Monday 17th April 2023
We wake up very late, although miraculously unhungover. Thoughts of a relaxed shower and breakfast go out of the window. We'll have to grab something along the way.
Tram to Nieuwezijds and along Nieuwendijk to the new Green Place on Haarlemmerstraat.
Right next door we find a nice bakery. While Igraine is investigating that, I poke my head into the door of Green Place but see no sign of the gang, at least not downstairs. Back at the bakery we go for cheesy croissants, which we eat on the street outside.
A phone message from Mjhowy says he's taking time off from work in The Stud to relax at CoffeeshopAmsterdam Café. I can almost see that from where I'm standing so I walk over. Sure enough he's chilling outside with a beer. Quick greetings and then back and into Green Place.
Green Place Haarlemmerstraat
We buy some
Rainbow Runtz and coffees and ask the budtender whether there's anyone upstairs. He says yes so we head up and find the crew from yesterday (Ghost, Mike and Occasional Bowl) plus Marok21, who is on a flying visit to Amsterdam. In time we're joined by Mjhowy to complete a nice little group.
The original plan for today was a ferry crawl to Funny People and Baba. It was intended to be a gentle start before more people arrive tomorrow. We've since heard that Baba is only operating as a takeaway at the moment so are discussing a new plan.
Alternatives we consider include ferrying to Funny People and then bussing to other Noord shops such as Atlas. Another idea is a tram 13 to find Watersnip coffeeshop in the west and yet another to take tram 17 to Sensemillia. In the end the committee settles on a walk to Bagheera.
As we're strolling along Nieuwendijk a guy pops out of the shisha bar formerly known as
Freeworld coffeeshop (now has some unmemorable generic name). He's trying to scoop up punters so I ask him what restrictions they have on rolling joints and so on. He says everything is permitted so I say we might be back later.
A little further on we pass this scene with two Amsterdam icons: a Canta on the Old Bridge and Centraal Station behind.
A few years ago, Highlyblessed of Voyagers explained to me the loophole that makes these tiny cars so popular. The Canta is ostensibly for disabled drivers and is permitted to drive and park on pavements. Drivers don't require a licence and don't even need to be disabled. The concessions are conferred by the size of the vehicle, not the abilities of the driver.
Continuing on, we spot the Buddha Boat. Regular readers may be aware of the long messy history of our attempts at boat trips. Earlier this year Ghost added another chapter to this, possibly a whole book, as he fought to hire this very boat.
There is someone on the boat so I approach to speak to him. Turning to involve the rest of the team in the conversation, I find they've all run away and are now cowering in a doorway and giggling! That starts me laughing.
It turns out the guy on the boat is not able to take bookings anyway but as I walk away I'm approached by the lady in charge of a smaller open boat parked next door. I ask her if we could hire it on Thursday evening. She gives me their contact details and I go back to confer with the others.
So, now we know that the Buddha Boat exists, maybe we'll organise something. Then again, maybe we won't. Stay tuned.
And so to Bagheera.
Bagheera
It's clear that we've all done lots of shopping already. Baggies are scattered around the table along with gifts from Ghost and Occasional Bowl's smart glass pipe.
I'm not good at bud reviews. After the second strain it all just merges into one big stonedness. Fortunately there are some real connoisseurs around here who might describe all these goodies in detail for you at some point.
We've brought three vapes with us but the Mighty is my favourite. It usually lives at Igraine's so she's the expert with it. Here she's filling it constantly for us. Half the time I don't know what we're vaping. I do note that the Lemon Bubble and Lemon Cherry Gelato are tasty and seem quite buzzy. The Neville's is OK but probably overpriced. Igraine said the Rainbow Runtz lay around for longest because it wasn't good.
Bagheera awards
We've now been in Bagheera for a couple of hours and conversation turns to where we're going next. Marok21 has to leave town soon and Ghost and Mike are planning a temporary retreat to their hotel so it's just Occasional Bowl, Igraine and me up for an adventure.
It's actually quite a nice day. Sunny, if not particularly warm. Of the options considered earlier, Sensemillia is sounding quite attractive. Then Marok21 says he's heard it has a roof terrace of some kind. Destination decided.
Tram 17 from Dam will take us straight there I believe. My phone says that Rokin tram stop is closer to here than Dam.
