Day 3 - June 1st
Posted: Wed 15th Jun 2005 02:21 pm
Waking on my second (and final) full day in Amsterdam I immediately reached for the razor blade stuck in my throat – realising a minute later that they were only there metaphorically and that I just had a killer sore throat…bummer…but so long as smoke is still possible, I couldn’t see much of a problem. So I got dressed and showered, let my sleeping friend know I would be back by 12 – giving me 3 hours to get up to no good, planning on getting a RLD lady if one caught my fancy. First stop though was (and I’m surprised it took me so long to go back) my favourite coffeeshop in Amsterdam – The Coin; only a few doors down from the Greenhouse Effect Hotel, to ease some discomfort in my throat with some lovely cold orange juice (great on any given day) and a large cappuccino. This was my first trip to The Coin during the day and it does carry a different atmosphere that at night fall – still a very friendly shop with great staff, but it was nice to see some daylight in the place as it is very dark come night (although this is the reason I favour this shop at night). A short while later I decided to walk towards the Singel RLD as I knew I had a better chance of a nice lady in this district at this time of day, due to past visits.
I don’t mean to go on to a sour tangent, but just wanted to note the only time I really felt any bother from street urchins was at this point in time around 9:45am on a Wednesday. I was walking down Warmoesstraat, right near the bottom, and was approached by a short blonde guy in his late 20’s / early 30’s maybe (anyone familiar with wrestling – he was the spitting image of Kid Kash. Otherwise imagine a shorter, skinnier version of Kurt Cobain and that description is suffice for my story). He asked for some change at first and I carried on with my confident steps not paying any attention, as always, to street beggars – only this time was constantly followed asking why I was ignoring him and being disrespectful, after a minute I (and admittedly knew afterwards was my biggest mistake) responded by saying that I wasn’t disrespecting anyone, but just didn’t have any spare money – big mistake as he spotted my English accent (either this guy had his accent spot on too or was genuinely English too) and persisted to pester me saying that he had more respect when he served 4 years in jail than now on the streets. I must admit I found this a little comical at first until he finally said that a year ago he would have pulled a knife to stab me and take the change anyway – ok maybe not your average nut on the street – and it was only then that I told him in the nicest possible profanity to get out of my face; also considering I was walking through a busy Dam Square right now I felt the safety in numbers as other people heard what I said and I guess he went to piss someone else off. Just thought it was odd that the only situation I felt a bit spooked was at nearly 10 in the morning – oh well if a bitch of a sore throat couldn’t stop me enjoying my holiday I was certainly not going to let this little prick scar it either…..and with that I walked to Amnesia for my first smoke of the day.
Two drinks later and realising the Shiva Ice is not the most suitable morning smoke unless you plan on being back in bed by midday – I decided to take a slow walk through the Singel…surprisingly occupied by many attractive ladies, but none that I felt matched the standard of last night’s RLD tour. Even walking back through the main RLD I was not feeling any urges to enter the kamers, but still very much enjoyed the scenery of the Wallen whilst burning the other end of the candle.
Going back to the hotel by midday, I still had to drag my friend out of bed in order for us to mildly follow our schedule of spending some of the day in the southern area of town. The walk, which took us past the Heineken Brewery, seemed to take half the time as last time – is the city getting smaller or my legs just longer? I noticed much of the main southern roads were under construction too, which I guess worked to our advantage as we ended up seeing some nice scenic roads – many of which I cannot remember where they lead – but we eventually found ourselves amongst the mass humanity that was the Albert Cuypstraat Market (and a big cheers goes out to lctricity who I have to thank for my Stroopwafel addiction – the stall that makes them fresh is every stoners dream!). After finishing off my second dinner-plate sized stroopwafel and much need drink – another hot day – we walked round the corner and found the way to the Kabouter, a shop I wanted to go to. On entry I asked the barman for a menu, to which he just called out the names of hash they sold with no real enthusiasm; knowing that I already wanted the King Hassan I waited patiently whist my friend purchased a gram (of KH) and a coke – now either the barman was blind and did not notice 2 of us….or he was just an ignorant ass who completely blanked me even after I called his attention. After he served another local (who had just entered) and still blanked me in favour of talking to his friend, who was already there, I decided to just finish of my Lavender Haze from Willy Wortel’s and add this to my list of shops I would never return to – which up until now, only consisted of La Canna.
