Amsterdam August trip
Posted: Thu 14th Oct 2010 05:46 pm
It had been 3 yrs since my last trip - this time we went by boat from Newcastle to Amsterdam as my friend won't fly. Massive expense and I recommend you just take a KLM flight if possible.
Boat is OK, but Commodore Deluxe Cabin is a must (at great expense) as the boat entertainment is dire. Avoid the buffet, it's rotten. But try the al carte restaurant for a steak - very good quality of meat, great service. Massive price again lolz.
Day 1
-------
We stayed at an apartment 5 mins from Liedesplein and about 25 minutes walk from central station. http://www.apartmentpaul.com See Apartment H1. 2 bedrooms, good price, smoking allowed. Stereo is provided but single audio jack so make sure you got a single audio jack to single audio jack for iPod or whatever. DVD player included, but does not play DVD-Rs so original discs only in region 2. Internet available but not wireless - so take a laptop/netbook or a wireless adapter which would plug into a network port. A long network cable is supplied however. Private parking also available. The most awesome thing about the apartment is the balcony. It gives great view of a canal and you can just watch Amsterdam going by. My friend doesn't smoke and he spent hours on the balcony listening to Bob Dylan just to show you how good it was!
I had many plans to visit x/y/z coffeeshop but it all went out the window lolz. The weather was blazing hot so we walked around for no less than 4 hours as soon as we left the apartment. After checking out various coffeeshops, I carefully chose some Ketama Gold at Hill Street Blues for my first smoke. I remember this as a light smoke - hell no, this batch was at least medium strength. I was baked damn quickly.
Next stop was 420 for Nevilles Haze. I had a load of this a few years back which had been UK grown and it was just the best. I was skeptical if an Amsterdam coffeeshop could deliver the same quality, and I was right. Although pleasent, it had been tumbled and seived considerably. It did look exactly as I remembered it so genuine article however.
Pretty much day #1 was over with all our walking. We hit Sichuan Food for dinner which is superb.
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant ... lland.html
Back to the flat and some major smoking. Baked, I go to bed.
Day 2
-------
Woke up, rolled a spliff, smoked it on the balcony. Went back to bed. Bliss lolz.
Eventually got up and we hit Amnesia. Last time I got some Mountain High there and it was awesome. Sadly, none. So I picked a creme and Tbzila. OK. Girls working in Amnesia are uber snotty and totally unmellow but the new decor is great. Had a strawberry milkshake and can say it was the best ever I've ever tried.
The creme was OK, sort of high quality black.
The Tbzila was recommended to me by this forum. Just great, it got you stoned, slightly ripped then back to a stoned/mellowness ideal for cruisin Amsterdam. Thanks to the forum for that one!
Next stop was Grey Area. I picked a black medium strength hash on recommendation from the guy who runs the coffeeshop. It was OK, but the creme from Amnesia was better. I will say the guy is uber-friendly and has a great attitude in the Grey Area.
Next stop Dampkring and I picked something off the Riffman range, one of the weaker hashes. Not great but whatever, it didn't claim to be awesome.
I was very disappointed to find the Sensi Coffeeshop, which only sold seeds but allowed smoking and drinks was now seeds only. This was my favourite coffeeshop. I was always liked the way it didn't have a stupid thru fair of traffic and people wouldn't get by the front door once they realised it didn't sell weed. This was definitely my favourite coffeeshop to sit in.
More walking around, then I decided to load up on falafael and shorma for late night munchies. I nipped into one of the main shorma places near Liedesplein where the guy tried to bump me for 10 euros. When I caught him he proclaimed he had smoked too much. I then had to add it up for him. I'm not an easy tourist to trap lolz.
By the evening my buddies legs where chaffed to a painful point so he crashed out and I hit the casino to play some poker. For those of you who play, there is usually a tournament running on Saturday and also a cash game. The cash game was super soft, full of bad players. I didn't get lucky but left 50 euros down. It was quite funny to sit there and dudes speak to you in Dutch thinking you're from Amsterdam. I kinda felt with this and the flat, for a brief moment, I lived in the Dam....a special moment lolz.
Back to the flat and my buddy was still crashed out. So a quiet evening watching TV and getting stoned.
Day 3
-------
Sunday I got up, smoked a joint on the balcony, back to bed. Rinse repeat. Utter bliss.
My legs were killing me. Sadly the food was done. So I had to get my ass out to load up on munchies and sit in for the rest of the day getting ripped watching Mighty Boosh. There are quite a few little delis selling sushi, malaysian curries, greek food etc. along Spuistraat and obv all the cake shops.
Loaded with food I cemented myself to the couch and got stoned beyond belief. I think I managed 12 joints in total for the day. Might sound boring but my legs were dead and the chaffing had killed me. Vaseline on my thighs in future hahahaha.
Day 3
-------
This was the last full day, and tbh I can barely remember what happened, it was kinda like a stoned haze lolz. Essentially more walking around and we ended up at http://www.debijenkorf.nl/ on the top floor for lunch. What a place to eat - chinese stir fry station, grill, great salad bar, incredible cakes. It was just the best, far superior to anything back home.
Day 4
-------
Home. Well not quite, we had 24 hours of driving/being on the boat. I'm getting a comedown just thinking about it lolz. But what a trip. It was definitely a different experience going with a non-smoker buddy and also having a flat vs a hotel. With the flat you hang out there a lot more and kinda feel like you live there.
Thanks again to the recomendations for hash pre-trip - the Tbzila was ideal and someone else recommended Shiraz which I tried also and it was sweet too. Overall I felt the hash came from 3 plants - the black, the blonde and the Ketama. Tbzila etc. are definitely just different grades, so the stong isn't vastly different. And of course, Dam grass sucks ballz. UK grass from the right source is much better as it's flushed more and not seived.
