March 30 to April 3 Visit

[Old Geezer]

I have been back from Amsterdam for almost 5 days now and I'm still having trouble wiping the smile off my face. I have driven my friends crazy with stories. What's left to do but to start planning my next trip.
I was actually in Amsterdam at the end of last December with a couple of friends and between becoming ill and waiting for them to crawl out of bed every morning I didn't see as much of Amsterdam as I would have liked. I also didn't take notes and consequently forgot the names of some strains (I can be a strain whore with the best of them) as well as the names of two coffeeshops. This time I was determined to take detailed notes on everything, pictures as well. As we shall see I only partially succeeded.
I arrived at Central Station at 0830 on 30 March 2012 after a 10 hour flight and walked a couple of hundred meters to my hotel. My room wasn't ready so I checked in the luggage and took off.
What followed was 4 days of fun.
There are a couple of random observations I would like to make about the coffee shops. I read many coffee shop reviews before I came here and there was a lot of criticisms about the attitudes and slow service from the budtenders. That always concerned me as I think : "If they are running a business and are trying to turn a profit then why would they be rude to their customers?" I actually found the service quite good, friendly and helpful in almost every case. All in all I found the people in Amsterdam were quite hospitable and friendly.
I have been smoking since 1968 and have smoked my fair share. I have been able to smoke some quality weed over that time. To be honest the quality and strength of weed today far surpasses that of the 60's and 70's. Back in the seventies all there was to smoke for most people was commercial Colombian and Mexican brickweed. When something good came along, (Hawaiian, quality Mexican), you knew it after the first couple of tokes and life was good. For the past 15 years I have been smoking either outdoor homegrown or indoor hydro. There have been some good smokes during that time but it seems like in the past few years its all been about the same quality wise. Most of the indoor being grown is Indica and I don't particularly like the body stone. Sativas are what get me off and so you can imagine how excited I was to being going to Amsterdam. Alas, I was disappointed and while I never smoked anything that was pure crap I didn't find the sativa I was looking for; the one that takes you on rocket ride. I attribute a lot of that failure to age related changes, as you get older your brain processes THC differently, you experience less euphoria for example. I would appreciate hearing from any older tokers if they have had the same experience.

Anyway I will try to chronicle the events of those four days as I can and will start with Friday and go day by day. As geekymonkey has already done a professional smoke report I will not be near as detailed. Also I forgot to take pictures of any of the buds, a few joints and my short term memory is gone.

[Old Geezer]

Day One 30 March 2012

First stop after hotel was Central.
1 gm of Amnesia Haze. Had this on my last trip and it was quite nice. I was talking with a dude from Georgia (I ain't never going back) and he had a couple of places to stop and that he would take me to the Bluebird. A short walk later we are at the Bluebird, he heads off to work and I climb the stairs, (lots of steep narrow stairs in Amsterdam). By now the Amnesia Haze has fully kicked in and I experience a touch of paranoia. I bought 1 gm of Chocolope and a gm of Moroccan hash (can't read note as to what kind), budtender said it was very fresh. Smoked joint of Chocolope, it was ok but didn't add a lot to my buzz. I didn't try hash. Walk back toward Central Station and stop in at a Seed Shop just to see what they had. Amazing variety of seeds. They guy behind the counter recommended I stop in at Voyagers and I could try one of their seeds strains. I make the walk to Voyagers which is just around the corner from Central. Their strain was Kaligria and I bought a gram and tried it in a Vaporizer which one of the staff was kind enough to show me how it works as you don't see a lot of those where I come from. Kaligria was ok, nice taste, didn't add much to the high. Hung out there for awhile, its a nice place to chill, not very large but met a few people and am sure I bought and smoked something else but no record of it. One thing is readily apparent and that is that the weed here is dried and cured properly, burns down to a fine light ash. Finally around 1500 I call it a day, I've been up for 33 hrs straight and I was ready to crash. Woke up at 1800 after a restless nap. Got ready and hit the door. Warmoesstraat is just around the corner from where I'm staying and so off I go. Stopped at the Burger Bar across from Hunters. Pretty good burger but I'm not here to eat. Step across the Street to Hunter's. I picked up .5 gm of Nevil's Haze (17,50 euros a gm), 1 gm of Sensi Star (bedtime smoke), .5 gm Moroccan Hash - Casablanca. Was directed by budtender to Hunter's bar where you could have a beer with your joint. (Ain't life grand?). Walked into to the bar and there were a few rowdy people there at 1830, in Texas you'd call this a "Honky Tonk" Anyway pick up a pint of Murphy's Stout, Elvis is on the sound system. I notice as I'm rolling up the Nevils Haze that its still daylight outside. I start thinking to myself that this is not too bad a great way to start my trip. After finishing the joint of Nevils I was kind of disappointed but just then I started tripping out on something. It was a very up high, not as intense as I had expected but very nice.
Now I have a bag clearly labeled .5 gm Kali Mist. My notes don't show where I bought it and its not on the menu at Hunters. The bud is rock hard and covered with tricomes. It was a very smooth smoke and added to my already nice buzz
Last stop of the night is Green Place where I pick up a gm of Jack Herer and had to the hotel. I finish the night off with two joints mixed with the two different Moroccan hash. I'm off to bed.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Great start

