Embrace The Strange

[CesarJeez]

One foot in front of the other, the pace picking up with every single step I took. After rupturing an Achilles a year earlier, this was by far the fastest I’d run since then. Memories of high school and college Track & Field races of yore seeped in, as I zigged and zagged through the masses of people at Dulles (Wash DC). I’d set my sights on someone about 20 meters ahead, and once there find another checkpoint to focus on.

Ya see, I’d gotten off the first flight at about 6:04pm, after some delays taking off and eventual delays taxiing into our gate. We were supposed to land at about 5:43pm, a rather tight window of its own considering my connection to Amsterdam was set to take off at 6:30pm.

To my dismay, I realized upon getting off my first flight that the gate for AMS was a train ride away, and being the last gate in terminal D I knew I had to pull a Cake and go the distance. I’d been here before. In 2010 on a return flight from Sao Paolo, I gave my wife my backpack so I could sprint ahead and tell them to hold the plane. I knew the twists and turns of the DC airport, and how certain individual gates can sometimes be separated by over 200 meters. Just when you see a number that makes you think you’re getting closer, here comes a long unwanted stretch. A cruel tease indeed.

I finally ran through terminal C and began my trek through D. I was in full on go mode at this point, the adrenaline running through my body, brushing aside thoughts that my restructured Achilles could snap at any moment from being tested as never before.

By my estimation, I was hovering at right around 6 minute mile pace, shouting out ahead so folks could clear my path as I charged through. I was not at about D5, with D26 being the final destination. As soon as I got off the plane and saw the gate screen we were already boarding, and now I risked being left in DC, having to get on the next flight, possibly not leaving until the next day.

Fuck that noise.

I yelled at gate agents along the way, shouting at them to call down and hold flight 946. My name was being called on the loudspeaker, and I was given my final warning around D15. Just when I thought I was nearly there, another one of those miserable and long stretches. For a brief moment there, I had this very sick feeling that I wasn’t going to make it.

By the time I got to about D20, I began shouting loudly, “hold that flight!!!”. I have no idea how I was able to muster up the strength to let folks know to clear my path along the way and then call to the gate agents.

I finally rolled up the gate, and about scared the piss out of the ladies working the desk. I was so out of breath I couldn’t speak. I was intensely panting, dripping with sweat, and just simply handed them my ticket and gave them a look that said “please let me on this fucking flight” as they were nearly about to close the doors.

I stumbled onto the plane, earning a rather feisty look from the pilot and crew, who I had likely kicked in the wallets for at least a few bucks each. Aviation friends tell me your hours are clocked (and paid) for time that the door is closed.

I still couldn’t breathe, and began to sweat even more. I got a few “hey you made it!” and a few “Jesus I hope this guy doesn’t sit next to me” looks. It felt very similar to the look you get from people in public when your child acts up, meaning you either get the “I’ve been there” smile or the “control your kid already” glare.

I took my seat, still sucking air. Man it fucking hurt. How in the hell did I use to be a distance runner..and thoroughly enjoy it at that? At least I was reminded why I left those days behind me. For the next two hours I was coughing and trying to get rid of that burn in my throat.

But the only thing that really mattered, is that I was on my way…

[Willjay]

Hope your wife made it too Have a great trip

[spidergawd]

No his Mrs was on a previous trip Will, pay attention at the back . Well done making it CJ . sounds like your next move is vaporisers man

[CesarJeez]

I realize I posted this on travel plans, but its a trip report from Nov 19-25. Not sure I can move an entire thread so I'll just keep as is. My wife was already in AMS as of the 16th, and I was on my way to meet up with her. More to come soon..thanks for reading guys.

[swizzy]

Glad u made that flight, " i certainly know that breathless cant talk, let me on this fucking flight look please"

At least it was all worth it 7/8 hours later

[worldcitizen1723]

: >
glad ya made it

looking forward to more

[gapie]

nice to meet ya briefly was very full in grey area I was looking for ya u were gone

[Quazer]

Great spelling style, I would like to see more of the report. Thanks for posting!

[CesarJeez]

The flight went by pretty quickly and wasn’t bad at all. I think we were just right under 8 hours getting there. I’ve never been much of a plane sleeper, so I didn’t even really try. I watched some cheesy cop movie with Damon Wayans’ son in it, listened to tunes, and played some games on my phone. The dude in front of me had his seat as far back as possible the entire flight, so I was jammed in there pretty good but knowing where I was headed made everything better.

We landed just before 8am, and I proceeded to have the quickest plane landing to hotel arrival transition I’ve ever imagined. It was fucking nuts, like seas were parting.

I was in one of the last rows on the plane, but when we landed they brought a few buses around for us to get on that would take us to arrivals, baggage, etc. Everyone at the front and ahead of me on the plane started getting onto the buses, and so when it was time for me to get on I was basically right at the door.

