The trip in Dec '23 was a weekend visit to see Madonna in concert. It happened right in the calm eye of a three year storm of ill health, lengthy hospital stays, and near death experiences. We thought I was better and we enjoyed our time, visiting a couple of coffeeshops, seeing Madonna, and being stranded in Strandvliet Metro Station in the snow at midnight for an hour and a half. It wasn't over though, and I had another year an a half of hospitals, illness, treatments and recovery to come. At one point I, optimistically or naively, decided to book a weekend in the Dam to have something to aim for but when the time came I was in hospital and physically far from able so it was cancelled with great disappointment.
This summer we decided it was time to return, so booked our "usual" spot in De Pijp and awaited impatiently, checking menus and reading trip reports in the meantime (thanks everybody for those things!). Finally the end of July came and we were excited to say the least.
In the ten days approaching we watched the weather forecast and saw some very hot days in our holiday window. This heat dome played games with us, moving from one end of our holiday to the other and back again. We were prepared for some heat as best we could - brimmed hats. Thing is, I'm terrible in the heat, on a hot sunny day I am a shade seeker, don't get me wrong I love the warm weather but I just can't be under the direct heat of the sun for long.
I was of course looking forward to trying out new strains and visiting new coffeeshops. Strains like Zoap and Gelonade for example which have been recommended here in recent times were high on my list, also classics like Shoreline tickled my fancy. In the weeks before we had enjoyed some Green Crack as a beautiful weekend wake'n'baker with a genuinely happy high so I wanted some of that and to try more skunky strains in general. I did plenty of research into strains and their genetics and all of that information was stored as a disorganised mind fuzz from which a glimmer of recognition could spark a good purchase, or so I hoped!
Day 1: Thurs - Arriving
So we, M and I, are in the taxi to the airport when we are notified our flight is delayed an hour. When we get on the plane it's a fancy A320NEO and we have tv screens with a video library. We're told we're not taking off for at least 40mins which means we have time to get a movie in. We watch Saipan and we both enjoy it, despite the constant interruptions for announcements. We had planned on training it to Zuid and visiting Coconuts & Coffee who have moved here from the Centaur Theatre on Ceintuurbaan before taking the metro to De Pijp but we've arranged to meet our host at 3 and if we do that we'll now be late. So we head straight to De Pijp from Zuid. A little strolling and waiting and we are housed. Slightly rested we emerge to be fed and inebriated in that order.
We wander up 1e van der Helststraat to Gerard Douplein to find our destination has changed and the menu is not what we want right now. We wander, stopping to observe the local dinosaurs, I mean herons (5 of them), stalking the remnants of the market fish stall. We eventually settle on Ladybird Fried Chicken for a couple of two piece meals with beer. Not too bad at all. Now too full for an immediate coffeeshop we wander, dropping into ProGram without buying, as the Green Crack is out. I'll come back later for Piatella I think. We swing round the corner and have a quick look at the menu in Club Media but we're still not ready, however...
...by the time we find Carmona we are. The friendly tender happily sells me a gram of Gelonade for €11/g. We get a couple of drinks and head to the smoking room. It's quite nice in here leather (effect?) seats and super cool with the airco. We opt for an old fashioned wooden table rather than the electronic table top game table and sit back to relax with our first vape. I tear the bud with my fingers which makes the vape experience even more delicious due to the larger pieces. Strong flavour of Gelato with a lemony overtone. It's nice. I like it here. We have a couple of relaxed pipes each before emerging into the hot heavy Amsterdam evening.
Where to?, I ask M. To some water, she answers. I give the options: nord, zuid or oost. We head nord to the Singlegracht and watch boats pass under the bridge for a while.
Then towards Frederiksplein finding a white figure peering into a seemingly empty builing through a window. This figure turns out to be 3d printed statue looking at other 3d printed people inside the building. They make this art for us right? To keep us occupied and/or confused?
