blueberry, Pineapple, etc, etc. Greenhouse's Lemon was good, Dampkring also had “Lemon Larry” (on Haarlemmer), both had a sweet-citrus taste. We couldn't get a taste of the Tangerine Dream, sold out except for the judges portions. Eventually met a judge and he shared some in a pipe, tasty but not strong enough for me. Blue Cheese was another big hit with us, I think it was Barney's and Voyagers that we got it from. Nice perfumey taste usually lasting through the joint. That was a brand new taste for us Canadians, BoyRacer and I couldn't get enough . The Viking's less of a connoisseur, even caught him buying from a street dealer once.



This Saturday night we had to rescue BoyRacer, or maybe we rescued the people who owned the bar we dragged him from . The poor, deluded sod fancies himself a country singer, so much so that he brings his own backing CD's of music for the karaoke bars he plans on attending. The Viking and I are old Rockers, you're not getting us near a karaoke bar! So we take him up to the top of Zeedijk to a club owned by this Asian family and bugger off for Voyagers. A few hours later I go check up on him and he's hammered, still karaoke singing and made friends with 8 drunken Englishman, who all think he's one of those few Judges that get given the entries to sample for free. They are literally genuflecting to him as they roll the next joint(jokingly). I stay long enough to puff one with them and go back out. BoyRacer's doing fine, he'll probably be Mayor by the time I get back . Around 2 am we have to fetch him. The Viking and I are smoked out and BoyRacer's still singing. We interrupt his rendition of god-knows-what and he chugs down his last beer and bourbon chaser and stumbles out with us. The management look relieved, but don't say anything. BoyRacer's upset that the owner's daughter failed to join him, he was so sure ! We stop to burn one at that spot where Zeedijk touches the canal, at the top of the RLD, but it wasn't a good idea because BoyRacer's wobbling badly now. Going through the Nieuwmarkt we start south down the canal towards the Rembrandtplein and almost lose him in the canal twice and down a set of stairs once before we steer him across the bridge and to the hotel.


Day11- the Cup

We get up late and head towards Centraal for a shuttle to the Cup. BoyRacer is unusually quiet. Even the morning wake-and-bake doesn't cheer him up. The shuttle leaves Barney's and takes us there for about 1pm, but the gates don't open till 5. We stand and smoke in line. Some give-aways are passed through the crowd, like t-shirts, party passes to the Bulldog and huge joints of very crappy weed. BoyRacer lasts about an hour then bolts for parts unknown. We don't see him again until after the show that night.



The display booths inside the Cup are selling interesting things, mini-vapourizers, hash making machines (with free samples), magnetic pipes that disassembled, and every seed type under the sun. Some seed booths are even selling the finished product. Giant, ten foot long vapour-filled bags are passed around the hall (nice lemon something-or-other inside). Later music and opening Festivities. The Viking and I stay for a few hours listening to the celebs speak, but reggae isn't our style so we head back to town. A shuttle brings us back to the Green Place and we sample their Cup entry. We walk south to the hotel and pick up BoyRacer, who looks like he just woke up, for another night of coffeeshop/bar/coffeeshop/bar in the Leidseplein area .

Day 12

We start today with wake-and-bake and a trip to City Hall flea market, on the Waterlooplein. A great place for books, bargains, cheap souvenirs, and pickpockets (beware). The Viking buys souvenirs, I buy business items, but BoyRacer is looking for high-fashion jeans. As we're leaving for the Dappermarkt further east, I notice a bicycle has lost a rear “flasher” light and it's lying in the gutter still flashing. BoyRacer has mentioned that he's feeling a little squeezed by bike traffic, getting nervous in fact, so we make a big joke out of giving him this “flasher”. We all laugh and I forget about it, but many hours later, I'm walking behind him and realize he's got the damned thing flashing on the back of his belt! For hours now! I'm not sure that I'd ever seen the Viking fall over laughing before.

