Ok we're relaxing in our apartment on our last full day of the trip
and we're smoking a wee bit less and coughing a wee bit more! While we relax, I figure'd I catch y'all up on our next day...
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2007
Today we're starting to show some signs of 'slowing down' and we've accumulated a good chunk of product so we're trying to smoke what we got until we get more, carefully balancing our hazes and indicas and alternating equally between hasj joints and bud blunts. Our usual routine of Betty's for coffee & juice had has happily chatting with our usual tender. Now our buddy-tender is a dutch local, born and raised, who told us how he grew up around the shops and NEVER liked the smell ("I'll never smoke that stuff" he said as a kid, lol) and we've been learning alot about local A'dam life from him. Funny, when we told him how we've been trying to figure out a way to live here (full OR part time ) for YEARS he asked the BIG question..."would you still come here if we didn't have all of the coffeeshops?". I paused and had to think about that one, but I HONESTLY had to say "I CAME for the weed, I've stayed and returned for the culture". I've never travelled to Vancouver, Jamaica or any other herb tourist location because, as we all know, there is just that special something here that allowed the coffeeshop culture to grow and flourish. Herb is EVERYWHERE, the Dutch, unfortunately, are not! And even cooler, the tender had the next day off BUT lived near by and PROMISED to meet us for coffee. Now I thought this soooo cool, even if he doesn't make it (Saturday night to early sunday morning, and all) it was nice of him to treat us as 'friends' rather than 'customers'.
Knowing that it's probably the BUSIEST day of the week we decide to go back but go early to the ever-busy GREY AREA. It's before noon and WOW, they ARE already open and ALREADY PACKED. It's so packed that the wife stays outside and sends me in alone. Ok, my ONLY complaint with the weed tourists are PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do NOT wear your backpacks in the coffeeshops...ESPECIALLY the grey area! There were at least 4 or 5 kids all together, ALL with backpacks strapped on HANGING AROUND THE BAR LINE! And, dang it, EVERY time they turned one way or the other I was seriously bonked! It was worth the wait 'cause the very happy & bouncy budtender (different from the last) presented us with SUPER AFGHANI hasj at 12 e/g and GREY HAZE for 11 e/g. This was our first 'ghani of the trip and it looked SUPREME. Man, this hasj dreamer has had his dreams come true on this trip 'cause the hash has been absolutely fucking specTACular! The super looked almost brownish, firm and fresh it fudged apart nicely. LOTS of fudgy hash going on in this town - haven't tasted a hard hasj since our first smoke of the trip. Nice stoney high but clean clean clean. We wanted a sativa high so we went with the lemony grey and, again, grey area did not dissapoint with bud. Crystally, nice cure, aroma & taste it gave us that nice sharp lung feel that you get from quality smoke!
We're meeting our buds from Bermuda via the States at 2:00 so we're now looking forward to our first Barney's eating experience. We're at the Barney's bar across the street - slick black and chrome rather elegant environment for a 'barneys"! They're already waiting, holding two seats for us on a Sunday (niiice), and spinning their own. The wife and I had broodjes (blt & caprese) for around 5 & change and they WERE actually rather good! The service was a bit painful and we wound up there for about 2 hours resulting in the BIGGEST session we've had here and even though we ate in between we leave completely annilihated! Our friends didn't have alot of cash so we smoked a good 1/3 gram of Jelly and gave them the rest (a good 1/3) for their last night in the dam.
Later that evening, maybe around 8ish, it was getting REAL busy on the coffeeshop scene in the centrum and we were just looking around for a quiet shop to grab a cafe and smoke but found none. de Koon, nope - Abraxas, nope - we started heading back, were just behind the AH on the spui where the spraypainted snake building resides and saw this red "softland - internet cafe" sign and as we got close it DID say coffeeshop painted on its facade. Stepping in the immediate two 2-person tables were available and the wife sat down while I went to order hot chocos and just check out the menu. All the bud sat well marked in glass jars behind the counter so you could get a good idea of bud before you even asked and the microscope next to the menu is ALWAYS a good sign. It was brisky busy but quiet compared to the rest of town and we patiently waited for the undecisive to finish their choice. "How's it going?" I asked..."too busy!" he exclaimed, looking tired. I ordered our chocos, told him to take his time and asked about herb selections. Here we tried their WHITE SMURF only 7 e/g and LAVENDER at the same. Both buds were nice, not GA, GH or Barneys nice but CERTAINLY did the job for 7 e/g each. However, it was the next showing that blew us A W A Y...
KING HASSAN (which I kept making everyone laugh unintentionally calling it King HUSSAIN
). I was first asking about one of the bushdoctor recommended hashes (copies on the wall) but he was like, no, you HAVE to try this. It was priced the same as the other (14 e/g) and when he opened the container that's ALL I could smell - a beautiful, delicate and exquisite aroma that cut through the smokey pot filled room! It was the fudgiest of the fudge - not as oily and dark the rifman jala and fudgier than the Rifman Malika, we took a g back to the room. Now breaking this hasj up was a pleasure! Texturally perfect, we rolled up a spliff and IMMEDIATELY it was clear: this is the BEST hasj we've smoked yet! I mean, I'm serious...it was what morrocan SHOULD taste, smoke and FEEL like. It was a love-at-first taste experience (if not at sight!) for sure as the dulcet tones of angels wafted down around me. Sh@dy, give it try my friend! We went back out to wander and, if I'm not mistaken, went right BACK to softland, smoked ANOTHER Hassan and - folks, for the first time this trip - went back to the tender and ordered ANOTHER 2 grams! We've been getting chummy with the tender - a slighty chubby, dark haired gent with a neat little goatee so we sit closer to his area rather than the door.
We go through weed MUCH quicker than hasj and even though we're breaking our alternate rule and smoking sometimes a 2-1 hasj to weit ratio we still find ourselves in need of herb to get through a Saturday night so near our apartment is:
420 CAFE. Nothing to write home about, solid but small menu, touristy crowd and friendly but not really chatty tender. We pick up our first BLUEBERRY of the trip at 8 e/g and, I'll be DANGED - It carried the strongest blueberry taste I've EVER had! The smoke was nice but the taste was AMAZING, a close 2nd to the Mellow's ORANGE HAZE.
Well, that about wraps up Saturday! Oh yeah, a couple of personal updates...
HEY Sh@dy! WE MADE IT TO THE MELLOW TODAY, AND YES
THEY HAVE PLENTY OF ORANGE HAZE & WILL HAVE IT ON SATURDAY!
Island gurl...WE GOT TRAINWRECK AT THE MELLOW! The tender warned us that it was ALL pretty much shake but we took a g anyway and WHAT a high! Man, I'm afraid of what THAT shit will be like in full blown bud form! A great, sharp lunged taste that, of course, got us baked on the spot but LEFT us baked a good hour later when we stopped to vist our buddy at softland (more on THAT later!)
