Pre-420 Trip report
Posted: Thu 13th Apr 2017 08:10 pm
Usually I just post reviews in the CS threads after trips but this time I thought I'd try a semblance of a proper report, Apologies for gaps in memory and having forgotten to take photos very regularly!
So this trip was initially conceived as a pre-420 scouting mission after some minor success last year (awkward holidays make actual 420 tricky so I always seem to go the week before) travelling with my mate JB, the pair of us having developed by now into a relatively well-functioning unit in the city. However the group soon grew to include another friend (who we'll affectionately refer to as the Falafel Monster (FM), and then at the last minute, with a rather decent 4 bed apartment just off Leidseplein booked, a mate of FM's who JB & I hadn't seen for a decade (S), who was going to be in the city anyway, decided to stay with us.
These additions changed our agenda slightly as neither FM or S are that heavy consumers, with the aim becoming just to have as chilled out a break as possible rather than trying to get through a long list of shops etc.
Saturday - Arrival day
Flights were booked for midday but Flybe decided to move our flights back to late afternoon. At least they moved leaving-day time back a few hours too so no real time lost. Flying from Doncaster this time, easy drive & flight with JB & FM (S meeting us there later) followed by the usual semi-jog through Schiphol onto the train and out through Central Station into the air. That momentary stop and breath feeling of arrival I think almost everyone takes at that point with the city in front of them never feels old. Weather is decent, warm even, bonus. Straight to GVB for 4day tram passes then phone the apartment people. No answer. Gah, really? Oh ok they phoned back, phew!
Quickly we pop to Voyagers for a b&f, not that I ever do anything else here really. Service is fine and the weed usually good but it isn't my favourite place to chill at all.
- Lemon Bubble (€12/g) - Nice, lemony, pretty standard Voyagers fare. I find this strain pleasant but unremarkable.
- Fromage Bleu (€12/g) - Occasionally this has been THE cheese. This time it was just A cheese, fine but nothing more than that.
Quick bimble down the shell of Warmoesstraat (long since stopped spending much time here but still, so many shops down *cry*) so FM can pick up a pipe, then we shift it across to catch a quick tram to Leidseplein. Apartment is just around the corner from the chaos yet somehow mostly out of it, on the Jordaan side so with a calmish escape route, looking good. Turns out we check in over the phone, some faff with keysafe codes being forgotten but otherwise exceptionally painless and the place is exactly as described, 3 floors, 4 bedrooms, smoke-friendly and not too cronky.
Arrival joints battered and we're off for our semi-traditional chaos-shop at the AH on Elandsgracht to stock the apartment. Carried off with much amusement and absolutely no organisation whatsoever but also no significant loses of points, and for once I even field "haveyougotabonuscard?" with a blink let alone an uncomfortably long and clearly stoned pause, go me!
I take the opportunity as we leave to pop into a coffeeshop I've not been into in maybe 2 decades, Johnny. Tiny place that's had a modern refit, seems to have some link to the DNA/Boerejongens shops from the menu, which had some interesting things on it however the service was very unwelcoming so after I looked at & rejected the scraps of Banana Kush waved in my general direction I grabbed some of the slightly better looking Cheese Fruit and beat a retreat.
- Cheese Fruit (€)10.50/g - Not an unpleasant taste, a bit fruity & a bit cheesy but not very strong. FM quite liked this as a milder smoke.
Back to the apartment for food, smoke and S turning up. With him and FM firmly ensconced and it starting to get quite late JB & I take a run to Utopia on the tram to stock up. I can't speak highly enough of this place, sure other shops are blessed with better spaces and the menu does tend to the more expensive side even if it is consistently good, but as always I'm made to feel more comfortable in here looking through every single tub, actively encouraged to do so even, than anywhere else in town. After my earlier experience in Johnny the contrast is even more jarring. We stocked up with;
- White Fire Og x Gorilla Glue (€16/g) - Clearly won the eye and nose test next to the Rolex Og which we never tried. I'm not familiar with GG but I am White Fire and it definitely had an edge I recognise. Strong and stinky, this was our most expensive purchase of the trip... and we came back for more on two further days.
- Shoreline (€15/g) - Not the same pheno as 137's last year for sure. No purple and a less floral smell than I usually associate with it, though it did have an intriguing aroma. When I broke the buds up I got a strong burst of red fruits, like concentrated fruit juice almost, that sort of came through when smoked too. In the end I thought "nice, but not quite what it can be."
- Citral (€13/g) - Looked at the lemon haze for the morning but nope, this knocked it out of the park in lemon and in tub appeal. Smoked like it smelt and looked, superbly reliable strain.
At this point nothing much happens rather than a slow return to the apartment where JB & I primarily work through the Utopia stash. Saving some citral for waking, bed is achieved at a relatively sensible time of the early morning with the only plan for tomorrow morning being Sunday lunch at Batavia...
