Trip Report July 9th to 15th
Posted: Thu 16th Jul 2009 09:23 pm
Long-time lurker here, been using the site for ages and reading all these and just returned from a monster of a trip so i'll post mine up.
I hope it helps someone as much as yours helped me!
I'll try and do this as matter of factly as i can. My memory is hazy though so it may not make sense, but i'm sure you'll get the idea.
I have no idea what anything cost apart from a few, if this bothers you sorry, but rest assured i paid more than i should of for 1 gram of whatever it was!
Some general thoughts then my trip report;
Smoking ban is bullshit. They just don't want tobacco on the table, they don't seem to care in most if you're using it. Ultra touristy ones care though, but generally they're avoided anyway.
I can't believe the price of food in Amsterdam now, tea etc. aswell has rocketed. Dissapointing as it's now almost got too expensive to even stay in Amsterdam. (for the price of my 2* in Amsterdam for 5 nights i could of got a 4* in Haarlem for 10!)
Amsterdam was incredibly busy with tourists. Too busy. My opinion is to avoid in Summer. Oct/Nov or March/Apr when i went before was so much better.
South of the city, Liepsplein (sp?) area seemed quieter, but not by much.
Amsterdam
I arrived in Amsterdam at 11am on the 9th of July via DFDS seaways ferry Newcastle -> Ijmuiden then a bus to Amsterdam center.
Can't fault the boat, minimal customs and an alright cabin to yourself. £70 return each i think we paid.
After getting off the boat we headed to Prix D'Amis and purchased our first weed of the day.
I bought Sour Diesel which i'd give a 7/10. Nice aroma and nicely grown but over-nuted so it didn't burn well.
My missus bought Amnesia Haze which got 8/10. Beautiful weed this, can see why everyone is raving about it. Amazing taste and soaring sativa high, was beautiful. Got an 8 cause it could of been stronger, but still nice.
My mates bought Chocolope, which is the fashionable strain at the moment, it got 7/10. Better can be found elsewhere. I wasn't too impressed with this strain, smells faintly of coco and tastes peppery. I didn't get it. Most sativa's such as SSH or Amnesia were so much nicer. Fashion eh!
After this we went and checked into our hotel and got everything sorted.
We then walked down to Dampkring and sat in there for 20 or so minutes. I was incredibly dissapointed in this coffeeshop.
Never been before and i'd heard so many good things from members here and in other forums.
I went up and bought 1g of cheese, after it looking a bit small i ask the guy to weigh it infront of me, after a little bit of argument and me saying well i won't pay for it then he weighs it and it's 0.85g, not 1.00g as i was going to pay for. I put it down to mistake and went back and smoked my full 1g of cheese. Cheese - 6/10. Tasted of UK cheese, smelled of it but it just didn't pack the punch. Pleasant none the less.
My missus also bought some Mexican Haze - 16 week flower it said. Oooh i said! But it wouldn't burn...
Mexican Haze - 3/10. It got 3 because it was marijuana and not lawn cuttings, that's it. Weed wouldn't burn in a blunt, joint, bong or pipe. It seemed a tad wet and after explaining this to the bud tender he just asked us to leave.
Awful experience. Will not be going back.
We then wandered down to Dolphins where my missus got 1g of White Dolphin and my mate bought 1g of Northern Lights (both 10e a gram).
The white dolphin is a nice strain, 9/10 it got given. Coated in crystals and a really narcotic slightly hallucinagenic high. Makes your mind wobble. The Northern lights was strong but had no real taste or aroma, 6/10.
Coffeeshop is a bit odd, nice bit downstairs but it was closed when we went in. Woman screamed at us to sit down or leave. We left.
I was going to sort of do a step by step, but after this one i'm at a blank to what we did.
So, remaining' 'dam coffeeshops in a list;
Grey Area. I love this place! Small but elegant and the weed can't be beaten.
Tried; Grey Berry - 10/10 - Bubblegum x blueberry. 8.50e a gram or 16e for two! Best weed of the trip this, beautiful middle of the road hybrid but the taste and aroma - oh my god!
