Here's one Canadian that was lucky enough to make it to Amsterdam this year!
Before every trip I make to Amsterdam I always lurk this msg forum to help pass the time before my next departure. I always say to myself that I'm going to right a trip report so I can try give back to this forum all the great information I have received. I'm about to embark on my 4th trip and I told myself I cannot go until I write a trip report on this forum so here it is!
So my girlfriend and I both had some time off at the start of March and we couldn't decide where to go. We had just got back from Mexico in January and didn't really want to do the all inclusive trip again we wanted to travel and adventure. We said to ourselves we would keep an eye on cheap flights and if we saw a destination we liked that's were we would go.
After searching for almost 3 weeks finally something fell into our laps. A cheap flight to Europe!. On our previous trip to Amsterdam we learned that if you fly KLM airlines out of Canada they offer you a free layover in Amsterdam(up to 7 days). We opt'd to fly to Prague, CZ and take advantage of the free 7 days in Amsterdam, it was like getting a 2 for 1 deal on a flight to Europe! This time around the cheap flight was to Copenhagen, DK, however this time there was a catch. The cheap flight was out of Edmonton, AB(2.5hr drive North of Calgary where we live). To make things worse our flight had layovers in Calgary for both directions of our flight. So we had to drive to Edmonton from Calgary, only to fly back to Calgary and catch our direct flight to Amsterdam. Let me tell you it was a VERY LONG day of travel.
On our way to airport we drove straight into a famous Canadian Winter storm, I almost didn't think we were going to make it to Edmonton but we left plenty early to give ourselves extra time as we knew about the storm prior. Once we arrived at the Edmonton airport, we did the park and fly, took the shuttle to the airport terminal with no problems, got our usual booster juice before the flight and we were on our way! The storm passed and the flight back to Calgary was uneventful up and then back down. We had a few hours to kill at the Calgary airport until our 9hr flight to Amsterdam so we got some lunch at Chili's, it is a pretty good spot to eat or have a drink at the Calgary Airport(YYC), then it was off to Amsterdam. As always the flight on KLM was great the staff was super nice and helpful, the food was decent for airline and can't beat the free Heineken's. Neither one of us has ever really been able to sleep on flights and this trip was no exception.
DAY 1 - LANDING AT SCHIPOL
We land at Schipol at 8:30am at this point I've been awake for over well over 20hrs and jet lagged like crazy, we are totally ready for bed but no time for that! First stop once we land is Lebara stand to get my sim card so I can have data on my cell phone for this trip. What a difference this was, it made getting around the city and using public transit SO MUCH EASIER! I will never return without my trusty Lebara sim card. After getting the sim card it was off to find the hotel shuttle bus. In the past I had booked with airbnb and Amsterdam Cribs however this time it was much cheaper to get a hotel outside of the Center. We used hotwire.com and ended up at the Wyndham Apollo in the RAI district for under $100 a night CANADIAN!
After finding our way to the shuttle pickup spot it was only a short wait for the bus and he took us right to the front door of our hotel no other stops. Upon arriving we checked in right away, the gentlemen behind the counter was great to us. He could tell we had had a long day of travel already and it wasn't even noon yet. I think he felt sorry for us, he let us check in to our room early and he put us on the top floor in a corner room with a balcony! This turned out to be great in the mornings before we left for the day and to unwind at the end of the day. It also had a great view.
(pic was taken the 2nd night of our trip)
DAY 1 - AMSTERDAM
Purchases
Champagne Haze - Club Media($12.5/1.0g)
Hindu Kush - Club Media($5.5/0.5g)
Cookies Kush - Barney's Lounge($16.0/1.0g)
G-13 Haze - Barney's Lounge($15.0/1.0g)
Caramella Cream Hash - Barney's Lounge($9.0/0.5g)
Hawaii Haze - Kadinsky($16.0/1.14g)
Tester Tuesday - Voyagers($10.0/1.0g)
Tangie - Voyagers($12.0/1.0g)
After getting our sweet upgrade at check in we made our way to the room, we wanted to go to sleep so bad but knew if we did we would be up in the middle of the night with not much to do(this happened on our first trip together). So it was right to the shower to freshen up and right back out the the door, had to keep moving or else sleep would creep in! Our first stop was Club Media as by location it was pretty close to our hotel and we had been there before. I fired up the google maps and we were on our way. We walked through the Albert Cuyp Market and of course they had the guy selling poffertjes(little pancakes). Of course we stopped as its the perfect spot for 'Breakfast'
Finally we have made it to Club Media our first coffeeshop stop. Even though we are extremely tired it feels great to be back in a coffeshop. We purchase 1.0g of Champagne Haze($12.5) and 0.5g of Hindu Kush($5.5). It was still before noon I think and we pretty much had the coffeeshop to ourselves so we sat near the Volcano and vaporized some of the Champagne Haze. Girlfriend got a mint tea and a toasti and I had a toasti with ham.