Halfway through writing this report I realised how crappy this day sounds so far, but honestly…I was still having the time of my life!
A short walk to Katsu, for my first visit to this shop, and I soon found out why there are so many good reports on this place. Much smaller than I had anticipated, but it made up for size in hospitality – two locals (and regulars) were at the bar made us feel very much at home with our unfamiliar surroundings. After purchasing a gram of the Crystal Clear ice-o-later, gram of Northern Lights+ and also gram of White Snake (sorry but lack of notes means I can’t give prices) I was spoilt for choice – one of the local guys recommended I put the crystal clear in the freezer [of the hotel mini-bar] for a few seconds as to not leave any plastic in the hash when unwrapping it, so that was saved for later on. But the white snake and especially NL+ were both great smokes, the high from the northern lights was one that had me clinging to my bar stool – recommend this to anyone going here for sure. Soon becoming one of my favourite shops, I did feel it was time to move on a couple of hours later as there were still other places I hadn’t the time visit yet.
Moving towards the city centre again…I had an itch that needed scratching in a certain area – the Grey Area to be exact, as I had very good experiences before with this shop; and this time turned out to be no different. After getting pointed round the corner by Krusty the Clown, a near empty Grey Area was in sight – it was Jon serving (as he was on my previous trips) who was most accommodating and pleasant to converse with…after a middle aged American couple was served seemingly in their first ever coffeeshop experience, I politely refused the menu as I knew exactly what I wanted – 3g of Grey Mist Crystals please! The Rolls Royce of smokes in Amsterdam; a simply amazing un-pressed hash. Seeing that all 3 tables were empty, my friend and I decided on prolonging our Grey Area experience by staying for a drink whilst I dived into my bag of powder – also to note that I was given a free coke because of my weed purchase (I cannot say enough good remarks on this place), something I have yet to encounter in other shops. We sat down and after 5 mins or so got into a half conversation with a couple of very stoned looking, black American guys who were enjoying their first day of a week in Amsterdam (lucky bastards!). After sharing a few friendly stories and a couple of pipes – although neither felt brave enough to share a bowl of the crystals too early in the afternoon – we bid farewell and decided to give our seats up to other customers who had by now filled the small shop. My third Grey Area encounter certainly preceded the first two, of which I was already most satisfied.
Time was getting on, and I knew there were only a few hours of sunlight left – so we set out to find Stix (the one on Korte Koningsstraat), partly as I wanted to collate the Grey Mist Crystals with Stix’s own Gunpowder (which I heard is shaken from the White Widow plant) and also as I heard the view from the window is almost second to none in the coffeeshop scene. The area seemed like a small snippet of Haarlem, with small roads, seemingly many residential housing and (as expected) some stunning scenery. Unfortunately upon locating Stix, we noted that the door was locked and the area appeared to be humanity free – not a sole in the area. It was a shame but I am grateful for exploring another part of town, more so when you are blessed with imagery of this high standard – even some of the graffiti in this area of town seemed to be a cut above the rest; less tagging and more artistry.
We must have been walking for a long time as the next thing I knew, it was time to head back to the hotel in order to freshen up for the night again. Predictably I made straight for the Excalibur in order to get a good buzz for the first RLD tour of the evening, arranging to meet my friend a couple of hours later in the Coin before it shuts – I’m not sure if I have mentioned before or not, but the Excalibur no longer sells weed but is more than happy for you to bring your own side salad to go with their beer. The only downfall (if you can call it that) was the language barrier with the barman; I asked for a large beer and a shot of brandy (still trying to beat a sore throat – or my excuse anyhow), but ended up receiving 2 mugs of beer and a large shot of some mysterious liquor which almost brought tears to my eyes on the smell, let alone taste! I do blame myself as being too smoked out to be bothered correcting the barman, so I ended up drinking everything in a short period of time which made my throat a little more a ease, but the following walk somewhat boarder line lethargic. I had made a couple of laps round the RLD canals, before deciding on a stunning brunette girl wearing bikini and cowboy boots – somewhere on the west side of the OZA canal. She turned out to be from Germany and although not the most talkative girl, was extremely friendly and welcoming. I left afterwards with a smile on my face having had an exceptionally pleasant time to say the least.
