Lamont's Live Report - Jan 1-12

[The_Green_Bastard]

what an amazing trip report, thank you very much indeed my friend.

[Lamont]

Enjoyed your reports and pix Lamont ...nice gig . Look forward to a wrap up when you get stateside . You should talk them into a return in June ,when the sun never seems to stay down very long .

Actually I'm already back home and have been since the 13th. My original plan to do a live report the whole time went up in smoke. Besides it's more fun writing it at home as I can take my time and relive the experience.

I would love to return again in the spring but doubt it would be for work....now that the office is set up there is no reason for me to go there in a work capacity.

Are you using the new Chipcard to get around ?

No I just picked up a 168 hour tram/metro pass once my All-in-one 96 hour pass expired.

[Lamont]

Day 10 - Monday

Today was to be a very busy day at work, with all the users moving into their new office space and settling in. It was a bright and clear morning and I was there at 8 am. The new office was such an improvement for the users that they were kind of like kids on Christmas morning. As you can see the building is practically brand new, with contruction of additional buildings in the complex still going on. This area of Amsterdam is certainly booming from a business perspective.



Even though there were no major issues I still ended up working until 8 pm. A very long day indeed and it was a cold walk back to the Arena metro station and from there back to my hotel. It was so cold for this California boy that I had to put on long underwear before venturing out into the night. Given the late hour I wasn't up for hitting multiple shops so I made my way to my "local", Amnesia.

First order of business on arriving was a hot drink to warm up. Ordered the Hot Chocolate, and was rewarded with a lovely example of the species with mounds of whipped cream on top. (2.40 euro) Yum! Next stop, bud counter. Given that I was leaving in less than 48 hours at this point I probably should have been slowing down on the gear purchases, but I couldn't help myself. Another gram of the very awesome G13 was in order (14 euro/gram). I also picked up some Caramello hash on the recommendation of the budtender (sorry my notes don't indicate a price). I borrowed a bong from the tender to sample the Caramello. The only thing I don't really like about Amnesia is that you have to give a 20 euro deposit for the bong, no other shops I've been to require that. But since I never plan on breaking it I guess it's not a huge deal as I get the 20 euros back....

The caramello hash was very nice with a lovely flavor and nice warm fuzzy stone. Not my favorite hash of the trip but still very nice. After finishing up with that I rolled up a J of the Head Band (aka Sour Kush) that I picked up from Voyager's earlier in the week. This was also a very nice smoke, really enjoyable way to finish off the evening. Thorougly medicated, I made my way back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

I'll finish this installment with a few photos from random days on my trip.

Random location (can anyone identify? ):


Sapharti Park:


Variation on my earlier Singel evening shot:



Thanks for reading and all the positive feedback. Next installment - toke and talk with Gapie and Bleak @ Anyday!

[Lamont]

Day 11 - Tuesday (Jan 11)

This day was to be my last full day in the 'Dam and my last working day in the office. With the successful rollout of the office the day before I knew that I had to at least make an appearance at work on this day, but was planning on leaving early so I could enjoy one last afternoon wandering the streets and coffeeshops of Mokum. So it was up early for my usual shower/shave/brekkie and then off to Centraal and the Metro to work. I figured the earlier I got in the earlier I could get out. On the way to the station I smoked a joint of the lovely G13 I had bought the night before from Amnesia. Just a great strain with a wonderful sativa high that got me up and running for work.

I managed to finish up at work and get out the door at 3pm. I was hoping for an even earlier departure but tidying up all those loose ends just takes a while. Took my last walk from the office to the Arena metro station while smoking bowls of Chocolope out of my mini glass pipe. Up to this point I hadn't really gotten to do my usual walk through the Jordaan or visit Paradox so that was first on the agenda today. So back on the metro towards Centraal Station, but instead of riding it all the way in I got off at Waterlooplien station and then transferred over to the #14 tram bound for Slotermeer. Rode it for about 11 minutes then hopped off at Westermarkt. From there I walked west crossing Prinsengracht and eventually made a right onto Eerste Bloemdwarsstraat. After just a couple minutes the familiar white sign and vine covered entrance of Paradox hove into view.

