The page in my notebook for Friday is completely blank.
So that means either I was too busy working or too busy smoking to write anything down. I think the latter is a far more likely possibility…
So without further dwelling on this mystery, let’s move on to the last installment for this trip...
DAY 7: Saturday
This was to be my last full day in Amsterdam on this trip (and no work on this day) so I was up early to maximize available time for exploring. Up at 8:15, quick brekkie at the hotel and then out into the Amsterdam morning. I knew Nel was working this morning so first stop was Utopia for one of his wonderful cappuccinos and my morning joint. Spent a very pleasant half an hour chatting with Nel and enjoying the peace and quiet at this early hour. Just love Utopia and I will really miss this shop if it ever goes away.
Hippie speedball of weed and espresso consumed
, it was time to hit the streets and get started on one of my favorite Amsterdam activities…a long meandering walk through the Jordan on a quiet weekend morning. I bid farewell to Nel and made my way out the door into the beautiful morning sunshine. Made my way across the Singel and into the Jordaan and began wandering, camera out and snapping pictures left and right.
Eventually my feet found my way to Lindengracht and I discovered the Saturday open air market…I had fun wandering through the market and doing a little “window shopping.” Once I reached the end of Lindengracht I took a left on Lijnbaansgracht and headed south. I crossed the beautiful Egelantiersgracht and then made a left onto the equally beautiful Bloemgracht. Finally I made right turn onto Eerste Bloemdwarsstraat and it was just a couple of steps to reach my chosen destination, Coffeeshop Paradox.
This place is one of my favorite places to chill on a sleepy weekend morning in Amsterdam, there are usually only one or two customers in the shop and this morning was no exception. The younger Dutch guy was working (no idea on name) and there was some nice chill music playing on the stereo. I approached the counter and greeted him with a “goede morgen” and grabbed a menu to see what was on offer. I was delighted to see that the Finger Hash was back on the menu (they were out on my previous visit) so I went for a 12 euro bag of that as well as a 12 euro bag of Super Silver Haze. For those who have never been to Paradox, yes all the product is pre-weighed and bagged but the tender always gives me several bags to choose from and has no problem with me opening the bag to examine the product before choosing. Last but not least a cappuccino and two of your wonderful space cakes alstublieft.
Space cakes secured in my bag I grabbed a table while he made my cappuccino and I proceeded to roll up about ¾ of a gram of the SSH mixed with some of the finger hash in a cone. The SSH was nice, not spectacular, but very well cured and with a very lovely flavor in the smoke. My notes gave it a 7/10. The Finger Hash smelled and looked absolutely amazing and gave the joint a very nice boost in potency.
I spent at least an hour here, enjoying the chill music and the peaceful vibe of this shop. I highly recommend this spot if you are looking for an off the beaten path coffeeshop that’s mellow and not too crowded.
SSH – Paradox
Finger Hash – Paradox
Eventually it was time to move on, I wanted to get out and walk some more and take advantage of the beautiful weather on this day. I made my way back towards the Centrum, crossing the grachtengordel, snapping pictures and just loving Amsterdam along the way. I made my my way through the narrow streets of de Wallen, eventually making it to Nieuwemarkt. The Saturday market was going on and the square was bustling with activity. I spent some time looking at and enjoying the smells of all the food items for sale. After I finished browsing I exited the Nieuwemarkt and walked the few short blocks to one of my favorite “new” coffeeshops that I visted on my previous visit: Coffeeshop Solo. I just love this spot and so glad I took the time to find it, it’s a very chill locals spot with probably one of the best window seats in Amsterdam, looking out on a sweet little canal and some wonderful 17th century buildings across the way. There are a couple of different tenders who work there, this morning it was the older Dutch woman and I greeted her with a warm “goede morgen” as I entered the shop which elicited a nice smile and a warm greeting in return. There was some great bebop jazz blowing on the stereo and she continued chatting with another customer at the bar while I took my time perusing the menu. I opted to go for the Lemnesia (Lemon haze X Amnesia) at 14 euros a gram. Got just over 1 gram and of course a cappuccino
and made my way over to the big skinning table in front of the great canal view window.
I rolled up a pure cone of the Lemnesia while the tender made my cappuccino. By the time it was delivered with a small koekje and a smile I was ready to fire up my cone.
I passed a very pleasant hour or so, just spacing out and soaking up the mellow vibe, great tunes, great view, the gezellig-ness of this shop.
The Lemnesia was pretty nice, a lovely smell and smooth smoke with a decent Amnesia Haze like high.
Lemnesia – Solo
Eventually it was time to go as I had a bit more shopping to do, so I waved goodbye to the tender and headed out the door, back towards Nieuwemarkt and then across the centrum.
My next shopping stop was my preferred chocolate shop – Puccini Bomboni, conveniently located right across from Grey Area.
