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11:10am  Shiphol Airport, Amsterdam



So… three nights in London, three nights in Amsterdam, and now off to Stockholm for three and a half weeks. Too bad I was struck down with gastro for five of the last six days. So much for my wild party plans. I mean, it’s not much fun traveling alone, but it’s MUCH worse when you’re traveling alone and you can’t get shit-faced. Well… I did still get kinda shit-face though, didn’t I? ;o) Nothing stops this boar. The mushies kinda made me feel wholesome again. Like they had some weird healing powers. You’d think that poisonous mushrooms would complicate your illness to a higher degree, but for me they seemed to make things better. In fact, I had my first somewhat solid shit this morning – for the first time since Friday evening.



So what about London? No mention, no diary? Well, to be honest I don’t have a lot to say. After spending time here in Amsterdam I wish I’d just skipped London and come straight here. London was sterile… lacking character and charm. It may have been different traveling with friends, but as for solo faring, Amsterdam is the place to go. The beautiful canals, the old European architecture, the squillions of bars, restaurants & “coffee shops”, the laid-back atmosphere all make this the perfect place to chill out for a week or two. Three days wasn’t enough. I had to give away my remaining ‘mushroom enhancer joints’ and an almost full bag of Dutch Shiva to the beautiful receptionist at the hotel. “Does anybody smoke here?” I asked her, just before leaving in my taxi. She was busy decorating a Christmas tree with the porter, but her eyes immediately lit up and she replied, “You need to get rid of some? Sure!” I pointed out that the tubes contained the enhancer joints, and that the bag was the Shiva weed. “Great, thanks!” was the happy response.



Not like I was gonna attempt to get in to conservative Sweden with that shit on me. They think weed and heroin are the same thing! Drugs are bad… mmkay!



I guess I did have some memorable moments in London. Getting directions to the best psy-trance venue in town, from the ex-Aussie bartender at the ‘Zoo Bar’ in Leceister Square, was one. The other was playing pool with the two polish cousins Jake and Pavel. Jake had been in the UK for thirteen years, and Pavel was over there visiting for a couple of months. Pavel told me that Jake goes a bit loony when he drinks, and he wasn’t wrong. We’d only just reached that level of borderline drunkenness when Jake began to do spontaneous things like roll his body along the floor, under the pool table, to get to the other side. This was the night I came down with a fever & gastro, so I never got to see his full-blown antics. What a spew. Would have been great to continue on with the night alongside those two characters.



11:34am  Still have one more hour before boarding time. Tried to call mum to see if she was still picking me up at Arlanda airport, but there was no answer. Guess it’s a hundred dollar cab ride for me then. I think I’ve spent more money in one European week, than I did in two Nigerian months!



A word of advice if you ever travel to Amsterdam: keep your eyes open for the bicycles! They are everywhere, and even have their own mini streets! There must be as many bikes here as there are people! Europe’s own version of Beijing. When you cross a road here you have to look right-left-right, cross the bicycle track, then right-left-right again, cross the tram lines, then right-left-right again, cross the road, then right-left-right one final time, to cross the bicycle track on the other side! And the bikes all look the same. They all have that outdated Second World War design you normally only see in movies, or under the arses of very old people. I would have felt out of place riding my 20-speed mountain bike here. But then, I would never be crazy enough to ride a bike in the freezing cold. Don’t think my summer-weather-spoilt face could handle the wind-chill factor.



Well… time to pack up and go visit Sweden – for the first time in over ten years!