We stroll through the plein onto Utrechtsestraat, deciding to stop at Prinsengracht to sit and sip on the terrace of Onder de Ooieveaar a lovely brown bar. We sat and drank a beer watching the constant stream of silent boats sail towards the Amstel. Inside the pub is a really nice looking place with a pool table in the back. Noted for future.
From here we head oost to the Amstel, we cross the famous Magere Brug and walk towards our next destination Het Ballonnetje. On our way M notices a stork! Storks are nesting on a chimney stack of what I think is part of the School of Economics. We vow to return to check them out but now we head to the balloon. Inside we find the heavenly menu. "One of everything" I joke to the tender! We have a chat about the menu. I indeed want everything but go for some G13 Mr Nice for €12/g and some Enemy of the State for €10.50/g. I have good memories of G13 Mr Nice and have to return to this classic strain. We head upstairs and vape. The G13 Mr Nice is full of flavour and produces loads of vapour. And the high is wonderful. A real fav, so glad it was as good as I remember. We have two pipes each and then share a third while bobbing to the techno and watching the world out the window and the customers come and go. Lovely times. Glad to say M instantly fell in love with the place too. A great evening.
We stroll back along Sarphatistraat then south back to De Pijp passing Ibiza and D&L on the way. When we reach the nord-oost corner of Sarphatipark we hear a cacophony of bird song. We know by ear there's a Ring-Necked Parakeet and probably a Blackbird singing but there's something else we aren't sure about and they're all singing at once. Our apps reveal a Blackcap. This pleases us. The park is also full of people sitting and enjoying themselves this warm night (there is a heady scent in the air too) so we buy some icecream (tiramisu flavour for me) and join them for a while. We head home via Febo and the Nightshop (Supermarket Royal XL) for some Enemy of the State on the balcony, peaceful and relaxing. A good first day back.
Day 2: Friday - A Cycle Tour
I was exhausted last night, mainly due to lack of sleep the night before, so I slept well and woke about 8. I go grab some croissants for a light breakfast. We chill until about 11 and head out stopping at Pipoos to buy a marker. We metro to Centraal. I board near the rear, standing in the middle so I can look along the length of the train as it rapidly snakes and swings violently through the turns as it climbs, safe and secure in my own inertial frame which seems disconnected from that of the front of the train. I like trains, still I must be high. We emerge outside Centraal, it's Amsterdam and it's alive. It's hot and it's busy. We head to Haarlemmerstraat to rent a bicycle in a side street. We're obviously stoned cause we rent bikes not from the researched destination but from a different shop on this street with two bicycle rental outlets. Mea culpa, ah well we have bikes and we start pedaling. We cycle about in the sun in an aimless sort of way but I form a plan.
We park on the Torensluis and head straight for Sativa, dropping down into this lively shop. Nice menu with good prices. After consulting with M we choose Pineapple Z at €10/g. We also get two cold chocomels. I ask for a grinder and am pointed to the stack of rolling trays and grinders at the end of the bar. We take a seat - they seem to have fitted quite a few seats in this small room. Again the airco is welcome, we enjoy the tasty Pineapple Z, cool down and chill out. Fruity and sweet flavours from the PZ and a happy chill buzz puts us in the humour to stroll again.
We happily wander the canals. Among the things I notice is the city seem to be reclaiming a little canal space for green areas. Along many of the canals in this area additional bits of space have been created using metal sheet piling - those interlocking metal sheets use for retaining walls commonly seen in canal construction and elsewhere. Some of this new land is slightly before the level of the canal wall and filled with untamed planting, clearly designed to green the city and provide much needed habitat for wildlife. In other places it is higher and has formed a small seating area or micropark just off the canalside. I notice one place where the space is used as a garden for a boat. This development for me is joyful.
