Spacebase

A friend of mine, Tjarko, has been working for Airbus UK for the past 6 months. It was time to make a visit to him in Bristol. Jeroen and Anthony joined me for a boy's only weekend. We flew with Easyjet for just 65 euro's p.p. (including taxes). A taxi is the easiest way to get from the airport to the hotel (20 pounds = 30 euro's), about a 20 minute drive. Although the cab driver insisted on giving us a sight-seeing tour. We stayed at Hotel Premier Travel Inn (Haymarket, it's near the center. 56 pounds pppn).

We arrived friday morning, giving us the change to get rid of our luggages at the hotel, and go to the Broadmead shopping center. It's a big shopping mall, but they are currently expanding it. We met with Tjarko at the food court, as he had taken the day off. A nice shop (of in total 300 shops) in the mall is the one who sells signed pictures of celebrities. Still saving for the original signed Jessica Alba!

Next we went throug the small streets of down-town Bristol, walking, talking, looking and drinking Foster's beer (Australian). Also tasted 1664 Kronenburg, but that didn't go down that well.

Bristol's main nightlife areas are around the harbourside, the long streets of Whiteladies Road and Park Street and Corn Street around the Old City. Lloyds at the harbourside is always fun (if it's not too crowded). A lot of stagparties are to be found around this club/area. It strikes me that they marry at a young age here in Bristol.

On saturday there was time for some serious shopping, as Anthony and me know this store called World Sport. So we bought cool t-shirts, sweater (brand: No Fear), etc, at a 70% discount. On the square there was some sort of promotion with free chocolate bars. In return they took our picture, so maybe you'll see us on a billboard someday trying to sell you choco-bars. Of course i gave my bar to Tony.

On saturday evening we went to Zizzi's. A great Italian restaurant where you can see what they are doing in the kitchen. Good atmosphere too, as the place was loaded with a ridiculous amount of nice girls. Of course we were there for the food, and the food only. Normally the waitresses would be from Czech Repuplic, but this time no Czechy chicks to be seen

. Foodwise i can recommend you the Penne De La Casa (al Forno). It's good stuff. Only downside they serve some italian brand beer (Peroni wtf), which resembles plain water. As a dessert you have to eat the apple crumble pie (apple soaked in the amaretto). They bake it fresh for you in the oven. Yummie.

After a good meal it was time for cinema (Casino Royal, starring a ridiculous high capacity airplane), the pubs at the harbour side, and of course closing the night at the Velvet Lounge.

At sunday it was time to go back home, together with the memories and the stuff that we bought. Unfortenately i don't have any pictures to show you, i forgot my camera. Better luck nect time. Cheers!

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September 04

Ukraine Summer 2006

Learning from past experiences...

Not wanting to spend 24hrs driving in my car, i made a stop for a couple of days in Wisla, south of Poland. I stayed in a luxurious hotel (Hotel Golebiewski) to kick off the holiday in a relax state. This was no ordinary hotel. It had a big swimming pool area, with several slides, several types of saunas. yakuzi's, etc. In the morning and afternoon there was a big buffet (all-you-can-eat). I stayed inthe hotel for the weekend together with Anthony, Magda and Pauline (1yr), and Marek, Machek (5?yrs), Monika and Magda (2?yrs).

In the evening you could go to the arcades or the disco underneath the hotel (free entry for hotel guests). Highlight of the weekend of course was to party and dance with Monika and Magda, while Anthony and Marek watched the kids. The night after Anthony and I got drunk on good old Polish wodka (Zubrowka). On monday i left for a couple of days in....

Krakow

I visited Krakow in 2003, but was there for just half a day. I promised myself to go back, as the first visit was too short (and too wet because of the continious rain). This time i was all alone, which is really not very fun being on your own. The only advantage is that you can see and do whatever you want, so i did walk alot. And i mean alot. Also the weather helped, clear blue sky...

On the second day i met with Andrzej, Marta, Marco, Ingrid and Florence on the Krakow Airport. For the ladies i had a single red rose to welcome them to Poland, although we didn't plan on staying for long. The girls joined me in my car to Lviv, the guys had to take the train. There was a little competition of who would make it first to Lviv....

