Also, the link to the few pictures I took at the time.
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Part 1
Friday 31st December 2004
We had arrived, via EasyJet from London Gatwick, to the Centraal Station around 10 in the morning of December 31. I had gone with two friends (one an Amsterdam virgin) and our first call of duty was to stock up on smoking accessories at a Damrak souvenir shop – being a pipe smoker I chose a smart little pipe, which held surprisingly a lot of weed, to be my loyal companion for the next 4 days. It didn’t matter that we had no sleep the night before out of excitement and an early drive to the airport, as the surreal atmosphere of Amsterdam was absorbing into our bodies (all without visiting a coffeeshop!).
It wasn’t long before we made our way to Pink Floyd, as firstly I knew this to be a great value for weed shop and on my last visit in the summer had spent a day chatting with one of the budtenders in the shop – he wasn’t there that day but was to be working the next few; but the friendly helpful manner seemed apparent with all the staff in this shop. I tried a couple of grams of the Sensi-Star weed which within minutes made me having that feeling of ‘coming-home’, plus we got my favourite table just under the tv in the corner! Not long before we got into a mellow state, then the first firecracker of the day went of right by the window – just a taste of what was to come I guess.
I have no clue how long we spent in Pink Floyd, as time seems to stand still when in Amsterdam and replaced by the difference of light and dark
We wanted to stock up on weed for the night, not knowing where we will end up at midnight, so my friends asked me to take them to either Tweede Kamer or the Dampkring as we heard of their good menu selection. I say they asked me to take them as I feel I know Amsterdam like the back of my hand after all the reading up I did before this trip (thanks Ignatzmice) and I am pretty good at remembering places after a couple if visits in general. I thought this was a great chance for a sneaky look down the Singel RLD before we unveiled the greatness of the Wallen RLD in the evening to my first-time friend. Walking down the Singel on the east side it wasn’t long before a glimmer of redness hit my eye – no matter how many times I see a red light kamer I still feel like a kid in a sweet shop.
First lady was an average looking Asian women followed by, in a lower down kamer, a very pretty older lady (I am 23 so anything above 30 would be in the older women category without sounding rude). I’m not sure if it was the luxuries of Pink Floyd, the brief glamour of the RLD or the bloody freezing cold – but both my friends had a pretty numb look on their face.
Despite the cold and likelihood of rain, we chose to look at the Dampkring first as of the many high reviews on various websites – we walked in the door and that was about as far as we could move, I almost expected Matt Damon or Brad Pitt to be there for an autograph sessions it was that crammed. Tweede Kamer it was! I was surprised at the size of the Tweede Kamer, not sure what I was expecting but I thought it would be bigger than it was. All the tables were occupied so I purchased some NYC Diesel and Hawaiian Haze and moved on – both nice smoke, especially the Hawaiian.
As we were in that general direction, The Noon was the next destination as we heard of the €25 for 5g of Blueberry deal (well worth it!!!) This was another shop I kind of expected to be larger inside, but it had a really cool plant and tree like theme inside – and they also served possibly the nicest (and largest) cup of coffee we found in Amsterdam. 3 or 4 coffees later and we thought it would be a good idea to find the hotel, as we didn’t have the best idea where it was, before it got too dark.
Now we knew the hotel was out the way and a 10-15min tram ride into to town, but we decided on walking to the hotel to get some fresh air in our lungs for probably the only time in 3 days
and also just because Amsterdam is an amazing city to walk around just to look at the buildings and surroundings. I thought the walk would take 40-50mins max. Nearly 2 bloody hours later we saw the sign for the Hotel Niuew Slotania (in Slotermerleen – not 100% on the spelling) **mental note** Check a full-scale map of Amsterdam before booking the hotel next time (what a twat!). Fortunately the tram and bus service was impeccable (unlike here in England) and wasn’t long before we were propping the bar up in Stone’s Café in Warmoesstraat, sipping a mug of chilled Heineken. I wish I could go into more detail the facts and events this new years eve – but I think the combination of beer, weed and getting on for 40 hours with no sleep go hold of all 3 of us. I know we were somewhere down Damrak at midnight and I remember another couple of bars in Warmoesstraat – but the rest still hasn’t come back to me. Thinking back, we were lucky to direct ourselves onto the right night-bus, which must have been getting on for 3 or 4 in the morning.
The night, although hard to remember, was most enjoyable; but we just had the consequence of getting up in the morning so not to waste our few days in Amsterdam. A free continental breakfast and half a dozen orange juices later and we were sitting top floor in the Blues Brothers coffeeshop – I bought some weed with Watermelon in the name, although I didn’t need to with a handful of other bags still from the day before.
Today’s plan was coffeeshops during the day leading up to a night on the RLD. We ended up spending much of the day walking (what a time for my bad knee to bugger up for the first time in a year!!!!) Dr Ferrets prescription ~ a bag of White Russian from Mellow Yellow
During the day we also picked up 3 bags of Mexican mushrooms (lucky to get them dried as the taste is rancid enough – let alone fresh ones) for when we get back to the hotel.
But on to the RLD………….
…………in Part 2
my first coffee shop and the table where yer pal is sittin is the first place i ever smoked a joint in the dam...... ah, MEMORIES!
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