We pull around to the area where you get off for arrivals, and sure enough, it was on the side of the bus where I was standing right at the door. The doors open and I’m off to the races. There were a few other people that were on the move too, and we led an aggressive charge. Most of the other folks were probably trying to get to a meeting or something of the like. In the end, we all meant business about something.

I get through quickly, get stamped, and am right out to baggage claim. I was worried my bag wouldn’t get on but it appears to have made it. It’s basically rolling around right in front of me, where I can make an efficient dash to grab it directly on the way to the exit. I grab it and am gone.

I love this airport. While some U.S. airports have made concerted efforts to jazz things up in recent years, Amsterdam has always had an amazing and unique flair to it. In 2010, I remember seeing a running wheel outside, and someone was in it going at it like a hamster, it was awesome. I love the lighting, the really high ceilings, all of it.


I get outside pretty quickly, and had planned to grab a cab all along. I realize it’s much cheaper to just take the train to central station, but I’d done that many times before and wanted a fresh perspective of getting there. It was nice getting to see some of the neighborhoods to the south/west of central Amsterdam.

I got to the hotel my wife was staying at, and basically started throwing her clothes at her since it was early and she’d just woken up. She got ready and we were out the door.


I loved being back there. All the street names came back to me, and I felt right at home seeing the bikes, hearing the trams, just breathing in Amsterdam life. I love walking by places and looking at shop owners getting things ready for the day, or people on their way from here to there. I love the way they squeeze 4 kids into a basket, like a Dutch Station Wagon. It’s stuff like this that reminds you how simple life needs to be.

We got to a small café and had some tostis and coffee. Got some OJ on the side, freshly squeezed..none of that Tropicana bullshit. It was great, and we talked for a little and headed out. We walked around near Rembrandtplein to see if they had any of the Christmas market stuff up yet, but it looked like they were just getting started. We decided to come check back in a few days.

Next stop was Barney’s, and we picked up some Vanilla Kush for the inaugural smoke. The budtender was really nice, and the place was really relaxing. I had only dropped in to buy and fly a few years back. It was overall a great experience, and the VK was just what I needed. I saved a small amount so I could have some later in the trip. It had a really good taste to it, very smooth, and was exactly what I needed at the moment. I was on no sleep, and had already had some coffee, and my body was telling me Indica to start so I wasn’t too cracked out.


We went back to the hotel to chill for a little bit. I had told myself the entire time that I wouldn’t take a nap and the plan was to try and stay awake, but I just couldn’t keep it going. I went out for about 2 ½ hours until around 4:30pm, and we got ready quickly to head out.

We walked over to Café Flinck on Albert Cuypstraat in De Pijp for a drink before dinner. They have awesome lunch if you’re ever nearby.


I can’t remember the name, but there is this incredible little corner café off Prinsengracht where we go every visit. The best item is honey drizzled bacon wrapped goat cheese. It’s a damn taste bud orgy. By far the best thing I ate during the trip. We got some onion soup and salmon bruschetta to top us off. It’s not very expensive, and I’d be here at least weekly if I lived here. We barhop for the rest of the evening, mixing in a few whiskeys with a Chouf and Heinkene here and there. We get back to the hotel around 9:30pm, and my wife is getting pretty tired. I hang with her a moment, kiss her goodnight, and am back on the cobblestone.

I headed to Voyagers, and was walking from the Museum district. I don’t mind the walk at all, and prefer it honestly. I wanted to see everything.


About halfway there, I had to piss really bad, and also wanted to smoke badly. I couldn’t hold out, so I stopped into Kadinsky, got some NYCD, and hit the pisser. Rolled one up, caught a quick buzz, and then headed north again. I arrived at Voyagers, but the place was cleared out and they were about to shut it down. I was hoping to see some other ACD’ers, and asked if USBL was around but the budtenders said he had gone up for the night.

The budtenders were high as shit, giggly, and couldn’t have been more of a joy to speak to because of so. Good people. I had my sights set on the Lemon Bubble, and also grabbed a gram of the Kosher Kush. One guy had a huge dog that was sniffing all over my jeans, picking up on the scent of my two back home. It definitely made me miss my boys.

Since they were closing, I went over to a smoke friendly bar, and twisted up the Kosher Kush. This was a top-notch smoke, and was in the top 3 for strains I tried on this trip. In all, I felt a lot of the Kushes I tried were really on point in terms of taste, smoothness and high. I took the long way walking home, never quite ready to throw in the towel for the night. I did finally get back to the hotel, stuffed away the gear, and then hit the hay. If I had to pick a song for the day, it’d be something smooth like this…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN7l8uyiHTc

[macky]

Very nice report ,picture,s real nice Cheers

[gapie]

[swizzy]

Wicked report fella
I like finding new gems when it comes to food and weed out in mokum, will give flink a try

[Fat Dro]

Thanks for the report and pics

[CesarJeez]

Day 2

The feeling of waking up in Amsterdam is an incredible one. Even though I was getting out of bed later than I had arrived the day before, there was that feeling of the first “full” day. We were staying at a hotel and had the option of getting breakfast there, but I wanted to get out right away and get some food at a tiny little local café.