Again...Border crossing challenges

Our trip started with a huge road construction work between Krakow and Tarnow, in which we covered 50 km in 4 hours. Luckiliy i was not bored because i had three skinny chicks to entertain me. Btw, this included 4 nationalities: Dutch (me), French (Florence), Spanish (actually Ingrid is a hybrid Spanish/Dutch) and Ukrainski (Marta). After Tarnow it was ok, but it took a total of 7 hours to get from Krakow to the border. And when ai say border, i mean the line to cross the border started problably 3 km before it. Of course, by now i had still the vivid recollection of my first attempt to cross the border (in December last year, see other blog entry). It took me ONLY 3.5 hours, but that was because i skipped the line a little by following a city bus on the wrong side of the road. Also this time i managed to follow a big fuel truck driving on the wrong side of the road (the two lanes in the right direction was one big traffic jam).

I managed to drive up just before the border area, but being still on the wrong side of the road, the people in the line were not very willing to let me back in. An Italian toursit in front of me was order to go back to the beginning of the line by a police officer. He really didn't want to. We offered stroopwafels, money, etc. to this guy to let us in, but he wouldn't budge. Luckily i was able to squeeze in in front of him, when he made a mistake by giving me just a little space to put my car into the line (at ram speed). Made it into the border area, where this guy behind me got a warning of the police not to let people cut into the line. After this the guy came up to me to le me know he was prepared to drive his car into mine. Yeah, i can smell b*llsh*t a mile away.

So crossing the Polish side took ten minutes altogether. Crossing the Ukrainian side took 1.5 hours. First i had to explain why i was with my car. Had to explain why with three girls...from different nations...all going to the same adress in Lviv (you have to fill out this form with your personal data, dna, where you're staying, what you are doing here, etc). Then this custom official gets smart saying he wants to join us by filling out this form also... We played along, he asked us if we brought any food, because that's not alowed. Of course i had food (i'm from Holland for god's sake), i had a case of stroopwafels clearly visible, but i guess i ahve a honest face when i replied NO.

We even had stamp nr.2 and stamp nr. 3 walking to our cars and giving us the stamps (instead of me chasing these stamp like last winter). I guess it pays to have hot chickies in your car (doors will open...it's so much easier).

We lost the compition by two hours, arriving in Lviv late that night. Also watched two women fight to get into the only bus from the border to Lviv. And let me tell you, these women didn't fight like ladies, when women fight, they fight to win, anything goes. We couldn't pass the bus, so we waited 10 minutes before border officials made an end to it (which were standing on top of it, doing nothing).

Lviv in the summer

I saw Lviv fir the first time in the winter. Winter in Ukraine can be harse. You only go out when need to, you do what you do, and get the hell inside again. In summer is more relaxing of course. Next couple of days we toured the centre of Lviv. Our proffessional and unpayed tour guides were Andrzej and Marta. We payed a visit to famous restaurants like Amadeus and of course Split at the freedom square. Also it was nice to see the Opera building on the inside, which was beautifull. Night life was in the disco called Micto, but even on a saturday night it is not very busy. I guess most people flee the city in the summer and go to Odessa or something.

Additional tour guides were Khrystyna (and later also Olessa). I met Khrystyna in the winter, when she and her aunt Marta welcomed me in the appartment. This time, as we were with a larger group, we stayed in another bigger appartment of Pani Romana. This included traditional Ukrainian breakfast made by Pani Romana. She speaks Polish, so we could communicate a little (i mean a little because my Polish is worse than...). Khrystyna also showed me around outside the centre, visiting a park and taking a close look at the big new house of the mayor being build.

Made a visit to on old town with wooden houses and churches.

Highlight was the Lychakivsky Cemetery, but we had to climb over the wall at the back, because it was already closed. After a while we got busted by security officers, which we then paid/bribed to let us continue our sightseeing adventure.

On the last day i cooked the famous Dutch Aardappelanders potato dish, with a special sauce i brought from Holland, 2000 km away. I invited Pani Romana, Khrystyna and her brother, Marta and Andrzej. I only saw Khrystyna in jeans, and somehow i convinced her to wear a dress (whcih was red and really looked good on her) during this diner.

