Antwerp -> Brussels -> London
Highlight
- We started off quite early with a walk around the Grote Markt, the central square which looks like Le Grande Place in Brussels.
- Visited the Onze Lieve Vrouwekathedraal and St-Carolus-Borromeuskerk, which were painted and decorated by Ruben.
- Tried to find the Gay exhibitions but was unsuccessful.
- Started off our shopping at a few sports and outdoor shops. Couldn’t find our Camelbak valve cover, but we did manage to pick up some much needed good sports socks.
- Continue shopping on the high streets, where the shops were open for a special sales event. The main shopping street, Meir, was packed with people all shopping up a storm, so we joined them.
- Walked into almost every stop, but was successful at Jack Jones for some black wool sweaters for Slokky, Vera Moda for nice printed linen skirts, Princess for G-Star pants and a dress from Hampton Bay.
- Couldn’t find anywhere that sells Wii Fit. In fact, everywhere just seems to sell fashion related items and nothing else.
- Tried desperately to find fresh waffle, but had no luck, was even hard to find non-fresh ones. Eventually we managed to go to Belgrufia, which sells pre-made waffles, but because of the huge crowd that turned out, actually had to sell their waffle as they made them, which meant it was extra yummy.
- Grabbed lunch at the canteen style Le Plante, where I proceeded to pile my self-serve soup up with lots of ingredients.
- We shopped until the shops kicked us out, so we didn’t even have time to have a meal, so had to make do with chips.
- Really hot ride home on the Eurostar, laden with all our bags of shopping.
Food
- Goossens breakfast:
- chocolate bread
- apple and sultana strudel
- sultana bun
- plain bun
- Frittur No 1 on Hoogstraat chips with mayo
- La Plante lunch:
- Thai chicken soup
- curried chicken bun
- coffee filled chocolate from sweertvaegher on Groendalstraat 8
- orange peel from sweertvaegher
- Bagulfia waffle with cream
- frites with curried tomato sauce
- tropical smoothie
London -> Brussels -> Antwerp
Highlight
- Another uneventful ride on the Eurostar, then sprinted across the station to catch the connection to Antwerp.
- Weather was quite grey and even rained when we started, but improved steadily as the day wore on.
- Checked in to our huge hotel room in Hotel Euro, then wondered around the streets. Very much like Brussels but without the tourist traps, so it seemed like we were in the “real” Belgium. There were only a few chocolate shops which you have to hunt down, and not many a waffle place in sight.
- Started hitting the shops in the high-street, and got really caught up there, picking up a few accessories from H&M, and a new handbag at Fossil.
- Made it to the popular vogeltjesmarkt in Theaterplein, where all the usuals were out in force. It was very nice as it wasn’t too large and they had all the stuff we wanted to eat (snails and chips!!).
- Spent some good times wondering around, taking in the sights and smell, and of course, people watch the fashion conscious Antwerpians.
- Spent the rest of the day hitting the designer districts. Slokky even managed to pick up a 55% cashmere sweater for €29, and I decided to get some Belgium designer wear with a skirt from designersremix.com by Charlotte Eskildsen.
- Kammenstraat for the "cool" edgy stuff, including Fish & Chips with their live DJs.
- Walked into Yohji Yomi and Het Modepaleis (Dries Van Noten) to see how expensive everything was.
- Delighted ourselves in the Walter Van Beirendonck design studio.
- Wondered around the same square while the light was good, before heading to the harbour to see the Gay festival in full swing. Unfortunately you needed a ticket to go in, so we just watched from afar.
- A great, casual meal at Docks Café, before a slow stroll back to the hotel, catching the sunset by the harbour and the rest of the gay parade.
Food
- Jabba Dabbe Doe chips with mayo
- escargots in celery soup
- taste test dried fruit and olives
- Pierre Marcolini chocolate
- taste test Philip's Biscuits
- dinner at Docks Café:
- fisherman’s platter (grey shrimps, snails, perwinkles)
- Besse lamb with caramalized fennel and onion
- mussel in white wine with chips
- dame blanche
Brussels -> London
Highlight
- It was really quick to get through all the checks at Eurostar
- Saw Wendy and Joelle on the way back.
Brussels - > Bruge -> Brussels
Highlight
- Our train was delayed by ½ hour to Brugge, so ended up having breakfast at the station
- A comfy but long train ride.
- Weather was cold and overcast, but at least it didn’t rain.
- Brugge looks just like Amsterdam.
- Walk vai the park to the tourist area.
- Simon Stevinplein for the chocolate shops Stephan Dumon & The Chocolate Line, we didn’t bother with anything else as they all looked tacky and we were a bit over the chocolate thing.
- Markt for the Belfort, but aunty couldn’t walk up the stairs, so we didn’t go up.
- Saw all the horse drawn carriage and tourists around the main square.
- Burg to the Heilig-Bloedbusiliek to see and touch the relic of the holy blood. This was a v big deal as they don’t always bring out the blood for you to touch. I don’t know what benefit you get from touching it, but it was fun nevertheless. The church itself was plain and boring.
- Went on the canal stroll as recommended by Lonely Planet, but the Vismarkt (fish market) wasn’t on today
- As soon as we started, it was time for lunch. We saw a few Michelin star rated restaurants on the way (unfortunately closed), and we mistakenly went to Kaffe Pergola, thinking it had a star (it was the hotel) . Fortunately, the food was good, and good value at €23.50
- Back on the tour, passing famous bridges, then to Jan van Eyckplein to see the statue.
- Begijnhof for the convent, to see the lovely houses, which reminds me yet again of Amsterdam.
- Lots of swans by the canal.
- Onze-Lieve- Vrouwekerk for the Michaelangelo Madonna ( have been better in Italy)
- Went on a canal cruise, which we had to pay €6 p.p for, which was totally boring and absolutely not worth it.
- Stopped by for awful (hard) waffle at a waffle place.
- Started back home because aunty was tired, after we virtually have to stop all the time to find toilet stops, and because Slokky didn’t bring my printout, so we couldn’t find the places that were the setting for In Brugge, and all the chocolate shops we were supposed to go to.
- Went to supermarket to buy dinner as we didn’t feel like another heavy meal. Used the facilities for dinner at home and chocolate for dessert.
Food
- waffle with strawberry jam
- frangipani pie
- orange candied chocolate and fish from Stephan Dumon
- The chocolate line – lemongrass, chilli and lavender chocolate
- lunch at Kaffe Pergola:
- bread with olive oil
- gazpacho with shrimp and foie gras, capaccio with foam and daikon
- smoked salmon and asparagus soup
- smoked fish, fish tartare with apple and foam
- grilled mackerel with aubergine and tomato vinaigrette
- pork with asparagus and tomato vinaigrette
- mentoes mint
- Neuhaus truffle
- chocolate waffle
- paella with chicken and squid
- fish soup
- raspberry beer
- sugared fruit and chocolate
Brussels
Highlight
- Finally picked up a transport map, so no more excuses for getting lost
- Couldn’t sleep because it was too hot and noisy.
- Walked around the market at Gare du Midi, but because it was too far to our hotel, we didn’t buy anything. There were lots of clothes and fresh cheap food.
- Slokky being stupid.
- St Michel Guddale for a long mass in French and Dutch with all the old people.
- Metro to Heizel to see the Atomium. It started raining as soon as we got near though.
- There were a old/classics car festival on so there were lots of cars on display.
- Waited ages for the bus to go to the Place Fernand Cocq – XL to watch a traditional dance as part of the Jazz Fest, but it wasn’t on!!
