Ed the Head's 12th Annual Amsterdam Is Mijn Mekka Hajj - May 12-21

[ed the head]

11 May
Just about all packed. Last minute items are just the wallet, phone, cash and PC in front of me. Just about 1.5 hours before I have to depart for the airport. Got a hot tooth but I am prepared to deal with it.
Now for the last few on US soil. Berry White, right on, right on.
Last day of work looks slow, everyone is notified, should be all squared up.
Valhalla I am coming.
The Plan:
12 May - 12:45 Smokeboat; 3:00 Wynand Fockink
13 May - 15:00 Leiden overnight
14 May - AM in Keukenhof, PM in Amsterdam
15 May - No plans
16 May - Concertgebouw - 12:00 Free Public Performance Paradiso - 19:30 John Moreland
17 May - Paradiso - 19:30 Mew
18 May - Boom Chicago - 20:00 Best of Boom
19 May - Pannenkoekenboot - 17:45
20 May - No plans
21 May - No plans, depart +-15:00
12 May
Arrived, fetched luggage and got a train into Centraal Station by 7 am.
Walked straight to the Bulldog hotel to ditch my bags and was disappointed to discover that the Energy Shop is closed until 8!
After being greeted by Francesco and Lami, I walked back down to Centraal CS and picked up Santa Maria @E7.8/gr and Haze @E6.2/gr.
Had one of the SM on the rainy walk back to the hotel.
Highly floral, almost like incense but not unpleasant. Good enough to go for one more.
Stay tuned for the Haze later.
Sure is sleepy here in town at this hour.

08:24
Got a good head on now, not sure I will be running back for more Santa Maria but I am thankful for her blessings indeed.

Fiona is back, missed her last year. Good to see she is well.


Saw Sonny at the Energy Shop and he is looking good, good to see after the hardships he's endured.
Raining with more vigor now, and the people show is already starting.
Onto a Haze.
Very nice, more energy and alertness now.
The rain is getting pretty steady now, calling into question the 12:45
SmokeBoat?
My room is not ready yet, but it is 'high' time to change out of White Man traveler cloths and into something less conspicuous so into the 'check in luggage' room I go.

Had a nice chat outside with Steven from London and Stephan from Bern.

Enjoying the newly added umbrellas on this rainy day.

Had a chicken club sandwich with egg, genius, why didn't I think of that?

Got my room early, thank you beautiful house keeping crew, and dropped off Robert's Scotch, he liked it


Smokeboat went out with 17 people and I had a blast.

I thought I was almost through this mornings batch, which @€20 was under 3 grams. Went to Greenplace and got a gram each of Blueberry, Silver Bubble and Caramelo for €34

Oh God how I love this place.

Mission accomplished at Wynand. In addition to the four 'Koude Kant' gift bottles, I got two half bottles of Oude Genever and Half and Half for myself, and took a swig of the Half and Half when I got back to put it away in my room.

Ahhh, been a long time.

Now reporting on the remainder of Friday from a foggy Saturday morning.
Things started to speed up after I had a bit of Albert Hein lunch on the rooftop. Robert came up and rearranged my ass downstairs in the bar to consume the bottle of Scotch I brought him.
He liked it.
12 years, triple barrel aged.

Eerste de oak barrel
Den de sherry ook oak barrel get it? OOK OAK?
Den de bourbon ook oak barrel get it? OOK OAK?
ba dum TSSSSsss
Lady Scotch

He introduced me to Matt, from Australia, so my this years designated awesome Australian arrived onto the scene early. Matt is staying past my departure, I foresee a lot of adventure potential.
Now catching up to all manner of old friends Esterrrrr, Arno, Pablo, Mario, and on and on, Steven reappears but by this time he removed his hat, I smoked about 3.5 grams of cannabis so I didn't recognize him at first! We sat, drank and smoked there for a long time. eventually Steven's friend Chris showed up. We broke into the Wynand Half and Half, then the OudeGenever and a beautiful haze ensued. Around midnight Matt and I took a walk, we lost each other in the crowd. I eventually meandered back toward the hotel around 1:30, grabbed some curry fries and hit the sack. Had a good rest and a nice shower. Almost through my supply so off to secure some more soon after this post.
13 May
Off to Leiden at some point to be determined later, now off on a cannabis hunt!