Entering the shop it there were 3 or 4 tables occupied and the counter manned by a very tall Dutch person who greeted me warmly enough. My main reason for coming here was to pick up some of their legendary space cake for the airplane ride home, but I couldn't resist asking to see their wiet menu as well. Perusing the menu the Super Silver Haze caught my eye, as I hadn't really gotten a great example of that on this trip so far. I asked him how the SSH was right now and his reply was "Super" with a grin. He offered up a few pre-bagged samples for me to look over. I opened one and took a sniff, it definitely passed the taste test so I selected a bag with a nice fat nug in it. SSH was 12 euros/gram. That sorted I also asked for one slice of the spacecake. He smiled and went into the back to retrieve it from the fridge for me. Price, 6 euros. As mentioned in other reports this space cake is very strong, labeled as containing 1.25g of weed. I'm not sure how they can afford to sell it for only 6 euros, I can definitely confirm it was strong, more details when I get to that point in the report.

Paradox is a nice locals shop and a comfy place to chill, but sadly today I didn't have time as I wanted to get a walk through the Jordaan in as well as hit a few more shops. So it was a buy and fly, I thanked the budtender and headed on my way. Out the door I turned left on Eerste Bloemdwarsstraat heading towards Bloemgracht and the heart of the Jordaan. I absolutely love this part of Amsterdam and always make a point of getting in a walk through this very quiet and beautiful neighborhood. I crossed Bloemgracht and continued north west to Egelantiersgracht, a strong contender for one of the most beautiful canals in the city. It was a quiet afternoon and I really took my time to wander and enjoy it. The peaceful silence was only occasionaly punctuated by the calls of the crows that inhabit this part of the city and the bells of Westerkerk.

Random canal scene:


The tolling of the church bells was a reminder that time was growing shorter for me in this place, so it was time to move on. So I walked east back towards Prinsengracht and then south to Nieuw Leileigracht. From there I crossed Prinsengracht and meandered east along Leileigracht. Next I crossed Keizersgracht and could just make out the decorative lights that were strung across Oude Leileistraat... I was slowly being drawn in by the massive gravitational pull of the quality gear at the Grey Area....

Arriving at Grey Area I was once again lucky enough to find the shop not packed to the rafters and was able to walk right up to the bud counter. Sadly John wasn't working this day so I wasn't able to say my goodbyes to him, but I was treated to another surprise, an updated GA menu! There were two new strains on the menu this day, C13 and something called "Recon", both 12.50 euro/gram. Excited about something new to try I asked to see the C13. When he opened the tub and placed it in front of me I was rewarded with a wonderful smell and some amazing buds. Oh yes, 1 gram of THAT please.

Grey Area - C13:


After making my purchases at Grey Area I needed to head back to the hotel to make one last conference call for work. Once that was done I rolled up a few j's from my remaining gear, the first a 1 gram cone of the C13 and the other a mixed cone of a bunch of my leftovers and a healthy pile of Grey Mist Crystals. These were then tucked away for later. A quick Skype call with my family and then it was time to head out the door for a toke and talk that had been scheduled by Stuart1976 for 6pm at Anyday.

Anyday is very close to my hotel so it was a brief walk over there and I arrived just a few minutes after 6pm. Greeted by the friendly budtender I had a look at the menu. A new strain that I had not seen before caught my eye, Honey Dew Haze at 12 euros/gram. After having a look and a smell I couldn't pass this one up and got a gram for the evening's festivities. Also purchased a strawberry looza at 2.20 euro. I saw no obvious signs of any ACD members downstairs and Stuart had said in the TnT post that it would be upstairs so I made my way up the spiral staircase of the shop. Entering the upstairs area I saw...nobody! Oh well guess I'm the first here so I plopped down in a comfy bench in front of one of the Verdampers. I really like the upstairs area in this shop, it's nothing fancy but a very cozy place to hang out. After a few more minutes of waiting no one else had arrived and I was starting to think the TnT was cancelled so I pulled out the iphone and started to review ACD to see if anything had been posted. Just as I was doing that a young guy came bolting up the stairs and into the room. He quickly scanned the room and saw only me and began to back out. I had actually seen this same person earlier in the day rolling joints at Grey Area and at that moment something clicked and I knew at once this had to be Gapie.

"Are you Gapie?" I asked.

"Yes that's me!" he replied and stopped backing out of the room.

