Hit The North Solo 2024

[starcatcher]

Nice update @HitTheNorth

[Ghost]

Excellent write up and your pics are quality buddy thanks for sharing that with us

[Trad]

Nice one HTN, good read and great photos.

[Ghost]

Excellent - thanks for sharing that with us all. Them blue pics are strange

[avfc-herbalist]

Absolutely brilliant. Wicked photos mate.

[HitTheNorth]

Day 3 Part 1

I wake up and head downstairs for coffee and pancakes. Little do I know it but the day will end up being a weird one, for now I decide to make a start in Sativa just down the street. Different tenders today, but the same friendly service. I'm looking for a sativa or hybrid for breakfast and the guys recommend the McFlurry and describe it as "the bomb", I grab a lighter and an espresso and sit down at the back, turns out they didn't charge me for the lighter bless them. I smoke up the McFlurry, which was indeed a nice drop, and get to peoplewatch a group of British ladies who have just taken a table near me. They are a mix of ages, but one stands out as the big toker of the bunch - showing her mates what she's bought and being generally more enthused by this than anyone else.

I'm heading down to de Kade this morning and I pop in Terps Army 2 for some Red Velvet off their Cali menu for E22. I take my usual route through Museumplein, along Noorder Amstelkanaal and down to Achillestraat - one of my favourite walks to one of my favourite shops and a must visit every trip.





At de Kade I go for Tagalongz at E14 and Ice Cream at E15 and head into the smoking room. I feel instantly at home here and a feeling of contentment settles upon me. I smoke the Ice Cream and it's a solid one, smooth and tasty.

As relaxed as I am, I can never stay in one place too long and soon I find myself on Amstelveensweg and at the far end of Vondelpark. I've never been this far over so I decide to take a short break by the water. It's a lovely little spot and ideally I would've liked to wrap one up and have a smoke here. I grind some bud up but there's a breeze which is just a little too strong to even keep the paper in one place. I decide not to risk it.



While I'm sat in Vondel a group of 3 or 4 young people approach me. They have a video camera and a small boom mic. They tell me they are making a documentary film and ask if they can interview me because I look "interesting". This amuses me no end. I think back to the hairstyles and, frankly, outlandish attire I've sported over the years. I then consider the sensible hair and conventional clothes I currently sport and wonder what they would've made of me 30 years ago when I first started coming to Amsterdam I'm tempted to do it for a laugh but I have to decline. Onwards.

I head up Hoofdweg to Ruthless which I'd visited last year. There's a few locals sat outside - always seems pretty well attended this place, most places round here are buy and fly but Ruthless has a smoking room as well as the couple of tables outside. I ask to see the Rudeboi OG but the budtender tells me it's not good - I really appreciate the honesty. I tell him I was there last year and had the , "So you know the hood then" he says and tells me it's still the best hash they do. I like this guy, he's cool - really friendly. I take a gram of the hash and the tender gives me a free lighter. Nice one Ruthless!

I cross Admiralengracht to El Marsa. I scan the menu but nothing is tickling my lungs so I head round the corner to Massawa. I picked up some nice traditional hash here last year so this time I go for some more modern genetics with E10 of their Gorilla Glue Hash before moving on.


Gorilla Glue Hash

From here I head up to Chapiteau, again! What can I say? It's just a great place to fill one's pockets. I opt for Phantom Cookies at E11 and Cereal Milk at E10.50.

The weather has turned now, the sky is grey and grim. As I reach the end of the street the heavens open. I take shelter under a canopy on the opposite side of the road from Republiek. In my head I have two options. I could go to Republiek where I've never been before, but it's the same menu as Siberie and it doesn't look like it has seating inside. Or, dash round the corner to Catch 33 where I know there's a smoking room. Decision made I run round to Catch 33 to shelter from the rain. I ask the lady tender what she's smoking on at the moment and she pulls four tubs out for me to have a nose of. I plump for the Studio 54 at E12, hot chocolate and into the back. It's clinical but comfy in the smoke room. I'm feeling abit cold after being rained on so the hot drink is most welcome. I roll a joint with the bud I smashed up in Vondel - I can't believe I've not had a smoke since de Kade!


Studio 54

Eventually I head out again. The weather has eased but I'm still pretty damp. I need to head back to the digs and get a change of clothes.

TBC...

[Habibi]

Really enjoyed this

[jollylittlehun]

Great read mate. Thanks

[avfc-herbalist]

Wicked write up again mate. Great photos thanks HTN

[talkrum]

Day 3 part 2?..................
Btw HTN - Beltin reporting and pics - thanks

[HitTheNorth]

Day 3 part 2?..................
Btw HTN - Beltin reporting and pics - thanks

HaHa yeah I should get on with it really. Thanks @talkrum

[HitTheNorth]

DAY 3 PART 2

Sorry, it taken so long. But here goes...