After a few bags and our snacks we headed out on foot towards Barney's Lounge. I always like to hit up Barney's when I'm in town I just have to see what all the hype is about with the previous year's cannabis cup winner. I also really like to chill at Barney's Lounge its great they have a volcano at every table and this location is a little out of the way. Once we got there we purchased 1.0g of Cookies Kush($16.0) 1.0g of G-13 Haze($15) and 0.5g of Caramella Cream Hash($9). We took advantage of the empty tables here, rested our feet and had some more bags. However we couldn't sit for long as the sleep would creep up on us so we continued on our way at this point we figured we would keep going on foot all the way to central station to purchase our transit pass for our time in Amsterdam.
So before we left I busted out my phone with data and brought up the google maps I had made prior to our stay and saw that Bushdoctor was close so we headed there. After arriving at Bushdoctor we noticed you had to purchase a min. of 2.0g's, saw there was OG Kush on the menu which is a personal favourite of mine so we took at look but were not very impressed at all, we didn't make any purchase. So we headed back on our travels to try and stay awake and get to central station.
Next stop on the map was Kadinsky's one of our more memorable coffeeshops from our last visit. We were greeted at Kadinsky's by a great budtender, she recommend some great Hawaii Haze. We purchased 1.14g(single bud) for $16.0. After the purchase we headed upstairs to roll one up while the girlfriend made the steep skinny climb to the bathroom. We stayed to smoke the Hawaii Haze I just rolled up and man was it tasty, we both really enjoyed the flavor and the buzz. The sleep was coming on strong and we were STARVING so it was time to move on. We headed down the Warmoesstraat for something to eat and ended up at Wok to Walk, something quick and easy.
After that it was on to Voyagers for some of the famous "Tester Tuesday" I've read about on here. We picked up 1.0g Tester Tuesday($10.0) and 1.0g of Tangie($12.0) Voyagers was packed no where to sit down and we were exhausted so we headed for central station and our transit pass for the rest of the week. Got the pass headed straight for the tram and back to the hotel where we proceeded to sleep for 20hrs straight! It was great it, was just what we both needed. We work up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the rest of our trip.
Our haul after Day 1
DAY 2 - AMSTERDAM
Purchases
Tesla - The Dolphins($15/1.0g)
Trainwreck - Tweede Kamer($9.0/1.0g)
Silver Bubble - Grey Area($13/1.0g)
Go-Ji OG Kush - Grey Area($8.0/0.5g)
La Kandi Kush - Grey Area($7.5/0.5g)
Pineapple Express - 1eHulp($12/1.0g)
Strawberry Sour Desiel - 1eHulp($12/1.0g)
Cheese Candy - 1eHulp($6.0/0.5g)
Pure Kush - Greenhouse Centurm($18/1.0g)
After sleeping in until noon we hit up the balcony for a joint and then off to the tram stop to hitch a ride to Leidseplein for some Burger King to start the day. We printed some coupons from the Burger King website and got 2 BK XXL, 1 fry, 1 drink and 2 dips for $9.15 not bad if your on a budget. From Burger King The Dolphins is a quick walk so we headed there.
At Dolphins the bud tender gave us the run down of their menu and coffeeshop. He was very nice, informative and to the point. We ended up purchasing 1.0g of Tesla($15.0) as our luck would continue the table at the window was open so we decided to sit down my girlfriend also grabbed a delicious cappuccino. The Tesla was pre packaged which I really dis like however it did not disappoint. I rolled up a nice joint, since we smoke pure we were able to stay upstairs and enjoy our smoke and cappuccino by the window. After we finished up we were off on our journey to stock up on some more goods, our next stop was Grey Area.