[Nuggz]

11 May
Just about all packed. Last minute items are just the wallet, phone, cash and PC in front of me. Just about 1.5 hours before I have to depart for the airport. Got a hot tooth but I am prepared to deal with it.
Now for the last few on US soil. Berry White, right on, right on.
Last day of work looks slow, everyone is notified, should be all squared up.
Valhalla I am coming.
The Plan:
12 May - 12:45 Smokeboat; 3:00 Wynand Fockink
13 May - 15:00 Leiden overnight
14 May - AM in Keukenhof, PM in Amsterdam
15 May - No plans
16 May - Concertgebouw - 12:00 Free Public Performance Paradiso - 19:30 John Moreland
17 May - Paradiso - 19:30 Mew
18 May - Boom Chicago - 20:00 Best of Boom
19 May - Pannenkoekenboot - 17:45
20 May - No plans
21 May - No plans, depart +-15:00
12 May
Arrived, fetched luggage and got a train into Centraal Station by 7 am. Walked straight to the Bulldog hotel to ditch my bags and was disappointed to discover that the Energy Shop is closed until 8! After being greeted by Fabio and Lami, I walked back down to Centraal CS and picked up Santa Maria @E7.8/gr and Haze @E6.2/gr. Had one of the SM on the rainy walk back to the hotel. Highly floral, almost like incense but not unpleasant. Good enough to go for one more. Stay tuned for the Haze later. Sure is sleepy here in town at this hour.
08:24 - Got a good head on now, not sure I will be running back for more Santa Maria but I am thankful for her blessings indeed.
Fiona is back, missed her last year. Good to see she is well.
Saw Sonny at the Energy Shop and he is looking good, good to see after the hardships he's endured.
Raining with more vigor now, and the people show is already starting. Onto a Haze. Very nice, more energy and alertness now. The rain is getting pretty steady now, calling into question the 12:45 SmokeBoat? No room yet, time to change out of White Man traveler cloths and into something less conspicuous.
Had a nice chat outside with Steven from London and Stephan from Bern. Enjoying the newly added umbrellas on this rainy day. Had a chicken club sandwich with egg, genius, why didn't I think of that? Got my room early, thank you beautiful house keeping crew, and dropped off Robert's Scotch, he liked it
Smokeboat went out with 17 people and I had a blast. I thought I was almost through this mornings batch, which @€20 was under 3 grams. Went to Greenplace and got a gram each of Blueberry, Silver Bubble and Caramelo for €34
Oh God how I love this place
Mission accomplished at Wynand. I got two half bottles of Oude Genever and Half and Half, and took a swig of the Half and Half when I got back to put it away in my room. Ahhh, been a long time.
Now reporting on the remainder of Friday from a foggy Saturday morning.
Things started to speed up after I had a bit of Albert Hein lunch on the rooftop. Robert came up and rearranged my ass downstairs in the bar to consume the bottle of Scotch I brought him. He introduced me to Matt, from Australia, so my this years designated awesome Australian arrived onto the scene early. Matt is staying past my departure, I foresee a lot of adventure potential.
Now catching up to all manner of old friends Esterrrrr, Arno, Pablo, Mario, and on and on, Steven reappears but by this time he removed his hat, I smoked about 3.5 grams of cannabis so I didn't recognize him at first! We sat, drank and smoked there for a long time. eventually Steven's friend Chris showed up. We broke into the Wynand Half and Half, then the OudeGenever and a beautiful haze ensued. Around midnight Matt and I took a walk, we lost each other in the crowd. I eventually meandered back toward the hotel around 1:30, grabbed some curry fries and hit the sack. Had a good rest and a nice shower. Almost through my supply so off to secure some more soon after this post.
13 May
Off to Leiden at some point to be determined later, now off on a cannabis hunt!

Just realized you'd updated this post, it didn't reshuffle to the top since it wasn't a new post. Anyway let me know when you're back around and we can convene in the batcave for some dabs and such...

