Well, spoiler alert, the weather in Amsterdam is indeed fantastic and the rain falls on the UK. A small downside in this for me is a bit of hay fever, probably exacerbated by excessive cannabis consumption
. The occasional sneeze doesn't slow me down but it's slightly embarrassing and I'm conscious that people might think I'm afflicted with some infectious disease.On with the story ...
Thursday 17th April 2025 - Arrival
Our flight is only slightly delayed and we're soon descending over the colourful springtime fields of the Netherlands. Flying over Voorhout, looking towards Keukenhof and Lisse, our pilot organises some perfect views for us.
Having flown into Amsterdam many times over nearly four decades and taking countless pictures through plane windows, I think this is the best shot I've ever got of the bulb fields.
On arrival at Centraal station, we first pop into the GVB shop to grab some paper 6-day tickets for the trams, metros and night busses. Previous experience tells us that the phone-based versions of these tickets are a pain so paper is the way to go.
Tickets in hand, we descend to the metro and catch an M52 to Vijzelgracht station by the Weteringcircuit where our subterranean hotel room awaits. A brief stop in the burrow to drop off our stuff and then we re-emerge at the surface, cross to the metro, back underground again and make our way towards Siberië, where Bedge has arranged for everyone to meet.
Incoming messages though the day have told of various members landing from around the world. A few made it to the dab session at Bushdocter earlier. Hopefully we'll have a good turnout this evening.
Our destination is in the middle of this picture, with the lights outside.
Siberië is on the pretty Brouwersgracht, which is popular with the monstrous floating polytunnels.
Anyway, enough of this tourist stuff, let's get into the coffeeshop and get the Mighty loaded!
Inside, we immediately recognise a bunch of familiar faces. There are some serious veterans of many a 4-20 campaign here who Igraine and I already know well. Lots of warm greetings all around. Overall, including one early retirement and a couple of later arrivals, we have AzLaker, Bedge, Gapie, Ghost, Jamie Dodger, Stevesec, Talkrum and Trad. Jamie Dodger is the first 420 virgin I meet this year. A fine gentleman, as we would expect of a Bedge progeny.
Time to load the vape. A quick visit to the counter yields some Monaco Octane and Lemon Cherry Gelato. The MO seemed to hit fast with a nice buzz. After that, one strain merges with the next, to be honest. We are soon flying. It's great to be back in Amsterdam!
Ghost breaks out an amazing assortment of beautiful goodies, which he then distributes around everyone present. These are sure to become instant classics, rarities to be sought out by discerning collectors around the world. There are amazing T-shirts, keyrings featuring ACD maps, fridge magnets featuring coffeeshop pictures [Het Ballonnetje and Pink Floyd now decorate my kitchen] and lovely little ACD pin badges, which we all wear with pride.
Having blown us all away with gifts, Ghost now proceeds to blow our heads off with a very efficient portable rosin vape. What a wonderful man!
Siberië is definitely up there with the best coffeeshops in the 'Dam but, after nearly three hours of heavy consumption, many of us are thirsting for a beer to lubricate our smoky throats. A short walk around the corner takes us to the nearest weed-friendly bar, CoffeeshopAmsterdam Café.
As we walk in we're greeted by a member of staff. I tell them we're looking to smoke weed and drink beer. We don't sell weed, they say but, when I tell them we already have plenty, they say in that case we're welcome and guide us downstairs where there are ashtrays on all of the tables. Drinks orders are taken and a tray full of large beers soon appears. After such a heavy smoking and vaping session, Heineken has never tasted so good! Suitably refreshed, the session soon resumes at full tilt.
Meanwhile, as we're moving from Siberië to the bar, Sammysarahh is trying to catch up with us. Trying to explain where we are is a challenge. CoffeeshopAmsterdam is a stupid name for a coffeeshop. It's an even more ridiculous name for a bar! She soon finds us though.
Gapie and Trad are already getting competitive
After lots more weed and lager, we're ready for some munchies to finish off the evening. Igraine and I lead a small group across to the Red Light District in search of chips (friet, fries).
It's a successful mission in that we score the desired chips and mayo but our favourite location to consume them is still missing. I thought I read somewhere that the nice footbridge across Oudezijds Voorburgwal had been rebuilt but it clearly hasn't.
In this picture we see the unused abutments of the missing bridge. Older readers might recognise what was once The Other Place coffeeshop on the opposite side. Emerging from the door between there and the Caligula sex shop is what looks like an Al Capone-style American gangster with a machine gun.
Without our bridge, we're forced to eat on the canalside outside Bulldog Hotel. From there we stroll around the corner to the bus stop on the Damrak where an N85 nightbus promptly rolls up. Sammysarahh and Trad join us as far as Prinsengracht and we continue to Frederiksplein.
So ends a fantastic first night. De Kade tomorrow...