Chiesel - 10/10 - Glad they had this as i'm growing it as we speak. Beautiful weed. 13e a gram i think. Tastes of cheese with a slight hint of chemical coming from the NYCD male. Packs one hell of a punch though, loved it!
Yellow Cab - 9/10 - Billed as nice daytime weed, does exactly as it sais on the tin. Really nice for sitting in Vondelpark with. 8.50 a gram.
Grey Mist - 9/10 - Indica that'll make you turn to stone. Lovely though.
Chocolope - 9/10 - Best in 'dam in my opinion, maybe on par with Greenhouse Effect's. Lovely smell and taste but again, i don't get why it's everywhere, there's better strains imo.
Amnesia. Just round the corner from Grey Area. Really nice people here, may be my new favourite coffeeshop. Bud tender is a really nice guy and the waitress is even nicer. 5 or so volcano's that are free to use. Comfy and nice. 2 tables outside aswell facing the canal.
NYCD - 10/10 - Holy shit. Best NYCD ever. 11e a gram and it was fucking beautiful. Only way i can describe it, fucking beautiful! smoke.gif
Pink Kush - 9/10 - Great indica, really nice taste and buzz. A floaty indica, really nice.
Morning Glory- 8/10 - Lovely sativa for the morning, tasted of lemons. I liked it, not too sure why i gave it 8 but i did... Good wake up weed.
Barneys Coffeeshop. Wanted to head round and try Sweet Tooth as i've got it going at the moment. Nice coffeeshop, at the far end of the high street so it was busy and touristy.
Sweet tooth - 7/10. Tried it and liked it but their growing skills weren't upto much, needed a longer cure i think.
Greenhouse Effect. Lovely coffeeshop with bar/hotel next door. I really like this place, weed is grown with Biobizz grow, bloom and alg-a-mic apparently! Nice thin coffeeshop, good if you can get the window seat.
Supersilver haze - 9/10 - Tried this after Fresh_air_inspector said it was nice, beautiful SSH. Best i've ever smoked, superb!
Chocolope - 8/10 - On par with grey area, same weed really.
Coffeeshop 36. Again i like this place, has great canal-view seating up the back and for 2.10 for a hot chocolate with cream you can't complain! Nightmare to get a seat in though.
Blueberry - 9/10. Still my missus favourite blueberry in 'dam. Still mine too. Lovely fruity smoke, just what you'd expect.
Hillstreet Blues. Great place for chilling on your own - not for talking to strangers as it's very set apart and the leather seats they've got in their now don't allow for much cross-table chat.
Top Nepal Hash - 9/10 - Amazing fruity hash. Made you smile instantly and lasted for hours. Great stuff. 9e a gram.
Zero-Zero Hash - 7/10 - Not as pure here but just as strong. 26e for 6 grams. Went almost instantly though. No taste but the aroma when it was being burnt was fucking amazing. Reminded me of the central market in Marrakesh when i was there.
Hillstreet Special - 7/10 - Nice filler, great tasty weed but not that strong.
Bubblegum - 7/10 - Strong stone but less taste, needed more of a cure. The budtender admitted that to me though.
Centraal. Great place opposite central station to stock up on filler.
Buddha - 6/10 - Guy said it was an F2 of laughing buddah. 1.9g for 12.50e. What i'd expect from centraal, nice filler as above.
Doors. First time here and really liked it! Budtender was awesome, tunes were impeccable and it's a really social coffeeshop so everyone got talking which i liked.
Morrison Haze - 8/10 - Great haze, it was raining and i must of spent 15 minutes watching water droplets hit a puddle. lol.gif I reaaaaly enjoyed it though! Try this one if you're in 'dam and chill out in doors, great place! If it's the wee bar tender/bud tender don't joke about his height. He finds it funny but then pelted me with roaches, lol.gif , amusing guy. (I'm 6'4" ish and he must of been 5 foot).
Abraxas. Jumped in here as i'd heard good things about their hash. Bought some Abraxas special and i shit you not i don't remember the next 3 hours.