Now, I've been picking on poor BR, but it's my turn today. After the markets we go back to the hotel to smoke, I'm into two bottles of cheap wine. We smoke there, eat downstairs from the Christmas village food stands, and go smoke some more. Opening my eyes, alone in the room several hours later, it's clear I've been deemed excess baggage . They come back for me, but by the time the Cup is open I'm asleep again. They go without me. Refuse to tell me about it, that's my punishment for hugging the wall all night. The bastiches even have a photo of me, out cold with a wine bottle curled in my arm. No living that one down....



Day 13

This day was spent running around buying the souvenirs we'd all promised everyone back home. More crap gets sold this way than you'd believe, the various shops and stands were swarming. Couldn't tell you how many fake Bob Marley wigs I saw go past. I suppose we weren't much classier, but we did stick to T-shirts and hoodies. Another tour through Voyagers and we're set for the day. Really can't remember what we bought here this day, too busy.



Spent an interesting few minutes trying to lose a gaggle of Japanese tourists, who were following us snapping photos . You see, the Viking stands out in a crowd. Not just his height, but the hair, the look, the ice-blue eyes. So we're at the Muntplein, by the floating Flower market, waiting to cross at the lights and a TV reporter with microphone comes rushing up to the Viking. She starts grilling him about his impressions of Amsterdam, the Cup (she just assumed), and Holland in general while her cameraman hovered and took film. A crowd of Japanese tourists saw this and started snapping away themselves, maybe they thought he was somebody famous . You get strange looks from people when you're being followed and photoed like this.

I believe this was the night of the Silver Haze Party at the Bulldog by the Old Church. Passes had been circulated at the Cup that first day and they had bands, drinks, food and a very interesting liquid-chocolate fountain, with THC added, for dipping cookies into, Yum . I have video of this one thing, but it has stranger's faces showing, so I won't use it. Left fairly early since it was reggae again. Dropped into Rick's, Rusland and Basjoe's on the way back to the hotel. Memory fails again here, can't remember what we bought, likely hash and something lemony. Anyone noticing a pattern here?

Day 14

Last full day here, we all leave tomorrow. I'm going early, and the other two are going in the afternoon. Gotta make it a good one! We pack up the bags, make sure nothing smelly is in there. We've all bought so much extra crap that we pool together and ship an extra suitcase home, so open the windows for an hour's smoke and off to the Albert Cuyp market for a suitcase, where the selection is pretty good. Many stalls with prices 10e to 60e for a decent case. Went into a rather unfriendly coffeeshop on the south side of the market, but didn't stay beyond a few smokes and drinks. I've seen that Katsu is right near there, but we missed it. Headed back to the room on a wide curve that included Rokerij(Leidseplein), Dampkring(Spui), Greenhouse(Haarlemmer), Barney's, Voyagers and Green Place. We bought a little along this route, but mostly used up what we had, morning was fast approaching. Finally reach the hotel and roll up the last bits, smoke most and leave a few for morning.

Day 15

I'm up very early and it really feels like it, too. Trying to keep quiet so the other two can sleep, grab a shower and burn my last Cheese (funny how I recall that so clearly). A cab to Schipol and I'm heading for London. Snow had delayed me, and the same for the Viking and BoyRacer later on, but that night Schipol was closed completely. If we hadn't left that day, it would've been a nightmare by tomorrow, which was Friday after the Cup ended. Hope nobody reading this was in that mess! One last note here; myself and the Viking sailed through Customs at home, but BoyRacer wears his pot-leaf T-shirt on the plane. You guessed it; he got the full treatment. Strangley, he isn't keen on returning to the Promised Land.....




That was my fourth trip, found even more coffeeshops, ranged outside Amsterdam for the first time, discovered Jaarbeur's, and learned to drink my wine only one bottle at a time. I'd be back in six months, though.

(NOTE: The Viking claims I'm a lying sod, and that he discovered the Cup and told me. He Threatens to post the wine-bottle pic if I don't confess. I ponder the chances he knows a good picture host site.....