There was also an independence day celebration, but was the mood was not good because of an airline accident the day before.

In short, what you should do in Lviv:

* Contineously eat different pastries in places like Veronica or Tsukernia. I recommend the two tyoes of chocolate made pastry (black and white cake and cream)

* Just walk around and take some time to see the details on the buildings in/around the old center (watch it btw when you cross the streets, cars will use your body to stop!)

* Drink gggggabibski (local town beer Lvivski)

* Get around using the old tram system for 50 kobecks (there old, but safe: women drive the trams)

Kiev

We took the sleep train at 11 pm to Kiev, in order to arrive around 7 am in the morning. Couldn't sleep because it was to hot and a very bumpy ride. When we arrived at the appartment, i went out for a little walk (appartment was right in the center). Kiev is a big city, but they have an amazing metro system. I have a feeling the stairs takes you a kilometer underground, there really long. Also the system is fast, every two minutes a metro. It needs to be fast, because it's the main means of transportation of it's citizens.

First day we visited the main street and square, and a couple of gold plated churches. We also visited this very old church dated from mediaval times. The next day however 4 of 6 people got sick from food poisining. Of course, Marco as an Italian, was more sensitive to bad food than the rest of us, and had to be taken to a modern state-of-the-art, no sorry, it was STATE hospital to get his stomach flushed. I was sick too but not as bad, especially after being sang to by Marta to finally get me some sleep and rest after this ordeal. Next day i was ready to see a couple of dead people who were mummyfied and buried on the same place they spend their whole lifes just praying. We had to return to Lviv, so there was no time to visit Czernobyl :-(, maybe next time. Also like to mentioin that i saw the movie Casanova, after which i tried all corny tacticts from the movie on Florence...succes rate: 0%. She was more happy with her newly bought jacket (remember Kiev?).

Made my way back to Warsaw, to visit Wojtec, Ewa and Jas. Also met up with Agniezska and Pawel for some drinks. And that was it! There are some pictures of course i posted in the album section.

Famous quotes:

* 'I laik skinny b... eeeuh, skinny chicks' (thanks to Florence)

* [insert arbitrary puking sound] (remember Kiev?)

* 'You guys get a room!' (after seeing Marta and Andrzej kiss like only newlyweds do)

* 'Dwa piwa, tre cola, i twi numer telefon!'

* 'F**k that s**t'

* Andrzej's Valenki Kozackchow

* Grazy Goat

* 'S'kildoo?'

* STM (Stupid Toursit Mode)

* Kinderhoofdjes

* Marco not being a virgin anymore (remember Kiev?)

* 'Next you're gonna tell me i have to kiss a guy to get better...' (remember Kiev?)

* Bassanova

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March 11

Kozani Carnaval 2006

I spend a couple of days (22 February to 27 February 2006) in Greece. We were invited by Iaonnus for the (in)famous Kozani Carnaval.

Where/What is Kozani?

Kozani is a student city North-West of Tessanoliki, located at 710 metres above sea level.

What should you be doing in Kozani?

Carnaval! The most interesting local celebration, during the Carnival, are the Fanoi (great bonfires) lit at the squares of Kozani, where local people sing and dance around them. All celebrations become more exiting on the Sunday of the last week by lighting great bonfires all over the town until the early hours. Unfortenately, we (Anthony and me) where there the weekend before, i.e. the start of the carnaval. In Greece there are three places in total where you can have Carnaval.

How to get there...

Of course i wanted to go by car, but decided to go by airplane instead. Anthony upgraded his SILVER flying miles card to GOLD, and that meant free drinks and food at the Schiphol Executive Lounge. We had a transfer at Rome, so we tried that VIP-lounge as well. In Thessaloniki Ioannus was waiting for us at the airport. As we arrived at one o'clock in the night, we decided to drink a couple of beers in DownTown Thessaloniki. From there it is an hour drive to Kozani.