Abraxas Special - 8/10. It would of got 10 but it fucking annihalated my memory and senses. Maybe too good? Tasted awesome.
Didn't buy anything from the remaining ones but i'll list them and tell you what they're like.
Rokerij. Lovely place, greatly decorated and a friendly clientele. Got talking to alot of people in here from across the world which is what i like doing. Had loads of buddha's and hindu stuff everywhere, very dark aswell. Great atmosphere.
Betty Too Quite a nice Betty Boop themed coffeeshop, huge lifesize statue of her upstairs which is funny. Loads of memorabilia on the walls. Budtender was an amazingly friendly guy, talked to him outside for hours. Pay this place a visit.
Stones Cafe Not the coffeeshop but the cafe, as always a great full english for 8.50e and you can smoke inside. Has outside seating aswell at the back for 10 or so people on benches.
Bulldog Palace Loads of outside seating, waitress service. Great people watching as it overlooks the Liedsplein. Opposite Boom Chicago's place.
Overkant Hortus Scant place, very little seating. Bought a can of coke and left. Seemed alright though.
420 Cafe Nice place, always busy though. Good tunes.
De Kroon Liked this place, had a sort of "buy weed or leave" policy though. We seemed to be alright just buying drinks but the rest of the people weren't. Odd. Nice to us though.
Haarlem
On the third and last days we also went to Haarlem. I can't sing this places praises enough, 7euro return on the train per person, 15 minutes from Amsterdam Central Station. Beautiful sleepy town, hardly any tourists. Still lined with canels and stuff. Lovely.
Birdy. Five minutes walk north out of the station. Across a grass lined canal and you're there. Lovely place. Great budtender, great deals. just generally fucking fantastic. GO THERE. Basically. lol.gif
Super Skunk - 10/10 - 10e for 1.3gram or 25e for 3.9g (same prices for all weed here) - Wow. Incredibly fruity, great stone. Lovely weed. Bag appeal is insane aswell, big chunky buds. Great middle of the road hybrid!
Northern Lights - 10/10 - - As above - Great hard hitting indica. I always wanted to try this strain and this is the place to try it. Great taste, smell etc. Lovely.
White Widow - 9/10 - - As above - Exactly as you'd expect it to be, white with crystals, great indica yet sativa stone. Really nice.
Knetter - 9/10 - - As above - Described as white widow but stronger. It's birdy's house weed and is incredibly strong. She said sometimes it's not as strong, sometimes it is so ask her what the current batch is like.
Basically go to Birdy and buy the menu!
Willie Wortels Sativa Didn't buy anything but wandered past it, quite secluded coffeeshop with very little on the menu when we were there. Frequented alot by the locals as it was full! Seating is at the back behind a glass partition as is the norm now.
Wille Wortel's Indica Down the side of Haarlem, overlooking the canal and the historic Windmill. Lovely views, great seats, like racing car seats or something - really comfy coffeeshop. Nicely decorated.
Willie Wortels Special - 9/10 - 9e a gram - Incredible indica. Great night time weed! Really suprised by this, favourite indica of the trip!
Jack Herer - 10/10 - 8.50e a gram - Incredible specimen. Nicest i've ever smoked and i've smoked numerous homegrown versions, even some from Canada and it beat it all handsdown. Incredible!
I'd suggest going to Haarlem and stocking up and trying the hash in 'dam. The weed's just incredible there.
I also went to see Boom Chicago! A great comedy show down on the Liedsplein (sp?). It cost 30euro's each on the internet for a 2 course meal and the show. Great value! The food is incredible! (Order the New York Cheesecake! I'm drooling thinking about it) We also left after our meal for a few spliffs outside and the staff didn't care and let us sit outside with our drinks on their tables!
I saw the best of 2009 show, it was incredible. It's improvisational comedy so it's never the same! I implore you to see it, it's hilarious!
We also did the Zoo, Aquarium, Planetarium and Botanical Gardens. 18.50 euro's for one ticket which covers them all. Located in the Artis park in the east of the city, 15 minutes walk from Central Station.
This was funny, the planetarium is all in dutch but it was cool to look at the pictures!