- So we had lunch at Volle Gas instead. It was definitely a starch experience. We watched as the people before us wait forever for food. They must have been waiting a long time as some of them were very annoyed. The food that came out was in really huge portions, so lucky we only ordered two to share.
- By the time our lunch was over, it was around 3pm. We relaxed in the sun to Room Service, who were actually very laid back and cool.
- walked around Palais Royal, Eglise St Jacques sur Coudenberg.
- Listened to this circus troop (huge group of people) doing a practise/performance at the Parc de Bruxelles, doing huge flips, bobbing along to music. It was surreal and very enjoyable.
- Marvelled at the MIM’s architecture.
- Walked down from Place Royale back to wonder around the back streets of Grande Place, including the beautiful Galeries Royales St-Hubert.
- Visited our 1st and only chocolate shop of the day, Daskalides, and only because they have sugar free chocolate. We also managed to bump into Helen again.
- Down Rue des Bouchers, got hackled by all the restaurants packed into the tight street, before another excellent dinner. The chips were not as good, but we had beautiful seafood at Aux Armes de Bruxelles and finally got to try a waffle, which was hot and moreish.
- More jazz at the Grande Palce, listened to the more formal Brussels jazz orchestra, performing music of Michel Herr, and had fun watching people fight for chairs.
Food
- chocolate croissant
- chestnut pastry
- Frederic Blondel chocolate
- lunch at Volle Gas:
- Jupiler 25cl (€2)
- Stoemp Royal (lard saucisses, boudin, oeuf au plat) (€13.50)
- waterzooi de volaille a la mode gantoise (€13.50)
- bread with butter
- chocolate from La Grande belgique
- dinner at Aux Armes:
- tomato soup and bread
- croquette with tomato sauce
- fish in cream bake
- mussel in casserole with chips
- eel in green sauce with chips
- waffle with cream
London -> Brussels
Highlight
- Another uneventful and on time ride on the Eurostar, a lot more holiday people this time instead of the seasonal traveller because of the long weekend.
- Our hotel was very far away from the Gare du Midi.
- Caught the tram to St Catherines place, bypassing Chinatown and its cheap groceries. We will definitely come here to stock up next time.
- Walked past cool seafood shops and restaurants, including our first chocolatier, Frederic Blondel, which actually turned out to have the best chocolate for the whole trip, but we didn’t know that at the time, so me picked up only 100g of it (5).
- Lunch at La Mer du Nord, a stand up seafood bar with cool waiter,s a barbie and a deep fryer, lots of tourists drinking wine and having fun in the sun.
- After our light lunch, immediately got some fruites from the cart and ate it in the shadow of the blackened church.
- Walked towards the chocolate shop, stopped by carreFour to check out the chocolate prices, which are indeed very cheap.
- Leonidas was the second stop. This is really expensive o/seas, but here, is dirt cheap. We got some fruit jellies and a gift box for work.
- The cool St Nicolas church, with shops built into its walls.
- Walked past the touristy area, filled with lots of chocolate shops.
- 3rd chocolate shop, Neuhas, where we bumped into Joelle and Wendy.
- Lots of people were in the central square because of the jazz festival, the Grande Place was filled with tables and chairs.
- A few doors down was Godiva, our 4th shop. We got some free samples and aunty stocked up on a few boxes.
- Weaved through more tourists, with waffle and lace galore, ducked into a lot of shops for samples and to compare prices.
- Our 5th stop, La Grande Belgique, but only because the chocolate was cheap in comparison. You can get 100g for €2.90.
- Visited the market to get some quirky beer candle.
- 6th, Chocopolis, because we got free samples, felt obliged to buy something. However, their supermarket variety chocolate was quite cheap so we ended up having lots and lots of stuff to carry around.
- Went on the mural walk to see giant murals painted on random walls around town. There was a big difference in qualities in this mural, some were awe-inspiring, others faded and graffitied over.
- Walked past the cool district with cool t-shirt and bag shops, but didn’t think they were cheap enough to buy any.
- Past the ethnic area where we picked up some cheap breakfast.
- Walked past Le Grande Place again for a brief jazz stop, but there were so many people you couldn’t even stand.
- Walked pass Brussel’s famous pissing statues: Manneken Pis and Zinneke Pis
- Back home to drop off chocolates before dinner, where Slokky got lot on the way and we ended up being 15 minutes late.
- The host was funny and kept telling us that we had booked for four when I had clearly booked for three (toptable can attest to that). Nevertheless, she was still very nice to us, just kept mentioning that fact to us though.
- The food was too salty but otherwise quite nice.
- We bumped into Helen and Oliver at the restaurant as well.
- We were going to stay afterwards to listen to some more jazz, but it started raining, and aunty was tired, so we retired back to the hotel to watch Eurovision.
Food
- A lot of chocolates from:
- Frederic Blondel
- Neuhas
- Chocopolis
- Godiva
- Le Grande Belgique
- lunch at La Mer du Nord:
- soup of the North (€3.50) with toasties and grated cheese
- tuna steak with salad (€12)
- frites with mayo (€3)
- fruit nougat from Moeder Babelutte
- dinner at Le Clef du Champs:
- olvies and dip
- bread with French butter
- asparagus with messel sauce
- chicken livers
- lamb shanks
- boudin blanc
- orange and ginger soup
- profiterole with ice cream and chocolate sauce
- feuillate of Camembert from Normandy
- apple schnappe with speculoos
Paris - > London
Highlight
- Got kept up most of the night by the aunties talking so really really tired.
- 4:30am start to head back home, a very uneventful trip, but at elast we weren’t delayed.
Food
Paris
Highlight
- Started off very leisurely, with a visit to the local supermarket to stock up. We decided to hold back, and only got one cheese (my favourite mobier), some spread and some pate.
- Off to the local market, which pretty much looked like all the other markets we have been to in Paris, with the difference being we can actually buy stuff to cook! We admired all the parts of the animals, marvelled at the cake displays and took lots of photos, before picking up a feast for lunch.
- Tried out some of my French at the stall, could understand the numbers, so getting better.
- Had a nice nap after lunch before being driven out to Paris proper again.
- Walked down towards the streets of Pont Neuf, around Rue Saint Louis, for all the quirky art and food shops, and past store after store of ice-cream, before we got to the recommended one (Berthillon?). The ice-cream was absolutely stunning, the flavours were really innovative and so nice.
- There was a bread expo on right in front of Notre Dame, got to watch them make baguettes and a few Bretagne specialties, after which you got to taste and buy.
- Lined up for some fresh milk and fairy floss as well.
- We stayed home during the rain, so the weather was glorious again when we came out. Finally ventured inside Notre Dame (the line was so short!). There was a mass going on, but the stained glass and the really high ceilings were both very stunning.
- Strolled slowly towards the Metro to go to Chinatown!
- There is no cliché to this one, a big ugly shopping arcade, built in the style of HK style government housing complex, with a few shops spilling over.
- Our aunty was so excited to show us around, pointing out all the little knick knacks, and all the Vietnamese stuff you can get.
- We picked up a few Viet items we can’t get in London, and Slokky actually carried a box of Mee Goreng back!!
- Dinner at one of the many Vietnamese restaurants. The pho had wonderful stock, but the noodles and the beef (which was too thick and too thin) was a letdown. My grill pork was the reverse, the pork was too fat and it wasn’t grilled nicely. This was so disappointing as I was really looking forward to having good Vietnamese again, but it least it tastes better than any of the Vietnamese in London.
- Shopped for our own won ton and war tip to take home.
