Thepurplem0nkey
New Member
Well, I made it back home Saturday night and had a great time in Paris and Amsterdam. Ill have some pics posted sometime this week. I've been very busy at work so I havent had time to sort through them all. Some intersting things though:
1. I smoke medical marijauna daily. I can say with certainty that the plants I bought in Amsterdam, ALL of them cannabis cup winners from their respective shops, were on par or at best, SLIGHTLY better than the medical strains I buy here in the states. This was surprising. The last couple of times I went I was NOT a medcial MJ patiente, so I had no basis for comparison, except what I bought on the street which was of course blown away by Amsterdam plants. BUt medical chronic is no less potent that 99% f thje strains I tried in Amsterdam, all from quality clubs that are well known and cup winners.
2. The medical hash in the states DOES NOT compare with Amsterdam hash. The quality AND selection of Amsterdam is MUCH BETTER, hash wise, than what I buy in the states. Dont get me wrong, there is GOOD MEDICAL HASH out there. But ALL of the hash in Amsterdam is mind numbing, and the best quality is extremely affordable, unlike here where the top notch quality is very expensive. My favorite, as always, was their morocon hash. SOOOO GOOD!
3. I must have spent 99% of my time in the coffeeshops in my previous visits to Amsterdam. This time, I spent about 30% of my time in the coffeeshops. Stopping in every few hours to "refresh" myself while touring the city, and going to barneys Coffeeshop for breakfast every other morning is basiclay how I did things. I think this is due to my medical marijuana status. It's not even a hasstle for me to go to the club and buy a half ounce or ounce of quality plant. Unlike in the past, when I did not have such access, Amsterdam was like candy land. I could actualy GO INTO A SHOP AND BUY UP TO 5 GRAMS OF CHEEBA!! WOW! Now, its more of a hasstle that i can ONLY buy 5 grams, because in the states I can buy up to 8 ounces. What I'm saying is, the novelty has worn off. WHen you can actualy buy good stuff on a daily basis at home, being able to buy the same stuff, but in lower quantities, in another country isnt that big of a deal. I think i bought more hash than plant during this stay.
4. The novelty of eating certain types of fungus has also worn off. I dunno if I'm just getting older or what, but I no longer ENJOY the demands eating such fungus puts on your body and mind, and I find myself more trying to control the experience and anticiapte its ending rather than go buckwild crazy like I used to. Whats odd is these certain types of fungus are MORE LEGAL in Amsterdam than marijauna. Fungus are considered herbs, regadless of what ingredients or psychottropic qualities such items may posess. Marijuana is merely TOLERATED, not legal (A comon misconception).
So, did I have a good time? Y E S! And I will visit Amsterdam AGAIN the next time I am in Europe. The city is absolutely beautiful, and it CAN be completely explored in 5 days or less. I saw Van GOgh paintings that i literaly could get within a nose's distance of. I saw REmbrandt paintings that I could lick if I wanted. I saw Monet's as well. I saw the Anne Frank house, which STILL makes me teary eyed no matter how hard I try not to. I ate all kinds of food I have never had in the states; Indian, Indonesian, Dutch, MIddle Eastern, Greek, Argentinian.....the list go's on. I saw some AMAZING architechture, met some awesome people, and of course, enjoyed the liberal viewpoint of the city, including its wonderful coffeeshops and smart shops. Its just funny how time and circumstances change a person. In the past, my priority would have BEEN the coffeeshops and smart shops....but now its the historical, cultural, and THEN liberal side that attract me. DOnt get me wrong, I was medicated the whole time I was there....I just wasnt spending all of my time in a coffeeshop.
Paris was fantastic as well. Standing in front of the Eifel Tower for new years....words can't express how that feels so I wont even bother trying. Let's just say that its an amazing feeling and if you have the oppertunity, you aught to do it. I was never ONCE treated rudely by any Parisian. I have been to paris about 5 times now, and this has ALWAYS been the case. I get treated rudely by more people IN MY OWN CITY, then I ever have in Paris. I think thats a complete stereotype and you have to be a complete moron to judge an entire people off of the rude treatment by some of it's inhabitants. I've been rude to people before, I certainly hope no one judges all of California, or America, on MY actions. Im mentioning this because so many people told me I was going to get treated rudely and that the French hate Americans...even though most of these people had never even BEEN to France, while I have been there multiple times. I'm here to tell you that's simply NOT TRUE. Sure, you may get treated rudely if you walk up to someone and begin talking in a foreign language, while at the same time forgoing the bnasic plliteness of that culture (such as saying hello to a shop keeper as soon as you enter), but really, thats YOU being an ignorant, uneducated person who netiher took the time to ask politely if a person would speak English to you nor took the time to learn the basic politeness of a foreign culture, and quite frankly, you deserve to be treated rudely. If some mexican dude came up and started talking to me rapidly in Spanish and got real close to me and began touching me while he spoke, which (for the sake of argument. Mexicans dont really hae thuis cultural custom as far as I know) is common in Mexican culture but NOT American, wouldnt you be a little annoyed???? The only other time I heard of a fellow traveler being treated rudely was when he went itno a fancy French restauraunt and did not order wine with his dinner. But again, this was his own fault....ir's practicaly a LAW in France that you order wine with your meal in a fancy french joint. ABout 2 minutes of internet research on cultural customs of France would have been more than enough to prevent such an incident, as I knew this and have NEVER eaten at a high class french restauraunt.
Anyway, Paris was amazing. 5 days isnt even enogh to scratch the surface of the city, but if anyone gets a chance, please dont listen to the fools who reduce an entire country into a stereotyped generalization due to possible mistreatment from a few people. If they were mistreated by a lot of people, chances are they were the problem, not the french people.