Peace out smokers!
Boat is OK, but Commodore Deluxe Cabin is a must (at great expense) as the boat entertainment is dire. Avoid the buffet, it's rotten. But try the al carte restaurant for a steak - very good quality of meat, great service. Massive price again lolz.
Day 1
-------
We stayed at an apartment 5 mins from Liedesplein and about 25 minutes walk from central station. http://www.apartmentpaul.com See Apartment H1. 2 bedrooms, good price, smoking allowed. Stereo is provided but single audio jack so make sure you got a single audio jack to single audio jack for iPod or whatever. DVD player included, but does not play DVD-Rs so original discs only in region 2. Internet available but not wireless - so take a laptop/netbook or a wireless adapter which would plug into a network port. A long network cable is supplied however. Private parking also available. The most awesome thing about the apartment is the balcony. It gives great view of a canal and you can just watch Amsterdam going by. My friend doesn't smoke and he spent hours on the balcony listening to Bob Dylan just to show you how good it was!
I had many plans to visit x/y/z coffeeshop but it all went out the window lolz. The weather was blazing hot so we walked around for no less than 4 hours as soon as we left the apartment. After checking out various coffeeshops, I carefully chose some Ketama Gold at Hill Street Blues for my first smoke. I remember this as a light smoke - hell no, this batch was at least medium strength. I was baked damn quickly.
Next stop was 420 for Nevilles Haze. I had a load of this a few years back which had been UK grown and it was just the best. I was skeptical if an Amsterdam coffeeshop could deliver the same quality, and I was right. Although pleasent, it had been tumbled and seived considerably. It did look exactly as I remembered it so genuine article however.
Pretty much day #1 was over with all our walking. We hit Sichuan Food for dinner which is superb.
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant ... lland.html
Back to the flat and some major smoking. Baked, I go to bed.
Day 2
-------
Woke up, rolled a spliff, smoked it on the balcony. Went back to bed. Bliss lolz.
Eventually got up and we hit Amnesia. Last time I got some Mountain High there and it was awesome. Sadly, none. So I picked a creme and Tbzila. OK. Girls working in Amnesia are uber snotty and totally unmellow but the new decor is great. Had a strawberry milkshake and can say it was the best ever I've ever tried.
The creme was OK, sort of high quality black.
The Tbzila was recommended to me by this forum. Just great, it got you stoned, slightly ripped then back to a stoned/mellowness ideal for cruisin Amsterdam. Thanks to the forum for that one!
Next stop was Grey Area. I picked a black medium strength hash on recommendation from the guy who runs the coffeeshop. It was OK, but the creme from Amnesia was better. I will say the guy is uber-friendly and has a great attitude in the Grey Area.
Next stop Dampkring and I picked something off the Riffman range, one of the weaker hashes. Not great but whatever, it didn't claim to be awesome.
I was very disappointed to find the Sensi Coffeeshop, which only sold seeds but allowed smoking and drinks was now seeds only. This was my favourite coffeeshop. I was always liked the way it didn't have a stupid thru fair of traffic and people wouldn't get by the front door once they realised it didn't sell weed. This was definitely my favourite coffeeshop to sit in.
More walking around, then I decided to load up on falafael and shorma for late night munchies. I nipped into one of the main shorma places near Liedesplein where the guy tried to bump me for 10 euros. When I caught him he proclaimed he had smoked too much. I then had to add it up for him. I'm not an easy tourist to trap lolz.
By the evening my buddies legs where chaffed to a painful point so he crashed out and I hit the casino to play some poker. For those of you who play, there is usually a tournament running on Saturday and also a cash game. The cash game was super soft, full of bad players. I didn't get lucky but left 50 euros down. It was quite funny to sit there and dudes speak to you in Dutch thinking you're from Amsterdam. I kinda felt with this and the flat, for a brief moment, I lived in the Dam....a special moment lolz.
Back to the flat and my buddy was still crashed out. So a quiet evening watching TV and getting stoned.
Day 3
-------
Sunday I got up, smoked a joint on the balcony, back to bed. Rinse repeat. Utter bliss.
My legs were killing me. Sadly the food was done. So I had to get my ass out to load up on munchies and sit in for the rest of the day getting ripped watching Mighty Boosh. There are quite a few little delis selling sushi, malaysian curries, greek food etc. along Spuistraat and obv all the cake shops.
Loaded with food I cemented myself to the couch and got stoned beyond belief. I think I managed 12 joints in total for the day. Might sound boring but my legs were dead and the chaffing had killed me. Vaseline on my thighs in future hahahaha.
Day 3
-------
This was the last full day, and tbh I can barely remember what happened, it was kinda like a stoned haze lolz. Essentially more walking around and we ended up at http://www.debijenkorf.nl/ on the top floor for lunch. What a place to eat - chinese stir fry station, grill, great salad bar, incredible cakes. It was just the best, far superior to anything back home.
Day 4
-------
Home. Well not quite, we had 24 hours of driving/being on the boat. I'm getting a comedown just thinking about it lolz. But what a trip. It was definitely a different experience going with a non-smoker buddy and also having a flat vs a hotel. With the flat you hang out there a lot more and kinda feel like you live there.
Thanks again to the recomendations for hash pre-trip - the Tbzila was ideal and someone else recommended Shiraz which I tried also and it was sweet too. Overall I felt the hash came from 3 plants - the black, the blonde and the Ketama. Tbzila etc. are definitely just different grades, so the stong isn't vastly different. And of course, Dam grass sucks ballz. UK grass from the right source is much better as it's flushed more and not seived.
Peace out smokers!