Making it back to the Coin with just under half hour to go – I bought a gram of Temple Ball for a pre-sleep smoke, which was as good as the last time I bought here at new year. Also enjoying a friendly chat with another English guy travelling alone, whom my friend was sharing the company of.
Again it didn’t take long for me to crash out once in the room, as it has been another – most successful – promiscuous day of all sorts!
I don’t mean to go on to a sour tangent, but just wanted to note the only time I really felt any bother from street urchins was at this point in time around 9:45am on a Wednesday. I was walking down Warmoesstraat, right near the bottom, and was approached by a short blonde guy in his late 20’s / early 30’s maybe (anyone familiar with wrestling – he was the spitting image of Kid Kash. Otherwise imagine a shorter, skinnier version of Kurt Cobain and that description is suffice for my story). He asked for some change at first and I carried on with my confident steps not paying any attention, as always, to street beggars – only this time was constantly followed asking why I was ignoring him and being disrespectful, after a minute I (and admittedly knew afterwards was my biggest mistake) responded by saying that I wasn’t disrespecting anyone, but just didn’t have any spare money – big mistake as he spotted my English accent (either this guy had his accent spot on too or was genuinely English too) and persisted to pester me saying that he had more respect when he served 4 years in jail than now on the streets. I must admit I found this a little comical at first until he finally said that a year ago he would have pulled a knife to stab me and take the change anyway – ok maybe not your average nut on the street – and it was only then that I told him in the nicest possible profanity to get out of my face; also considering I was walking through a busy Dam Square right now I felt the safety in numbers as other people heard what I said and I guess he went to piss someone else off. Just thought it was odd that the only situation I felt a bit spooked was at nearly 10 in the morning – oh well if a bitch of a sore throat couldn’t stop me enjoying my holiday I was certainly not going to let this little prick scar it either…..and with that I walked to Amnesia for my first smoke of the day.
Two drinks later and realising the Shiva Ice is not the most suitable morning smoke unless you plan on being back in bed by midday – I decided to take a slow walk through the Singel…surprisingly occupied by many attractive ladies, but none that I felt matched the standard of last night’s RLD tour. Even walking back through the main RLD I was not feeling any urges to enter the kamers, but still very much enjoyed the scenery of the Wallen whilst burning the other end of the candle.
Going back to the hotel by midday, I still had to drag my friend out of bed in order for us to mildly follow our schedule of spending some of the day in the southern area of town. The walk, which took us past the Heineken Brewery, seemed to take half the time as last time – is the city getting smaller or my legs just longer? I noticed much of the main southern roads were under construction too, which I guess worked to our advantage as we ended up seeing some nice scenic roads – many of which I cannot remember where they lead – but we eventually found ourselves amongst the mass humanity that was the Albert Cuypstraat Market (and a big cheers goes out to lctricity who I have to thank for my Stroopwafel addiction – the stall that makes them fresh is every stoners dream!). After finishing off my second dinner-plate sized stroopwafel and much need drink – another hot day – we walked round the corner and found the way to the Kabouter, a shop I wanted to go to. On entry I asked the barman for a menu, to which he just called out the names of hash they sold with no real enthusiasm; knowing that I already wanted the King Hassan I waited patiently whist my friend purchased a gram (of KH) and a coke – now either the barman was blind and did not notice 2 of us….or he was just an ignorant ass who completely blanked me even after I called his attention. After he served another local (who had just entered) and still blanked me in favour of talking to his friend, who was already there, I decided to just finish of my Lavender Haze from Willy Wortel’s and add this to my list of shops I would never return to – which up until now, only consisted of La Canna.
Halfway through writing this report I realised how crappy this day sounds so far, but honestly…I was still having the time of my life!