I've walked back from Catch 33 towards my hostel, I'm nearly there when a guy catches my eye. Wow, he really looks like a guy I know from back home, L. I mean spitting image. I realise I'm staring and the guy is staring back. We draw closer, eyes still locked on each other. It really is uncanny. We draw level, still staring, pass each other and we're still staring. At the same time we utter each others names and we realise that we are both us. No fucking way. I've known L since I was in primary school and, as we move in similar creative circles back home, I still see him very often. He's with his son who also likes a smoke so we decide to hit up a shop. L says "Theres one just up the road we went to last night", turns out it was Resin. I've not been in here since it was the Pooldog, when it was a regular haunt for smoking up and shooting pool. It's changed a great deal. The counter is now on the opposite wall and where the lower level pool room was is now a seating area with swing seat. It's very green. I'm not really in the market for a buy here, and I'm not sure L picked anything up although he was eyeing a Mango Haze if I recall. We have a drink and a chat and I convince them there's a better place not far away.

We cross Singel and head to Siberie. This place has become a bit of a favourite over the past few visits - it ticks so many boxes for me: Quality product, friendly staff, proper coffee, chill, arty vibe and a rustic simplicity that reminds me of coffeeshops of yesteryear. L buys a Sensi Star x Diesel and I go for Maine Lobster Tail. We sit and chat and smoke for a while. I'm so happy to have bumped into L, he's a real positive person and chatty too, after a couple of days of just my own company it's nice to sit and talk with a friend.

I still need to change my damp clothes and we both need to eat so we arrange to meet up again later on. IO shoot back and change before heading up to Haarlemerstraat to a cheap steak place I went to a couple of years ago. The walls are still adorned with the weird murals that amused me so much last time.

My notes say I bought a gram of Mochilatti from the Plug (Rusland) but I have no real memory of this. I know I was in the Batcave when L phones to arrange a hook up. He and his son, T, are in Tyson on Spuistraat. This place is actually on my list of shops to avoid, I have grave reservations about Mr Tyson himself and, more generally, I don't really welcome celebrity shops. Maybe I'm being overly judgemental but to me adding a celebrity endorsement is just a licence to sell overpriced product to gullible tourists. Hey Ho I guess I get to sample a shop I wouldn't otherwise have tried.


Mochhilatti (I'd already smoked most of it by the time this was taken)

Upon arrival at Tyson it is immediately apparent that this is not my kind of place. The seating is inadequate for a group of three, although to their credit a lady did bring me a chair. We sat right opposite the counter where two tourists are getting agitated about something. There's a moody exchange between them and the staff and they are asked to leave. And I guess this is, in a nutshell, why I wasn't keen on coming here. I just wondered what type of clientele would be attracted by the endorsement of a man like Tyson who is, lest we forget, a convicted rapist who once took a bite out of someones ear. I note that Tyson actually uses the Holyfield ear bite as a cash cow by selling ear-shaped space cakes, so you can take a bite out of an ear just like our hero Mike. I'm not sure he's using sexual assault as a marketing tool yet though. Sorry - it's kinda tough to write this as I have quite a strong opinion, I dunno, it just doesn't sit right with me, I don't view cannabis and violence as easy bedfellows. I'm certainly not gonna line his pockets but each to their own and if I'm wide of the mark on my opinion of the man I apologise and am happy to be enlightened. Anyway, I think it's time we moved on...

L's son, T, has been given a list of shops by a mate. Places like Cookies, Terps, Strain Hunters and er, Bulldog. New Times is on the list and is only down the road. I've always thought it on the pricey side so I won't be bothering, T pops his head in though. I take them to the Dampkring so we can sit and chill for a bit. I get a gram of Zoap which was decent enough.

Time is moving and passing so I walk them back up to their hotel on Warmoestraat before heading back myself. What a strange evening - in a good way. Out of all the people I could've bumped into I'm so glad it was L, he's such a lovely bloke.

So I hit the hay, one more day to come...

[colinzeal]

Hey HTN, it's been a while so thanks for coming back to this report, really enjoying it. I read the live version as it went up so reading this calmer more thoughtful and retrospective look at the trip is particularly nice.

Totally agree with you on the Tyson situation. I will not be visiting that shop for the same reasons you find it distasteful.
I don't have such strong feelings about Snoop but I won't be visiting that shop either. I don't think Amsterdam Coffeeshop culture needed an injection of american celebrity culure tbh.
(Also S.W.E.D.? f-off mate, take a tolerance break once in awhile like! amirite?)

Also, haha, I recall a brief discussion of towels and hostels in the live report, may I suggest if you are not familiar with them to check out microfibre towels. They are great, dry well, dry out quickly after use and pack down so small you can always (probably) stuff one in your bag. My top travel tip!

[avfc-herbalist]

Brilliant read mate how crazy to bump into a long time mate too! Thanks for taking the time HitTheNorth

[rentboy]

Very impressed, only one typo. Could it be deep seek? I went to Tyson on my last trip and really enjoyed a hash prerolled. There was a life size cardboard cutout that scared me! I think of Tyson as a fighter Rastafarian, and the fact that he’s been charged with rape is a testament to his fame and the color of his skin, not to mention toughness. Anyway, the report provided good vacation reading, much love from cali.

Mahalo