It pays to know people who know people

As Ioannus and his brother Paris know their way around Kozani, this meant free drinks at their friend's bar in the centre, free sandwiches at 5 o'clock in the morning and VIP-treatment at Club Daluz (http://www.clubdaluz.gr/). That's why it pays to know people who know people...

Carnaval

The carnaval starts on friday, and ends on Sunday night (the week after that is). Most people dress up, as we did. We bought our customs from the Makro in Holland. I went as Big Daddy (whatever that means), and Anthony went as a clown. Paris joined us as a hippy, whereas Ioannus was dressed as a 'scary' pirate. We met dancing godess Marianna and friend, who was with us all through carnaval after meeting us on the first night.

A typical day during carnaval would be something like this: get out of bed at 11 o'clock, walk around the city in a daze, taking a couple of pictures of Kozani at daylight to prove to the homefront that you were not only in bars and clubs, go to a bar to drink Greek coffee (takes 2 hours). Go to another bar to drink beer and tequila shots (to get you started), meet up with some friends, eat, drink some more, party and finish the evening / morning at a club. Also found out that traditional Kozani Carnaval songs have interesting lyrics...

What's on a greek menu?

Greek food means meat. And oil. A lot. Oil i mean. I ate penne with tomato sauce and meatballs, (made by Ioannus' mother) which was very tasty. At a bar we had this different types of small dishes, like tapas. I even tried liver, which I liked (surprised myself). Other things where pasta in a mix of cheese and mayonaise, spicy meatballs, and spiced beef. Most of it i liked, some of it looked better on the way out...

What else is there to see in Kozani?

Don't know, actually didn't see much besides the interior of bars and clubs. No need to start a blame game, it was raining most of the time. Paris took us on a sight-seeing tour to a nearby lake.

A lake, that's nice...But what about Greek girls?

Greek girls are pretty and smart...Well, the ones we met in Kozani were anyway. We met doktors, psychiatrists, laywers, etc.

Remember any quotes/typical things from this journey?

-'nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnice....'

-'Dude, that''s a gay bar!' *and starts running towards the exit or nearest window*

-'And what was his name?'

-Always take your car to the centre, even if it's only a five minute walk.

-'We're Dutch. Gives us our free sandwiches.'

-'Paragelo?'

-Even police officers say 'Malaka'

Enough chit chat, I have included some pictures of the Kozani Carnaval. Maybe I will visit Kozani again this summer to see more of it's beauty....

Next stop: New York or Warsaw (in May)

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January 04

Ukraine Xmas 2005

I uploaded some pictures of my stay in Ukraine this Xmas and New year. I visited Andrzej and Marta in Lviv from the 22nd of December till the second of January 2006. Some of the highlights were:

Crossing the Polish/Ukrainian border

Of course i went on the trip with my trusted mechanical horse, my VW Golf IV, the biggest polo in the world. At the border crossing it was very busy so I snapped into "stupid-tourist"-mode and passed the waiting line at the wrong side of the road, untill i got stopped by police. Luckily they were in a good mood, because they didn't send me back to the beginning of the line.

All and all i took three hours to get through the border (especially at the Ukrainian side there is a Kafka-like bureacracy, i will not bore you with the details), just to find out i was at the wrong border crossing (Andrzej was supposed to meet me to act as a Tom Tom for me to Lviv). I couldn't find where I was on the map, because it was a new road and border crossing. But luckily Andrzej and his uncle-in-law managed to find me at a gas station (after handing over my phone to the gas station guy). The uncle gave me the nickname 'Bucks' by the way, guess i was like a walking bankomat.

For the return trip on second of January, this uncle knew a guy (costum official) at the Ukrainain side of the border, and managed to squeeze me in front of the waiting line (used only by CD, Core Diplomatique). You gotta have contacts...