I'm waffling now, i'll update with photo's when i can be arsed. Thankoo!
I hope it helps someone as much as yours helped me!
I'll try and do this as matter of factly as i can. My memory is hazy though so it may not make sense, but i'm sure you'll get the idea.
I have no idea what anything cost apart from a few, if this bothers you sorry, but rest assured i paid more than i should of for 1 gram of whatever it was!
Some general thoughts then my trip report;
Smoking ban is bullshit. They just don't want tobacco on the table, they don't seem to care in most if you're using it. Ultra touristy ones care though, but generally they're avoided anyway.
I can't believe the price of food in Amsterdam now, tea etc. aswell has rocketed. Dissapointing as it's now almost got too expensive to even stay in Amsterdam. (for the price of my 2* in Amsterdam for 5 nights i could of got a 4* in Haarlem for 10!)
Amsterdam was incredibly busy with tourists. Too busy. My opinion is to avoid in Summer. Oct/Nov or March/Apr when i went before was so much better.
South of the city, Liepsplein (sp?) area seemed quieter, but not by much.
Amsterdam
I arrived in Amsterdam at 11am on the 9th of July via DFDS seaways ferry Newcastle -> Ijmuiden then a bus to Amsterdam center.
Can't fault the boat, minimal customs and an alright cabin to yourself. £70 return each i think we paid.
After getting off the boat we headed to Prix D'Amis and purchased our first weed of the day.
I bought Sour Diesel which i'd give a 7/10. Nice aroma and nicely grown but over-nuted so it didn't burn well.
My missus bought Amnesia Haze which got 8/10. Beautiful weed this, can see why everyone is raving about it. Amazing taste and soaring sativa high, was beautiful. Got an 8 cause it could of been stronger, but still nice.
My mates bought Chocolope, which is the fashionable strain at the moment, it got 7/10. Better can be found elsewhere. I wasn't too impressed with this strain, smells faintly of coco and tastes peppery. I didn't get it. Most sativa's such as SSH or Amnesia were so much nicer. Fashion eh!
After this we went and checked into our hotel and got everything sorted.
We then walked down to Dampkring and sat in there for 20 or so minutes. I was incredibly dissapointed in this coffeeshop.
Never been before and i'd heard so many good things from members here and in other forums.
I went up and bought 1g of cheese, after it looking a bit small i ask the guy to weigh it infront of me, after a little bit of argument and me saying well i won't pay for it then he weighs it and it's 0.85g, not 1.00g as i was going to pay for. I put it down to mistake and went back and smoked my full 1g of cheese. Cheese - 6/10. Tasted of UK cheese, smelled of it but it just didn't pack the punch. Pleasant none the less.
My missus also bought some Mexican Haze - 16 week flower it said. Oooh i said! But it wouldn't burn...
Mexican Haze - 3/10. It got 3 because it was marijuana and not lawn cuttings, that's it. Weed wouldn't burn in a blunt, joint, bong or pipe. It seemed a tad wet and after explaining this to the bud tender he just asked us to leave.
Awful experience. Will not be going back.
We then wandered down to Dolphins where my missus got 1g of White Dolphin and my mate bought 1g of Northern Lights (both 10e a gram).
The white dolphin is a nice strain, 9/10 it got given. Coated in crystals and a really narcotic slightly hallucinagenic high. Makes your mind wobble. The Northern lights was strong but had no real taste or aroma, 6/10.
Coffeeshop is a bit odd, nice bit downstairs but it was closed when we went in. Woman screamed at us to sit down or leave. We left.
I was going to sort of do a step by step, but after this one i'm at a blank to what we did.
So, remaining' 'dam coffeeshops in a list;
Grey Area. I love this place! Small but elegant and the weed can't be beaten.
Tried; Grey Berry - 10/10 - Bubblegum x blueberry. 8.50e a gram or 16e for two! Best weed of the trip this, beautiful middle of the road hybrid but the taste and aroma - oh my god!