Nice detail in there as well

[smokeze]

yo man it was nice to meat you in voyagers at the tnt.
there where a lot off people there.
i was sitting there already at 10:00 , and the tnt was at 12:00.
i smoked like 4g in those 2 waiting hours, i was littke wasted. hehe

grtz smokeze.

[gapie]

cool yes and traveolgue i gonna read it with a joint and a beer our style old geezer shame enough no food around me
but we had a couple of good days daze sessions

[geekymonkey]

Pretty good burger but I'm not here to eat.

I can confirm that OG was there to SMOKE. I was always the one who was like, "feed me, or I can't keep up!"

It's really fun to hear about what else you did on your trip. Thanks so much for taking the time to report!

My mr is really looking forward to meeting you!

[Old Geezer]

Craig, thanks for the kind words.
Smokeze, I know what you mean, I spent a few hours in Voyagers smoking and talking and you do lose track of time.
Gapie, what's up? We did smoke a few joints didn't we. I'll have to go into to training before my next trip just so I can keep up with you when we start walking. I'm looking forward to my next trip.
Geeky, Must be nice to be able to smoke and eat without going into a coma. After ribs at De Klos I was pretty much done. I guess its the advantage of youth. I'm going to print out your report and when anybody ask me what's it like in Amsterdam I'll just hand them your report. It will probably make them rush out and buy a plane ticket.
Day two up next.

[Old Geezer]