The Jobface

This has to do with the people working behind counters or as waitresses: they will not smile at you! They have this facial expression that seems to say: why are you talking to me? What do you want from me? For example: there was this store near my appartment. I went there my first morning without knowing one word of Ukrainain. I got some local currency (Hrvna, Ukrainian dollars) from Andrzej, and i decided to get some bread, sweets and sausages. This store consists of a couple of little shops, each not bigger than a stamp. The ladies behind the counters look very busy all the time, moving stuff from one end of the counter to another. So you wait untill she's ready to help you, right? You could be waiting a long time.They're not ignoring you, they're just not used to it. What happens is (and i watched this a couple of times), you throw some Ukrainian dollars on the counter, you almost shout something inaudible in Ukrainian and then the lady gets you what you want. I implemented this procedure a couple of times (except shouting in Dutch, don't know a single word of Ukrainain) and found it very succesfull. But no wonder they all have this jobface!

How I impacted local economy...

In Lviv we (with Andrzej and Marta) went to this fancy restaurant called Split, at Freedom square. Nice place, our own waiter, a bar and a casino was also available. Before dinner I decided to go to the bathroom. This nice lady (but with jobface) was sitting there and pointed me in the right direction. After doing business I wanted to leave. This lady then says something in Ukrainian to me. And she makes the international sign of money (closed fist, rub index finger under thumb). I didn't think much of it, asked her how much and she says Dwa Hrvna (two Ukrainian Dollars). I paid of course, toilets were clean, and it's not uncommon in Holland to give some coins to the toiletlady. I didn't mention it to my compagnions, untill Marta wanted to go to the toilet. I said to her better take two dollars with you, or else you will be cleaning toilets. She looked like she saw water burning. "You paid for the toilet???". So we get this waiter, tell him the story, and now he looks like he sees water burning. We laugh about it, but 5 minutes later this manager comes to us, we tell the story, and makes a thousand apologies. I never saw those two dollars back, but the drinks were on the house! And the toiletlady...either she got a reprimande or got fired.

Slavske

Slavske is a village in the southern part of provence Lviv (200 km from the city Lviv) and is famous as a ski resort. We went there by train (Roman, Andrzej, Marta and me), first class of course, for a mere 1 euro. Unfortenately we went on a sunday, which meant a lot of single-day skiers. It was pretty busy that first day, but the next three days we had the whole mountain to ourselves.

Perfect snow, nice wheather and challenging slopes (see some of my photos). At the end of the day we concluded our skiing efforts by sking down the Decent of Death: a black steep bugel piste.

Also the ski-lifts are run now by police officers, because the locals usually were too drunk to operate the lifts, or they have their friends cut in front of the line.

By the way, you travel between the village and the beginning of the ski-lift by customized pimped Russian mini-jeeps from the 50's. It's the only way to get to the mountain. It's a rough ride, and an attraction by itself.

On top of the mountain you can use sleds with horses to go from one side of the mountain to another.

We had a nice hotel/hostel, which included a sauna...So after a hard day on (rented) skies, it was time for some relaxation.

Unfortunately the official season had yet to start, so there wasn't any nightlife.

Lviv

I spend a couple of days/nights in Lviv. I met some friends of Marta (Julia, Halla and Anna) for drinks (Anna had her 23rd birthday). I tried to get the real smile of Julia on a photo but somehow i always got the Jobface...These photos don't do you justice, Julia! Anna (you could say she is a shy girl, but i prefer to call her a mysterious girl) i also met later that week on friday night. We went to this club which had a disco, bar and bowling. Even on a friday night it's not busy, so we had the dancefloor all by ourselves.

Just before midnight on the last day of 2005 I got to this party of Wolek and Lena, eating sushi, drinking bloody mary's and smoking weed, eeuh excuse me, waterpipe. Wolek is a very young succesfull heartsurgeon (27/28), already performing the operations that he was studying for. Married to Lena (Russian lady) they have this funny kid called Anastacia (1.5 years old and now in possession of a Dutch book called Bambi).

After that a pyama-party Ukrainian style. I met Iwan, cool guy working for Hertz in Ukraine, and Mariska, who's just gotten married this summer. I didn't get to speak to her that much, until we were in the hallway, found out that she's very nice to chat with.

Last day in Lviv was spend with me making a real Dutch aardappelschotel (this travelled 1600km) for Lena, Wolek, Anastacia, Marta and Andrzej. Next day i drove for 24 hrs straight back to Holland and experienced all types of weather (snow, wind, rain). Still can't feel my ass...