We set off past Plug XXX. Should we go in? My companions are keen to stay on mission. Next we pass Oudemanhuispoort, the interesting corridor that could lead to Puccini, where we could get a late breakfast [in my daze I don't realise how late it is and that it's probably already closed]. Again my companions keep me on track.
At the Rokin tram stop I'm confused to find no sign of a 17. After much stoned dithering I finally realise that 17 doesn't come this way, it passes our hotel on Raadhuisstraat. We need to walk to Dam on Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. At the correct stop a tram soon turns up and takes us out west.
Sensemillia is on a big lake called Sloterplas. It shares its building with a restaurant and a bar.
Sensemillia 2
Our mission is weed, food and beer, not necessarily in that order. It looks like everything we need is here. As we get closer, however, a slight technical issue reveals itself. Both the restaurant and the bar are closed for some reason.
At least the coffeeshop is open. We climb the stairs to a big space with sparse furnishing. See
inside view. Igraine picks
White Widow off the menu to compare with a plant she grew at home.
We grab coffees from the machine and head out onto the terrace. It's actually a small walled-in smoking area but it is open to the sky. It also has the only seating in the coffeeshop. In one corner is a perspex window with a nice view of the lake.
The lake looks lovely in the sunshine. (The spots on the window in this picture are flies).
We have a quick smoke before thoughts of food creep up again. Back to the centre is the consensus and we're soon on Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal looking at the selection of restaurants.
Somehow none of the variety of eateries here appeals to my colleagues so we turn into Nieuwe Nieuwstraat and pass Terps Army without stopping. Across to the Old Side until we reach the crossroads on Zeedijk where we're surrounded by Chinese restaurants.
As well as looking for food, we also have a secondary mission. Earlier today we agreed that we'd all meet up in Batavia at 8pm. Later we were informed that Batavia is closed on Mondays so we need an alternative that doesn't have restrictions like the ready rolled only at The Bottle or vapes only at Flying Dutchman.
Along the way we pass The Tribe on Warmoesstraat. Igraine and I spent a pleasant evening here last year so I pop in and ask the barman whether they have any special restrictions. Nope. Everything except tobacco is permitted he says. I message the rest of the crew suggesting this as a venue for later.
The Tribe
Meanwhile, my companions have found some food they fancy. The answer is Lebanese apparently and we settle at a table outside Dabka, right by the lock gates on Oudezijds Kolk.
Fed and watered (thanks OB) we set off to meet the others. We find them at a table at the back of The Tribe.
The Tribe
Our table is actually a games machine, like a horizontal TV screen.
It's a perfectly good table for all our drinks and paraphernalia. It's also very colourful, which is fun.
I find myself trying to ignore it and concentrate on what people are saying. Just when I think I've tuned it out, all of the graphics start to move and then shoot off the end of the table. My reaction is to want to grab the table to stop it from tipping up.
Eventually stoned mind catches up. Graphics settle down. I hear words and try to listen. Then the table tips up again.
Everyone else is apparently immune to this and they all chuckle every time I try to save the perfectly safe table from collapse. Occasional Bowl is so oblivious to the situation he's fallen asleep. It's cool to see that he's so totally relaxed.
It's certainly very chilled in here. We have this rear section to ourselves and the only other people in the bar are a small group at the front. It's a tiny bar. In fact, earlier today a bunch of us were on the street outside when I said "that bar called The Tribe should be around here somewhere", only to realise I'm standing right in front of it! It's easily lost in amongst the countless bars around here.
That gets me thinking about the history and future of Warmoesstraat. It's reputed to be the oldest street in Amsterdam. I'm not quite that old but I do remember when this was a ready-made coffeeshop crawl. Sheeba, Baba, 36, there were at least ten coffeeshops along here once.
Stupid Project 1012 closed them but a few of the historic coffeeshop-bars remain as smoking bars. In fact the smoke and drink concept proliferated.
[photo from 2019]
A few years ago Warmoesstraat was near desolate. Now it's developing a new identity. No sign of restrictions here. I guess the future depends on people not leaving cigarette boxes on the table.
... and back in the room. Someone is trying to talk to me. Concentrate.
This goes on for about four hours. A wonderfully entertaining way to spend an evening. I've got no idea what's going on most of the time so just laugh and grin inanely.
Eventually we spill out and some of us stop at the Oude Brug cake shop.
It's been an amazing day. The weather has been much better than yesterday and we've found smoking bars without special restrictions. Life is good.
Haarlem and Balou tomorrow. More people should be arriving too.
