18 May 2011 - Das Lied Von Der Erde

[StonedSince67]

18 May 2011 - Das Lied Von Der Erde

monday 16 may 2011

i left my village on the bus much earlier than maybe i needed to because i like to get to my train well in time so that i don't start the trip worrying ... the train was on time leaving the station, the journey was event-free and the train was on time to harwich international ... my cabin did indeed have a porthole, huge in fact, which i like to look out of and keep in touch with the journey and the morning's sunrise over the netherlands

tuesday 17 may

the boat arrived and docked on time in hoek van holland haven, the sprinter train left on time and i managed to change trains in rotterdam with only the smallest of confusions ... i arrived in amsterdam centraal by 1015 ... amazing

the first stop was downstairs in the station to buy an "oude kaas" cheese roll for when i got hungry as i hadn't had breakfast yet ... the second stop was at the gvb office to ask them how much credit i had on my anonymous gvb chipcard for the trams and buses in amsterdam ... there was seven something euros on the card, so i decided to add a fiver to make it some number over ten euros ... i don't use the trams very often, but when i do it is because i am tired from too much walking that day or because my knee is hurting

the third stop was to get the number 2 tram to leidesplein and head to the hotel ... after greeting my favourite staff member in the hotel i was able to check-in to my room and then sit down with a couple of cups of lovely freshly-brewed dutch coffee and have a nice long chat with the staff member about this and that since the last time i stayed there ... then it was to time to head out, so i unpacked my rucksack and made it ready for hitting the streets

the next stop was at the cash machine where my transaction was cancelled due to "insufficient funds" ... this was worrying ... then i thought i just might have asked for too many euros and put myself over the limit of the card (which i didn't actually know), so i tried again with a smaller amount and it worked ... first real panic of the trip over then, whew!

so now i had checked-in, i had my rucksack all ready for my adventures, and finally i had sufficient funds to have a fun day

my first coffeeshop was a return visit to la tertulia, a coffeeshop that has become very quickly one of my top three ... i asked for a gram of super silver haze, prepared it easily by hand for my first (pure as usual) joint of the trip which was lovely and did the business ... then with a coffee i settled down to do something i have been wanting to do for awhile, namely to read a book in a coffeeshop whilst smoking fine weed and drinking coffee

i had brought two books with me, peter mayne's a year in marrakesh and bruce chatwin's the songlines ... the peter mayne book i started on the train to harwich and got into quite quickly and finished it on the train to amsterdam ... i had read the bruce chatwin book the songlines a couple of times back in the lates 80s, but i was looking forward to reading it again on this journey ... well with the book and the smoke and coffee and the time just to be able to read, it was a small bit of heaven

La Tertulia
Super Silver Haze - 12e/gram - a lovely example, in good condition, easy to prepare by hand

after a second joint and a couple more short chapters of my book i then made my way up prinsengracht to paradox, another coffeeshop in my top three

the welcome in paradox was as warm as ever ... i love this place ... and finally today i could say the words that had been rattling around my mind for months "a gram of super silver haze please, and a bit of the moroccan wash and a coffee, black please, and a piece of spacecake" ... and it was all just as great as i remembered it ... good old paradox

unusually it was a quiet day in the shop and i had chance to have a good chat with the owner about this and that and it was all very pleasant ... and with the haze and the hash i was very nicely stoned, just as stoned as i had hoped to be at this point in the trip

Paradox
Super Silver Haze - 12e/gram - excellent, very sticky bud, very nice stone
Wash - 12e for 0.8 grams - very nice strong moroccan stone
Spacecake - 6e - simply the best spacecake in town, strong and tasty

after about three hours at paradox i headed out to basjoe, the third coffeeshop of my top three ... james and crew were in good form and to my delight they had some g13 haze, something i have been wanting to try ever since i saw it on the menu some time ago ... well it was a strong stone with perhaps not as much flavour as their amnesia haze, but very nice when you want something with a heavier effect

Basjoe
G13 Haze - 15e/gram - very strong haze, good condition, easy to prepare by hand

over the next two hours or so i smoked a couple more g13 haze joints with the moroccan wash added to make them just a touch stronger and tastier ... and then realised that the travelling was catching up with me, so headed to the leidseplein maoz for a falafel and then back to the hotel

before i rolled a good-night smoke i thought i would just lie down for a minute to stretch my weary body and the next time i looked at the clock it was 1130pm ... so i just called it a day

wednesday 18 may

this was the day of the concert and the reason for the trip ... i was going to listen to one of my favourite pieces of music (gustav mahler's das lied von der erde) being played by one of the world's greatest orchestras (koninklijk concertgebouworkest) at one of the world's greatest concert halls (het concertgebouw)

it was very important that i didn't overdo the coffeeshop crawl today as i needed to stay awake for the concert

after the usual excessive consumption of the hotel's very good dutch coffee at breakfast i headed off to the cash machine to get more funds for the day, then headed off to the albert cuyp market to buy a blend of pepper found in the shop named the peperbol ... it is called a 4-season pepper as it has black, white, red and green peppercorns and is the most lovely addition to a dish when freshly ground at the table ... it is a family favourite and i buy a fresh supply every time i am in amsterdam ... there are three sizes of packet and the smallest one is only 1.50e and makes a nice gift for friends

De Peperbol
Albert Cuypstraat 150
Amsterdam-zuid
Peper 4 Seizoenen
4 Soorten Peper: Groen, Rood, Wit en Zwart

then i headed to a travel book and map shop on overtoom and managed to include vondelpark in the route so i could have a nice outdoor on-the-move smoke ... in the shop i found a guide book i had been looking for about the smaller more private campsites to be found in the netherlands ... i had been trying to find this information for some time since reading about them in the travel section of one of the sunday newspapers