Stocked up on the hot cocoa, hagelslaag, etc that the wife likes plus a few caramel truffels for me
It was a warm day so I made a quick detour back up Singel to drop the chocs at my hotel before heading right back down Singel for a stop at Grey Area to say hi to John whom I knew was working ‘cause I peeked in the door on my way out from Puccini.
John smiled as he saw me and gave me a handshake as we chatted about the options on the menu as well as life in general. I was already pretty flush with weed and leaving town within 24 hours but I couldn’t resist a ½ gram of the Casey Jones. John cleaned out a bong and passed it to me, I passed a nice 30 mins chatting with John and a few of the usual locals at the bar. My notes say the Casey Jones was quite strong and had a powerful “up” head high. Gave it a 9.5/10! Good stuff given how much smoking I’d been doing over the past 6 days.
The effect of the Casey Jones wanted me to get my feet moving and out of the crowded Grey Area so I passed the bong back to John and said thanks, see you next time if there is one!
It had been a week full of Toke and Talks, but there was still time for a few more on this trip, up next at my favorite coffeeshop in De Pijp, coffeeshop De Graal. Sadly my notes don’t have the names of attendees but if memory serves it was Gapie and Bleak and perhaps StillSmokin’ was still in town?
Love De Graal for their quality weed at decent prices, they can usually be relied on for a quality selection of sativas, which I’m always on the hunt for. This time I tried the “Crazy Jack” at 12 Euros per gram. Purchase sorted we headed upstairs and camped out on a couple of couches and commenced skinning. While gapie rolled up some joints of the crazy jack mixed with grey crystals, bleak busted out his portable vape loaded with Blue Cheese and passed it around. The Blue Cheese was very nice, but sad to report the Crazy Jack was not so nice. Stan called it “badly flushed”, I can just say it did not taste as good as it smelled.
Crazy Jack – de Graal
After chilling at de Graal for a while, the other guys were ready to move on to Anyday in the centrum. I still wanted to do some shopping in the Albert Cuypmarkt so I agreed to meet up with them at Anyday later and we parted ways.
I walked through the market looking for anything fun or unique for the kids. Picked up some of the chocolate letters at a local Hema shop. After a hard morning’s smoking I was ready for some serious munch so I made my obligatory stop at WALLY’S WAFELS. If you haven’t been to this stand it is a must. This time around I went for the ultimate combo, milk chocolate and caramel. Yum f***ing yum that was insane!! Absolutely the best munch of the trip. Once I got myself cleaned up from devouring the wafel, I hopped back on the tram and made my way back to the centrum, eventually managing to meet up with the guys at Anyday just after 4:20 PM.
I had not bought any cheese yet on this trip so I went for the Blueberry Cheese at 12 euro/gram and made my way up the spiral stairs to find the party in full effect, with the verdamper bubbling away and clouds of smoke surrounding Gapie, Bleak and Still Smokin.
The guys welcomed me warmly and I helped to tuck into a wide supply of weeds that were going into the Verdamper bowl, starting off with some Blueberry Cheese, Blue Cheese (what’s the difference
) and several joints of unnamed weed that were passed my direction.
My notes show that I had Gapie roll me a puur joint containing Silver Bubble, Silver Bubble Isolator, and the last of the Lemnesia. My notes get pretty sketchy after that so I’m going to guess that was one hell of a joint.
After vaping for an hour or so I had to say goodbye as I still had packing to do for a very early flight the next morning.
After grabbing dinner on the way back to the hotel I spend a few hours packing, watching movies, and smoking down my prodigious supply of weed that I had amassed over the week.
Once I was satisfied I had the packing under control I made one more trip out to a coffeeshop, this time just a quick jaunt down Herengracht to Amnesia, an old favorite. Spent an hour in there enjoying the famous limonana and a mixed joint that I put together. Nightcap at the hotel was bowls of the Finger Hash from Paradox in my steamroller. It was harsh in the pipe but that was some powerful hash. Very strong and almost psychedelic effects, which again is saying a lot considering the large amounts of cannabis I’d been consuming over the past six days. Brain smashed by a gold brick wrapped in a lemon peel, I crashed into my bed for the last night in Amsterdam.
DAY 8: Sunday
My notebook does not have any notes for this day but I know it was a very early wake up to make my return flight to San Francisco. Up by 5, showered and out of the hotel by 6, changing down on two fat cones I rolled the night before on the way to Centraal Station. It was an uneventful train ride to Schipol and through security and onto my plane. Shortly after takeoff out of my carryon bag came the two slices of Paradox space cake I’d procured earlier in the week. They certainly help make that 11 hour flight a lot more tolerable.
Landed safely and back in the loving arms of my family. Good to be home but already missing Mokum.
Hope you enjoyed the report! Until next time, dreaming of Amsterdam…