"Amsterdam Juice Bomber" !!!! LOL....... Thanks for sharing man.

Travelogue 5(and 6) of 9

It's early 2011 and six months have passed since the last trip. There's Mrs. Juicebomber, minding her own business, when I sidle up to her and say “You know, we could make the company function in Amsterdam.”. She turns around and gives me the Look. Every married man out there knows the one I mean. I quickly say “Yes dear, I'm serious. I saw enough opportunity there six months ago to make it work.”. She tells me that she's from Missouri. For those who don't recognize the reference, it boils down to “Show it to me”. The math gets done, the tickets get purchased, and we're back for another romp in the Promised Land.

This was going to be a long trip, three weeks all around the Netherlands, with a sun-soaked week in the Mediterranean, then one more week in Amsterdam itself. Previous threads say I'm stretching a point, calling this two trips to the Dam, since we never flew home. Maybe not, but we did fly to the furthest south you can get and still be in Europe; sunny Malta! This was all mostly business, but with plenty of room built-in for debauchery, um, I mean sophisticated entertainment. No dear, I have no idea what that 4:20 thing is they're talking about for while we're there.....

Week 1

We flew straight in on KLM this time, saves hours this way, but you arrive early. The Hem didn't have us booked in that room from last story, but with a little extra cash laid down, harmony was achieved. We had it for our first week, then moved north into cheese country. On arrival, too early to check in, we stashed the bags at the hotel and did the De Kroon/Bullwackie quickstep, and walk to the Vondelpark through the back-streets. The weather is nice and this neighbourhood is wealthy, so the architecture stands out, beautiful . A stop beside our favourite tree by the lake to fortify ourselves and we spend a quiet two hours in the Blue Tea House.


They were working on the park pathways then, widening them at the canals, etc. Made for a couple of new hide-and-smoke places while the work continued. Back to the hotel to check in, unpack, over to Albert Heijn and Lidl, back to the room with munchies. The patio out front was calling our names. Just relaxed till dinner then took the tram up to the Leidseplein and the Italian area east of McD's. A favourite hangout of ours from the last trip. The owner claimed to remember us, and again served us himself. Either it was Mimo's or another one, same side of the street, a few doors down. We ate on the outdoor patio, and watched traffic streaming into the Rokerij, our next stop, too. Always enjoyed the atmosphere here, though you'd get a rude BT sometimes, bought some Diesel something, I think. Our inner timeclock says it's hours later than it is here, so a fast run through Easy Times and we're headed back for the night.


The last story claimed I had looked up all coffeeshops in the land , but we've since found out about the local and non-advertised ones. Some being the superior of the best known names. Only trouble is finding them. We stumbled into a couple while out walking during this week, some good and some bad. A couple of good ones near Paradox, a couple of bad ones near Albert Cuyp market. A very great amount of walking was done this time, from picnicking on the lakefront south of the IBM buildings to Sloterdijk in the north, to the city streets as far east as Diemen. Many coffeeshops, restaurants and bar/cafes were found and forgotten along our routes. Just recently we've been trying to re-locate some of those old places for our new trip. Thanks to those who have helped!

If I recall correctly, this was Skywalker Kush days at my coffeeshop of choice, Voyagers. Other good smokes, too, but that one remained in my taste-memory. This time I tasted something called Not-So-Shoreline (amusing name), and was told it was an attempt at the Strawberry Bliss strain of last year. Close in taste, but not-so-close just as they had advertised. Mrs. Juicebomber usually stays with an Amnesia Haze or suchlike. Also had that same sticky black from Greenhouse, but the price was up. Barney's had the Tangerine Dream at about 15e. Re-visited the tourist sites and canal cruises, and managed a lot of the business I needed to do.



