Voyagers: Satsuma, Super Bio Lemon, LA Con, King Kong, Amnesia, Tidal II.
Green Place: Shoreline, Twizla.
Homegrown Fantasy: Durban Poison.
Rusland: Afghan, Ketama.
Anyday: Afghani, White Widow.
Betty Boop: Maroc Select?.
Utopia: Gardela.
Club Media: Caramelo, Strawberry'x'Diesel?
Barneys Lounge: Tangerine Dream, Turkish Delight.
Kadinsky: Nepal Cream, King Hassan.
Day 1:
With a flight leaving at 5am on a Tuesday morning, i wasn't leaving anything to chance....
I was up at 2am after around an hours sleep and proceeded to pack my bag in a panic.
Never sure why i leave this stuff til the last minute other than if i packed a day earlier,
I'd have to unpack again now, just to check i had everything... Stoners, huh?
Taxi arrived at 3:30am, and we made it to John Lennon at 4:00... Quick coffee in Starbucks,
then straight through security which was basically deserted except for our flight...
Quickly, we made our way to the "lingering" area near gates 1+2, which is usually the right spot.
Gate 4 is announced, and we run the 20 meters to the gate... Excellent, all going smooth,
i'm at the front of the queue so should be first on, right? ...Wrong! ...There's a bus to take us to the plane.
So, i'm first on the bus and i grab the seat nearest the door we entered on...
Does the driver open this door again at the plane?
...No! ...He opens the one at the front where all the slow people ended up... So, at this point i'm fuming...
I displayed excellent queue strategy, like a good Brit should,
and i'm being unfairly hindered by a driver who doesn't know the rules of the queue!
At this point i realise that i haven't had enough sleep and i'm being unnecessarily wankerish...
I take a deep breath and queue again.
Unbeknownst to me, Easyjet have changed their policy since i last flew with them and introduced allocated seating...
So, with my 10 minutes of whingy, child-like tantrums out of the way, i notice a seat number on my boarding card...
...And it's a window!
...All is suddenly well again and i even make it to my seat without getting short with the several people who
can't seem to put a bag on a shelf.
Take off comes quickly, and the flight takes just long enough for me to order a coffee, Chicken wrap and set my watch.
As usual, Schipol is vast, but easily navigated, and i'm through to the trains,
pausing only briefly at passport control as the question,
"what happened to your hair"? was asked by the officer on duty, and my usual response of "wind" seemed to satisfy him.
Hopped onto the train after again queueing like a pro at the ticket office and arrived at Centraal at around 8:30.
Much to the annoyance of my friends, i decide it's far too early to smoke and we probably should find a nice cafe for a brew...
...We head into Nieuwmarkt and settle down at Tofani's for a round of Latte's that went down a treat in the morning sunshine.
After about an hour, the temptation get's the best of me and i stand up leaving my companions to discuss my aversion to getting high at 10am,
and run over to Green Place... I'm guessing the BT on duty was the "asian" guy people have warned of as the gram of Twizla i bought looked somewhat light, but the Shoreline he recommended was perfect.
Shoreline
Twizla
Back to the cafe, and looks of suspicion from my pals who have guessed correctly where i've slinked off to...
Another coffee and a quick pass round of my first purchase for nasal approval, and we're off to Voyagers...
It's about 11am and the shop is fairly quiet...
I obviously ask to see the tester for the day, and grab myself a gram... And some LA Con.... And some King Kong... And some Super Bio Lemon!
Satsuma
King Kong
L.A. Con
Super-Bio-Lemon
We don't stop for drinks and after we've all bought something we decide to grab some essentials before checking into our apartment.
I stop at Baba's Souvenirs and proceed to get royally ripped off for skins, cones a grinder and a rolling mat for 16 euros... I know it's expensive, but i promised myself i'd buy at the first place that sold matt's, rather than walk around for hours trying to find a decent headshop... They don't exist anymore.
Time to call ahead to see if the room is ready.....
...No!
...Told the room will be ready in an hour, so i allow my buddy to take the lead for a while... My buddy, who has been to Amsterdam once before, has a "thing" for Homegrown Fantasy so as i expected we're dragged off to enjoy what i consider to be a declining coffeeshop...
I order a coffee and a gram of Durban Poison and buddy No1 grabs a gram of the NL Outdoor... I load the whole gram into one of the small cones i bought from Baba's and discover it hardly fills a quarter... These are going to be expensive!
Durban Poison
The spliff itself was fine... The taste left something to be desired, but for a first spliff of the trip it did a decent job of giving me a nice head stone but left me in complete control of my legs which i regarded as a vital part of my pre-checked-in-and-luggaged state...
...As i relax, a familiar feeling starts to build...
I'm in Amsterdam!!!
...The feeling creeps over me, and i spend the next half an hour smiling to myself!
Time to move in to my new home!
We walk down Kloveniersburgwal towards the apartment, which is located on a
peaceful, yet central street, with all of Amsterdam spreading out from it like a web...
I ring the bell and we're buzzed straight in to be greeted by the house manager, Mo...
After a super friendly greeting and a tour of the room we're left to collect our thoughts and plan our next move...
Room
...Time to skin up!
DISCLAIMER*
I know everyone here is expecting a detailed description of the strains, effects, taste and price of the purchases made by a Trip Report author, but in all honesty, i never understand how you guys do it... After my first two joints, everything, except bad weed, seems to be indistinguishable from the last... Some taste a little better than the others, but nothing seems to stand out...By that i mean everything i smoked was, in my opinion, good weed!
After finishing my mates NL Organic and having a good snoop round the apartment, we decide to go out and introduce buddy No2 to the delights of the city, i.e. Albert Hijn and the goodies that dwell within... Chocomel and Old Amsterdam! ...Yummy! ...A quick shop later, and we have the apartment fully stocked with junk food and head out again.
Kadinsky: I was hoping for a gram of Fatima's Hand, but after a quick look and a word with the tender i decided on the King Hassan which smelled delicious and my friends bought some Trans-Himalaya and some Candy Kush.
The Kush was ok, but the TH was nothing like i remember... No real effect, and the consistency was a million miles away from the sticky, honey like hash i came to love several years ago... Really hope Kadinsky isn't slipping as it was my No1 hash stop for several years.
King Hassan
The rest of the evening was spent alternating between Homegrown Fantasy, The Coffee Company and Anyday, which i enjoy sitting outside of on a warm summer evening comparing Whore strategy and success rates... And after dark, We spent the evening walking around De Wallen... Which in my opinion, loses it's charm year on year! ...Just doesn't feel the same as it did 10-15 years ago... Although, it does feel much safer, and the personal hygiene and fashion choices of the current "Cocaina, Heroeeen" guys is far superior to the old brigade!
Outside Anyday
After grabbing a Irish Beefburger from BurgerBar and a Coconut Milkshake from Maccy D's we head back to the apartment for what we assumed would be a good nights sleep, but in fact turned out to be a 5 hour smoke session ending with a multiple pass-out!
Kloveniersburgwal (Outside Apartment)
...I love how i live in this city.
To be continued... Hopefully.... With less rambling!
Love the night shot of the canal. Thanks!