Parking your car...

I arrived at Lviv in the evening on friday, and one thing you notice immediately is that there are no cars parked on the sides of the street. If you do, there is a 100% chance it will be stolen. So finding a guarded parking lot (including a dog with more teeth than dog) is obligatory. Luckily i got some help.

Opun arriving for the first time, i was expecting to find an empty and cold appartment. Instead i found two smiling ladies (no jobface at all) and food (Pierogi, my favourite, but they call it Varenenkje). They were called Marta (owner of the appartment) and Christina (20-year old cousin, beauty AND brains all mixed into one girl). After the journey i've had, it was very welcoming. Later the brother of Christina came over and got me to a guarded parking lot (which included a dog with jobface). We were in luck, because although there are not many cars in Lviv, the cars that are there all occupy a space in one of these parking lots.

Two strangers on a train

I met up with an American called Adriaan, speaks fluently Ukrainian (well, I couldn't hear him making a single mistake). In his spare time he organizes showings of old movies at the university in Lviv. I watched Hitchcock's movie called "Two strangers on a train" (1951). I'm not into this kind of movies but it doesn't hurt if you try something new....or old. The movie is about this guy that kills a girl with big glasses, and every time he sees a girl with big glasses that reminds him of that and wants to kill her also. I have the same feeling when I see border officials.....

September 05

Belgrade August 2005

After my first visit to the city of Belgrade only two months ago, i decided to go back. If you are welcomed the way i was in June to the home of Milana, Dana and Tatta, you know why i had to go back. This time however i was not alone (I brought Anthony with me) and, another mayor difference: we went by airplane. I must admit that i was feeling a little bit naked and dependable without my car. The airline was JAT, a serbian airliner. We flew in a 737-400, which was pretty old. But not as old as the stewardesses: they probably had dinosaurs for pets when they were young. We had the last row of seats, with our back against the toilets. We could tell if someone was doing a number one or number two in there. Oh yeah, smoking is restricted, except when you are a stewardess of JAT airlines. And don't ask for a beer by the way: they serve a brand named Champion and it tastes like somebody took a crap in it. That was the first beer ever i didn't finish.

Milana was waiting for us at the airport. We got greeted like we were her lost sons. Mia's father is a cabdriver and took us to the city (actually he looks a little like santaclaus). At Milana's home the usual hospitality was waiting for us: Dana had prepared us a meal suited for Kings! Serbian food is about meat, meat and meat. They make sausages out of every kind of meat. Meat is cheap, where as vegetables are expensive. This time the menu was kebab and fries! Dana even thought of the saus i like so much: mayonez

In the evening we were greeted by my new serbian friends i met the first time i was there: German girl, Yes-Yes-girl, Bojanna, Mia and Ozzy. They joined us for drinks, talks and laughter. Next day was spend sight-seeing in the lovely city of Belgrade.

We saw the municipal building, palace of the assembly and a couple of churches (of which the ST. SAVA'S TEMPLE is most beautiful, named after the first Serbian archbischop).

Later that week we went through the main shopping street to the Republic square (Trg Republike), made a visit to the TAŠMAJDAN park, Kalemegda park with the Belgrade fortress etc. etc. Actually all the sights that you are obligated to see when you visit Belgrade, just because of the incomprehensible beauty of it all. And, from all at walking distance from Milana's place.

Nightlife is also one of the main attractions of Belgrade. In the city centre you have nice long streets with different kind of pubs, of which the Optimist is a great place to start your evening. They brew their own beer (WFB), which has a little fruity taste to it. I love it! After that you roam the streets, amazed by all those beautifull scarsely dressed Serbian women.

Clubs are present as big rafts floating on the river of Danub. Great clubs we went to were Blaywatch and Sounds. At Blaywatch the gayish bouncer didn't want to let us in after telling us his life-story in Serbian (i still son't know what's that was all about). But eventually we got in and got Serbian live music. Not many people were dancing (actually only we did). It is more a place of "see and be seen". After we got ripped off paying for a couple of beers, we went (this was thursday, sept. first) to Sounds, also a raft disco. Good D.J. everybody having a blast. Can't believe how loud the music was though. Chris joined us, as he was the designated driver that night.