Day Two
I woke up late, well late for me anyway, Around 0900 I had a joint of Jack Herer, It was ok, probably go well with a coffee, a pleasant way to wake up. I then try a joint from a unknown bag and the hash from Central.(its pretty obvious that not taking notes about what your smoking is not the best way to prepare for your report). This was much stronger, but much more body than head. It's time for breakfast. I had breakfast in the hotel, it was very good but way expensive. First stop this morning was at Central; i gm of Power Haze and 1 gm of Silver Haze. Both were tasty but the Power Haze was much more potent. Nice up high. After a two joints and a couple of cups of coffee I pretty toasted with a stupid grin on my face. Everything I've smoked until now has been good, tasty, and potent. However I can still function properly, etc. When I smoke a joint that causes me to trip out for a couple of minutes or its makes it hard for me to find the door, that will be the one I'm looking for.
It gets harder as you get older.
I arrive at Voyagers at 1140. I waiting on Gapie and the rest of our group and as I was early I decided to try something. I picked Chocolope at 10 euros a gram. Ok taste, very well cured, but its not cutting through all the other smoke. I should try this first thing in the morning. I hear so much about it, but its not the "one" On the other hand the worst I've had here has been wonderful.
People are showing up for the crawl, Gapie, Geeky, and Largefella, many joints are going around. My handwriting in my notes is kind of sloppy but in the end we are getting buzzed from all the weed. See Geekymoney report in this forum for details on the smoke.
Next stop was Siberji. I pick up 1gm of Bubble Gum for 9 euros and 1 gm of African Durban. Gapie is a joint rolling machine and once again joints are flying around. Geeky had a joint of Fantasia that was nice. We were mixing strains, Bubblegum x Power Plant. Many others as well.
Next was 137. I picked up a gm of Isolator for 20 euros, they had several different grade and this was the cheapest of the 3 or 4. It is very pliable. Also one gram of Amnesia Haze. the Isolator is very good, smoked some in a bong and the effect is immediate. Notes say we smoked a joint of Kosher Kush which I felt was pretty harsh smoke.
Next stop was Spirit where I picked up some White Widow and some type of Cheese. Smoked the White Widow in a mixed joint along the way but I noted that the Cheese was all right. Cheese is one strain I've never seen in the States. I think this is where we played pool for a awhile, I managed to scratch at 8 ball. A very nice place to chill and hang out. Also I think this is where Geeky took off. People are dropping in/out along the way.
Next stop was 1eHulp. I picked up a gm of Lemon Haze for 11 euros and another gm of Amnesia Haze. This was a buy and fly. Next we went to Paradox where my notes say I bought nothing. Nothing really stands out about the place. Lots of people had nice things to say about it.
Next we hit the Grey Area. Very small place with no place to sit. Budtender was friendly, talkative, and helpful. I pick up a gm of Afghan ( can't read what I wrote, it looks like "chunk"). Too crowded so we walk on over to the Bar Nes. Very enjoyable place, nice tunes on the sound system. I'm trying my first beer of the trip a Chouffee Bok recommended by Gapie. Certainly a different and IMHO a much better beer than Heineken or Amstel. We are drinking beer, smoking Afghan Hash out of a bong. This is the most potent hash I have smoked. You feel the effects immediately with each toke. Very strong but mostly in the body. We are passing the bong back and forth when I hear Gapie encourage someone to take another toke and he tells him "Come on you can't let that old geezer out smoke you. That made my day. You know after almost 45 years of toking you do pick up a little tolerance.
Anyways we all had a great time there. We go back to 1e Hulp where we smoked some Original Cheese in a bong. By now its getting really hard to tell much about the nuances of the high. My notes say something about G13 but I don't remember even smoking it. We ended the night back at Voyagers at 2230. I was pretty much done, I didn't smoke anything after I got back to my Hotel and went straight to bed. A very satisfying day indeed.

[geekymonkey]

Yay! for another great installment.

Here's my list of what we smoked that at 1e Hulp. G-13 Joint from Voyagers with the Haze skuff that was a present,1e Hulp Buddha Cheese joint with some zero zero, Bubblegum joint from Tutti, Bong loads of Buddha Cheese and regular Cheese.

The nightcap was a joint of Casey Jones at Voyagers.

Not to mention all that we smoked at NES before we headed out...

[cattales1960]

welcome to the forum OG! I am enjoying your trip report. Can I ask you what hotel you stayed at? Was it the Victoria? I stayed there like 3 times and loved it. sounds like you had a blast on your trip.

[Cisco]

Great report thanks

[verticalSquare]

Thanks Old Geezer! Really enjoying your report.

[Air Max LTD]

man, you really use your time efficiently! great travelogue so far

[BigDanHaze]

Good report old fella!

[lexi]

OG Hi!

Great reporting! I have 10 days til I fly into Amsterdam for my adventure, so as you can imagine I am in research mode now! Your posr is really getting me more excited, I didnt think that was possbie!

Thanks~
Lexi