Hi,
thank you so much for taking the time to create your great travelogue with supporting photo's.
I have really enjoyed 'walking' alongside you through your trip.
It has encouraged me to consider having a final visit to walk those hallowed streets and cruise those bars and Coffeeshops one last time.
If I do it will be later this year and I will make sure to do a write up with pics.
Once again, many thanks and Happy New Year to all
RT&B
First visit October 1976 last visit still to come ....
Roccy Tittzenbeer wrote: Fri 10th Jan 2025 09:48 pm
Hi,
thank you so much for taking the time to create your great travelogue with supporting photo's.
I have really enjoyed 'walking' alongside you through your trip.
It has encouraged me to consider having a final visit to walk those hallowed streets and cruise those bars and Coffeeshops one last time.
If I do it will be later this year and I will make sure to do a write up with pics.
Once again, many thanks and Happy New Year to all
RT&B
Here are some overall notes and observations about this trip, starting with some highs and lows:
Highs
- Dam By the Gram/Fairy House Halloween party @ Cafe Havelaar
- 300mg robot edible that made me go full Johnny 5 while eating a cone of frites
- Ferry to NDSM
- Smokeboat
- Public transport, specifically the Metro
- Swanky hotel
- Albert Cuypmarkt
- Rene's and Pancake Carousel
- The Smoke Spot outside the hotel
- Meeting friends old and new, spending time with the Mrs
Lows
- Mrs SB pulling a whitey and having a bad ankle (bless her)
- Thinking I lost my bag and running across town to look for it
- Our tickets not working on the airport bus
- The general inflation/price increases
- Didn't make it to Haarlem/De Baarsjes/Oud West
...and that's about it for the bad points.
Overall, this was by far one of the more enjoyable of my 8 trips to Amsterdam. It's definitely different when you have more than one friend living in town. I hear a lot of people say that the quality of the weed has declined, but I would disagree and say that the quality of weed in the UK has gone up dramatically in the past 10 years or so, meaning us Brits are in for less of a cannabis culture shock than we used to be. Easy Times, Solo, Siberie, Bagheera, CS Noord (Amsterdam Genetics) all still absolutely on point with the standout buds. Honourable mentions to Get Down, Katsu, Abraxas and Dampkring.
Prices have definitely increased notably. I budgeted for around €120 a day as I always have, but found myself hitting the cashpoint on the last day. Food, drinks, tobacco and cigarettes had the most obvious price hikes, while there was some quality weed and hash in the €11-€15 range, more akin to previous trips. One change I noticed was in packaging, with most but not all shops now offering printed labels on the bags, rendering my trusted Sharpie almost redundant. Easy Times now use black mylar bags, which came in handy as a way to discreetly store tobacco and leave it on the table while rolling, remaining out of view. Many of the pre rolled joints I bought came in eco-friendly cardboard tubes.
I smoked around 15g over 5 days (think there may have been a gram or two I forgot to take note of) as well as about 6 or 7 prerolls. This is most definitely less smoking than I have crammed into previous trips, although I am not a daily toker at home any more, so my consumption is generally less anyway. Although the quality was very good overall, I feel that I should have maybe asked for more recommendations from BTs instead of just picking and comparing two strains that took my fancy. Fruity and sweet terps are my favourite, but the trend seemed to lean towards gassy and earthy this time around. Not a bad thing by any means, but I will endeavour to find more standout gems next time.
Since returning, the mayor has taken it upon themselves to ban smoking in all bars along the Warmoestraat, including my beloved Hill Street Blues. I am seeing reports of all the bars being totally empty, a dagger in the heart of the cannabis scene. RIP Warmoestraat. I also noticed that the RLD Wonder Bar has closed, as well as a fair amount of the sex shops and windows in De Wallen. Is this a final nail in the coffin? A definitive beginning of the end for the city as we know and love it? What do you think?
Top 3 Coffeeshops
1. Easy Times
2. Solo
3. Bagheera
Top 5 Smokes
1. Tropical Runtz - Easy Times
2. Lemon Shocker - Solo
3. Watermelon Zkittles - Get Down
4. Purple Strawberry Sherbert - Bagheera
5. Purple Punch - Green Place
(Honourable mention - Super Silver Haze from CS Noord and Cookies & Creme hash from Easy Times)
New member here, but not new to the Dam. (I was also there Halloween 2024!)
Smokeybee21 - This has been a great write-up! Really enjoyed catching up on your escapades, and love the recap of fave shops and smokes of your trip. I'm off there again in Feb and will probably look for some of your recommended!.
I'm looking forward to trying Atkama 2 (old 156 on Hudsonstraat)
Also hearing great things about Solo so might check them out too!
Keep up the great work!... I might try and do a similar travel review when I go...
I've never been to Voyagers, and based on it's location I'm expecting it to be trash... anyone know about this? - I usually head to the right when I leave Centraal and head straight to 137, but tempted to turn left instead next time!
Old Time Stoner wrote: Mon 13th Jan 2025 12:17 pm
New member here, but not new to the Dam. (I was also there Halloween 2024!)
Smokeybee21 - This has been a great write-up! Really enjoyed catching up on your escapades, and love the recap of fave shops and smokes of your trip. I'm off there again in Feb and will probably look for some of your recommended!.
I'm looking forward to trying Atkama 2 (old 156 on Hudsonstraat)
Also hearing great things about Solo so might check them out too!
Keep up the great work!... I might try and do a similar travel review when I go...
I've never been to Voyagers, and based on it's location I'm expecting it to be trash... anyone know about this? - I usually head to the right when I leave Centraal and head straight to 137, but tempted to turn left instead next time!
Thanks bud!
I would not recommend Voyagers nowadays, it used to be my absolute number one shop, but it's been taken over by new owners. The old owners of Voyagers now run Bagheera, where I got the Kosher Kush/Purple Strawberry Sherbert mentioned in my report. I would recommend Bagheera, great product, knowledgeable staff, cheap drinks and arguably the best outdoor terrace in town. I would also very much recommend Solo. Hope this helps!
DazG1888 wrote: Mon 13th Jan 2025 10:03 pm
“Gram Graveyard” that’s a classic
Amazing report mate, great photos as well, you’ve got a good Mrs there as well - letting you out on the solo walkabouts
Agreed, reading this back makes me realise how much of a legend she is
As much as I enjoy travelling with her, I'd love to do a solo trip next time. I always enjoy my solo missions in Amsterdam, and I feel I'm in the right frame of mind to fly solo. On the other hand, she fancies Barcelona, but I'd like to gather more info on joining the clubs before booking that.
that’s a classic
