Day 1
Landed at Schipol at 9 am and made it to Centraal station for breakfast by 10. We were booked into Amsterdam Cribs on Oude Hoogstraat 7 but couldnt get our room until midday so we headed for Hunters to start the trip, we needed somewhere big enough that our baggage wouldnt piss them off. The budtender recommended the bubblegum which looked good at E7/g. The bubblegum went down really well but as it was the first smoke of the trip its hard to compare the effects with others.
At midday we headed towards the Amsterdam Cribs, but our room was not yet ready so we sat down and had a smoke with the owner/manager(?) Duke, a really nice guy who made us feel very welcome. After a quick joint the room was done so we dumped our bags, had a quick wash and went straight back out. The room was pretty basic, as was the communal kitchen but it was cheap and provided a bit of privacy instead of our normal 10 bed dorm rooms.I had no doubt in my mind where I wanted to go first so I marched straight to Grey Area for a gram of the Martian Mean Green, I'd heard a lot about this and it definitely did not disappoint, beautiful perfectly cured bright green buds, great taste and a great high. Their entire menu looked great, I assume this is because I was there right after the Cup, I could quite happily of ordered a couple of grams of everything on there but unforutnately my friends had other ideas... we walked north up the canals to Rockerij, it was a really nice day and the buzz from the Mean Green was perfect for the walk. The Rockerij was fairly quiet so we chilled there for a while and picked up some Sour Diesel for E10 which had a crazy taste and smell, very nice high though. I remember in Rockerij that I checked my watch for the first time since midday and was amazed to see it was far later than we had thought so we headed back to the room via Rick's Cafe for a night cap and a gram of Peacemaker at E7. The peacemaker was a really nice indica and definitely met my expectations! Passed out listening to music.
Day 2
Early start and off to breakfast, went to the cafe opposite Greenhouse (a couple of doors from Ricks) for my traditional start to the day, ham-kaas uitmeister (probably spelt wrong) but its kinda like ham and fried eggs on toast with a load of melted cheese on top, a great start to the day! From past experience this place alo does pretty decent pancakes and omelettes.
Food out the way we head to my girlfriend's favourite coffeeshop, Basjoe for a cuppa and some Early Pearl, her favourite weed. The service and weed were both as good as we remembered it. The Early Pearl was E7/g and we have always found it to be a nice morning smoke for wandering the canals so thats what we did, took a scenic route round to one of my favourite shops, Stix. Didn't stay as there were some very loud locals in there so just grabbed some Nepalese Temple Ball for later (E12/g and worth every penny!). With the weather looking promising we decided to do something interesting and after a brief vote we were on our way to Artis, the zoo. The walk seemed effortless thanks to the Early Pearl and we were by the botanical gardens in no time. I had a look in Overhort Kantus to find out when the next Green Day is, only to find out that it was yesterday. Oh well...
The zoo was great fun and we spent about 3 hours there in total and theres some really cool animals. I'm not normally a big fan of zoos, but they seemed very well cared for here. After the zoo we went for a wander to the new Barneys lounge near Rembrandtplein. Firstly, gotta say, what an AWESOME coffeeshop. I've never had a real problem with Barneys other than the fact that the shops are always full of British tourists. Picked up a gram of Honey B and sat back on some comfy seats to watch the Ben Harper DVD they were showing on the big screen. Other than us there was only one dutch guy in the shop who was chatting with the bartender. The coffeeshop has to be seen, its so different to most shops in Amsterdam, its clean, friendly and modern with great weed! The sound system is great in there, theyve clearly spent some money on it and the full sound is great when smoking! I can't compliment this shop enough and wish I'd made it back there on my trip. I strongly recommend you check this shop out before the tourists latch onto it, its only a matter of time...
After Barneys, we headed to the cinema to watch the new Bond movie, I remember very little of the plot but seem to remember liking it. It was then onto Dampkrig for a beer and to show my mate what its like (hed seen Oceans 12 which I was very happy to see was not on the tvs in there!!). We got a gram of G13xHash Plant for E9.50 which was a nice heavy stone. We didn't stay long before walking upto Nes for another couple of beers and some Stella Blue which was excellent. Still love Nes, despite the high number of Britis in there it somehow still feels very Dutch.