(^If I turned to the left here I could take a photo similar to one of Lemmings - a little red figure hanging onto the canal wall)
We end up on Elandsgracht where we use the AH for juice, Ethos for Suncream and Kaashuis Tromp for a Boerenboterham (cheese & salad baguette). We search for shade and end up, I think, on Lauriersgracht where we spy a bench. We munch away and then two people, one old and one young, arrive on a bizarre double bicycle, not a tandem with one following the other but two bucket seats - actual seats - side by side. And I notice the young person doesn't have pedals but can steer and older person does have pedals (steering ability unconfirmed). It soon becomes clear after the elderly lady dismounts, with help, to climb the steps behind us and the other person parks the contraption in a way that suggests this is a private space and boredly sits, lights a cigarette and thumbs her phone, we have a resident + assistant situation here. I turn to find another old lady being helped coming from the other way, she looks surprised to see us sitting here, I smile, she doesn't seem to mind. We do though, so quietly leave and head towards our bikes.
Now we pass Grey Area again and not for the first time it is almost without queue. We feel it would be rude of us not visit, also M has never been always finding it too busy. We enter, someone is at the counter and we are passed a menu. We confer. Tea Time (Zkittles x RS11) is decided upon. We have a sniff and approve a purchase at €18/g. M spots grinders in a variety of colours with the nice star trek typeface Grey Area "logo" printed on for €6. We pick up a green one - nice souvenir and give my fingers a break, 2for1. We pop our purchases in our bags and head out.
We're in the mood for cycling so we head towards Centraal, through the tunnel, around the back and down Gelderskade, through Nieuwmarkt and along Plantage until we find the Rita Vuykbrug, a bridge we saw from afar yesterday. Upon arrival we quickly bale out of cycling over and push our beasts over the high crested white hump. As we come down the otherside there's a nice green area by the water and I see a guy smoking a joint, he is just that moment approached by a security guard who tells him he can't smoke here because it is the grounds of the university. The guy says "sorry, sorry" and puts it out - he's definitely Irish, no doubt - and the big security dude is like No problem buddy, sorry about having to do my job. How nice. We saddle up and glide slowly, finding a nice spot under a tree, on a corner where the Nieuwe Prinsengracht meets the Nieuwe Keizergracht across from the chimney stack. As we approach two storks are in the air, by the time we sit one is on a building next to the chimney stack and its nest while the other has gone. We sit for a while, cooling down in the shade, rehydrating and watching this magnificent, silly, prehistoric bird. Marvellous.
And even better than that we stand up and stroll over to visit Het Ballonnetje again. This time we order from the top of the menu, Monaco €14/g a recommendation from yesterday's tender. We grab two loozas on our way upstairs to the same seats as yesterday. We cool down nicely here, same recipe as yesterday. It's a bit busier here this evening. We have a couple of pipes and a nice time both relaxed and energised by the smooth and tasty Monaco.
We're hungry. We were enjoying the cycling so we opted to bike to Oud West and visit Foodhallen. This is slightly ambitious perhaps in our current state of hunger but it's what we did. The city seems busy but we continue onwards to our destination. We eventually find the bike parking which is in the underground carpark with the entrance on the corner of Belamyplein and Tollenstraat FYI. We find the hallen, take a tour and a seat. We order beers and a selection of tacos and enjoy it greatly, particularly the jackfruit and the beef. From here we head south and experience some real traffic for the first time crossing Overtoom. We duck into the park. We look for storks near the western entrance but there is no nest this year, we see no parakeets. We stop near the Picasso sculpture for a while and then cycle slowly to the Stadhouderskade entrance, glide past the Rijksmuseum and swing down the Ruysdalkade back home to De Pijp. We shower, rest and vape the Tea Time. My notes say "Chill. Floral. Lavender?". I think that means I liked it. I remember it felt good physically, the relaxing stone on my activated muscles. It was warm and comfortable.
Later we need more fuel so venture to Sunny Falafel for amazing frites and a falafel salad box with loads of toppings. Delicious. Just a little place on 1er Van der Helstraat somewhere between Katsu and the market. Real good fresh vegetarian food open till 10 in the summer. We eat our chips on the terrace then devour the salad box at home with more pipes. Perfect.