I didn’t even have to walk a full block until I found the place that said “pick me”. My wife was pretty sleepy so I went alone and promised to bring her back some food. It was a locally owned place ran by two really nice women with just a few patrons inside at the moment. I ordered the full breakfast, consisting of a buttery pastry with jams and jellies, oatmeal, a hardboiled egg, coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice. It was the perfect meal to start a great day in my favorite city. I grabbed a pastry to go on the way out to bring to my wife and headed back to the hotel.


We lounged around the hotel room for a little bit and got all of our stuff packed up. After showering, it was around 11am and time to check out. I arranged with the girl from our AirBnB rental to meet at the apartment at about 2pm, so we had a few hours to kill. We left our bags at the hotel and walked towards De Pijp.

We went back to Café Flinck so we could dive into one of their awesome sandwiches for lunch. We laid low there for a little bit, and then checked out the market on Albert Cuypstraat before making the trek back to the hotel to get our bags.

We grabbed a cab and were off to Nes to see our home for the next 4 days. The girl showed up a few minutes later, and we followed her up 5 flights of super deep Dutch stairs with 50+ pounds of luggage in tow. By the time we got to the top, we were huffing and puffing, but the apartment was what took our breath away. It wasn’t anything all that spectacular, but it had a great feel to it and a great view onto a very lively part of Nes. The balcony had a really good view where we could see the tops of various buildings throughout Amsterdam. The perfect place for a morning cup of joe and an hourly J. We settled in and made it feel like home right away.






The next mission was to go out and get groceries for the next 4 days, and my wife wanted to make a sausage pasta dish for our dinner that evening. We got back and I rolled up some of the Lemon Bubble I’d gotten from Voyagers the night before. It had a great taste to it, and I lounged around in the TV room while my wife went to town in the kitchen. By the time the food was ready I was starving, and she did not disappoint!

We spent the next hour or two hanging out on the couch, passing the Lemon Bubble back and forth, putting down a few beers, and watching the Jim Carrey Lincoln spoof of Matthew McConneghy over and over. Jim Carrey absolutely nails that shit! While we hadn’t spent much time out on the town yet that day, it didn’t at all feel like we’d wasted a day. At about 7pm, we got ourselves ready to go out and about.


We headed toward Niewmarkt Square for one of my favorite AMS combos, a drink at Temple Bar followed by a spliff at GreenPlace. We had befriended the bartenders at Temple Bar a few years earlier and would go in there every night for about three weeks straight, but sadly ownership had changed and we didn’t recognize any faces. We knocked out a pair of Jameson’s, a beverage that’s becomes a staple for us in recent years. From there it was onto GreenPlace, but it was PACKED. There wasn’t even room to walk inside, as they were doing a one in-one out thing. Not wanting to wait, we headed over to Jolly Joker and easily scored a table.

On our way in, we saw what I presumed to be a mother-son combo walking out. The mother was in her 60’s and laughing hysterically, and her son was grinning ear to ear. They couldn’t have been any happier in that moment. Family bonding, I thought. Yet another reason why coffeeshops are more than just something shallow that some outsiders choose to view it as.

We picked up a gram of the Super Silver Haze and sat at that round table that’s a few steps down toward the back. It was a decent smoke but definitely not the best SSH I’ve had before. My wife has a fairly low tolerance, so it was plenty good for her, and after several drinks it did the trick for me.


Next stop, pace the RLD and look at hookers. We weren’t in the market ourselves, but it’s become a tradition of ours to catch a buzz and head out there at some point to take in the scene. My wife gets a HUGE kick out of seeing some random dude walk out of a room, pull his hat waaayyy down over his head and do the walk of shame.

And another thing about the RLD…while you do have your fair share of rough ones, potential trannies, and “specialty niche” types, most of these women are banging. I wouldn’t dare put my peener inside any of them, but damn. If I was a single dude, I would absolutely entertain the thought before inevitably wussing out to go home and wanking it before crying myself to sleep.

At some point during the journey, the mother in my wife starts to creep out and she begins to tell me that she feels really guilty that we’re finding pleasure in entertaining ourselves by taking all of this in. She says she’s really sad that this is what these girls have to do for a living. I respond that these girls are just trying to make a living off something that is their every right, but I take it as a cue to move onto the next scene.

We get another drink at a nearby bar on our way back home, and get it on within a few minutes of being home. We had been dreaming of being able to conceive our next child in Amsterdam, and little did we know at the moment (we found out just a week ago), our goal had been achieved on this trip!

Thanks Lemon Bubble….

[Willjay]

Congratulations