- Back home for more chatting, photos and strawberry tart.
Food
- apple tartlet
- palmier
- puff pastry with creamed filling
- vinegar pork
- dutch sausages
- tomato and mozzarella salad
- beetroot salad
- mixed salad leaves
- pineapple
- praline, lemon and coriander ice cream
- banana sorbet
- taste test bread
- prune tart
- Brittany sugared pastry
- milk
- fairy floss
- dinner at Viet place:
- 3 colour ice
- Vietnamese coffee
- rare beef pho
- grilled pork
- strawberry tart
London -> Paris
Highlight
- Very quick at Eurostar check-in so had ages to wait at the station.
- People behind me kept kicking me so I couldn’t get any good sleep.
- Caught the metro (4) and then the bus (128) to Aunty’s cool stone house, which still manged to be very typical Chinese.
- Had a nice Chiense meal at home before heading out to town.
- First stop, St Germain des Pres, to the Aigle to buy a cool shoulder bag (€32).
- Then to the cheapest pharmacy in town (it was packed!) to get some face cream and deodorant. Will do more research next time to what stuff to buy, there were so many choices!!
- The weather was on and off rain and sun, but we decided we were going to attempt to go up the Eiffel Tower anyway.
- Had a brief glimpse at the church of St Germain des Pres, then window shopped our wap towards the Eiffle Tower.
- Past the impressive Musee de l’armee and La Dome.
- I wanted to go to the free museum night that night, but we couldn’t because of the aunties. Oh well, next trip.
- The queue was so much shorter than last time, and it only took around 40 mins to get the the 1st set of lifts.
- I wanted to walk the stairs but we didn’t since we were with the aunties.
- When we got ot level 2, the weather had cleared up, so took some quick snaps before another time to get in the lifts to go up to the top.
- The wait was long, and by the time we went up the very cool lifts, the weather had turned bad. Still it was cool, as you could see sun shining in one area, and rain in another. The view was clear, even if not sunny, and we could see all different parts of Paris. Definitely a worthy trip.
- waited another 40 minuts to come, then waited forever for the aunties to go to the toilet since the lady was cleaning it.
- Total spent, 3 hours. Time spent looking at things, around 40 minutes, the rest was waiting time. Next time I will try and come at night and eat at the restaurant.
- Down via Palais de Chaillot on our way to the Arc de Trimphe.
- There was a ceremony going on with uniformed people, a speech and a brass band, but we didn’t bother going close enough or staying long enough to find out exactly what was going on.
- Went for a brief walk down the Champs Elysee, but it started to pour again, so we hopped on the metro on the way to Montparnass.
- Dinner at an old style bistro, which aunty knew the people well. They conversed in Chinese and French, which was so funny. The chicken was very good and the milk dessert. All the other dishes were very passable indeed, so it proves that food is just good in Paris.
- Drove home, observed the sunset while going around the Arc de Trimphe roundabout. So beautiful, and so crazy with the traffic.
- Detoured to the Bois de Boulogne and watched all the transverstites/prostitutes standing around. They were much uglier than their Thailand equivalent though.
- Home for tea, chocolate and chats about the past and view more photos of Slokky.
Food
- toffee waffle
- won ton and wor tip
- dinner at Bistro de la Tour:
- duck mousse with baguette
- escargot
- fillet of bef in mushroom sauce and spaghetti
- African grilled chicken with green sauce and roasted banana
- steamed milk pudding with strawberry sauce
- profiteroles with chocolate sauce
- coffee ice cream
- hazelnut chocolate
- orange peel chocolate
Brigend -> Caerphilly -> Yatterdon -> London
Highlight
- Coity Castle – quite big, a site that’s free for you to roam around, and you can climb to the top, where you can see the cool cemetery next to the church.
- New Castle was closed, so I told Slokky to skip the next few, but he didn’t listen, and insisted on driving to Ewenny Priory, which was of course closed.
- I told Slokky to go to the seaside for breakfast since he didn’t skip the priory. As usual, he didn’t listen, and insisted on going to the farm, which was, of course, also closed. We couldn’t have breakfast anywhere as a result.
- Castell Coch – a restored castle with elaborate décor. A bit gimmicky, but you don’t need your imagination to see what it used to look like.
- To the scenic lookout, where we climbed a “mountain” to see the views over the valleys, town and Caerphilly.
- Walked around the very pretty park of Caerphilly Castle, with its cool leaning tower and everyone out and about, enjoying the sunshine.
- got some more Welsh cakes, this time from Tesco, which, of course, was not as nice.
- lunch at The Courthouse, where the food was bad but the view was excellent.
- Drove around the town of Caerleon to see a few roman remains: amphitheature, barracks and baths.
- With some time to spare, we paid a quick visit to the National Roman Legion Museum for more Roman collectables.
- Brief wonder around Coldicot Castle.
- dinner at the famous foodie Berkshire, where, taking advantage of the weather, we dined out in the garden.
- A long drive home where we were stuck in traffic. So it doesn’t matter what time you drive back to London, you’ll just be stuck in traffic.
Food
- tea
- Welsh cake
- lunch at The Courthouse:
- Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Roast Potatoes & Gravy
- 8 oz Beef Burger (£4.69) - two 4oz beef burgers, served with barbeque sauce
- blackcurrent juice
- lemonade
- toffee
- Dinner at The Royal Oak:
- Homemade Smoked Cods Roe Pate with Toast (£7.50)
- Whole Sand Sole with Herb Butter & Rosti (£16.95)
- Calves Liver and Bacon with Rosti (£17.95)
- vegetables
London -> Chittingham -> Keysham -> Chepstow -> Monmouth -> Newport -> Brigend
Highlight
- We set off ½ hour late already because Slokky for some stupid reason decided that it was a good time to call his grandma!!
- Then we got a flat tyre. We went to Chittingham to try to get it fixed, but they didn’t have the spare we needed.
- We called around everywhere, and in the end, had to go all the way to Keysham to get it fixed.
- Needless to say, all my plans went out the window, we were supposed to be at the Chepstow markets for lunch, but by the time we got everything fixed, totalling 4 hours, costing us a bundle too, it was past 2 pm, so we had lunch at Keysham, by the river with some swans.
- We finally did arrive at Chepstow, but we didn’t have time to walk around the town.
- The country side was very nice and the weather was actually warm.
- Chepsow castle was veery impressive, a large imposing castle over looking a river.
- Tintery Abbey was very tranquil, also stopped by the very small and charming town.
- Monmouth castle – the museum was closed, the ruins were very small, so that was good in a sense, so we could move on swiftly.
- Monnow Bridge’s claim to fame was one of the first toll collecting bridges, it was definitely very cute.
- Went to Waitrose to buy yummy Welsh cakes.
- By the time we had finished, all the other shops were closed, but the town was still charming.
- A quick stop at Newport, just to look at the outside of its castle and bridge, before dinner after a frustrating day.
- The Chandlery had very affordable and generous food, and the staff were first rate, so we left happy.
- We had heaps of trouble finding our hotel, and had to ask for directions, so it was very late by the time we got to sleep.
Food
- West Cornwell Pasty Co traditional and wholemeal vegetable pasties
- Neal’s fine food pork belly sandwich.
- Dinner at The Chandlery:
- cornbread with butter and tomato chutney
- Loin of Welsh Mountain Lamb (£15.95) - Lamb and potato torte, cumin infused swede, rosemary jus
- 8oz Welsh Sirloin Steak (£16.95) - Tomato, mushroom and green salad with a choice of chips, new potatoes or mash potato
- Banoffi Tart (£4.95) - Banana, toffee, fresh Jersey cream and shaved chocolate
Schipol -> Amsterdam -> Schipol -> London
Highlight
- Another beautiful day, but after the outing of yesterday, we couldn’t get up in time to explore.
