Day 1 - Part 2
Suitably equipped I set off from the hostel towards the little cluster of coffeeshops in de Baarsejes. I pop in the AH on Kinkerstraat and pick up a couple of Heineken Zeros - more than happy to pay the little extra for cold cans, how civilized. Over the bridge and hang a right up Baarsejesweg, theres a bench by the water so I take a short breather, down a Zero and watch someone paddleboarding up the canal, it sure is a nice day for it. I still have the joint of Orange Crush from 137 in my pocket and am tempted to sit and smoke it here but decide to crack on instead.
It's just a short walk to Massawa. I don't know why but I imagined this place to be more rustic than it is, it's actually pretty modern inside. The tender is on the phone when I arrive in the otherwise empty shop, he does however acknowledge me so I've no issues with him finishing his call - to be honest it gives me a minute to peruse the menu. I ask to see the Beldia and Tbisla (I think) - I went for the Beldia, lovely shine on the outside, softens in the hand.
Massawa's Beldia
I pop round the corner to El Marsa but it looks like they are closed which is a shame, nevermind, onwards.
From here I head to Hoofdweg and Ruthless. Proper coffeeshop this, a few locals sat outside, inside there is a small BnF counter and a rather dimly lit smoking area at the back, again theres quite a few local heads chilling there. Tender is sound and seems to visibly cheer up when I ask to see some Moroccan hash, he whips out his "Real Moroccan" of which he is clearly proud. Similar in appearance to the Beldia with a shiny exterior, but a little softer. Despite the rather off-putting name, I liked this shop and would certainly return, maybe even sit and have a smoke next time as many of the shops round here are BnF only.
Real Moroccan - Ruthless
I double back up Hoofdweg and call in at Flashback. Well this is an interesting one. Again a few locals outside, inside it's pretty sparse - you can sit and roll on the window sill but that's about it, there seems to be no menu - I didn't see one anyway. There are three tubs on the counter marked with real generic names like Kush, Haze which doesn't fill me with confidence. The tender emerges from the back and I ask if he has any Moroccan hash - he pulls a lump from his pocket and I take a gram of what shall henceforth be known as "Pocket Maroc". This is a lighter, sandier piece more along the lines of a Hiya
A few doors along from Flash Back is de Bommel. This is a tiny shop with an old school rustic feel. As I enter theres a guy getting served at the counter, a breeze blows his papers off the counter and he gives me a look - was it a gust from me opening the door? Oops. He gathers his papers from the floor and leaves, I scan the menu. The tender eyes me suspiciously despite my toothy grin. I opt for a gram of Purple Goo, he serves it up and places some papers on the counter too, I decline as I have come prepared with my own unbleached papers, he shrugs, at this moment the fan he has behind the counter finally rotates enough to blow the skins off the counter - so it wasn't my fault, good!
I head out across Mercartoplein towards Jan van Galenstraat and CS Loft. I failed miserably to find this shop when staying up this end a few years ago and it's been bugging me ever since as I was probably just a few yards away. Again this wasn't what I was expecting, Loft is sleek and modern, more akin to a Boerejongens than it's sister shop Siberie. Luckily they have the GoosePie in stock and it looks really nice so I take a gram of that and scoot.
Across the road is Erasmuspark and I've still got that joint of Orange Crush. I decide to chill in the park while I smoke that. I spy a lovely looking tree by the water that just begs to be sat under, as I get nearer I see the tree is hollow and as I get nearer still I see that the hollow of the tree is occupied by a massive rodent. Thoroughly freaked I decide to quit the park and head on, I spark the joint anyway as it's high time I was high.
It's time for a little detour, while I'm up this end of town I'm going to try to find the Keith Haring mural. This massive mural of a mythical beast was painted by Haring, as a gift to the city, in 1986 on the side of the Food Centre, a metal screen was installed in 1994 which covered the artwork up. It remained there, forgotten until the screen was removed in 2018. A restoration project has subsequently taken place to preserve the artwork for future generations. What a story, anyway here it is...
Art detour completed it's time to pick up the coffeeshop crawl by heading north towards Fredrick Hendricksplein and the cluster of shops up there, it's a pleasant walk past de Otter windmill
On the walk I spot what seems to be a domesticated heron, it's just chilling outside someones front door and seems totally unfazed by my presence. I'm a little taken aback by it, I glance round and make eye contact with a passer-by, she just looks at me with a "what's up? have you never seen a domesticated heron before"? face. Am I missing something? Are herons a thing here? Am I stoned? I chuckle to myself, I love the randomness of this city.