Chiesel - 10/10 - Glad they had this as i'm growing it as we speak. Beautiful weed. 13e a gram i think. Tastes of cheese with a slight hint of chemical coming from the NYCD male. Packs one hell of a punch though, loved it!
Yellow Cab - 9/10 - Billed as nice daytime weed, does exactly as it sais on the tin. Really nice for sitting in Vondelpark with. 8.50 a gram.
Grey Mist - 9/10 - Indica that'll make you turn to stone. Lovely though.
Chocolope - 9/10 - Best in 'dam in my opinion, maybe on par with Greenhouse Effect's. Lovely smell and taste but again, i don't get why it's everywhere, there's better strains imo.
Amnesia. Just round the corner from Grey Area. Really nice people here, may be my new favourite coffeeshop. Bud tender is a really nice guy and the waitress is even nicer. 5 or so volcano's that are free to use. Comfy and nice. 2 tables outside aswell facing the canal.
NYCD - 10/10 - Holy shit. Best NYCD ever. 11e a gram and it was fucking beautiful. Only way i can describe it, fucking beautiful! smoke.gif
Pink Kush - 9/10 - Great indica, really nice taste and buzz. A floaty indica, really nice.
Morning Glory- 8/10 - Lovely sativa for the morning, tasted of lemons. I liked it, not too sure why i gave it 8 but i did... Good wake up weed.
Barneys Coffeeshop. Wanted to head round and try Sweet Tooth as i've got it going at the moment. Nice coffeeshop, at the far end of the high street so it was busy and touristy.
Sweet tooth - 7/10. Tried it and liked it but their growing skills weren't upto much, needed a longer cure i think.
Greenhouse Effect. Lovely coffeeshop with bar/hotel next door. I really like this place, weed is grown with Biobizz grow, bloom and alg-a-mic apparently! Nice thin coffeeshop, good if you can get the window seat.
Supersilver haze - 9/10 - Tried this after Fresh_air_inspector said it was nice, beautiful SSH. Best i've ever smoked, superb!
Chocolope - 8/10 - On par with grey area, same weed really.
Coffeeshop 36. Again i like this place, has great canal-view seating up the back and for 2.10 for a hot chocolate with cream you can't complain! Nightmare to get a seat in though.
Blueberry - 9/10. Still my missus favourite blueberry in 'dam. Still mine too. Lovely fruity smoke, just what you'd expect.
Hillstreet Blues. Great place for chilling on your own - not for talking to strangers as it's very set apart and the leather seats they've got in their now don't allow for much cross-table chat.
Top Nepal Hash - 9/10 - Amazing fruity hash. Made you smile instantly and lasted for hours. Great stuff. 9e a gram.
Zero-Zero Hash - 7/10 - Not as pure here but just as strong. 26e for 6 grams. Went almost instantly though. No taste but the aroma when it was being burnt was fucking amazing. Reminded me of the central market in Marrakesh when i was there.
Hillstreet Special - 7/10 - Nice filler, great tasty weed but not that strong.
Bubblegum - 7/10 - Strong stone but less taste, needed more of a cure. The budtender admitted that to me though.
Centraal. Great place opposite central station to stock up on filler.
Buddha - 6/10 - Guy said it was an F2 of laughing buddah. 1.9g for 12.50e. What i'd expect from centraal, nice filler as above.
Doors. First time here and really liked it! Budtender was awesome, tunes were impeccable and it's a really social coffeeshop so everyone got talking which i liked.
Morrison Haze - 8/10 - Great haze, it was raining and i must of spent 15 minutes watching water droplets hit a puddle. lol.gif I reaaaaly enjoyed it though! Try this one if you're in 'dam and chill out in doors, great place! If it's the wee bar tender/bud tender don't joke about his height. He finds it funny but then pelted me with roaches, lol.gif , amusing guy. (I'm 6'4" ish and he must of been 5 foot).
Abraxas. Jumped in here as i'd heard good things about their hash. Bought some Abraxas special and i shit you not i don't remember the next 3 hours.
Abraxas Special - 8/10. It would of got 10 but it fucking annihalated my memory and senses. Maybe too good? Tasted awesome.