- Another breakfast feast, then off to get our bikes from Central station.
- First stop, the Rijksmuseum. This was not really what I expected. Besides having a lot of Rembrand, and the highlight being The Night Watch, the rest was quite boring.
- Checked out the Liberation Day festival at Museumplein. Slokky tried to win a prize by kicking a soccer ball at a target, but of course he missed all 5 goes. Never mind, we got some soccer whistles as a consolation. The rest of the festival seems to be all these human rights or animal rights or other sorts of activists projecting their cause, so it wasn’t very interesting at all.
- Quick stop at Albert to stock up on the waffle
- Rode to Tempo Doeloe to try to get a reservation, and luckily, they have space!!
- Returned our bikes, walked through the Red Light District (and the girls work all hours) to Museum Amstelkring Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder (Our Lord in the Attic). This is known for having a church built inside a house, in the period where practising cathelics in the open was illegal.
- With some time to spare, we decided to go to Museum Willet-Holthuysen, which was the most on the way place. This was basically a rich person’s house, complete with their period furnishing. The garden was a highlight, otherwise it was quite boring.
- Walked around the funky shops along , including some very cool clothing stores.
- Finally the kitchen was open, so we could eat and still make it back in time for the plane.
- Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to sample the menus, but settled on trying their “very hot” beef rendang (which was, as they said, very hot) and a delicious array for the ricetable. I couldn’t believe it, but this was about 10 times better than the food I had yesterday. Finally, some heat in the food.
- Unfortunately, we were to find out later, we would get indigestion from eating the rendang, but it was worth it!
- Plane delayed for about 30 minutes, otherwise another uneventful trip home.
Food
- Sheraton breakfast:
- smoked salmon
- pancake
- pastries
- croissant
- cheese
- cold cut
- shrimp
- pate
- fruit
- muesli
- yoghurt
- scrambled egg
- bacon
- baked beans
- mushrooms
- sausages
- Dinner at Tempo Doeloe:
- Rijsttafel Stimoelan - Small ricetable consisting of:
- Sawi Toemis (Chinese cabbage with Indonesian herbs)
- Daging Semoor (beef with tomatoes in a mild soy sauce)
- Gadon Dari Sapi (beef in creamy sauce with coconut cream and fresh coriander)
- Ora Arie
- Oerapan (dry, ground coconut mixed with fresh vegetables)
- Sambel Goreng Boontjes (string beans in tasty sauce)
- Sambel Goreng Oedang (tiny shrimp in tasty sauce)
- Kelia Dari Sapi (beef in medium sauce with cream of coconut, tjabeh, kemirie)
- Sateh Ajam (skewers with chicken, charcoal broiled, with a tasty peanut sauce)
- Petjel (various fresh vegetables with a tasty sweet and sour sauce)
- Emping (crispy chips from belindjonuts)
- Seroendeng (grated, fried coconut with peanuts)
- Atjar Tjampoer (sweet and sour Indonesian salad)
- Kroepoek (crispy shrimp bread)
- white and yellow rice
- Daging Rendang - beef cooked in tasty, hot sauce with cream of coconut
Schipol -> Amsterdam -> Schipol
Highlight
- Had so much trouble trying to get a bike. The ones at the hotel were mountain bikes and I couldn’t adjust the seat. Our normal hire shop had nothing my size, in the end, I had to get a kid’s bike.
- By the time we got to Museum Het Rembrandthuis, it was almost 12pm, which meant the whole city of tourist has come out to play. The weather was glorious again, quite hot really, so we had to avoid all the tourist who accidentally step into the bike lanes.
- The house itself was very boring, there aren’t even any famous Rembrandts there!!
- Bumped into Joelle and Wendy on the way to the Van Gogh Museum.
- Just like last time, the VG was excellent. There were lots of people, so I had to push through the crowd to see anything, but I really like the exhibition, especially John Everett Millais, of Ophelia fame.
- There was still sunshine left, so rode to Vondel Park. Yet again, filled with people enjoying the sunshine. Makes me miss BBQs.
- We stopped to have a lie down and to listen to some music.
- Pass the very small Remembrance Day silent march.
- We wanted to go to Tempo Doeloe for dinner, but it was packed, so we went to the offshoot place instead.
- Food was ok, a little sweet, but the rice table with all the different varieties was fun.
- Also observed 2 minutes of silence at 8pm.
- Tried to go to the coffeeshop De Dampkring, where scenes from Oceans 12 were filmed. The place was packed, with tourists and locals alike. They had the scene from the movie on rotation, and I actually remember the scene.
- So yet again, we had to go to an offshoot, Abaxus, which was relatively empty.
- This place was definitely for beginners, with muffins and brownies available, as well as spiced drinks. I decided to start off easy by getting 1 spiked milkshake and having 1/3 of a muffin (they were out of brownies). You have to wait for the stuff to get to your bloodstream, but I felt nothing, so we went back to the hotel instead.
- Tried to use the spa and sauna but it was already closed, so that was a waste.
Food
- Sheraton breakfast:
- smoked salmon
- pancake
- pastries
- croissant
- cheese
- cold cut
- shrimp
- pate
- fruit
- muesli
- yoghurt
- scrambled egg
- bacon
- baked beans
- mushrooms
- sausages
- apple
- banana
- dinner at Indo:
- prawn crackers
- yellow rice meal
- chicken satay
- goat fried rie
- vegetable
- spiced caramel milkshake
- cappuccino
- hash blueberry muffin
London -> Schipol -> Keukenhof -> Amsterdam -> Schipol Amsterdam
Highlight
- The flight was very uneventful, we got there on time, but couldn’t check in yet. Never mind, we had some breakfast before joining th huge line to go to Keukenhof.
- Waited ½ hr for the bus, and had to stand the whole way.
- There were so many people, there were cars blocking the road from trying to get in the target and general traffic everywhere.
- Rented some bikes and went on one of the 5 bike trails you can do around Keukenhof. No 3 goes to the sand dunes, the beach and around the bulbfields, around 25km.
- Highlight of the trail included:
- watching people doing karate by the river
- looking at everyone tanning themselves in the not very good looking beach
- the sand dunes with grass growing over it
- the flower fields with most of the tulips already harvested except for a few strips of colour
- parade of classic cars
- Ride over, time to enter the actual flower park. It was, as expected, very beautiful, with all kinds of tulips everywhere. I would’ve liked a bit of variety however, as you can only look at tulips for so long. We had to hang around though for 6pm, as we wanted to ride our bikes through the park, which is only allowed today as part of a special biking festival.
- With time to spare, we pushed through the crowd to walk through the maze, look at the sculptures and took lots and lots of photos.
- Had an afternoon nap by the lake.
- It was such a rip off, you have to pay €.40 to use the toilets, but I sneaked in when the guy wasn’t around.
- 6 o’clock came, and nothing happened. Eventual, the line of eager bikers were lead through the park by a brass band. It wasn’t as cool as we thought, as there were still a lot of people around, and we had to cycle at walking pace. Still, it was an experience.
- Back to hotel, shower, then off to our Michelin Star.
- The food was excellent, classic French fare cooked by a British chef. The sauces were a highlight and the wait staff were delightful.