"Cool...I'm Lamont and here for the toke and talk." At this point he smiled and related a story of how he had just finished running all the way here from t'Nes to get here on time, and I believed it because he was still catching his breath! He also stated that Bleak was on the way down on his bicycle and he took off his coat and sat down next to me. As he was doing that he spotted Bleak out of the window locking his bike downstairs. While he was finishing that up and makign his purchase downstairs, Gapie and I got started on the very serious business of smoking our brains out.

While we were loading our first verdamper bowl ( I think we started with some Chocolope that Gapie provided from Grey Area), Bleak arrived upstairs and I introduced myself to him. He's a really nice guy and immediately settled in with us on smoking out while we waited to see if anyone else showed up. To be honest I lost count of how many different weeds we smoked but it was A LOT. We started out with several other single strain bowls we smoked (I know there was at least some Cheese, Trainwreck, Silver Bubble), and then we moved on to doing some very creative "mixes.". Standouts included a Caramello weed that Bleak got at Anyday mixed with the Caramello hash that I had from Amnesia. That was an amazing flavor that was incredibly nice in the Verdamper.

Anyday - Verdamper in action:


From there the mixes just got crazy sick, the most amazing mix was a "mega mix" that had 4 kinds of weed and 2 hashes:

Cheese (Bleak private supply)
Caramello wiet (Anyday)
Kashmiri hash (De Graal)
Honey dew haze (Anyday)
Trainwreck (Grey Area)
Grey mist crystals (Grey Area)

Mega mix:


The verdamper kept spinning around between Gapie, Bleak, and I as we continued to smoke all these fine weeds. At one point there was another couple upstairs with us and we talked them into sampling a few hits of our megamix. They got properly stoned and we had a nice time chatting with them and sharing our knowledge of Amsterdam. There were several more mixes that we created but to be honest by this point I was so stoned that the note taking just stopped. Both Bleak and Gapie can smoke prodiguous amounts of weed and I was proud to be able to keep up with them hit for hit on the Verdamper.

No one else ended up showing up at the toke and talk that night but I still had a fabulous time getting to know Gapie and Bleak. After about 2 1/2 hours it was time to move on...before saying my goodbyes I gave Gapie and Bleak each a chunk from the large bag of Kashmiri hash I still had left...there was no way I was going to finish that much hash before I had to go to the airport and I did not want to be tempted to try and smuggle it back into the US! After saying our goodbyes the guys headed off to their respective homes and I went off to find some dinner. Ravenous munchies had kicked in at this point so it was time for one last stop at Wok to Walk which was consumed rapidly back at the hotel.

After dinner it was still relatively early for my last night in Amsterdam and even after the massive smoking session at Anyday I still had a fair amount of weed to get through before leaving the next day. So it was off to Amnesia to put a serious dent in my remaining supplies. I started off with a cappucino from the bar and the lovely C13 cone I had rolled earlier. This was a great smoke with an incredible rushing high that went great with the cappucino....hippy speedball!

After the C13 I moved on to a mixed hash/weed joing containing the rest of the Honey Dew Haze (Anyday), Caramello hash (Amnesia), and Papi Special Hash (Papillon). I finished off the evening with one last Limonana drink (as mentioned before, a must try drink if you are at Amnesia) and the mixed weed joint "augmented" with the last of my Grey Mist Crystals from Grey Area. By this point it was nearing midnight and I still had to pack my suitcase for my early flight the next day so I said my last goodbyes to Amnesia and headed out into the cold night and back to my hotel.

Back at the hotel I completed my packing and rewarded myself by smoking the last of the Kashmiri hash on the roof of the hotel. An amazing last night in Amsterdam, one I'm still remembering with a big smile on my face as I write this report over three weeks later.

Thanks again to Bleak and Gapie for the great smoking session and for being so friendly! You guys are both fine individuals and I hope the next time I am in town we can meet up again.

There will be a little bit more to this report, one last installment covering my last morning in Mokum, the flight home, and final thoughts. I hope to have that done in the next few days. Thanks again for reading!

[NicolasL]

Amazing trip report and beautiful pictures, thank you!

[Crapulinski]

.

[bleak]

Bleak and Gapie can smoke prodiguous amounts of weed

Best compliment EVER!!

It was great meeting you Lamont. Amazing report!! Thanks for all your kind words. Make sure you hit us up next time you're in town.