Heron really screws you up
The next stop is CS Freedom. I have barely any memory of this shop so can't comment on decor or atmosphere but I did pick up some Wedding Cake before I headed over to Chapiteau.
Chapiteau is a small shop with only a BnF counter, it looks bigger from the outside so maybe theres a smoking area but it wasn't obvious. I've seen a few menus online and it's piqued my interest, surely at the prices quoted the weed is shite, it's €12 for the most expensive, but I'm prepared to take the hit to find out. I have a look at the menu, it is extensive with many strains you just don't see in other places. I turn to the tender, "I gotta say, your menu is very impressive", he is pleased with this and is more than happy to show me anything I ask to see (which is about 75% of the menu ahaha), he gives his recommendations and we have a laugh, nice bloke. The weed he shows me looks excellent, I mean really excellent, I'm spoilt for choice but go for a gram each of Georgia Pie and Space Zooties, tender gives me a free lighter. What a pleasant experience, no attitude, no rushing, no tourists (apart from yours truly) just a good shop with a really top shelf selection for rock bottom prices.
Last stop on this crawl is Catch 33. This place is in the process of changing to La Kalada and has had the decorators in, as such I wasn't sure it would be open but it was, albeit the smoking room was closed due to the aforementioned decorating. I strike up a convo with the lady tender, she seems really excited about the takeover and confirms that the menu will be changing in about a week to a full La Kalada menu, for the time being I take some of their Orange Groovie filtered hash which is quite pricey for me at €19/g. I wish her all the very best and I head out back towards Centraal.
I've got a bit of a stash now so it's time to put my feet up and have a smoke, I head down Brouwersgracht, across Singel and Damrak to Batavia. Upon arrival I'm disappointed to find Batavia closed, perhaps I'm a little early but the sign on the door says it should be open. Nevermind, there is more than one smoker bar in this city. I wander down Warmoestraat and pop in Hill St Blues for convenience, I grab a drink and head downstairs. It's really quiet in here, I've never seen it so empty but it is only lunchtime/early afternoon really. I roll a doob of the Georgia Pie from Chapiteau with a little Pocket Maroc from Flash Back and settle in for some people watching. Theres four or five lads and a solo traveller in the window seats, they are from Derby in the UK and solo guy is from Helsinki, they start chatting. The Derby lads are all pretty wasted apart from their ringleader who was very chatty. He's asking the Helsinki guy all soets of questions, can you score weed in Finland? How much have you spent on weed since you've been here? etc etc He's really keen to explain where Derby is to this Finnish guy and it's amusing me. "Have you heard of Robin Hood"? asks the Derby guy, "Well, that's Nottingham, Derby is a 20 min drive from there". Thanks for clearing that up. I don't know if it was the weed or the hash but I realise that last joint has hit hard and I'm feeling rather stoned. Success!
It's very gloomy in HSB as per, and it's a beautiful day outside so I finish up and head to Suzies. It's happy hour, which makes me happy, and while at the bar a small group enters, one of them accidentally walks behind the bar - something I once did too in a stoned daze - the staff have a good laugh and it seems this is a daily occurrence, glad it wasn't just me. It's pretty busy outside but a table becomes free after a minute or two. I take a seat and roll a joint of the Wedding Cake sprinkled with some Orange Groovie hash.
Wedding Cake from CS Freedom...
...and it's lovely white ash
It's a very nice smoke and I'm really relaxing into the trip now, this is absolutely one of my favourite spots to chill, just on the cusp of the RLD there's plenty of sights to see. It's not long before I'm joined by two Italian blokes and a young English lad, we chat, the English lad is pretty quiet but the Italians are sound. They live and work in Amsterdam and soon the conversation turns to bemoaning the rising cost of living. We also notice that Rick's Coffeeshop seems to be closed. We smoke the GoosePie from Loft which was a quality smoke. Eventually I get itchy feet and decide to move on.
I take a little stroll around the nearby shops, Plug, Bhageera and then over to Spuistraat to TK, no purchases though. I make my way to the hostel to freshen up.
TBC...
Love the pics. 
Have a fantastic trip. 
Darn, HTN those shoes are packing on some miles... very nice.
. I have really enjoyed reading your trip report so far 
But all in all I had more positive than negative experiences in hostels.