- Slokky managed to step on dog poo every day of the holiday. This time he
Food
- Sheraton breakfast:
- smoked salmon
- pancake
- pastries
- croissant
- cheese
- cold cut
- shrimp
- pate
- fruit
- muesli
- yoghurt
- scrambled egg
- bacon
- baked beans
- mushrooms
- sausages
- pate with bread
- apple
- Vermeer dinner -Menu Compagnons (€70):
- beetroot gazpacho with chopped almond
- poached cod with olive oil
- sourdough and brown bread
- “Robert Blanc” Green Perthuis Asparagus, Onion tart – Jura wine sabayon – Comté cheese – crab sauce
- Monkfish “meunière”, Spinach – celery – ricotta – mussel sauce
- Poached Anjou Pigeon, Stuffed cabbage – duck liver – artichoke puree – kohlrabi
- crème brulee of fennel
- Chocolate, Sorbet – chiboust – meringue – mint sauce
Lower Whitley -> Chester -> London
Highlight
- Had a very restless night, there were people making noise and banging about.
- Met the same people at breakfast, so had a bad start to the morning, coupled with the fact that breakfast was crap.
- Lost an hour because of daylight saving, so got to Chester around 10:30am.
- The weather was great, really sunny and not too cold, and Chester looked absolutely beautiful, charming little houses, a river, trees, boats.
- Took a walk around the Roman Walls, reading all the interesting little signs alone the way.
- Observed Roman era remnants such as the Amphitheatre and Roman Gardens.
- Visited the ruins of St John’s Church, including a tomb that was stuck on the wall. It was very interesting indeed, and a bit eerie.
- The vistor centre had some info about the Amphitheatre
- Back on the wall to see the famous Clock, which, according to the sign, was the 2nd most photographed clock after Big Ben
- Chester cathedral can’t compete with York Minster or Ely though.
- To finish, we continued along the wall to the Racecourse and Castle.
- Lunch at the historic Katies Tea Room, which contained some remnants of a <> century house. The food was surprisingly good and value for money, although we were feeling the effects of 2 weeks of indulging food, travel, and no rest.
- We did manage to tour the Historic Rows, the distinct and unique black and white timber framed, two tiered shopping arcade, the medieval version of today's shopping mall.
- Shan felt sick so went back in the car, while Slokky tried to do The Notebook by trying to hire a rowing boat down the river.
- It did start to rain, but alas, his plan was ruined by the river, which was flooded, so no boats were allowed to go out.
- Shan was still not better, so we headed back early.
- The food didn’t end there though, we had a relaxing dinner at the Wet Fish Café, chilling with the West Hampstead crowd.
Food
- Tall Tree Lodge breakfast:
- white bread with marmalade
- muesli with milk
- Lunch at Katies Tea Room:
- Traditional Roast Beef served with Yorkshire Pudding
- Pork Loin Steak (£7.50) - Grilled Pork Loin Steak Served on a Bed of Mashed Potato with a Creamy Dijon Mustard Sauce
- Apple Pie served hot or cold, with Custard, Cream or Ice Cream
- Dinner at Wet Fish Café:
- Cabernet-Malbec, Finca los Prados, 2007, Argentina £4
- welsh lamb cutlets with jerusalem artichoke mash and lamb jus (£14)
- spicy slow-simmered mutton with aubergine, dates and wild rice (£13)
- rhubarb, ginger and almond crumble (£5)
- warm soft chocolate cake w red berries & cream (£5.50)
London -> Manchester -> Nether Alderley -> Lower Whitley
Highlight
- The weather wasn’t too bad when we started, but we were definitely worst for wear after the late late night and the early start.
- Got stuck in a traffic jam because of an accident, so only made it to Old Traford at 11:30, not enough time to visit the museum (yeah!)
- Caught the tram out to the city for sightseeing. The tram was efficient, but so crowded!
- First stop was…lunch of course! Decided to visit Chinatown as all the food markets were not available, disappointed to find the place nearly abandoned, there was no one in any of the restaurants.
- We chose Yang Sing as it was recommended by a friend and also because there were at least some Chinese people eating there. The food was quite good, not good compared to Oz or HK or Rotterdam of course, but better than anything I’ve had in London.
- Off to the tour proper. There wasn’t that much to see, briefly viewed the Town Hall, with the square and the statues.
- The John Rylands Library was interesting, but I found it more for its architecture and the “historic toilets” rather than the oldest known piece of the New Testament, the St John Fragment it holds.
- Weather was starting to become very bad, so paid a visit to the Cathedral, which had very good notes and explained everything you can see. The Angel Stone – oldest object in the building and the Misericords – early 16th century wooden carvings were the highlights.
- Walked past the Manchester wheel but didn’t get on because of bad weather (so I guess they must not get any business then!!)
- Walked past the 500 year old house, which is now a pub (of course)
- Spent some time browsing Triangle shopping centre, with its cool design and the metal ball Café Nero, and had a drink there to pass the time before it was time to brave the rain and head to the stadium.
- Got soaked on our 8 minutes walk to the stadium, but the atmosphere from the away Villa fan was electric. They were so vocal, and even though there were only about 200 of them, they completed outshone the 70,000 Man U supporter. And they needed to be vocal too, considering Villa lost 4-0.
- The match itself was one sided, but the game was definitely worth it for the atmosphere and watching the people in front of us sing at the top of their lungs and try to use as many swear words as possible.
- We left the game early, but not early enough, ended up being stuck in the car, trying to get out of the car park for 1 hour.
- We got to dinner at 8:45pm, so we were ravenous. I didn’t really like the sound of the menu, but I was hoping my doubts would be proven wrong. I was very disappointed with the food, it wasn’t bad, but it definitely wasn’t Bib standard.
- We skipped dessert before finally able to crash at the hotel.
Food
- pancake
- Lunch at Yang Sing:
- Chau siu
- Vegetable dumplings
- Prawn dumplings
- Pan fried Meat bun
- Steamed meat bun
- Sticky rice
- Café Nero latte
- Dinner at The Wizard:
- brioche with butter
- Pan fried chicken livers, griddled bruschetta, Madeira cream (£7.95)
- Pressed ham hock & asparagus terrine topped with a poached egg (£6.50)
- Wizard shepherd’s pie with cheese mash & fresh vegetables (£11.00)
- Oven baked fillet of hake, rocket & parmesan salad, balsamic dressing (£14.50)
London -> Leeds -> London
Highlight
- Another very long train ride, where I caught up with some more French.
- I had been warned that there was nothing to do in Leeds, so I was not expecting much. Took in the sites, which is basically a lot of new buildings inter dispersed with the old.
- Had a look at St John Evangelist Church , which looks like every other church.
- Down by the wharf area to reach the Royal Armories Museum. It has excellent displays, but because they were doing renovation work, they closed early, and because we had booked lunch, we had to leave after exploring only very little of the display. The stuff there were very similar to the Tower of London stuff anyway.
- Lunch at Bib Number 1, read the review here.
- Leeds Town Hall – not very interesting, not after all the places we’ve seen.
- Leeds Civic Hall – someone was getting married there, other than that, like every other civic hall.
- Leeds City Art Gallery – actually had quite a decent collection.
- The Henry Moore Institute is situated next door to the Art Gallery. I saw quite a bit of Henry Moore (and liked it) at the gallery, but the institute doesn’t seem to have anything extra to add.
- I was expecting more from Millennium Square, but it’s literally just a little square with some funky curves and furniture, otherwise it’s quite boring again.
- A quick glance at Leeds Parish Church to cross it off the list.