Week 2

Stocked up for the week at Voyagers, Greenhouse, and Grey Area, with Skywalker, OG 18(?), Amnesia Haze (all from Voyagers), sticky black hash and Hawaiian Snow(Greenhouse), Grey-something(Grey Area) then headed north of the city and browsed through Monnickendam, Purmerend, Edam, Volendam, Hoorn, and Enkhuizen. Stopped for a night in Purmerend after leaving Amsterdam, attended the local coffeeshop, Anna I think was the name, but the menu didn't excite us, and we were stocked up anyhow. We just strolled the area, puffed in the park and along the canals, bought rolls, meat and cheese for indoor munching and smoked the rest of the evening away at the hotel. Then we stayed for 4 nights in the Hem's sister hotel in a tiny town called Warder, east of Purmerend, north of Edam. I'm guessing about 35 people live here it's so damned small. There isn't even a bus that goes there, or within 4 miles of there. Very nice views, it's right on the inner side of the dike, however it's isolated, very cheap, and very boring. The picture below is going to say it all. They were too cheap to supply anything in the room, even a glass had to be requested, and we found leaflet advertising distributed on our room-desk while we'd been out, with a Do Not Disturb on the door! Not a recommended place, even though it's inexpensive.



A little business got done in the north, Edam treated us best of all. Volendam became just sightseeing, and we had a nice lunch on the Harbour in one of the restaurants facing the water, watching the ships.



Moving north, a couple of days were spent sightseeing through Hoorn and Enkhuizen. Hoorn for the fantastic old architecture, and Enkhuizen for the floral overkill at Keukenhoff fields. Time to head back to Amsterdam and stock up again for the next leg of the trip. We'd used our own stash and stayed out of the coffeeshops, so we were getting low.





Week 3

Another dash through Voyagers, Barney's and Greenhouse and we're off to Utrecht, Gouda and Eindhoven. We've stashed all the business items in a large locker, where they can be gathered later. It's not cheap, but carrying 6 suitcases from town to town wasn't an option. Utrecht is quite nice, not as many old houses as Amsterdam, but the old canal district is great. Coffeeshops are grouped a long walk away, so we mainly smoke our own along the canals and the park(notice a pattern?). We browse here for three days, mostly at the Jaarbeur's Fair and move on. The bags are full again and we need another locker in Eindhoven.

This is a company town, Phillips and the Estate owned by them are the largest part of business in the town. Not nearly the appeal of Amsterdam for beauty and variety. A little more business was done here and all stashed until our return from the sun. There were two coffeeshops within walking distance of the hotel, one much better than the other. Coffeeshop Grasshopper was the better, if a little further, good prices, larger menu, and several “special deals”. BT's helpful to semi-lost tourists, bought some Royale Cheese for 8e. Coffeeshop Pink was closer, but the BT was rude, prices were high, and the menu was thin. Back to the first one for the evening, and back to the hotel. Next day find a locker for the bags and we fly off to Malta for a week on the beach.



Week 4

The morning flight out of Eindhoven is short, the plane flies low so a lot of countryside is visible. The Alps are spectacular and the Mediterranean is deep blue. You just make out the cruise ships plying the waters below. Soon the Maltese Islands are beneath, edged by visible shallow waters. One major airport at the capital, Valletta, and we're off by taxi to Sliema, a port city on the western edge. Nice hotel half-block from the beach, supposedly a 5-star, breakfast included, all for 54 euros a night! This was off-season of course, being April, but the temperature was around 18 and sunny.



Wandered the fantastic beaches of Malta, some all rock , some all sand, and some all crushed stone. Great history here, The Knights of Malta, the Turks, the 7000 year-old temples, etc. The smaller, northern island of Gozo is nice, but more rural. Our guide was looking for a certain house to show us in a small village, when he finally found the “road” leading to it; it was a tiny goat-path overgrown with weeds. The “house” was two miniature rooms upstairs with a ten foot-square enclosed courtyard below (being used to raise rabbits in), very ancient Roman looking. This was a “House of Character” as the real-estate listing put it, but at 135,000 euros it seemed more like a house of disaster. And yet, within 5 kilometers of there are some of the most beautiful and expensive homes in the whole country!