A short walk to Katsu, for my first visit to this shop, and I soon found out why there are so many good reports on this place. Much smaller than I had anticipated, but it made up for size in hospitality – two locals (and regulars) were at the bar made us feel very much at home with our unfamiliar surroundings. After purchasing a gram of the Crystal Clear ice-o-later, gram of Northern Lights+ and also gram of White Snake (sorry but lack of notes means I can’t give prices) I was spoilt for choice – one of the local guys recommended I put the crystal clear in the freezer [of the hotel mini-bar] for a few seconds as to not leave any plastic in the hash when unwrapping it, so that was saved for later on. But the white snake and especially NL+ were both great smokes, the high from the northern lights was one that had me clinging to my bar stool – recommend this to anyone going here for sure. Soon becoming one of my favourite shops, I did feel it was time to move on a couple of hours later as there were still other places I hadn’t the time visit yet.
Moving towards the city centre again…I had an itch that needed scratching in a certain area – the Grey Area to be exact, as I had very good experiences before with this shop; and this time turned out to be no different. After getting pointed round the corner by Krusty the Clown, a near empty Grey Area was in sight – it was Jon serving (as he was on my previous trips) who was most accommodating and pleasant to converse with…after a middle aged American couple was served seemingly in their first ever coffeeshop experience, I politely refused the menu as I knew exactly what I wanted – 3g of Grey Mist Crystals please! The Rolls Royce of smokes in Amsterdam; a simply amazing un-pressed hash. Seeing that all 3 tables were empty, my friend and I decided on prolonging our Grey Area experience by staying for a drink whilst I dived into my bag of powder – also to note that I was given a free coke because of my weed purchase (I cannot say enough good remarks on this place), something I have yet to encounter in other shops. We sat down and after 5 mins or so got into a half conversation with a couple of very stoned looking, black American guys who were enjoying their first day of a week in Amsterdam (lucky bastards!). After sharing a few friendly stories and a couple of pipes – although neither felt brave enough to share a bowl of the crystals too early in the afternoon – we bid farewell and decided to give our seats up to other customers who had by now filled the small shop. My third Grey Area encounter certainly preceded the first two, of which I was already most satisfied.
Time was getting on, and I knew there were only a few hours of sunlight left – so we set out to find Stix (the one on Korte Koningsstraat), partly as I wanted to collate the Grey Mist Crystals with Stix’s own Gunpowder (which I heard is shaken from the White Widow plant) and also as I heard the view from the window is almost second to none in the coffeeshop scene. The area seemed like a small snippet of Haarlem, with small roads, seemingly many residential housing and (as expected) some stunning scenery. Unfortunately upon locating Stix, we noted that the door was locked and the area appeared to be humanity free – not a sole in the area. It was a shame but I am grateful for exploring another part of town, more so when you are blessed with imagery of this high standard – even some of the graffiti in this area of town seemed to be a cut above the rest; less tagging and more artistry.
We must have been walking for a long time as the next thing I knew, it was time to head back to the hotel in order to freshen up for the night again. Predictably I made straight for the Excalibur in order to get a good buzz for the first RLD tour of the evening, arranging to meet my friend a couple of hours later in the Coin before it shuts – I’m not sure if I have mentioned before or not, but the Excalibur no longer sells weed but is more than happy for you to bring your own side salad to go with their beer. The only downfall (if you can call it that) was the language barrier with the barman; I asked for a large beer and a shot of brandy (still trying to beat a sore throat – or my excuse anyhow), but ended up receiving 2 mugs of beer and a large shot of some mysterious liquor which almost brought tears to my eyes on the smell, let alone taste! I do blame myself as being too smoked out to be bothered correcting the barman, so I ended up drinking everything in a short period of time which made my throat a little more a ease, but the following walk somewhat boarder line lethargic. I had made a couple of laps round the RLD canals, before deciding on a stunning brunette girl wearing bikini and cowboy boots – somewhere on the west side of the OZA canal. She turned out to be from Germany and although not the most talkative girl, was extremely friendly and welcoming. I left afterwards with a smile on my face having had an exceptionally pleasant time to say the least.
Making it back to the Coin with just under half hour to go – I bought a gram of Temple Ball for a pre-sleep smoke, which was as good as the last time I bought here at new year. Also enjoying a friendly chat with another English guy travelling alone, whom my friend was sharing the company of.
Again it didn’t take long for me to crash out once in the room, as it has been another – most successful – promiscuous day of all sorts!
The fact that i'll be there this sat for 10 days gets me more excited 