Most important day of the week was of course: September 2nd, my birthday. Dana, caring as always, made a huge cake (which said "18", nice compliment!). It started at Milana's place. There was Mia, Vulle, Ozzy, B.J., Anna, Yes-Yes-girl, Chris, German-girl, Milana, and of course Anthony. By the way, if you go to Belgrade, make sure you bring a bottle of Bessenjenever, the girls really liked it. I got me presents, ate some cake, drank "raindeerbeer", and at midnight it was time to go back to Sounds! It was really busy. People coming in from the front, people falling from the sides in to the water. Still there is someting about dancing your ass of in the open air.

After dancing we returned to Mialana's place and partied untill the sun came up. Too bad it had to end, cos we had a return flight in the afternoon. Didn't get much sleep the whole week i was there (August 29th - September 3rd). So after the flight i was happy to see my bed and slept like a baby.

Of course i can not end without showing you a couple of pictures in the foto album. Check it out. My next visit is already planned in January, after a week if skying in Austria (depending on the road condition that is. Got stuck was in Poland during the worst winter ever, so i'm not that keen on driving in the winter. But that's another story).

July 27

Bristol July 2005

Just came back from a visit to Anthony. Since a couple of months has been working in Bristol, UK (http://visitbristol.co.uk ). I went there for a short stay (20th to 25th of July), together with Magda and Pauline. It was Paulines first visit to a foreign country. She was prepared though, as she owns her own passport (being only 5 months old).

We decided to go via Calais - Dover (cheap tickets avaibable at http://www.overtocht.nl/ ). We arrived at Bristol in the evening, after a 10 hour trip. A long trip, but we were not in a hurry. Also Pauline was great during the whole trip, just sound asleep, playing or looking out the window searching for trees.

We met up with Anthony to re-unit the family: a job well done! Also i confronted my own fear by keeping to the left at all times (a first for me). The next couple of days Tony showed us around, taking us to the places worth visiting. Outside Bristol there was Bath in the south-east of Bristol, and i Wales we visited Brecon. On our way to Brecon we take a couple of "wrong" turnes (Tony's rule: never go back the same way you came) and ended up on a sheephill with a beatuifull view over the valley.

In the weekend we checked into a leisure hotel (http://www.corushotels.co.uk/hotel.asp?hotelID=17), just outside of Bristol. We enjoyed in & outside pool, a sauna, steam room etc. In Bristol Tony and I had the opportunity to race against eachother in the F1 simulator. I can't remember who won, but it was probably me. In addition, Tony played with a remote controlled robot.

On sunday we enjoyed the Harbour festival which was taken place in the centre of Bristol. There were shows, performances, music, etc. Unfortunetaly my back was aching the whole weekend (dunno what;s wrong with it), so Tony and I only went clubbing one night. Clubbing is great in Bristol. We went into the new rebuilt area. They have a boulevard along the river, packed with pubs, clubs, lounges, etc.

On the last night, the fire alarm was trickered at 2 am in the morning. I was still a bit sleepy and somehow i decided that it was only my alarm in my room that was making a sound. So being the technician, i immediately opened the firealarm to rip out the batteries. Guess what: no batteries. After five minutes i noticed that the whole hotel was evacuated. So i put on some clothes and went outside. At least i know now what i do when there is an emergency, being the last one leaving the hotel. Oh, i did check on Anthony, Magda and Pauline, but even they were alreadt outside. Turns out by the way that someone was smoking in is room. That someone was even too ashamed to leave his room, so the firemen had to persuade him to open the door.

Well, that's about it. Also this time i added some pictures in the photo-album. Next month i will return to Bristol, but then it will be an all men's stag party (no additional family members allowed).

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July 09

Visit of Elias to Rotterdam

During my stay in Belgrade in June, I met a guy called Elias, an Aussi. He's travelling around Europe for 9 months and he has a very good blog (see his link below). As it turns out, he was planning a short trip In July to the Netherlands and offered to show him around in Rotterdam.