[ed the head]

Okay will do, thanks!
At the moment I am in Leiden overnight
Going to Keukenhof in the morning
Be back to Amsterdam early Sunday afternoon
Really enjoying some Pineapple hash from eerstehulp at the moment

[Nuggz]

Okay will do, thanks!
At the moment I am in Leiden overnight
Going to Keukenhof in the morning
Be back to Amsterdam early Sunday afternoon
Really enjoying some Pineapple hash from eerstehulp at the moment

Haha enjoy my friend, and do get in touch because I'm promise there's better hash for a much better price around

Edit: currently enjoying some AK-47 & Lavender Kush Hashes

[ed the head]

Okay will do, thanks!
At the moment I am in Leiden overnight
Going to Keukenhof in the morning
Be back to Amsterdam early Sunday afternoon
Really enjoying some Pineapple hash from eerstehulp at the moment

Haha enjoy my friend, and do get in touch because I'm promise there's better hash for a much better price around

Edit: currently enjoying some AK-47 & Lavender Kush Hashes

Will do Mate, really looking forward to this.
Happily shocked at today's sunshine, perfect for my Keukenhof visit!
See you later

[ed the head]

13 May
Off to Leiden at some point to be determined later, now off on a cannabis hunt!

Well, this always happens.
I start a Travel Log with the very best of intent, but I get lost in Amsterdam.


I have to backtrack a bit, so I don't forget the two fantastic Bulldog Hostel stories told by Robert and Matt respectively. I won't bore you with details, just jotting it down so I don't forget really. First is Robert's story about an old man with a long white beard tripping who found the back stairs that let out by the lounge, and what happened when he walked through the wild dance party wearing only sunglasses. Matt's story also involved a sleep walker who first sat on his bed, then his head before he got up and walked him back to his empty bed. As he walked back, he noticed a sheen on the floor, then on his bags and he realized the fucker had pissed on his bags.

But back to 13 May, I dodged the rain up to ErsteHulp. It was brimming with customers, people literally out the door waiting to get in. I heard a few of my younger visitors talking up the Moonrocks they had and suspected that was the culprit. I waited a couple of minutes and realized it was really just two large, inexperienced groups so I made my way in. Before long I had the attention of one the bud-tenders who seemed relieved to have a relatively well seasoned consumer in front of him. Polite, but to the point I made my query. They were out of the Blueberry Haze, so I was a bit disappointed, but I opted for 2 grams Lemon Have, 2 grams White Widow, and 1 gram of Pineapple Express Hash.

Now, back to the hotel to pack for my overnight in Leiden. I underestimated the weight of the gift liquor and was glad I didn't opt for 2 more bottles as I trudged to Centraal Station.

Their Lammenschanz location required a track change at Leiden, and in typical Dutch fashion, we walked home from the train station.
It was great to see them and a great relief to offload the liquor. They also loved my souvenir Mekka 17 tee shirts, and had made ready my special smoking spot on their balcony



Great dinner, nice drinks out. We Facetime with my wife.

They were opting out of Keukenhof because Yulma caught a cold and wanted to avoid crowds. Keukenhof AMAZED me with it's beauty. Must be seen, preferably stoned.



Here finally one of me with William 'The Man' of Orange, my hero: I have dozens of other amazing Keukenhof shots
really a fantastic trip well worth the effort, but MIND THE SEASONAL OPENING! NO TULIPS OUTSIDE OF APRIL AND MAY!!



Was amazed with the aforementioned Pineapple Express hash, and looking forward to hooking up with DLN!

Grey Area
2 grams Grey Berry €5/gram
1 gram NLX
1 gram Grey Haze
€34

[ed the head]

15 May
Batcave
1 x cArAmElO;
1x Caramel Cream;
1x AK47 Block;
1x Lavender Kush Block
1g Silver Bubble
1g Love Potion;
2g of LA Kush



Just into the Lavender

Wow...

[ed the head]

Hash o'clock moves to 12 pm

[ed the head]

17 May - it hits 84F

Voyagers
1 gram 24 Karat
1 gram Fromage Bleu

Dampkring
1 gram AK47
2 grams Cheese

Voyagers 3.3 grams Fromage Bleu

Siberie 3.2 grams Lavender Haze

Eerste Hulp 4 grams Blueberry Haze
4 grams Pineapple Hash

[texasxsmoker]

Staying at voyagers in 3 weeks, wondering which of those two strains were a standout for you?

[gromit]

i guess you forgot your camera,...

[ed the head]

Staying at voyagers in 3 weeks, wondering which of those two strains were a standout for you?

Fromage Bleu without doubt
Didn't like the taste of the 24karat

[ed the head]

i guess you forgot your camera,...

Sorry Gromit, really more the challenges of posting the pics to the forum 'in time'

[gromit]

i guess you forgot your camera,...

exactly,...

[CopenhagenCouple]

Thanks for this Ed, as always a nice and personal write up from you, really enjoy these.