- Kirkgate Market is probably the most interesting thing for us, like a glorious supermarket, with delis, butchers, fishmongers, all vying for your attention. We managed to pick up some cheap stuff at the end of the day, like our 15 cupcakes for £.50 and the hot cross bun going for cheap. The butchers were having a sell-off war, but we decided that we couldn’t really lug all that home, so restrained ourselves from getting tempted.
- We had run out of things to do by this time, but because it was raining, we didn’t bother trying to find a hairdresser. Instead, we wondered around the many shopping centre. There were only one or two interesting shops. Everything else you could find in London.
- Dinner at Bib Number 2, read the review here.
- Train back was delayed, so it took 3 hours before we made it back home. Luckily there were no drunks this time, unlike York.
Food
- cheesecake
- lunch at Anthony’s at Flannels:
- Oak Smoked Salmon & Prawn Fishcakes. Red Pepper & Tomato Salsa, Caviar Vinaigrette
- Chicken & Black Pudding Sausage, Grain Mustard Mash Potatoes
- Thyme & Garlic Roasted Lamb Rump, Dauphinoise Potatoes, Caponata
- Pan-Fried Calves Liver & Streaky Bacon served with Polenta Cake, Caramelised Onions & Shitaki Mushrooms
- Ainsley’s kitchen chocolate cupcake (15 for £.50)
- Dinner at Brasserie 44:
- Country Pâté, pumpkin and date chutney
- Warm Asparagus Quiche, tomato and red pepper coulis
- Fillet of Seabass, caramelised lemon chicory ~ orange butter sauce
- Confit Leg of Duck, chestnut mushroom and tomato ragout
- Hand-Cut Chips
- Green Beans with Shallots
- New York Cheesecake, red berry compote
- Banana Pudding
London -> York -> London
Highlight
- Long train ride, only made easier by learning French.
- Arrived at 9am, was disappointed that it was overcast the whole day and very cold.
- Started hunting around for Betty’s as we had very little for breakfast. We found lots of interesting architecture on the way, but no Betty’s.
- Made do with a sausage roll from Thomas The Baker instead. It was nice but would’ve been better if it was not cold.
- Marvelled at York Minster, climbed the tower, and had to pay £4 for the privilege. I would say the best thing about it was the climb up a long flight of narrow winding stairs. The view from the top was ok, but not spectacular. Plus, you were really wired in, and there were only tiny gaps for you to look out of, so the view was quite restricted.
- By the time we got back down, after waiting for ages at the top, as there were only 1 set of stairs, so you have to go in a group, York has really come alive. The footpaths and the roads were over spilling with people.
- Browsed around the shops, tasted some wonderful fudge at the Fudge Kitchen, and picked up the seasonal Autumn special. Tried on hats at a cool hat shop, and peered into windows of butcheries with their pork pies.
- Had the best lunch ever at J Bakers. It was cool, stylish, innovative, delicious and not even that expensive. I love this place. We wanted to go back for dinner, but they were totally booked out.
- Walk around the old wall, but after a while, it wasn’t that interesting, and parts of it was so crowded, so went down after a while.
- Had a look at Clifford Tower, but it was a real disappointment. Nothing spectacular to see and not even that high to get a view of the city. Plus, it was £3 to enter!! Needless to say, we didn’t bother, after all, we didn’t see much we liked from the much high Minster Tower
- People recommended the National Railway Museum to me, but as it was the only museum that was free in York, I didn’t expect it to be such an excellent museum. There were loads of trains to peer into, blasts from the grand old days to the modern day shinkensen, all housed in a former train depot.
- Unfortunately, there was a Thomas the Tank Engine event on, so the place was full of kids and their parents. We ventured to some of the less visited exhibits, including the flying Dutchman (and I still can’t figure out why it was so famous).
- Tried to find Betty’s again. We knew where it was after we asked at the Tourist Info, but there was a huge line, so decided to come back later.
- Had to waste some time before evensong, so walked around the shops. Mostly high street stuff but a few interesting gems.
- Evensong at York Minster, quite boring and long, but the cathedral was magnificent, and you can look around for as long as you like afterwards, saving you the £5.50 entry fee.
- Took some night pics of the church and various lit up places.
- Ventured back but there was still a huge line at Betty’s, so had to end up getting takeaway. Btw – the stuff was not that nice, it’s the experience you’re after.
- Dinner at Cross Keys pub for very cheap, filling but not very spectacular food.
- Caught an earlier train home because the one we were booked on was 45 minutes delayed. There was a bunch of really loud, drunk people on. Sang songs at the top of their lungs and spilled beers everywhere. One lady told them to stop the swearing because there were lots of children there but got ridiculed for having to put up with it on a Saturday night.
Food
- Thomas The Baker chicken and stuffing roll (£.49)
- Lunch at JB:
- Smoked almonds
- Little boiled potatoes
- artichoke and split pea whip
- Grazing Plate (£10.00)
- Tasty Lancashire Cheese Pudding ~ Curly Kale, shallot jam (£10.00)
- Baked beans, goose fat and parsley (£2.00)
- Yorkshire Triangle Rhubarb Fool (£4.50)Summer Fruits, Pistachio and Chocolate Sundae (£4.50)
- Cross Keys dinner:
- Betty’s chocolate éclair (£1.20)
- Betty’s Engadine Torte (£2.35)
Lille -> London
Highlight
- Another early morning start to make it to work. Woke up at 6:20am to pack. Luckily the station is so close that we only needed 5 minutes to get there.
- It was still very dark outside so didn’t really see the tulips very well. Saw them during the day too but didn’t bother to take a pic of them.
- Slokky did his normal rushing thing, walking really fast and panicking at everything, even though we were early and there were absolutely no lines, so we got through all the security checks in 10 minutes.
- Train not coming out from Disneyland this time so no kids, but lots of business people instead.
- Saw numerous French people looking at an abandoned food bag on a seat, opening it up and smelling it, until one of them actually opened it to eat!!
- Got stuck for more than 1 hour because there was a problem in the Euro tunnel. I don’t know what it was but at least 2 trains went past in the time. I actually watched the sunrise from the train.
Food
- apple
- pineapple tart (€3.50)
Lille
Highlight
- Was going to start our usual early day, but we were just too tired to wake up and since the sun wasn’t up, we didn’t go out until after 9:30am.
- Caught the metro to Wazemme Market, where on Sunday there’s a huge flee market. It was starting to buzz when we got there, and was choked full of people when we left two hours later.
- The clothes, nik naks and such wasn’t of much interest, as they are nothing compared to the markets of Asia and Africa. What we wanted to see was the food of course, but that part of the market was pretty disappointing. The usual stores that you could find outside, and not even that much to choose from.
- It was more interesting wandering around the streets. Stopped off at some bakeries for some goodies (slightly cheaper than Paris) and admired the terrains, cheese, ready to heat meal (much better than the stuff you get in London) in the shop windows.
- All the shops are meant to be closed on Sundays, but because it’s sales time, they have "exceptional openings", which was lucky for us.
- For some reason, even though we were wandering around the streets of this little square, Slokky managed to get lost. He stopped to look at the map every minute or so.
- Slokky stepped on dog poo, right after I told him to watch out for it.
- There was a whole row of the market occupied entirely by roast chicken shop (all in all I think there are at least 10 around the market), and we couldn’t resist getting one, especially accompanied by that potato soaked in the roasting fat. Grabbed a still warm baguette and headed back to our apartment to make use of the facilities for lunch.
- As we had finished seeing all the site yesterday, we only had the Citadelle left. Half the stores around had exceptional opening today, but not much people were in them.