TBC shortly
So this trip was initially conceived as a pre-420 scouting mission after some minor success last year (awkward holidays make actual 420 tricky so I always seem to go the week before) travelling with my mate JB, the pair of us having developed by now into a relatively well-functioning unit in the city. However the group soon grew to include another friend (who we'll affectionately refer to as the Falafel Monster (FM), and then at the last minute, with a rather decent 4 bed apartment just off Leidseplein booked, a mate of FM's who JB & I hadn't seen for a decade (S), who was going to be in the city anyway, decided to stay with us.
These additions changed our agenda slightly as neither FM or S are that heavy consumers, with the aim becoming just to have as chilled out a break as possible rather than trying to get through a long list of shops etc.
Saturday - Arrival day
Flights were booked for midday but Flybe decided to move our flights back to late afternoon. At least they moved leaving-day time back a few hours too so no real time lost. Flying from Doncaster this time, easy drive & flight with JB & FM (S meeting us there later) followed by the usual semi-jog through Schiphol onto the train and out through Central Station into the air. That momentary stop and breath feeling of arrival I think almost everyone takes at that point with the city in front of them never feels old. Weather is decent, warm even, bonus. Straight to GVB for 4day tram passes then phone the apartment people. No answer. Gah, really? Oh ok they phoned back, phew!
Quickly we pop to Voyagers for a b&f, not that I ever do anything else here really. Service is fine and the weed usually good but it isn't my favourite place to chill at all.
- Lemon Bubble (€12/g) - Nice, lemony, pretty standard Voyagers fare. I find this strain pleasant but unremarkable.
- Fromage Bleu (€12/g) - Occasionally this has been THE cheese. This time it was just A cheese, fine but nothing more than that.
Quick bimble down the shell of Warmoesstraat (long since stopped spending much time here but still, so many shops down *cry*) so FM can pick up a pipe, then we shift it across to catch a quick tram to Leidseplein. Apartment is just around the corner from the chaos yet somehow mostly out of it, on the Jordaan side so with a calmish escape route, looking good. Turns out we check in over the phone, some faff with keysafe codes being forgotten but otherwise exceptionally painless and the place is exactly as described, 3 floors, 4 bedrooms, smoke-friendly and not too cronky.
Arrival joints battered and we're off for our semi-traditional chaos-shop at the AH on Elandsgracht to stock the apartment. Carried off with much amusement and absolutely no organisation whatsoever but also no significant loses of points, and for once I even field "haveyougotabonuscard?" with a blink let alone an uncomfortably long and clearly stoned pause, go me!
I take the opportunity as we leave to pop into a coffeeshop I've not been into in maybe 2 decades, Johnny. Tiny place that's had a modern refit, seems to have some link to the DNA/Boerejongens shops from the menu, which had some interesting things on it however the service was very unwelcoming so after I looked at & rejected the scraps of Banana Kush waved in my general direction I grabbed some of the slightly better looking Cheese Fruit and beat a retreat.
- Cheese Fruit (€)10.50/g - Not an unpleasant taste, a bit fruity & a bit cheesy but not very strong. FM quite liked this as a milder smoke.
Back to the apartment for food, smoke and S turning up. With him and FM firmly ensconced and it starting to get quite late JB & I take a run to Utopia on the tram to stock up. I can't speak highly enough of this place, sure other shops are blessed with better spaces and the menu does tend to the more expensive side even if it is consistently good, but as always I'm made to feel more comfortable in here looking through every single tub, actively encouraged to do so even, than anywhere else in town. After my earlier experience in Johnny the contrast is even more jarring. We stocked up with;
- White Fire Og x Gorilla Glue (€16/g) - Clearly won the eye and nose test next to the Rolex Og which we never tried. I'm not familiar with GG but I am White Fire and it definitely had an edge I recognise. Strong and stinky, this was our most expensive purchase of the trip... and we came back for more on two further days.
- Shoreline (€15/g) - Not the same pheno as 137's last year for sure. No purple and a less floral smell than I usually associate with it, though it did have an intriguing aroma. When I broke the buds up I got a strong burst of red fruits, like concentrated fruit juice almost, that sort of came through when smoked too. In the end I thought "nice, but not quite what it can be."
- Citral (€13/g) - Looked at the lemon haze for the morning but nope, this knocked it out of the park in lemon and in tub appeal. Smoked like it smelt and looked, superbly reliable strain.
At this point nothing much happens rather than a slow return to the apartment where JB & I primarily work through the Utopia stash. Saving some citral for waking, bed is achieved at a relatively sensible time of the early morning with the only plan for tomorrow morning being Sunday lunch at Batavia...
TBC shortly
