The photos are up for the Amsterdam trip on my Imagestation site. Same drill, You will have to register with Imagestation if you want to view them. Click on the photo for the pics.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Photos: Amsterdam
The photos are up for the Amsterdam trip on my Imagestation site. Same drill, You will have to register with Imagestation if you want to view them. Click on the photo for the pics.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Food: Dinner at Supperclub in Amsterdam
To continue our culinary odessy we booked ourselves in for dinner at the Supperclub.
Its a rather funky restaurant with beds instead of tables, absolute indulgence - kinda of like how the Romans used to dine, but without the hygine problems and the stray dogs. The whole thing about eating then sleeping right away has a strange attraction.
The food was a 5 course set meal and we were warned to expect the unexpected. So we where eagerly awaiting debortuary or something along those lines. However, it was just a crazy woman with a puppet. Okay, i'll give them that, it was totally unexpected but it still sucked. At least my friend managed to get some action that night.
Anyway, it was an interesting dining expreience. To sum it up, the hot waitress was born a he, the waiters all danced to the tune of the Village people and the toilets were marked either Straight or Homo. Not for the down the line types but overall interesting nevertheless. Would I go back? maybe, I could really get used to lying down and eating.
Its a rather funky restaurant with beds instead of tables, absolute indulgence - kinda of like how the Romans used to dine, but without the hygine problems and the stray dogs. The whole thing about eating then sleeping right away has a strange attraction.
The food was a 5 course set meal and we were warned to expect the unexpected. So we where eagerly awaiting debortuary or something along those lines. However, it was just a crazy woman with a puppet. Okay, i'll give them that, it was totally unexpected but it still sucked. At least my friend managed to get some action that night.
Anyway, it was an interesting dining expreience. To sum it up, the hot waitress was born a he, the waiters all danced to the tune of the Village people and the toilets were marked either Straight or Homo. Not for the down the line types but overall interesting nevertheless. Would I go back? maybe, I could really get used to lying down and eating.
Travel: Keukenhof Gardens Amsterdam
No visit to the Netherlands can be complete without seeing some Tulips. So you have to follow the zillions or tourists (mostly the elderly) to the Keukenhof Gardens. Its is probably the most spectacular garden I have been to in a very long time, it makes the Botanical gardens in Melbourne look like a patch of dirt.
Not alot to say about it except that it takes up an entire day and if you don't like flowers or walking, then you shouldn't go. If you do like flowers or taking photo's then you must go.
Some pictures below. I will put up the rest a little later on.
Not alot to say about it except that it takes up an entire day and if you don't like flowers or walking, then you shouldn't go. If you do like flowers or taking photo's then you must go.
Some pictures below. I will put up the rest a little later on.
Travel: Amsterdam
After our Provence journey, we headed over to Amsterdam. City of Sin supposedly, or is that Las Vegas? We booked ourselves in this trippy apartment called....try and guess from the picture below:
Anyway, Amsterdam, famous for the red light district or as we affectionately acronymed it, the RLD. Equally famous are the coffee shops, the source of weed, hash and space cakes.
The thing you see above is a space cake. It looks like a really trippy cake made for school fairs, however, it tastes awful. Much like grass cuttings in a instant sponge cake. Did we get a trip? Nope. Because we couldn't eat anymore than one bite. At least we could image what it was to be a cow.
Next up Hash - when in Amsterdam....Well, the fellas gingerly went to get some hash from the recommended supplier across the road from the crazy apartment. A note for visitors to Amsterdam. 1 Gram of Hash is plenty enough, my friends asked for 2 Grams because 1 sounded weak, but believe me, 1 gram is plenty. Anyway, after several hick-ups - i.e. breaking the bong and sucking in pure hash, we managed to the cheapest bong in the shop as a replacement and had a puff or six. The result? No laughing like school girls, just a bout of dizziness closely followed by a desire to nap. Overall, hash is totally overrated. Just buy a few pints of beer and it does the same thing, without all the legal issues.
