Day 1 12/4/08 - Netherlands

London - > Eindhoven -> Best

Highlight

• Another very early morning start. Especially since we had to pick up a new camera after the thief took ours.
• Eindhoven airport really only serves Ryanair. It is very small.
• Caught the bus downtown to pick up the car, got an Audi.
• Drove to PSV stadium, took some photos, visited the store, got some nice red socks for Slokky (which can be seen in photos of the Peak District), for €10, then walked to the city.
• Dropped by Media Centre to get a camera case for the camera.
• Walked through department stores and shops on the way to the tourist info. Got a cute light bulb egg holder and Eindhoven t-shirt as souvenirs.
• Walked to the market square, lots of Chinese restaurant looked dodgy.
• Looked at church, which was quite nice.
• Went to Hema and got yummy butter tart.
• Considered going to get chips, but the places were not that appealing.
• Van Abbey museum – modern art, very cool but hard to understand.
• Walked around the park and admire the hanging trees.
• De Bengen – with very cool shops, kinda alternative.
• <> museum, old and not much to see, but situated in a church.
• Back to the shops. Hema for more food, not many other shops were opened, so we were bored.
• Walked around the vast “Phillips” area. Afterall, Eindhoven is the birthplace of the Philips light bulb.
• Waited in the car anxiously for dinner.
• The restaurant is situated at the stadium. It was very cool as you can see into the stadium. As expected for a one Michelin star place, it was very formal. But alas, the style didn’t reflect the quality.
• Dinner was very formal though, but we were disappointed. I had to complain as it took one hour between the starter and the main, but my concern wasn’t even addressed. They just kept saying it was coming very soon.
• The highlight was definitely the starter with the cucumber and the crab. The quail was too dry.
• Because of the long wait, I couldn’t really enjoy myself. We spent from 7 until 11 there
• So, another very tiring day. And we didn’t get to use the NH Best facilities.

Food

• malteasers
• organic apple juice
• butter tart (€1.60)
• Avant Garde dinner:
  • cheese toast, spice cake, bacon sour cream on cracker
  • salmon with beans in tuna broth and wasabi
  • snail foam with wasabi, goose liver mousse with millefeuille
  • brioche, white toast, herb
  • cucumber sorbet on king crab, king crab with cumquat ice, crab with wasabi jelly
  • monkfish with fried sardine and langoustine and blood orange
  • blood orange ice sorbet
  • quail with truffle sauce and sardines and lobster in its own gravy
  • pineapple rollup, curried pineapple soup, crème brulee parcel with caramelized pineapple
  • mint marshmallow