AMSTERDAM (TRIP #1)

It was the night before I went to Amsterdam. Was headed to dinner, maybe the casino, and then mayyyybe hit Opium (the Club) late night. Take it minute by minute. I was honestly feeling great about what lay ahead of me for the next few days or so. Dinner at La Fonda was very nice again. After dinner D Wach, Lanyi, and myself all decided that before going out to the bar it was necessary to hit up the Nino (Casino). So, that’s exactly what we decided to do. It is very interesting here in Europe. In order to enter the Casino you need to have two things, 1) you have to have your passport and 2) you have to pay like 5 euros to enter. I'm pretty sure that we don't have to pay to walk into a casino in America. I could be wrong. But if you don't give a damn, we don't give a fuck. Another key difference with European casinos is that you are allowed to Back someone elses hand at the table. For example, even if you are just watching or sitting at the table one can place any amount of money behind another players hand. There are people who aren't involved at all just lay down 100 euros behind some random ladies hand who was sitting at the table and whom he didn't know. The person sitting at the table plays the hand and makes the decisions obviously. Vajjj. So, after I showed my receipt to the security, I was in. All in. I hit the Blackjack (BJ) tables immediately. SkyWachler was feeling solid about his last effort at the casino so I let him take the seat because only 1 seat was available. Soon after I started winning some hands by backing Wachler Lanyi came to the table and persuaded me that he deserved the next seat and that I should back him up as well as SkyWachler. 75 hands and 2 Hours later- D wach and myself are both up. I'm up 200 E and D Wach is up 200 E. He cashed in for more than me but we were both up. What a great feeling. It only gets better, listen to this! As we cashed out and headed for the exit to go to the club, we passed by a Caribbean Stud table. One thing you must undertstand is that Caribbean Stud is my favorite game. I had no idea that they had a table at this Nino. I didn't want to play but SkyWachler still wanted to play. I initially said No but I soon gave in and told him to play a few hands. It was already 3am and we wanted to hit the club for a half-hour, pack, and be at the airport by 5ish because our flight was at 6:25. D took a seat at the table. We lost the first few hands and were down to the last chip of cash he laid down. We won the hand. So D is still alive. Before the hand was dealt I told D to just back the bet and not even look at the cards. He hesitated at first but I told him that this move has been done by Fankles successfully for years and this led him to remember his strategies successfully ran at Justin Becker's multimillion dollar operation in the Detroit Country Day commons room. Sadly, the dealer didn't qualify but D still got paid his front bet. Next hand. "D do it again". "Vajjj". He doesn't look at his cards again. Dealer flips and shows an Ace and a King Qualifier. Wachlers hand is flipped. WOW 2 pair. Cassshhhhh Monneyyy. I think I won D like 250 euros= $325 USD. Great ten minute stretch and what a way to head to the club. We left on such a great note it was scary. We hit up Opium for like 30 minutes. Came back to Villadamat and Gran Via, got packed. Hit a taxi and headed to the airport. While in the backseat I recall Shashu listening to his Ipod. I asked to hear the song. I was tired, had no sleep, but won some euro. All in all I was chillz factoring hard. Shashu handed me his right ear piece. Second song to come on. One More Time by Daft Punk. I mean is that the boobs factory or what people. Great things. We got to the airport at like 530am. There at gate 26 was Lanyi, Corey, and Dick the three individuals I was going to Amsterdam with. We waited at the airport for a few hours because there was a delay but I spent that time resting and throwing water bottles at the ceiling. This trip was going to be nothing short than the BC. 2 Hour Plane Ride- involving Skywachler, Shashu ,and myself having our own rows to sprawl out on and pass out. Amsterdam. Wow the things I've heard about it. Pooopourrie and the Red Light District. We arrived in Amsterdam a roughly 10am. We had to do as much as possible in the short time that we stayed. When we all got our luggage we hit the train to Central Amsterdam in search for our hostel called the Flying Pig. We got off the train and hit the streets. All 6 of us just roaming the streets of Amsterdam looking for the Flying Pig. On our way we got our first meal of the trip. Can you guess what it was? …….McDonalds. Wow, gotta appreciate and respect the golden arches. Nice large fry and 9 piece chicken nugget. We moved on till we arrived at the hostel. My first thought that came to mind was this place looks like the poop schwagggles but smells like the CB. Tough predicament for Fankel to be in. When we walked in we soon found out that they only had room for 5 not 6 people. So, we decided to split up. Shashu, Skywachler and myself were going to stay at a hotel and let Lanyi, Dick , and Corey chillz at the Flying Pig. When we left the FP we had to get a cab and choose a hotel. We agreed on the Marriot. After a 20 minute cab we felt that it was too far away from them so we went in search for the Crown Plaza located 5 minutes from them. What a great choice that turned out to be. After we checked in we went in search of a coffee shop. We landed at De Kloon Coffee shop. We met up with the other kids here and smoked some White Shark followed by lunch at The Bulldog where we pooopourrie seshed at New York City Diesel. By this point I was Reee Reee and needed some rest. That night I had a great dinner followed by the choice to either go out to the club or pass out. I took choice B and went to sleep, The next morning I woke up, took a quick shower, and went to the Anne Frank House. I stood in line for toughly 45 minutes but it was well worth it. It hit me really hard because hearing about something for so long and then finally witnessing it first hand can take people back at first. This is exactly what happened. I cried a little because some of the videos and pictures disgust me and only evoke anger from within seeing how my people were treated and how they had to live. Regardless it was just a burden off my shoulders when I stepped out of the house. So much history in this house on this random street in Amsterdam. It was overwhelming. After Anne Frank we headed to lunch at the Pancake Bakery. This breakfast place was unreal. After lunch we headed over to the Van Gogh Museum. We showed up with only 15 minutes till it closed so I wasn't able to go in. Instead we looked at pictures from outside the museum and took some photos. Thank you Lanyi. Skywachler and Shashu did make it there 10 minutes before us by cab and got to there in enough time to browse. We all decided earlier on in the day that we were going to maybe hit up a Canal Cruise. This cruise basically goes through all of Amsterdam with wine and cheese through the canal. We went on the Canal Cruise at 8 and enjoyed 2 hours of relaxation. We got some wine and Dutch cheese. Dinner followed after at an incredible restaurant called Maximus Steakhouse. After dinner we took a cab to the Red Light District. I was shocked by how many hookers were at windows looking for men to act as plumbers. Only thing is that plumbers have to pay them. We spent an hour or two walking around. We met up with some girls and watched a sex show. Quite mediocre but fun. Got pretty trashed while watching sex, walked around little more. I wish it wasn't as cold as it was because it just made me want to go back to Crown Plaza. We went to a bar and had some more drinks and called it quits. Our flight was at 11:25am and it was already 4am. We split as we went to our separate hotels (Lanyi and co. left the Flying Pig after the first night and stayed at the Marriott the last night). The next morning we rolled up one last time in Amsterdam with a little hash. Hit the train. Got to the airport and headed back to Barcelona. Wow what a great trip. I arrived back at 3pm only to anticipate another futbol match. FCBarcelona played against Osasuna. They beat them 1-0 on a goal in the 87th minute. I've been to 5 FCBarcelona matches and they are 4-0-1 with GF-7 GA-0 (Goals For, Goals Against). Fucking Epic. I am traveling again this Wednesday, a day from now, to Egypt for 5 days with Shash Master Flash, SkyWachler, and Ben "Ice Cube" Gordon.