Trayle

At the station of Amersfoort there is one of these Seattle-like coffee bars. I used to go there a lot because the coffee was good.
Now the management changed. The two Canadian guys running it were homesick and went back to Canada and they have Dutch management.
This morning I went there again and tried to buy coffee. I had a full savings card and wanted to use that to pay. They said it wasn't possible, because they changed their name. Funny, I said, because you did so before YOU gave me the card. Indeed, that was true, they had continued the old programme for a while but now they stopped. But they had continued to distribute points all the same, until last week and would not accept the card filled with points they had given me...
Sigh...

Austerlitz is a small town just south of Utrecht in a wooded area, known as the Utrechtse Heuvelrug.

We did it all: we saw the golden circle, we had the whale steak and we experienced the famous nightlife of Reykjavik.

We took a dirt track that leads up to the Glacier. It was a lot like driving on the moon. There was a whole bunch of snow mobiles standing there but nobody to let them. So we did the only thing we could: we took the 4WD and drove on the glacier.

At night we went to fish restaurant Tveir Fiskar and we had our whale steak. The meat was a lot like beef, really tender and really nice.

Then we finally discovered the famous Reykjavik nightlife. It's a party town, but it only gets going after 01:00. We almost got into the most popular club in town , the Oliver, but we didn't want to stand inline, so we went to another place. 

We arrived in the afternoon in Kevlavik International Airport. We rented a FWD at the airport and to our surprise we saw we got a better price there than we could find on the internet. Strange...

We drove off to the Blue Lagoon, a thermal hotspring and one of Iceland's highlights and conveniently located halfway between the Airport and Reykjavik. It was nice to swim outside in the hot water while the air was only some 12 degrees Celcius. The landscape on the way was like that of the moon.

We took the long road to Reykjavik, past Krusivik where a small wooden church is about the only thing to see. We did some off road driving near the Kleifarvatn a big lake we passed and saw some more sulphuric springs before we headed for the capital.

I spent a very relaxing weekend in Diever, in the North of the Netherlands. Diever is a quiet, charming town in the midst of the Fries-Drentse woods. Diever is somehwta famous for its Shakespeare plays. For the last 60 years, the people from the village have performed a play in Dutch in the forest. The atmosphere is great and the accent the some of th players have is just as charming.

I stayed at the Wildrijck, a park where you can rent cottages. They cost about 600 euros for a week and they are big enough for 6 persons. 

We took a trip south from Vannes, to Roche St Bernard a very nice old town. High above the town you see the old Roman bridge that has broken down and a newer bridge that is still intact.

From there we went on to Guerande a walled city that reminded me in many ways of Vannes.

We ended our trip in the Ocearium in Le Croisic, a huge aquarium with sharks and many other sea animals. I witnessed a fight between two Lobsters which was cool to watch.

We had a nice day in Nantes, the fifth city in France. Unfortunately the impressive castle des Ducs de Bretagne was closed until 2007, but there are still quite a few things to do in the city.

We had a great meal in a place called L'Amour des Pommes de Terre. I got a huuuuge salad filled with all kind of great stuff: cheese, bacon, ham, croutons and lots more. 

We went to Brittany for two weeks, we were based in Sarzeau on the Peninsula of Rhuys, near the city of Vannes.

We made daytrips to different places in the neighborhood. Vannes is one of my personal favorites. A very charming small town with half timbered houses, a nice port and impressive remparts. There are many interesting shops in the small streests, the center is filled with nice restaurants and bars. When we went on a Saturday, we found that it was hard to find a parking spot because of the weekly market but on other days it was easy to get here.

On the Peninsula of Rhuys we visited most of the places of interest. From Port Navalo we took a boat trip on the Gulf of Morbihan and visited one of the islands. 

One day we made a trip along the south coast. We stopped in Le Pouldu (not much to see but there is a somewhat interesting museum, the house of Marie Henry, where Gauguin and a few other artists lived for a couple of years - what you see now is a reconstruction) Pont Aven (cute little town with lots of artists), Concarneau (a really beautiful city with old city walls, but way to crowded when we were there so we left almost immediately), Quimper (nice old town with half timbered houses and a very beautiful cathedral). We ended our trip in Point Raz, really the end of the road, because this is where France ends and the ocean begins. Great views of the setting sun. Unfortunately there was no wind so we didn't get to see any waves.

We went from Islamabad, not a very nice city and increbile hot , by nightbus to Gilgit, in the lovely Gilgit valley. We explored some of the nearby valleys by Jeep and then took another bus to Hunza . Hunza is one of the nicest places in the world. The castle overlooks a valley and snow capped mountains and blue skies are all around.

From Hunza we went on to Passu, great views on the road .

From there we crossed into China.  We spent the night in Tashkurghan (nothing to see here, move on ) and then went on to Kasghar. Kasghar is a fantastic fairytale like place with a traditional Uyghur market on sunday where you can buy donkeys, camels and goats.

Another Tourist trap in Rome is the Trevi Fountain. So what if Anita Ekberg or something like that has splashed around in this water in a film by a famous Italian director. Who cares? The statues are nice, but the whole place is so overcrowded that it is better to move on. Nothing to see here.

I've live in Morocco for almost a year and I have nothing but good memories. Here is a short list of my top things to do there. 

1. Being charmed by Jma l Fna
The Jma l Fna in Marrakesh is the greatest place in Morocco. It is filled with storyteller, snakecharmers, acrobats, small places where you can get a freshly squeezed orange juice or a quick bite to eat at almost no cost.

2. Seeing the sand dunes in Merzouga at sunrise.
Take a jeep from Erfoud and arrive at 5:00 AM to see the sand turn to gold. Take some warm clothing because even in summer the desert can be cold before sunset.

3. Visit the Tanneries in Fez
The Tanneries in Fez are the traditional leather dying bassins. They are located in the old Medina and they are truly a stop sight - but the smell is awful.

We took a daytrip to Venice driving along the coast to Chioggia and taking the Ferry from there. The Ferry doesn't go all the way to Venice but drops you off on the Lido, where you need to take a bus to get to the other side of the Lido. Then you can take a watertaxi or -bus to the centre. Count on almost two hours...

When we got in Venice we were immediately charmed by the city. What a magnificent place Venice is. We sat down for a coffee on the San Marco. Wow that costs a lot! Later we found out that it is much cheaper to go inside and drink your caffe in front of the bar. It shouldn't cost more than 1 euro that way.

Crazy Louis is a small Jazz Cafe in Amersfoort, near the Varkensmarkt

Another good option is to go to the Hof and visit the Blaue Engel.  

One of my favourite spots in Rabat is the Kasbah des Oudaya. Located close to where the Regreg river flows into the sea, the Kasbah has great views over sea, river, the city of Sale, and the Medina of Rabat.

The teahouse is a great spot to drink something (non alcoholic). They have some very nice sweet snacks too, such as corne de gazelle

The garden is an all time favorite for some relaxing moments. You will find many students studying here. Walking around with books in their hands.