Virtually everything is built with native rock, carved out of the islands themselves or imported from nearby Sicily and Italy. A large Arabic population too, with Libya being only 200 km away. The houses are mostly stone with interesting mini-balconies, called a galleria. All wood is brightly painted, and the ships in the sea are a riot of colour. Old World style markets in the main cities and religious “Feasts” all the time, it feels like centuries ago when you wander around. There are ancient temples from 7000 years earlier, and catacombs in many places. A former British colony, but with large ties to the Arab world. The former Turkish defense towers, really miniature fortresses, were being used as seaside restaurants, etc. Some small business opportunity, but nothing great.



After a couple of days here I was getting uptight for a smoke, we'd been afraid to bring any since Malta's laws are so harsh. We're down strolling by the harbour and I smell hash on the wind. Following it back I find a group of young Syrian (I think) construction workers, and manage to convince one of them to help us out. Amusing conversation in half English, half Maltese. He gives us a phone number for later that night and meets us at their disco-district called Paceville. Sells us some good red hash, badly overpriced at 40e for 2g, but he helped us out, so who cares? That got us through the rest of the trip and we still get a laugh out of the look on their faces when we first asked! It's apparently 10 years for possession of a joint there, imagine what selling would be?

Last night there we stayed in a newly-built private apartment, ground floor with front, rear and side patios. It was one block from the beach which we could see from the front window. Also to be seen was an original defense tower built in 1614 by the Knights of Malta to repel the Turks, this one hadn't been converted and was very cool to inspect! Up very early next morning for the 7am flight out, burn the last little one in the patio out back before our ride gets there. A quick flight back to Eindhoven and we're on our Holland tour again.



Week 5

After gathering all our bags and business stuff, we headed to the hotel for one more night here in Eindhoven. We went back to the Grasshopper and the BT and owner(?) remembered us, we chatted, bought another 5g of the Royale Cheese and spent the day wandering the big ring-road in town, eating, drinking and window-shopping, etc. Back to the hotel to re-arrange our bags.

We had decided to give Gouda a miss, and went instead to Belgium, visiting Brussels and Antwerp before catching a bus back to Amsterdam. Some more small business done here.



Back to the City of Sin and the Hem hotel. We have a few more dinners in the Italian area at the Leidseplein, leave some more money and brain-cells behind in Voyagers, see a few shows. That hotel room #403 is huge, but we have gathered a big load of stuff, and it gets worse when we empty the locker in town. The whole floor, bed, window ledge and desk is covered with items needing wrap and padding. We spend the next few days doing a bit of sight-seeing and a lot of packing, we end up throwing out most of our clothes to fit all the business items in. At flying-time we have six suitcases, two carry bags, plus her purse and all my pockets are full. It all weighs over 130 kilos, but we get it safely onto the plane for only a minimal fee. We even got it all back at home, once the bags had made an extra trip to Denver...... Fortunately nothing was damaged.

That was my fifth (and sixth) trip to Amsterdam. Traveled more widely outside the city, visited Belgium and Malta, and found that the company could operate in Europe. Discovered too late I'd missed the 4:20 celebrations while in Utrecht, unfortunately. There would be further trips for fun and business, in late 2011.

I've really been enjoying these. Thanks for sharing your memories!

Eurotripper wrote:Thanks Quazer , I often wonder about that. Millions (billions?) of people have been through the city, some repeatedly! Think of all those stories!

Cheers, Eurotripper


P.S. Oi, Billy! Thought you'd get a right larff out of me slipping "gelt" in there!!
(sorry if our East-End slang doesn't translate to the rest of ACD )

i aint heard that for time

Travelogue 7 of 9

It's late in 2011 and I'm looking for another trip to the Promised Land. The politicians are making noises about closing the doors forever and we want to get in one last dance before the Fat Lady sings. The business end of the last trip worked out fine, so I decide to try it again.