We decided to walk and along the way we came across Tweede Kamer and I had read on the forums here about cheap Trainwreck so we popped in for 1.0g of Trainwreck($9.0) also we really didn't like the vibe here, we felt like we were treated like 'tourists' not very friendly at all really local feel where outsiders aren't welcome. As we continued to Grey Area we ended up in Damn Square and no trip to damn square is complete without your picture in the boot!
Picture in the boot, check! got that out of the way early in the trip and we are back on track to Grey Area. As always there is a lineup to the door but it's cool to look at all the stuff on the walls while we wait. After looking over a few of the different strains we end up getting 1.0g of Silver Bubble($13.0), 0.5g of Go-Ji OG Kush($8.0), 0.5g La Kandi Kush($7.5) and a Grey Area sticker for me($1.5). When we got around to smoking our product from Grey Area we were really not impressed at all. In the past Grey Area had been good to us so we knew to expect. Great product but at an expensive price. However, this time it was a less than impressive product at an expensive price. I will still go back to Grey Area however I will be taking more time there to make sure I'm happy with what I'm getting for the price and I wont let the huge line and bud tender rush me into making a decision.
Anyway since there are no seats at Grey Area we head over to Amnesia to see if we can score a table to sit down and sure enough it's completely full too, so it's off to the nearest Tram station to head over to 1eHulp. We found 1eHulp on our last trip to Amsterdam once again thanks to this forum and after visiting on this trip it is probably our favorite coffeeshop in all of Amsterdam. The staff has always been friendly and informative everything we've ever bought has been top shelf and the prices are very reasonable for the quality you are getting. The only problem I have with 1eHulp is that there is always some much to choose from it's hard to decide what to get. We end up grabbing 1.0g of Pineapple Express($12.0), 1.0g of Strawberry Sour Diesel($12.0), and 0.5g of Cheese Candy. Pineapple Express and Strawberry Sour Diesel were 2 of our favorite strains from last trip and this trip was no exception. Both were great examples of the strain(that we remembered from before) and both did not disappoint for $12.0 Euro you can't go wrong. This will be my first stop when I return to Amsterdam and they will get the majority of my tourist dollars as you can't go wrong at 1eHulp.
By this time it's getting close to dinner and we are both getting hungry so we head back to the tram stop to hitch a ride to our hotel. At the tram stop for our hotel there is an Albert Heijn so we pop in to grabbed some Bananas, Doughnuts, Cheese(Gouda and Grand Padano), 2 smoothies, 2 croissants, 2 dinner rolls. As with every trip to Albert Heijn as a tourist from another continent you always see funny things for sale you don't normally see at home, this is a prime example!
After making up some sandwiches we were back out on the town. This time we were off to the Greenhouse Centrum. I know this is an overpriced trendy tourist coffeeshop but it holds a special place for us. Our last trip we stayed only a few hundred meters from this coffeeshop and spent a lot of time here especially at night to end the day as we had a non-smoking rented room from airbnb. We both love the crazy tables they have a Greenhouse Centurm and always love the vibe, just don't love the prices on the menu. We grabbed 1.0g of Pure Kush($18.0) and my girlfriend had a Mint Tea.
(Love these tables and without that little green book and my girlfriends note taking this trip report would not be possible!)
After we had a smoke inside the Greenhouse Centurm I rolled an extra joint(Hawaii Haze) to smoke at our special spot by the canal just outside Greenhouse Centurm. So it was back to back joints and why not we are on vacation in Amsterdam we didn't come here to not smoke! Of course after doing so the munchies came on strong and it was the sweet tooth kind of munchies so it was off to Metropolitan for some CHOCOLATE! We both got a hot chocolate(best in the city) and a brownie. Grabbed a table and enjoyed them ever so much, almost was stoned enough to try and snort a line of coco but couldn't bring myself to do it.
By this time it was getting late so we headed to the closest tram stop and made our way back to the hotel, once we got back I rolled up a beauty joint with the Trainwreck and the Caramella Cream Hash. It was so good it brought on the munchies again this time we ordered a medium pizza and garlic bread delivered to the room from 24/7 Pizza Amsterdam. It was a bit pricey at $15.5 but it was worth every penny. We followed that up with a joint of Hindu Kush and off to bed.
To be continued..