- Stopped off to have a brief look at the Vielle Bourse, which was a building(s) with a little square inside filled with some booksellers. However, only half the stores were opened and there were no people there today.
- We wandered around the near empty streets, and found out where all the people went when we reached the Citadelle.
- Everyone was decked out in their designer sportswear and jogging around the outside of the Citadelle. After our indulgence for the past weeks, we thought we’d better have a walk around as well, so we did a very pleasant loop around.
- It was only past 2pm when we finished, and as we had run out of things to see, I could finally go back to the shops to browse to my heart’s content.
- There were lots of lovely stuff. Why is it the French shops have better stuff than everyone else even though it’s the same company? The stuff in Kookai, H&M and the like were actually better quality and better design than in Aust and London! I saw some great flats that I wanted but didn’t buy because of the lack of space. There were also these beautiful wool scarves in the best colour which I also didn’t indulge myself in. The designer stuff are also cheaper here too. There were a few pairs of Marc Jacobs flats and Chloe heels that were fabulous, and the cookware is great. We nearly got a set of Tefal ingenio pans (the ones with the removable handles), but decided to stick it out with our old ones for a bit longer, and when it finally dies we’ll invest in some top quality ones.
- We wanted to go to Carrefour but it was closed, so we didn’t end up trying that Galette de Frangipane, the one with the crown in every single shop after all. We did manage to find another supermarket, Monoprix, where we bought some discounted goods and regional goodies.
- Finished our shopping before it was acceptable dining hours, but since there was nothing to do, we decided to dine anyway. Walked around a bit before settling on a corner pub not far from the station. It was cheap and cheerful, and the waiter spoke pretty great English. The food was simple and cheap, but the servings were so huge we absolutely couldn’t move when we finished. The taste certainly didn’t compare to yesterday, but it was what we expected in the setting.
Food
- giant palmier
- flan (€1.30)
- baguette
- roast chicken (€5)
- potato soaked in roasted chicken fat (€1.60)
- waffle with sugar and butter filling
- set dinner at Le Napoleon (€13.90):
- ham and brie salad with mustard dressing
- 2 types of terrains
- white bread
- beer
- androulette with mustard sauce, chips and salad
- mussels a la crème with chips
- chocolate cake with loads of cream
- lemon sorbet and strawberry ice-cream
London -> Lille
Highlight
- It was a relatively late start. We had a smooth ride on the Eurostar. Managed to arrive at our hotel and get out by about 12pm
- Checked out Euralille for a bit. Got myself some North Face winter shoes (60) for Iceland.
- Checked out a few games store before catching the confusing Metro to the <> Market.
- Forgot about needing coins for the ticket machine so had to go to ticket office to get Metro ticket. Luckily here there are no lines and the tickets are cheap.
- Did a bit of shopping at Galeries Lafayette while waiting for the tourist office to open. (yup the 2 hour lunch break).
- Unfortunately Slokky was doing the “I am anxious we’re going to be late, so let’s rush everything” thing so I couldn’t stop to look at anything I want, and we had to go to the tourist office, which is situated in the Palais Rihour. The Palais is kinda unremarkable, especially after all the huge sites we’ve seen before.
- Looked at the various other buildings on our audio guide and general wandering around - Opera, Hotel de Ville, Eglise St Maurice,Musee de l’Hospice Comtesse. The most interesting part is theCathedrale Notre Dame de la Treille, a mix of ancient and modern, which was very interesting. The abstract paintings of the ascension to the cross make a change from the usual drawings and sculptures you see. The front of the church has been newly decked out with thin marble that lets the light through and is quite cool.
- A stop to the huge Carrefour hypermart completed the day, we stocked up on our usual cheese, terrain and waffles.
- Dinner at Le Sebastopol, a 1 Michelin star restaurant. The staff was not too good at English, but we did manage to find out what we were ordering. The food was excellent, especially the exquisite desserts. Thing weren’t too fussed over, the presentation very simple, the only letdown was probably the boring meat plates.
- It was good value considering I actually got 2 glasses of wine with my dinner as well. We were truly stuffed by the end of it, so a stroll back to the hotel was much needed.
- Lille is definitely a walkable city, you can see all the major sites on foot. What was unremarkable was that there was much less to see and do than I anticipated.
Food
- huge pain au chocolate, palmier and chocolate chip bread (3)
- tarte tartin
- Dinner at Le Sebastopol:
- little bread rolls
- tasting plate with foie gras dumpling, cauliflower soup, steamed egg with foie gras
- dessert plate with chestnut crème, raspberry tartlet, sugar tuile, hazelnut chocolate
Reykjavik -> London
Highlight
- Had breakfast while waiting to be picked up for The Blue Lagoon (3,500 ISK), a unique geothermal spa situated in the youngest lava field in west Iceland.
- It was so surreal when we arrived. You have to follow this trail, covered on both sides with ice, before you get to the main entrance. The whole structure was very modern. We bathrooms were cool. You get changed, shower, then brave the cold before jumping into the milky blue water. There’s not much to do, you can put some silica mud mask on your face, go under the waterfall…but that’s the point, isn’t it?
- You can also get massage and spa treatments, but we hardly had time to eat or take pictures or browse the products in the shop, so next time I want to spend at least a day there. And I am DEFINITELY going back.
- After the relaxation, got dropped off at the airport. It’s excellent. We took some photos with the statues outside.
- Bought Askja light jacket (7,550 ISK) for Slokky, and Kjolu suede jacket (4,250 ISK) from 66 o North since they were 50% off.
- Got on the plane no problems. Read a food mag while everyone else entertained themselves watching Stardusk. They were still having their problem at Heathrow, so we had to circle in the air for more than 40 minutes while we wait for a chance to land.
Food
- Hotel Cabin buffet:
- ham
- cheese
- cucumber
- tomato
- bread with jam
- oranges
- cereal
- yoghurt with mixers
- Blue Lagoon hot dog (230 ISK)
- Kaffitar Cappuccino (320 ISK)
- kaffitar green tea mints
- Icelandic air meal:
- bread roll with butter
- chicken
- potato salad
- chocolate bar
- apple juice
Reykjavik
Highlight
- Today was taken up by the Golden Circle Tour run by Reykjavik Excursions. Another early start, we piled on another bus, for another patriotic Icelandic guide, and were on our way. The weather was much worst today, snow falling constantly. We got to our first stop, Nesjavellir power plant, before the sun came up.
- We got forced to watch a video about the high temperature geothermal area, and how it gets its energy from Lake ingvallavatn. Then we got to look outside at the steam and smell the sulphur.
- Back on the bus, to look at the Keri crater. Maybe it’s more interesting in the summer, but it was just a snow covered field with a big hole.
- Travelled through what was supposed to be fertile agricultural areas, but in essence you can just see snow. Arrived at Hverageri, which is supposed to contain greenhouses where Iceland grows their fruit and vegetable, but we couldn’t go and see it, so that was really boring.
- Sun beginning to come up now, so the bus ride was spectacular, with the sky changing colour and white everywhere.
- Sklholt church, which is supposed to be the ancient seat of the Icelandic bishops. The church itself is very boring, just a rectangular building, nothing like all the churches we’ve seen around Europe. The most interesting thing is the lovely mosaic on the altar.
- Next we were supposed to be heading to the highlight of the tour, the Gullfoss waterfall. Well, there was certainly a lot of water, and it is quite spectacular. It’s smaller than Victoria Falls, but much more powerful. In fact, we spent so much time there we were really rushed for lunch, as we only had ½ hour to spend there. The café just sells your basic provisions, but they have soup and hot bread rolls, so I was very happy. I was even happier that they give you free refills, so we had 3 bowls of it.
