Wunderschön

On to the other extreme.


Spending a weekend in Berlin when it's very wet and cold can be great fun if you're into spas. My absolute favourite is Liquidrom which is also an architectural masterpiece.


If you want a spa with accommodation, my recommendation would be Hotel Titanic Deluxe in the Mitte.


http://www.liquidrom-berlin.de/

La isla bonita

Sorry for the pause. Had to do some travelling. Here we go again.


The Blue Lagoon in Malta is a strange, dream-like place. Crystal clear, turquoise waters, a lot of sand, and people from all over the world. The beach is at a picture perfect spot between two islands in the middle of the Mediterranean, just a brief boat ride away from the main island.


Perfect for a Saturday afternoon chill-out. The attached photo was taken in mid-October.

Palace of the north

Thermae Palace Hotel in Oostende, Belgium, is a very welcome effort to bring to life one of the most beautiful buildings in that region. At this stage, it is work in progress, which will unfortunately influence my posting.

The rooms are fantastic (the attached photo is taken from my room), the brasserie is great, and the numerous staff members are generally friendly.

But the building needs a lot of further work and, in fact, no spa is available, let alone a swimming pool.

Three stars.

PS. This blog will return from a summer break in late August.

http://www.thermaepalace.be/en/

Des kilometres de vie en rose

Molitor Hotel in Paris is close to perfection when it comes to using an existing space creatively for utmost pleasure.

Almost everything is perfect: the rooms, the rooftop terrace and restaurant, the pool, the decor and the staff. Small minuses (again) for a strange small lift that squeezes party-goers and old people like me in bathrobes into the same small space. And the poolside bar should open before noon.

Four and a half stars.

http://www.mgallery.com/gb/hotel-7326-hotel-molitor-paris-mgallery-collection/index.shtml

Même si un jour à Knocke-le-Zoute

I'm a great fan of classic hotels and resorts. I'm glad to see that many of them are being renovated. The user experience is not always perfect but at least there is a tradition being followed, for better or for worse.

I'll start my reviews of them with La Réserve in Knokke, Belgium: three and a half stars out of five. Major problems with insufficient lift capacity and mediocre service but a great location between a small lake and the sea.

I emphasize the fact that this blog is not sponsored by anyone and that fact will not be repeated during subsequent postings.

http://www.la-reserve.be/

Time stand still in travel

Now I change tack completely.

Some of the cities that humans have built on earth give you a feeling that you're really in space, on a planet at a far away corner of the Universe, or wherever.

One of them is Chicago. This skyline always reminds of a song called Perfect Circle by R.E.M. I have no idea why. The lakeside is a great place for introverts. Things just basically pop out of nowhere, great concerts and such.

Mimosa pudica

On to the other extreme.

Bormes-les-Mimosas has charm that is hard to explain. It could be the medieval doorways, the chapel with all its amazing secrets, or just the sense of time stand still.

In any case, if you're looking for a pocket-size seaside resort with interesting sites, this is it.

http://www.bormeslesmimosas.com/

Austerity

Brussels made me think about Helsinki. There my advice is different. Visit that city during the darkest time of the year, like late November. Stay in public transport, especially trams, and look at the quiet and serious or heavily intoxicated and talkative fellow passengers.

The hipster paradise created in the city centre is not real.

Une histoire belge

It's hard to promote a city where you've lived for eleven years as a tourist destination. But I'll give it a try.

In Brussels, your best bet is a neighborhood called Ixelles. Book a hotel at Avenue Louise, take a stroll by the Ixelles ponds (photo), have a coffee at Cafe Belga and have dinner at Place Chatelain. It's going to be worth it. Brussels is a very strange place that has a character that cannot really be compared to any other city. English works almost everywhere

If you really want to check out the centre, take rue du Midi and head south. You'll run into amazing shops that are a goldmine for all kinds of collectors (books, instruments, stamps, etc.).

Mon paradis

I'm dumbfounded by the sudden popularity of this blog. It's amazing what a couple of pictures can do. I'll continue with this impressionistic approach.

The Mediterranean coast of France is a cliché but most tourists don't really know it. I'll share my expertise in bits and pieces. I'll start with Cassis (cassis.fr). It's definitely worth an overnight stay (I am particularly fond of camping). Enough text, get this:

Wellness

The title of this posting refers to a French (!) term that I never really understood before I got to Mondorf-les-Bains (mondorf.lu). If I was rich I'd spend the rest of my life here.

Time stand still in travel

Thanks for waiting. I have decided to dedicate this blog to my globetrotting. I'll start with Costa Adeje in March this year. Nothing beats having lunch in the Atlantic winds.

Just before dawn

This is what I wrote at 9/29/2010 11:19:00 PM:

"I have nothing to add to Hyperspace by Michio Kaku. I therefore end this blog.

I thank you for this journey."


I've now had a two-year-long discussion with my persona five years ago. He seems like a nice man but I unfortunately had to censor some of his comments on world politics. He is so young.

And now his well has dried up.

I'll let you know as soon as I know what to do with this blog next. I thank Google for an excellent service.

From Kintore East to Yuendemu

6/23/2010 11:25:00 PM

We are witnessing a human experiment. Its purpose is to see how many Australia related blog posts are possible in one go.