This trip was a bit complicated, and timing was important. Firstly, I go over and do a little business for a few days, then my 20 year old non-smoker daughter joins me for a week. She's backpacking around Europe for 5 months and has agreed to help me at Jaarbeur's Fair in Utrecht. Then I'll meet the Viking, who is here for 3 days for the Cup, then I'll go home and leave my daughter in Amsterdam. Mrs. Juicebomber will meet me at the airport with her bags packed, she'll hand me the car keys and jump on the plane going back to Amsterdam to meet ChildPerson (yes, Quazer that name was in honour of your Freak Brothers avatar). They will continue on to France, Spain and Malta for the next two months. And nothing will go wrong. Yeah, I hear you all laughing again.....



Before the arrival of ChildPerson:

So, the first few days go fine, plenty of business now that I know where to go. Voyagers is again a green oasis , and I stock up for the coming week, I think it was Kandy and Kosher Kush this time. My daughter knows absolutely nothing about my past here in the City of Sin, except the business parts. I'm trying to decide how to work the confession. I buy black hash again (Greenhouse) thinking I can tell her I'm “going for a walk” or something until I figure it out.

Fate decides to lend a claw, and ChildPerson is almost deported for lack of a visa while entering Germany. A fast flight back to Malta for visa documentation and she's on the road again in about 5 days. Meanwhile my stash is running low and by the time she arrives I've got one joint left.

The arrival of ChildPerson:

She arrives a bit frazzled, but everything is settled now for her next two months. I manage a quick “walk” with my last hash joint, to get some food supplies. We set off for my favourite Italian eateries, beside the Rokerij in the Leidseplein. Pizza, pasta and coffee, and I still can't decide how to tell her. We start to saunter towards the door of Rokerij. I still can't decide and finally say Screw It, and walk in and order something from the BT while looking away from her. I grab the baggie, turn towards her and she says “Is this the point where I tell you I found your stash when I was fourteen, and kept quiet till now?”. To which I replied something intelligent like “Ummm, glugg, akk.” and just turned into the shop for a seat, with my face a certain shade of rose. She sat with me, no complaints, for the whole trip, and some of those places were smokey! She was a great help at Jaarbeur's Fair and we got to attend a concert together at the Milkweg; the return of British grunge rockers Bush after ten years! Good concert, too!



The two of us spend the next few days touring the sights, canals and monuments, two days at Jaarbeur's, and some entertaining moments of “language barrier”. For instance; we go to the library for internet access and for the restaurant up top. She sees the name on the sign (Openbarre) and says; “What? We're going to a Nudist library?”. Touring one of the old churches, she spots a French-Fry shop sign on a pillar inside (no idea why it was there), and immediately dubs the place Church of the Holy French Fry. Now I'm stuck with that and can't even remember the real name of the church ! She was fun and bright, joking and personable, excellent counterpoint to her semi-wasted father.



The arrival of the Viking:

The idea was to meet the Viking and spend some time around the city before he went to the Cup. ChildPerson knows him of course, but didn't know about his past here either. The desk manager at his hotel (the Quentin Arrive) somehow failed to notice my existence or my written notes for the first two days, so we never met up until the day before he left . Surly bitch. Eventually we connected and toured the coffeeshops with my daughter in tow, the Viking is laughing the whole time, since he figured she knew all along. It was me who thought I'd been getting away with it .

One particular hash I remember from this trip. Hash is not really my thing, but the Cheese hash from the Greenhouse (their cup entry) was just delicious. Bloody expensive at 18e a g, but I just loved it. They had run out just before I asked, but Arjen (I think it was) gave me a half-g to taste and got me to wait for awhile. Shortly they got their re-stock and I'd already become addicted, a big Chunk for me please! My prize in hand we hovered for some toasties and chocolate cake! Yup, full-scale munchies. I love Cheese weed, especially the Blue, but this time it was an entire day of hash.