- Then off to the geyser called Geysir that originally gave these things a name, so I expected it to be spectacular, after seeing them in NZ and Japan, the whole geothermal area around the spouting hot springs weren’t that impressive, and you had to wait ages for it to blow. Because it took so long and the weather was deteriorating further, we didn’t spend too much time here.
- Last stop was also where we went last night, Ingvellir. It’s not so cool in the day, especially since it was covered with inches of snow, we did manage to get some shots of the cracks today though.
- The tour was a bit less than I expected, but we had dinner to look forward to. We got dropped off in town, and rested in a hotel lobby before making our way to Vidt Jornina for dinner. It’s very cute, like going to someone’s house for dinner, with separate little rooms as a dining area. Again, we were under dressed and loud, whereas everyone else was having a civilised evening. Everything was Icelandic prices, but the produce and the cooking was excellent, and made a good night out.
- We passed up on the opportunity to go clubbing as we were absolutely knackered from all those late nights, so just relaxed at the hotel with some poker and a lot of alcohol.
Food
- Hotel Cabin buffet:
- ham
- cheese
- cucumber
- tomato
- bread with jam
- oranges
- cereal
- yoghurt with mixers
- Gullfosskaffi lamb soup (1090 ISK) with hot bread rolls and refills
- rye bread
- salami
- lamb head jelly
- Scottish shortbread
- dinner at Vidt Jornina:
- Hot smoked lamb's heart w/applesalad and horseradishcream (1600 ISK)
- 2 kinds of mousse with langoustine’s tail (1750 ISK)
- Herb-coated lambfillet w/dijon and redwinesauce (3860 ISK)
- Grilled starry ray
- bread
- Southern Comfort & Coke
- Vodka tonic
- chips and biscuits
Reykjavik
Highlight
- After all the drama, arrived at Keflavik Airport at 2am. Caught a maxi-cab to our hotel. By the time we checked in and got ourselves ready for bed, it was past 4am. What a start to the day.
- Breakfast at 9:30, just before they closed the buffet. The food was limited in choice and unexciting, but at least they had nice yoghurt.
- We were all super excited to see the roads were piled high with snow. We marvelled at how thick the snow was and all jumped around in it until the novelty wore off and we realized all our clothes were wet.
- Walked along the coast into the city, with beautiful mountain view and water, and little Puffins swimming around.
- The city itself is quite small, the main shopping strip, Skolavordustigur St and Laugavegur St, is lined with cool shops of things I can’t afford. I did look longingly at some beautiful clothes and shoes. We spent ages in the 66o North store.
- Saw a restaurant that was selling reindeer meat wrapped in pastry…resisted the urge to try…
- Loaded up on tourist brochures at the tourist centre for the next time we want to visit, in summer of course.
- By this time we were desperately in need of a coffee and to get away from the snow. When we found out that Kaffitar has won 2nd place in the World Barista Champions, we were besides ourselves. It didn’t disappoint. The cappuccino was the best I’ve tasted since Australia…The place was packed, and I can understand why.
- The hallgrimskirkja (Hallgrims Church) is probably the best tourist attraction in town. It’s perched on a hill with a statue of Leif Eriksson out the front. The architecture is pretty cool, like harmonica pipes. Inside is ok, but the highlight was definitely the tower (400 ISK), if you can brave the wind. You get to see Reykjavik from all sides. Unfortunately the weather was too overcast to get any decent pics.
- time to look for some sustenance, wondered the streets to the famous hot dog cart, Baejarins Bestu. It’s a little cart, a bit like Harry’s Café de Wheel, it’s an institution in Iceland. There’s really nothing more satisfying than having a hot dog with crunchy onions on a cold winters day.
- Time to visit the pond. More time was spent photographing the ducks and swans, stepping on the ice to see if there were any weak spots.
- We had done everything by about 3:30pm, and as the sun was about to set, it was good timing. Since the weather has cleared, we decided to go to Hallgrims again.
- We missed out on the Einar Jonsson Sculpture Garden last time, so we ventured in this time. All the sculptures were covered in deep snow so you couldn’t really see them, although one really intrigued me…we brushed off the snow to reveal it was of a man and a cow…in a very awkward position. Apart from that, it was like a snow playground. We slid down slopes and sloshed around in the snow.
- We left everyone with their SLRs to capture the fading nights of the church, and walked back to the hotel. Stopped off at Bonus to stock up on our Icelandic products. I was very happy to find Kaffitar coffee beans for sale (and figured that it must be the Starbucks of Iceland). If only we had coffee like that…
- Slokky managed to get us lost on the way back, so had to take a huge detour and track through thick snow before getting back.
- Ate our dinner in the common area. The salmon and bread were quite nice, but the skyr wasn’t to my taste.
- We were already really tired by this time, but we still had the Northern Light tour to go.
- The tours were packed, there were heaps of buses going out. Our guide was this cute old lady who managed to get us quite excited about the Northern Lights. We found out that all Icelanders are very passionate about their country, and she shared her enthusiasm with us.
- Did we see the lights? Maybe…we saw faint hints of the light, a grey band that grew and moved, and then disappeared. It was nothing like what they showed you in the photos. Apparently we caught the end of the lights, a few days earlier they were really active. Better than nothing I suppose. We looked at the photos taken with the SLRs later, and found that the grey bands turned green in the photos…
- The best part though, was walking between the tectonic plates at Ingvellir, where the Icelandic parliament Alingi was founded in 930, which makes it the oldest known functioning parliament in the world. We were between the plates were we saw the first glimpse of the light, which were actually slightly greenish.
- I think what was more exciting was being out in the countryside at night, thick blanket of snow stretched before you, and glazing into the night sky and the stars.
- Got back just after midnight for another exhausting sleep.
Food
- Hotel Cabin buffet:
- ham
- cheese
- cucumber
- tomato
- bread with jam
- oranges
- cereal
- yoghurt with mixers
- Kaffitar Cappuccino (300 ISK)
- Baejarins Bestu hot dog with everything
- fried catfish in spelt and barley batter with potatoes and mango skyronaise
- rye bread
- smoked salmon
- salami
- chocolate and banana skyr
- banana
London -> Reykjavik
Highlight
- Trust our luck. First, there was going to be a strike on the day we fly out, then when the strike got cancelled we thought we were in the clear.
- Found out a few hours before that there was an accident and they closed a runway at Heathrow, so all planes were delayed. I tried to call the airline to find out more information, but they just said the flight was scheduled and to come to the airport.
- Everyone got there around the same time, got told there was a 1 hour delay, so went off to have dinner.
- We were at Terminal 1 and there were not many shops, so spent a couple of hours in Giraffe discussing anything and everything.
- 2 hours later, managed to board the flight, another hour of delay on the plane, then finally took off.
- So tired by that time, I only managed to eat my meal, I couldn’t sleep but couldn’t quite pay attention to Rush Hour 3 anyway.
Food
- Dinner at Giraffe:
- Cajun chicken melt (£6.95)
- Chilli beef lasagne (£7.95) - Deep layered tortilla, smokey angus beef & mixed been chilli with jack cheese, sour cream, fresh tomato salsa & pumpkin seeds
- Hippy hippy shake (£3.25) - Mango, Pineapple, Passion fruit, Banana & pomegranate juice
- Icelandic air meal:
- bread roll with butter
- chicken
- potato salad
- chocolate bar
- apple juice