-PM
1. I smoke medical marijauna daily. I can say with certainty that the plants I bought in Amsterdam, ALL of them cannabis cup winners from their respective shops, were on par or at best, SLIGHTLY better than the medical strains I buy here in the states. This was surprising. The last couple of times I went I was NOT a medcial MJ patiente, so I had no basis for comparison, except what I bought on the street which was of course blown away by Amsterdam plants. BUt medical chronic is no less potent that 99% f thje strains I tried in Amsterdam, all from quality clubs that are well known and cup winners.
2. The medical hash in the states DOES NOT compare with Amsterdam hash. The quality AND selection of Amsterdam is MUCH BETTER, hash wise, than what I buy in the states. Dont get me wrong, there is GOOD MEDICAL HASH out there. But ALL of the hash in Amsterdam is mind numbing, and the best quality is extremely affordable, unlike here where the top notch quality is very expensive. My favorite, as always, was their morocon hash. SOOOO GOOD!
3. I must have spent 99% of my time in the coffeeshops in my previous visits to Amsterdam. This time, I spent about 30% of my time in the coffeeshops. Stopping in every few hours to "refresh" myself while touring the city, and going to barneys Coffeeshop for breakfast every other morning is basiclay how I did things. I think this is due to my medical marijuana status. It's not even a hasstle for me to go to the club and buy a half ounce or ounce of quality plant. Unlike in the past, when I did not have such access, Amsterdam was like candy land. I could actualy GO INTO A SHOP AND BUY UP TO 5 GRAMS OF CHEEBA!! WOW! Now, its more of a hasstle that i can ONLY buy 5 grams, because in the states I can buy up to 8 ounces. What I'm saying is, the novelty has worn off. WHen you can actualy buy good stuff on a daily basis at home, being able to buy the same stuff, but in lower quantities, in another country isnt that big of a deal. I think i bought more hash than plant during this stay.
4. The novelty of eating certain types of fungus has also worn off. I dunno if I'm just getting older or what, but I no longer ENJOY the demands eating such fungus puts on your body and mind, and I find myself more trying to control the experience and anticiapte its ending rather than go buckwild crazy like I used to. Whats odd is these certain types of fungus are MORE LEGAL in Amsterdam than marijauna. Fungus are considered herbs, regadless of what ingredients or psychottropic qualities such items may posess. Marijuana is merely TOLERATED, not legal (A comon misconception).
So, did I have a good time? Y E S! And I will visit Amsterdam AGAIN the next time I am in Europe. The city is absolutely beautiful, and it CAN be completely explored in 5 days or less. I saw Van GOgh paintings that i literaly could get within a nose's distance of. I saw REmbrandt paintings that I could lick if I wanted. I saw Monet's as well. I saw the Anne Frank house, which STILL makes me teary eyed no matter how hard I try not to. I ate all kinds of food I have never had in the states; Indian, Indonesian, Dutch, MIddle Eastern, Greek, Argentinian.....the list go's on. I saw some AMAZING architechture, met some awesome people, and of course, enjoyed the liberal viewpoint of the city, including its wonderful coffeeshops and smart shops. Its just funny how time and circumstances change a person. In the past, my priority would have BEEN the coffeeshops and smart shops....but now its the historical, cultural, and THEN liberal side that attract me. DOnt get me wrong, I was medicated the whole time I was there....I just wasnt spending all of my time in a coffeeshop.
Paris was fantastic as well. Standing in front of the Eifel Tower for new years....words can't express how that feels so I wont even bother trying. Let's just say that its an amazing feeling and if you have the oppertunity, you aught to do it. I was never ONCE treated rudely by any Parisian. I have been to paris about 5 times now, and this has ALWAYS been the case. I get treated rudely by more people IN MY OWN CITY, then I ever have in Paris. I think thats a complete stereotype and you have to be a complete moron to judge an entire people off of the rude treatment by some of it's inhabitants. I've been rude to people before, I certainly hope no one judges all of California, or America, on MY actions. Im mentioning this because so many people told me I was going to get treated rudely and that the French hate Americans...even though most of these people had never even BEEN to France, while I have been there multiple times. I'm here to tell you that's simply NOT TRUE. Sure, you may get treated rudely if you walk up to someone and begin talking in a foreign language, while at the same time forgoing the bnasic plliteness of that culture (such as saying hello to a shop keeper as soon as you enter), but really, thats YOU being an ignorant, uneducated person who netiher took the time to ask politely if a person would speak English to you nor took the time to learn the basic politeness of a foreign culture, and quite frankly, you deserve to be treated rudely. If some mexican dude came up and started talking to me rapidly in Spanish and got real close to me and began touching me while he spoke, which (for the sake of argument. Mexicans dont really hae thuis cultural custom as far as I know) is common in Mexican culture but NOT American, wouldnt you be a little annoyed???? The only other time I heard of a fellow traveler being treated rudely was when he went itno a fancy French restauraunt and did not order wine with his dinner. But again, this was his own fault....ir's practicaly a LAW in France that you order wine with your meal in a fancy french joint. ABout 2 minutes of internet research on cultural customs of France would have been more than enough to prevent such an incident, as I knew this and have NEVER eaten at a high class french restauraunt.
Anyway, Paris was amazing. 5 days isnt even enogh to scratch the surface of the city, but if anyone gets a chance, please dont listen to the fools who reduce an entire country into a stereotyped generalization due to possible mistreatment from a few people. If they were mistreated by a lot of people, chances are they were the problem, not the french people.
-PM
If you do some research on the internet, you should find some more detailed explinations of what I am talking about. BUt bottom line, marijuana is not "legal" in Amsterdam.