Reiseboekhandel Pied a Terre
Overtoom 135-137
Amsterdam

then it was time to hit paradox (another gram of super silver haze and more moroccan wash) and basjoe (still working my way through the two grams of g13 haze) again before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the concert ... at paradox i had bought an extra piece of spacecake for my "supper" so while i was changing into my smarter set of clothes i nibbled on the very nice but strong paradox spacecake, which is not only strong but very tasty as well

well the concert was fabulous, fantastic, wonderful, sublime ... it was great ... the mahler symphony is certainly a piece of music that is very exciting to watch being played ... there are loud parts with lots of movement in the orchestra and then there are quiet parts with maybe only one flute being played, its length being illuminated by the overhead spotlights and appearing to float in the air by itself

it took one very strong g13 haze and moroccan wash joint to end the evening and get to sleep ... it was very exciting to watch the performance ... as a child i had been taken by my mother occasionally to see the chicago symphony orchestra play, so i grew up watching classical music being played by real people ... when i listened to my mother's classical records, i could imagine the orchestra playing the piece ... recently i realised i hadn't seen a big piece of music being played for quite a long time and when i found out about the mahler concert, i decided that i just must go ... so i based a short trip around just that one event ... and it was certainly worth it in the end

thursday 19 may

after breakfast i had to pack to check-out, but as i only had a small rucksack packing was easy and i smoothed the trauma of leaving by a couple of g13 haze and moroccan wash joints

it was when i was rolling the morning's joints that i realised i was running out of my small silver rizla papers and out of weed as well ... a quick assessment of my stock and i thought i could just about make it to the end of the day before i had to board the train without having to buy and possibly have to leave behind any more weed ... it was a "just about" thing and i knew i would have to find something to fill that last hour or so in the shop before hitting the train

after a final smoke and checking-out i spent the rest of the morning exploring the jordaan again looking for gevelstenen, the stone tablets that adorn the fronts of the houses and other buildings ... at lunchtime i went back to paradox for a refreshing mint tea and to finish my stash of paradox super silver haze

soon it was time to head out to the maoz at leidseplein for my final falafel meal, a cheap but tasty, filling and healthy option

my final coffeeshop was basjoe ... i explained my problem to james about having almost enough smoke to fill the time, but i needed a small amount of something to finish the trip off ... well he had just finished rolling a zillion pre-rolls for his little plastic tub and he mentioned that they were heaven haze ... as i hadn't tried this variety yet, i thought this was the perfect opportunity to have a taste of basjoe's third haze ... in the end it was a big enough joint for me to need to light it twice while i was reading my book and finishing my coffee and orange fanta (love the dutch orange fanta)

finally it was time to head to the train station to catch the train and then the ferry back home

friday 20 may

the trip consisted of one concert and three free days for doing whatever and it ended up being a great little trip ... i spent more time than normal just in the coffeeshops, but much of that time was spent reading my book, something which i really enjoyed ... i managed to fit in two walk-abouts in the jordaan looking for gevelstenen ... i smoked all the time at my usual rate and still i couldn't break the two grams of weed a day ceiling ... if you add the 1.6 grams of the moroccan wash, then i did manage to achieve just over two grams a day ... but even that still puts me in the lightweight division oh well that's just me ... the interesting thing is that the amount of a gram and a bit is much the same as i have ever smoked in a day ever since beginning to get stoned in the late 60s

the best gram of the trip was a really sticky bud of super silver haze from paradox ... it was a delight to prepare by hand and i realised yet again how much i love good marijuana

happy smoking ...

[spidergawd]

Nice TR there mate, thanks for taking the time to post. I'm the same as you, just enough to get high and buzz does me, and some event to focus the trip. .

[Marco]

Love Mahler too, nice write up. next time, don't be a stranger. Peace!

[Twichaldinho]

Man, I wish I could smoke 2 grams a day I'm such an addict
Top reprtage SS67. I can clearly remember trying to read a paper in LaTertulia, under the influence of SSH mixed with Iceolator...I gave up and played tetris on my mobile

[darkglobe]

Nice report SS67...s'great to go for a specific reason ...i went just to see a film once ...but theres no way i can read a book in a c/s,my mind wanders too much and realise i dont remember anything i've read

[Cisco]

Great wee report Stoney me ol plum sounds like it was a perfectly civilised chill time ?! cheers

[quiky]

Reading at the coffeeshop, taking in a concert .... '67, you do things right.

[Nimrod]

That was a nice read. Love the bits of panic.

I too, had planned a visit around a concert that turned out very well. It just HAD to be done.

Thank you for sharing.

[cattales1960]

thanks for sharing SS. Sounds like a good trip.

[geoffk]

Great read. I love finding the tablets too, they were used instead of street numbers. Napoleon made them go to the standard street numbers during the occupation.

[Dr Greenshed]

nice reporting man, i usually go alone or with mrs on the boat like you did mate, have to time our crossings soon!!
cheers
doc

[ftcarer]

Excellent

[Dimon]

Really good read .I am more into a Rock Music but i feel you, symphonic music can really grab you.Really pleasant story Stoned since 67 make me wanna go there.

[Dimon]

Double post for some reason

[Boner]

How did I miss this? cracking read there, thanks for taking the time and thanks for enjoy the ssh @ paradox, lovely smoke.