This time I only wish to say that we need more lyrics with Australian locations in them. Kalgoorlie, Broken Hill, anyone?

http://www.universound.ca/fr/chanson/0209/

Ice will melt, water will boil

6/18/2010 5:21:00 AM

Once a band has been with you for more than twenty years, it becomes part of the family. And family reunions can become very exciting. The house will be crowded tonight

http://concerts-review.over-blog.com/article-crowded-house-a-forest-national-bruxelles-le-18-juin-2010-52686956.html

Buying bread from a man in Brussels

6/9/2010 7:42:00 AM

The best thing about pop music is its ability to keep alive the tradition of nonsensical nursery rhymes. Now that I think of it, that's all there is to it.

http://www.metrolyrics.com/land-down-under-lyrics-men-at-work.html

Dunno

5/27/2010 7:17:00 AM

Michael Mosley is a brave man. He had the guts to put in words on prime time television that what bothers all scientists: we don't know the origins of life.

That is the next big question since we know almost everything else now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s9mms

It must be true

5/5/2010 5:52:00 AM

I'm sure you're asking yourself constantly whether science has made any great leaps forward recently. The answer is yes.

Robert A. Burton is doing what all the great scientists have always done, asking a basic question: how do we know what we know. His book On being certain gives the ultimate answer: we only think or feel we know what we know. He also explains, with frightening precision, why that is.

Manchild, will you ever win?

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=103

Divided we fall

4/28/2010 1:45:00 AM

Sometimes you run into a book that gives you this strange feeling that you're reading press clippings from yesterday, instead of accounts of events that took place twenty years ago.

The Euro by David Marsh is one of them. I can see him smiling.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/may/03/euro-politics-global-currency-david-marsh

Playing the angel

4/12/2010 7:41:00 AM

The trouble with economists, said one of my ex-bosses, is that, not only are their figures wrong, but so are their prefixes. So, instead of having 10 million of credit, we end up having 10 billion of debt (don't worry, I don't understand this either).

Leonard Mlodinov gives a gentle explanation to all this in his excellent book, The Drunkard's Walk. We, the economists, of course talk about the random walk since it came as a surprise.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/books/review/Johnson-G-t.html

I want to be well

3/26/2010 6:07:00 AM

Here's an interesting discussion with a seven-year-old about the This Is It DVD by Michael Jackson:
- Why did he die?
- He had the wrong medication.
- Who gave it to him? He doesn't look sick to me.
- A doctor.

That pretty much says it all.

Truth and dare

3/25/2010 6:26:00 AM

It's easy to make fun of Professor Brian Cox: an excited young man staring at a solar eclipse in India. That surely cannot be science. Where is the laboratory, where is the white coat?

The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qyxfb

No prophet in his own land

3/11/2010 3:22:00 AM

If you wanted to write a book on international affairs in the 20th century you needed a conspiratory mindset and a lot of words like hegemony, containment and détente. I'm glad times have changed. Chris Patten's latest book What Next? is full of stuff that you can see, smell and touch. More Tories to Southern France, please.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/oct/12/politics

World outside your window

2/19/2010 7:50:00 AM

A strange thing is happening in journalism: as first hand reporting is replaced with sloppy cuts from the web, the real story is reported by the photographers. The World Press Photo exhibition bears testimony to this every year.

http://www.worldpressphoto.org/

Showtime

2/12/2010 6:38:00 AM

The one thing I could never understand about music clubs is the three-hour gap between "Doors" and the advertised act. Concert halls and operas have survived for centuries without dragging their audiences into the night.

The playful evening with The Crappy Mini Band in all its incarnations at Recyclart showed that things can change. I much prefer Korean shadow theatre and blowbass solos to an empty stage.

All you need

2/4/2010 2:33:00 AM

My original idea of being a musician was an ES 355, a Twin and a microphone in front of a small audience. Bertrand Belin at Cook&Book showed me once again that the first ideas tend to be the best.

http://www.bertrandbelin.com/

In due course, as appropriate, and as soon as possible

1/19/2010 12:40:00 AM

We are glad to note that not even the tectonic forces are able to divert the unwavering determination of the EU Council. The time is surely ripe for a minute of silence and a glass of champagne.

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/112374.pdf

The dream is gone

1/6/2010 12:11:00 AM

Elvis Presley would have been 75 this Friday. That is, if his heart hadn't stopped on 16 August 1977, just before he was scheduled to fly out of Mephis to begin another tour. He was all alone and 42 years old.

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/p/pink+floyd/comfortably+numb_20108779.html

Annus Musicalis 2009

12/22/2009 5:22:00 AM

Here we go again. The objective list of the best gigs in 2009, in chronological order:

Oasis, Forest National, 13 January

Get over it, lads. A few cans of Red Stripe will surely do the job.

Kira Kira, Recyclart, 30 January

This girl seemed to emerge from some strange geyser. Amazing, relaxed charisma that filled the whole club.

The Do, Cirque Royale, 13 March

Paris-Helsinki all night long.

Morrissey, Elisabethzaal, 8 June

You've got everything now. Hold on to it.

Ghinzu and Soldout, Het Depot, 12 November

A Brussels tour de force. Sadly, the last chance to see you guys in a small club.

SUPERMASSIVE

12/17/2009 12:18:00 AM

I rarely get excited about news. But now I can't stop staring at the new photos of star formation provided by the Herschel telescope.

If you want to know why this is all so exciting read "Black Holes, Wormholes and Time Machines" by Jim Al-Khalili. It's a great book to keep on your bedside table. Read a chapter before going to sleep and your dreams will be amazing.

No, we can't

11/12/2009 6:53:00 AM

For no particular reason, I got an urge to cite a haiku:

Listening
as the wave retreats
into itself

- Geraldine Little