The tour continues:

Not really a lot of memories from this day and evening (a Willie Nelson moment ), we ate and drank, wandered the Uptown area and coffeeshops, but nothing specific remains. Just the taste-memory of that hash. The next day the Viking flew home, me and ChildPerson continued our tour of Amsterdam, including a stroll through Rembrandtplein. The Christmas village isn't here this year, so you can see Rembrandt's statue in the center. Just for a laugh we walk under the Atlanta hotel's glass canopy and look up, sure enough the juice bottle is still there. Go Juicebomber Go!



I think it was in here that we saw the Bush concert at the Milky Way. Sat out front of the Bulldog, in the glass enclosure and ate and drank, just so she could say she'd been there. Her straight friends back home would know that name at least. Took her through all the museums she'd planned on.

Soon it was time for me to head home and pass the relay-baton to Mrs. Juicebomber. Everything packed, including 3 suitcases of business items, and I'm off. I've left a couple rolled for the wife, so she doesn't have to go buying immediately, and burn my last one waiting for the taxi . Turns out to be a bad move.

Arriving in the Frozen North:

The plane lands, I get my big load of luggage and head for Customs. Next thing I know there's a German Shepherd cosying up to me, with a grumpy looking Customs agent on the other end of the leash. You'd better come with me, sir!



So, I'm standing in a long line of people waiting to be searched. It's hot, I'm tired and sweating. There's nothing illegal in my bags at all, but they don't know that, and there were many bags. That same Customs agent strolls past the line and sees me, running with sweat. You! Out of the line and come with me now!

After a microscopic search of my first two bags I was released, by now the agent knows he's wasting his time, and he was actually friendly toward the end. Almost apologizing . Almost. The only real loss here was my wife had been waiting the whole time. Now her plane was leaving shortly, so we only had half an hour before she had to check in. She went over and met our daughter, continued on their Europe trip and they spent Christmas in Malta!

That was my seventh trip to Amsterdam, managed some good business, saw a great concert, and learned some things about my daughter's upbringing. In the end, the politicians closed no doors to the Promised Land and we would be back again next May.



Trip 8 to be posted before I leave for #9 in two weeks!

Cheers, Eurotripper

Eurotripper wrote:... and I still can't decide how to tell her. We start to saunter towards the door of Rokerij. I still can't decide and finally say Screw It, and walk in and order something from the BT while looking away from her. I grab the baggie, turn towards her and she says “Is this the point where I tell you I found your stash when I was fourteen, and kept quiet till now?”. To which I replied something intelligent like “Ummm, glugg, akk.”

yea it is a difficult call, when my daughter was 8 or so she asked me if i smoked and i said yes and it was awful, it was worse than telling her that the easter bunny didn't exist, eventually we were friends again ... i think your daughter's line is classic because, yes, it was the exact point in your lives (the "here" and the "now") where she told you she had found your stash at fourteen

still loving the stories and thanks for all the effort in getting it all together, and now with appropriate and funny pictures and photos, good show

well i found your stash i would of smoked it

Great report. I am also a big Bush fan
Razorblade suitcase is still one of my fave CDs

Roobarb wrote:.......Razorblade suitcase is still one of my fave CDs

It seems the customs thought the title was literal! Nice report. Thanks for posting. Like the sound of that cheese Hash. Never seen that but it has been a long time since I bought at Greenhouse.

Thanks for the comments folks . I'm just finishing up trip 8, posting it here any moment, and then starting to pack for trip 9.

@StonedSince'67 -thanks Man, it was very weird to hear that from her, and to hear it in Amsterdam, too!

@billyriz - I believe you, rotter! So don't read the next story!

@Roobarb -Gavin was out in the crowd, around those upper balconies in Milkweg, making jolly with the fans. Hugging and letting them sing into his mic, the oldest songs were received the best; Now & Zen plus Razorblade Suitcase. The new stuff wasn't working, and after one poor response Gavin said "Thank you for clapping selectively." The opening act was good, too; Evaline.

@Treetops - yeah, Customs played a merry tune on my luggage. That hash really was yummy , too damp (freshly made?), but I guess they must've needed a good load for the Cup. I still think about it.....

Cheers, Eurotripper