Finally the RLD. Nothing much to say really, except that you can't take pictures unless you want some European pimp the size of Jabba the Hut coming out and sitting on you. I guess its alot cleaner than having them on the street corners and they don't get cold so easily strutting around in their bikini's or school girl outfits.
Apart for the somewhat notorious side of Amsterdam, there are the "family friendly" attractions in Amsterdam. Namely, the Canals, the river boats and the Galleries. We spent an afternoon just walking around the streets of Amsterdam avoiding the zillions of crazy people on bike and generally taking in the rather quiet atmosphere. Some of the highlights include:
1. Canals. Lots of Canals, one local told us that to find the city centre, you look down the canal and where it turns left (or was that right?) that's the direction of the city. Pretty sound advice once you remeber whether it was left or right.
2. Bike jam. Lots of bikes in Amsterdam. They have their own little roads which looks suspiciously like footpaths except for the white line dividing it. So if you are walking on anything that has a white line down the middle, move otherwise you will get "dinged".
3. Rembrandt's "the Night Watchman" Rather nice paiting if I do say so myself.
Overall, Amsterdam is a fairly nice place.
Anyway, Amsterdam, famous for the red light district or as we affectionately acronymed it, the RLD. Equally famous are the coffee shops, the source of weed, hash and space cakes.
The thing you see above is a space cake. It looks like a really trippy cake made for school fairs, however, it tastes awful. Much like grass cuttings in a instant sponge cake. Did we get a trip? Nope. Because we couldn't eat anymore than one bite. At least we could image what it was to be a cow.
Next up Hash - when in Amsterdam....Well, the fellas gingerly went to get some hash from the recommended supplier across the road from the crazy apartment. A note for visitors to Amsterdam. 1 Gram of Hash is plenty enough, my friends asked for 2 Grams because 1 sounded weak, but believe me, 1 gram is plenty. Anyway, after several hick-ups - i.e. breaking the bong and sucking in pure hash, we managed to the cheapest bong in the shop as a replacement and had a puff or six. The result? No laughing like school girls, just a bout of dizziness closely followed by a desire to nap. Overall, hash is totally overrated. Just buy a few pints of beer and it does the same thing, without all the legal issues.
Finally the RLD. Nothing much to say really, except that you can't take pictures unless you want some European pimp the size of Jabba the Hut coming out and sitting on you. I guess its alot cleaner than having them on the street corners and they don't get cold so easily strutting around in their bikini's or school girl outfits.
Apart for the somewhat notorious side of Amsterdam, there are the "family friendly" attractions in Amsterdam. Namely, the Canals, the river boats and the Galleries. We spent an afternoon just walking around the streets of Amsterdam avoiding the zillions of crazy people on bike and generally taking in the rather quiet atmosphere. Some of the highlights include:
1. Canals. Lots of Canals, one local told us that to find the city centre, you look down the canal and where it turns left (or was that right?) that's the direction of the city. Pretty sound advice once you remeber whether it was left or right.
2. Bike jam. Lots of bikes in Amsterdam. They have their own little roads which looks suspiciously like footpaths except for the white line dividing it. So if you are walking on anything that has a white line down the middle, move otherwise you will get "dinged".
3. Rembrandt's "the Night Watchman" Rather nice paiting if I do say so myself.
Overall, Amsterdam is a fairly nice place.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Photos: La Provence
The rest of the photos are up on my Imagestation site. You will need to register to view the photo's but its free and Sony don't spam you alot. Click on the photo to take you there.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Food: Dinner at Les Santos in St Tropez
One of the reasons we went to Provence was to eat the rich and slightly cheaper french cuisine. One of our destinations was Les Santos. Les Santos is a restaurant in the trendy coastal area of St Tropez with a Michelin Star. We chose the standard french "menu" which was a four course dinner for about €50-60.
I don't remember the details but in short the food was very good. Some of the highlights include the desert and the Lobster Risoto.
A french meal would not be complete without cheese. Let me just say that the cheese was the stinkiest, strongest stuff we had ever tasted. Ever hardenedd smelly food fanatics like ourselves had trouble handling it. We where totally upstaged by the little kids on the next table drinking wine and eating the cheese like it was coon tasty.