He came in this thursday evening (July 7th) and enjoyed a typical tradiitional Dutch meal (Chinese take-out). Magda and Pauline were at my place as well.

After that it was a me'n only event, going out in the Old Harbor area in Rotterdam city centre. We tried our hands on some beer-tastery, ending up with a blow to the head by drinking a Wetsmalle Tripple (what can i say, 9,5% is not for pussies).

We came up with this great idea of walking it off, returning home by foot over the Erasmus-bridge. The next day we went for this thing called Madurodam, that was a first time for me as well. It's a great idea to make typical Dutch buildings and scenery in miniature, so that you can see all that Holland has to offer in one hour. They even had rain! It pourred, so we didn't stay long.

We went by the Aerospace faculty, an showed him the laboratory i worked in. In the afternoon we said goodbye as he continued his travelling to Brussels, Belgium.

We may meet each other again September, as we both wanna go back to Belgrade: such a good time to be had there!

I have a couple of pictures (an alibi, or at least proof that he was in Rotterdam).

By the way, next travel plans include a long weekend in Bristol, UK starting from July 20th.

Blog of Elias: http://liako.biz/

Impressions of Belgrade made by Elias: http://liako.biz/2005/06/serbia/

June 21

Budapest 2004

This is a bit of an oldie. I just scanned in some photos from my trip to Budapest, in September 2004. On the way to Budapest we (Robert, Ab and me) had a little accident with my car. We had to ditch the car and drove off with a brandnew (German licence plates) volkswagen Golf V. We had our mind set on going to Budapest, so nothing could stop us.

Eventually we arrived at our rented appartement in Budapest, somewhere in the evening. Luckily the appartment was situated near busy student-cafes. So we welcomed the first zip of foreign beer, the first in many to follow.

We enjoyed the city and it's night-life for the next couple of days. Especially a disco/bar in some metro-station (which looked like you were having a party in a bunker). And a cultural thing we did was a visit to the Red Star Statue Park at the outer skirts of Budapest. I included some pictures like i said, see the photo album on Budapest 2004.

I drove past Budapest again in June 2005 as i was returning home from Belgrade. That's all folks, can't remember to much of Budapest, it's kinda like a blur....

June 20

Paris Airshow 2005

After my visit to Belgrade, I went with a couple of people form the Delft University to the Le Bourget Airshow in Paris. On wednesday (8 june) we went by bus to Paris, in the evening we explored the nightlife of Paris. Of course i included some pictures for you to see in the photos section.

The next day it was all about planes planes planes. Military planes, civil planes, helicopters, engines, etc. And for the first time i saw the A380 fly! Nice to see that big plane stayed in one piece, especially because i was involved in the development and production (specifically the Glare fuselage parts).

After the airshow, we hit the road back to the Netherlands. A little sun-burned because of the beautifull weather and of course because we looked up to the planes in the sky all afternoon.

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June 14

Belgrade 8 - 13 juni 2005

Just came back from a visit to Milana in Belgrade. It's heaven on earth, i can tell you. I had a great great time there.

Let me start by telling how to NOT get there: that is all alone... by car. I drove my beloved Golf 4 (Serbs call it the biggest Polo in the world) from Rotterdam to Belgrade in just under 20 hours. In those 20 hours my ass went from sleepy to annoyed to irritated to hurting to coma. This padewan become ONE with the car, seriously.

I was welcomed to Belgrade first by Milana, which was standing on the side of the street at the Welcome sign like a Sponsorrusche (=serb for a servicing girl) . I was so happy to be able to speak to a real person after being alone in that car for so long. Anyway, the weather was still shitty, as the rain poured down. So my first impression of Belgrade was a lit depressing: gray, wet, coooooold. Luckily i was welcomed at the appartment by Dana, who sat me down at a table full of food. (one of many meals to follow).

I also got greeted by Bella, the dog and watcher of the house. At the time she was happy to see me, but little did she know this Dutch dude was sleeping on her favorite spot on the sleeping couch. The bastard...

I included some pictures, and will continue my Belgrade-adventures another time. Tomorrow i'll go to Paris, for the Le Bourget airshow (and a little PAris night life clubbing, yeah baby).

Bye