[Lamont]

Thanks Bleak! If you have any photos from our toke and talk that you want to add feel free to post 'em up here

[cattales1960]

great report lamont

[spidergawd]

Brilliant .

[Boner]

Awesome report.

[Bug]

Thank's for this report Lamont, even if i have not understood every word

[gapie]

sorry if i forgot to say
yeh it was nice to meet ya man

[codejd]

nice report...really enjoyed the read

[Lamont]

Day 12 - Last Day

Morning in Amsterdam is beautful, even when your heart is filled with sadness at leaving....



I had a to make an early connecting flight to Frankfurt so I didn't get the pleasure of one last coffeeshop visit before heading to Centraal station on this trip. I had already said my goodbyes to my favorite shops the day before so this morning it was all about breakfast and final packing. I had one last very filling breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then checked out. I had a good stay at the Renaissance but I would only stay there if work is paying. There are better hotels for the money I think but you cannot beat the location.

The location came in very handy this morning as I needed to haul myself and my luggage over to Centraal station by 8:45 to make it to the airport in time for my connecting flight in Frankfurt. I took a leisurely walk to the station (as leisurely as you can be when it's freezing cold outside. ) and on the way I smoked my last cone, a very nice 1g cone of the SSH I had gotten from Paradox the day before. My first ever weed in Amsterdam on my first trip last August was SSH so I thought it fitting to finish this trip with the same strain, one of my favorites. I also had discovered one more little bag of leftovers when I cleaned out the hotel safe so I finished that up in my little glass pipe while standing on the bridge in front of Centraal, taking one last wistful look over the city.

There is something special about this city, and every time I leave this place, a little part of me is screaming inside: NO! DON'T LEAVE! ( and it's not because of the legal weed) It's because of the unique beauty, history, and cultural flavor of this town - something about it strikes a chord deep inside my soul.

The last of my gear smoked, I ditch the glass piece in the nearest garbage can and turn my back on Mokum, making my way into the station. I scan the departures board to find the next train departing for Schipol and make my to the platform. A few minutes later the train arrives and takes me away, and I can only look out the window at the city drifts away from me.

At the airport check in is problem free, I make my way through security and am on the way to the gate. Along the way I stop at a shop and use the last of my euros stocking up on boxes of Stroopwaffels for home. Those thin little wafers of Dutch goodness will come in very handy as my medicine to recover from post-Amsterdam blues.

The night before I had carefully re-wrapped the Paradox space cake to remove any labels, and it was sitting in my carry on bag ready for consumption. Once I was on the Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, I consumed half the cake per the instructions along with the in-flight snack. The flight to Frankfurt was smooth and there was a lot less snow on the ground than when I had come through here on January 1st. A brief one hour layover was passed in the red carpet lounge at Frankfurt and then off to my gate for the flight to SF. By the time I was esconsced in my business clas seat bound for San Francisco it had been about two hours since I had eaten the first half of the spacecake, and I decided I needed more. So I gobbled up the remaining half, washed down with a glass of in flight champagne.

Now, as testament to the strength of Paradox spacecake, witness the following.... Normally I cannot sleep on planes....I just have a hang up about it at this point, no matter how comfortable the seat (even lie flat beds in business class), I cannot fall asleep. Well, thanks to Paradox this flight was different. Shortly after finishing the in flight meal and watching one movie the entertainment system, I was really starting to feel the warm fuzzy lethargic effects of the cake. I decided to give sleeping a try. The next thing I remember was waking up about 1 hour before landing in San Francisco. PERFECT...thank you Paradox! If only I could arrange to have their space cake for all my long haul flights!!


Epilogue

As the hired car makes it way into my driveway at home, I smile to myself imagining the reception I'm about to receive. Open the door and almost immediately I'm tackled by my three little boys (5 year old and twin 3 year olds) with squals of delight and shouts of "My Daddy!" My wife waits patiently for me to disentangle myself and give her a big hug and kiss.
She smiles at me and says, "Welcome home, we've missed you!"

Here are the final "stats" on my trip

Number of different coffeeshops visited: 12
Grams of weed and hash consumed: 37
Number of Limonana's consumed: 4

Thanks to all for reading and your positive feedback. I hope all your trips will be as fun as mine was, and I hope I get to go back soon! Until I'll just have to imagine myself there....