Didn't buy anything from the remaining ones but i'll list them and tell you what they're like.
Rokerij. Lovely place, greatly decorated and a friendly clientele. Got talking to alot of people in here from across the world which is what i like doing. Had loads of buddha's and hindu stuff everywhere, very dark aswell. Great atmosphere.
Betty Too Quite a nice Betty Boop themed coffeeshop, huge lifesize statue of her upstairs which is funny. Loads of memorabilia on the walls. Budtender was an amazingly friendly guy, talked to him outside for hours. Pay this place a visit.
Stones Cafe Not the coffeeshop but the cafe, as always a great full english for 8.50e and you can smoke inside. Has outside seating aswell at the back for 10 or so people on benches.
Bulldog Palace Loads of outside seating, waitress service. Great people watching as it overlooks the Liedsplein. Opposite Boom Chicago's place.
Overkant Hortus Scant place, very little seating. Bought a can of coke and left. Seemed alright though.
420 Cafe Nice place, always busy though. Good tunes.
De Kroon Liked this place, had a sort of "buy weed or leave" policy though. We seemed to be alright just buying drinks but the rest of the people weren't. Odd. Nice to us though.
Haarlem
On the third and last days we also went to Haarlem. I can't sing this places praises enough, 7euro return on the train per person, 15 minutes from Amsterdam Central Station. Beautiful sleepy town, hardly any tourists. Still lined with canels and stuff. Lovely.
Birdy. Five minutes walk north out of the station. Across a grass lined canal and you're there. Lovely place. Great budtender, great deals. just generally fucking fantastic. GO THERE. Basically. lol.gif
Super Skunk - 10/10 - 10e for 1.3gram or 25e for 3.9g (same prices for all weed here) - Wow. Incredibly fruity, great stone. Lovely weed. Bag appeal is insane aswell, big chunky buds. Great middle of the road hybrid!
Northern Lights - 10/10 - - As above - Great hard hitting indica. I always wanted to try this strain and this is the place to try it. Great taste, smell etc. Lovely.
White Widow - 9/10 - - As above - Exactly as you'd expect it to be, white with crystals, great indica yet sativa stone. Really nice.
Knetter - 9/10 - - As above - Described as white widow but stronger. It's birdy's house weed and is incredibly strong. She said sometimes it's not as strong, sometimes it is so ask her what the current batch is like.
Basically go to Birdy and buy the menu!
Willie Wortels Sativa Didn't buy anything but wandered past it, quite secluded coffeeshop with very little on the menu when we were there. Frequented alot by the locals as it was full! Seating is at the back behind a glass partition as is the norm now.
Wille Wortel's Indica Down the side of Haarlem, overlooking the canal and the historic Windmill. Lovely views, great seats, like racing car seats or something - really comfy coffeeshop. Nicely decorated.
Willie Wortels Special - 9/10 - 9e a gram - Incredible indica. Great night time weed! Really suprised by this, favourite indica of the trip!
Jack Herer - 10/10 - 8.50e a gram - Incredible specimen. Nicest i've ever smoked and i've smoked numerous homegrown versions, even some from Canada and it beat it all handsdown. Incredible!
I'd suggest going to Haarlem and stocking up and trying the hash in 'dam. The weed's just incredible there.
I also went to see Boom Chicago! A great comedy show down on the Liedsplein (sp?). It cost 30euro's each on the internet for a 2 course meal and the show. Great value! The food is incredible! (Order the New York Cheesecake! I'm drooling thinking about it) We also left after our meal for a few spliffs outside and the staff didn't care and let us sit outside with our drinks on their tables!
I saw the best of 2009 show, it was incredible. It's improvisational comedy so it's never the same! I implore you to see it, it's hilarious!
We also did the Zoo, Aquarium, Planetarium and Botanical Gardens. 18.50 euro's for one ticket which covers them all. Located in the Artis park in the east of the city, 15 minutes walk from Central Station.
This was funny, the planetarium is all in dutch but it was cool to look at the pictures!
I'm waffling now, i'll update with photo's when i can be arsed. Thankoo!
... Grey Area really does it for you