Travel and Gadgets: La Provence, the Big Blue Whale and the Sat Nav Chick
We pottered around the South of France in a big blue whale, pictured below resting somewhere in the mountains while two of the crew were off writing their names in the dirt.
The drive through the Provence region is spectacular, with plenty of vomit inducing windy roads and fast highway streches in between. That is normally a good thing, but anyone who watches TopGear or knows anything about cars knows that the French can't make them. The car is far from an exciting vehicle to drive. It has what marketing folks at car companies call, cloud like ride.. which basically means that its kind of like being in a boat. Despite this, driving through this region is recommended.
The big blue whale did have two redeeming features; Automatic opening side doors and Sat Nav. The doors were something out of a B-Grade Sci-Fi show, press a button and its opened. Press it again and it's closed. You can also do it while about 30 meters away from the car. Great fun for the whole family.
However, the doors where upstaged by the Sat Nav. A drive typically went like this.
Sat Nav (SNC)" turn right in 200 meters"
SNC: "turn right"
Davin:"what right?"
SNC: "turn right"
Davin: "WTF? Stupid machine, there is no road to the right!"
SNC: "where possible plus U-turn"
Davin: "NFW - stupid machine"
later on that day.....
Davin: "hey, anyone know where we need to go?"
Me: "shouldn't SNC have said something already?
SNC: "......"
Davin: "err...where are we"
SNC: "......"
Davin: "bugger, its gone on strike again..anyone got a map?"
The Crew: "......"
SNC: "where possible do a U-turn"
Davin: "merde".
At times where we did follow it, we ended up in the back streets of some little village and along some very deserted roads. It even took us down some streets that would only just pass off as footpaths. Like the street below:
As you can see, there are quite a lot of cars infront, the drivers of which are all probably cursing their Sat Nav - "Merde! Regarder où vous me vous avez pris stupide, machine stupide".
Provence itself you ask? Its a very nice place, picturesque and generally pretty relaxing. Nothing much to do except enjoy the scenery and the food. I'd recommend a drive to each of the little towns along the way. Also take a quick drive to Monaco just for the thrill of driving on the famous corkscrew (below)
The drive through the Provence region is spectacular, with plenty of vomit inducing windy roads and fast highway streches in between. That is normally a good thing, but anyone who watches TopGear or knows anything about cars knows that the French can't make them. The car is far from an exciting vehicle to drive. It has what marketing folks at car companies call, cloud like ride.. which basically means that its kind of like being in a boat. Despite this, driving through this region is recommended.
The big blue whale did have two redeeming features; Automatic opening side doors and Sat Nav. The doors were something out of a B-Grade Sci-Fi show, press a button and its opened. Press it again and it's closed. You can also do it while about 30 meters away from the car. Great fun for the whole family.
However, the doors where upstaged by the Sat Nav. A drive typically went like this.
Sat Nav (SNC)" turn right in 200 meters"
SNC: "turn right"
Davin:"what right?"
SNC: "turn right"
Davin: "WTF? Stupid machine, there is no road to the right!"
SNC: "where possible plus U-turn"
Davin: "NFW - stupid machine"
later on that day.....
Davin: "hey, anyone know where we need to go?"
Me: "shouldn't SNC have said something already?
SNC: "......"
Davin: "err...where are we"
SNC: "......"
Davin: "bugger, its gone on strike again..anyone got a map?"
The Crew: "......"
SNC: "where possible do a U-turn"
Davin: "merde".
At times where we did follow it, we ended up in the back streets of some little village and along some very deserted roads. It even took us down some streets that would only just pass off as footpaths. Like the street below:
As you can see, there are quite a lot of cars infront, the drivers of which are all probably cursing their Sat Nav - "Merde! Regarder où vous me vous avez pris stupide, machine stupide".
Provence itself you ask? Its a very nice place, picturesque and generally pretty relaxing. Nothing much to do except enjoy the scenery and the food. I'd recommend a drive to each of the little towns along the way. Also take a quick drive to Monaco just for the thrill of driving on the famous corkscrew (below)
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