Day 3 - Day trip to Haarlem
Got up early and headed straight upto the station, half way up the Damrak we decide a joint and some breakfast is needed so we decide to show Matt what the other Barneys shop is like. Its packed so we give breakfast a miss but we have a quick look at the weed menu. I asked the budtender to see the G13 Haze which he showed me and I though it looked great I was ready to reach for my wallet until he showed me the Laughing Buddha. The nicest crystally looking weed I've seen in ages. If Barneys shake their buds as much as everyone says then I'd love to have seen this before!!
The LB was a great smoke and made the train journey to Haarlem that little more interesting.Haarlem is a very cool town, a lot more 'dutch' than most of Amsterdam and there are some really nice sights. Our first stop is WW Sensimilia where we have a cup of tea and a joint of LB but decide not to pick up. To be honest I was kinda disappointed by this shop as I'd heard so much about the WW shops but we pressed on open minded towards the windmill and the Indica shop. After taking the necessary photos of the windmill we wander towards Indica. Now this is what I call a coffeeshop!!! I LOVE THIS PLACE!! The shop is very clean and spacious with chilled music, the seats are comfier than at Sensimilia, especially the window seats which we immediately secured. We spent hours here, playing chequers, pool, admiring the view, chatting with the budtender and of course smoking some great value weed. I immediately got a gram of the sticky fingers having tried it before (E 7.5) but we were feeling pretty battered from the Laughing Buddah so I also picked up a gram of Purple for E4/g which was a really nice mellow smoke, perfect for an afternoon chilling out playing pool. I was really suprised that E4 would even get you high so I'll definitely be investigating some of the more bargain weeds next trip. Before we left I also got a g of Red Hair which was incredibly dense buds with bright red hair, seriously freky looking weed but a nice smoke.
Back in Amsterdam we wandered the RLD, hit a few bars and crashed quite early smoking the Temple Balls from Stix which I loved.
Day 4
Thursday went well. The morning is very hazy but by early afternoon we were sat in Amnesia smoking Grey Haze (E10 from Grey Area) and NYC Diesel from Amnesia (E9.5). I absolutely loved both these weeds and they stood out as weeds that would easily be on the menu for E12+ at some other places. The NYCD was the best I've found, very sweet lemony smell and taste with a great head high, seriously moreish weed, perfectly cured. The Grey Haze was also
fantastic, it was high up on my list of weeds to smoke. So when I went into Grey Area I asked the budtender (a young American) how the haze was, he pulled out the tub and also passed me the joint he was smoking for a taste test. IF the budtenders smoking it thats a pretty good sign to me.
Unfortunately the day went downhill from here, we wandered the Leidseplein area, went into a coupld of bars and found ourselves in Abraxas around 8ish. In the mood for some hash we picked up some Abraxas Special at E8, which ironically was far from special. Not bad, just ok...ish. Disappointed we headed back to the room but decided to pick up some weed on the way back. Decided to bite the bullet and try the "Best Weed in Amsterdam", Arjan's Ultra Haze #1 at E12. The budtender talked it up as being super strong clear high but when I put my nose into the tub of weed there was very little smell, foolishly I purchased it anyway as I had to try it, got back to the room and rolled a large joint of it. The weed was slightly damp and didnt burn too well, not a good start. We shared the joint whilst listening to some music, waiting for it to kick our asses but the hit never really came, a slight buzz at best. We decide its probably just because we've been smoking all day and decide to finish of the Temple Balls instead.
Day 5
I started the day by giving Arjan a second chance, I rolled a joint with approx 0.5g in it and smoke it with my girlfriend before I got out of bed... still no effects, this weed sucks.
We were packed up and out the room by 11 but our flight wasnt until 9 so we took the bags to the lockers at Centraal, the next few hours are a blurred mix of smoking, xmas shopping, drinking and sight seeing. I can't quite figure out the order of where we went but I made the following notes :
Homegrown Fantasy - Santa Maria - approx E5 for 0.7g
Grey Area - Grey Haze - E10/g (Couldnt resist)
Pink Floyd - Top Tips - E10 for 1.7g
Sucks to be back home...
Apologies that this report has tailed off towards the end, I was determined to finish it tonight, I may edit some more stuff in tomorrow.
Sounds like you and your friends had a smokin' good time. 
