Chocolate!

Yesterday we spent the day down in Bruges walking around the city. We also went on a canal boat tour, something I didn't do the last time I was there. Somewhat unfortunately, I didn't have particularly good fries while there. It's very distressing to get bad fries in Belgium, when you've spent all morning looking forward to them. But, all that is beside the real point here. I went to Bruges, which means that I have chocolate! Really, really good chocolate. I believe I bought 2kg in fact. (And no, I do not plan to eat that much chocolate, although I probably should. It's mostly all gift chocolate and some chocolate to share at work). So people should expect to see some delicious goodies coming their way. If you suspect you are not on the regular Bruges chocolate distribution list, bribes for chocolate are gladly accepted.

No pictures from the trip this time. The weather wasn't as good as my last visit there and so nothing lept out as particularly striking.

Back in Den Haag!

On the way back to Den Haag, we stopped off in Bastogne, site where the army held off the German advance during the Battle of the Bulge.

A few more pics are here.
The vacation still isn't over yet, but it's good to be home again in familiar surroundings. From here out it will be day trips around the area. I will, of course, keep poting updates.

A fortress shaped rock with a city on top

That's pretty much what Luxemburg is.

It's a nice city, reminds me a lot of Geneva (read very ritzy and expensive). Although, after walking around for a couple of hours, I think that's pretty much all it is, a fortress city on a fortress-shaped rock. Don't read that the wrong way, Luxemburg still rocks, home of the cheapest gas in europe!
A couple more pics here.

Alsatian villages

Having driven through much of Alsace, I have to say I was quite impressed by how colorful all the little villages were. Set in the rolling hills and surrounded by vineyards, it was quite pleasant. There were lots of half-timber houses and narrow streets. It's really kind of hard to believe it's France. If you're looking for a wine tasting holiday, it's definitely a place to go. You can find some shots of various places in the gallery.

One stop of note along the way was the castle Haut Konigsburg, one of many former homes of the Habsburgs. Quite a well presrved castle, though seemingly lacking in a true tall tower.

The remainder of the pics from here are here.

Winner of the Prestigious...

...2006 Jackson Prize for Museum Lighting is
...the french national train museum, for the most dimly lit museum since the Udvar-Hazy Center.
Aside from the autrocious lighting, the musuem had a decent collection, but unfortunately, you weren't allowed to climb on anything. At a car museum I can understand that you can't climb into the cars because you'd damage the upholstery, etc. But, at a train musuem? They're giant hunks of steel! It's not like you're going to break them. Of particular interest is the rare Bugatti train (yes, train).

The rest of the pics are here.

Bugattis, Bugattis everywhere

...and not a one to drive :(

Day three took us from the Bodensee into Alsace (France) for a stop at the french national automobile collection. Every form of Buggatti was represented, as were numerous De Dions and Panhards. For the uninitiated, the last two are significant for pioneering suspension designs at the turn of the century that remain in use today. Other notable, non-french cars were also present. Certainly one of the best car museums around and recommended if you are in the area. Sadly, I don't think I will be driving any cars like those anytime soon. You can look at the rest here.

A genuine dirigible flying machine

Day two began with a scenic, rainy drive from Garmisch to Friedrichshafen to see the Zeppelin musuem. Disappointingly, they had no zeppelins and the zeppelin factory has long since gone. Still, the musuem had plenty of zeppelin related artifacts on display, so in all I suppose it was worth while. The drive there took us through a sliver of Austria (add one more country to the been there list), and was quite scenic, albeit rainy. A rainy, scenic drive is only interesting to the driver. Fortunately, today it was me. In spite of being an uninspiring Golf, it did provide an opportunity to work on my heel-toe technique some more going through the towns and hills.

Next, was heading up the Bodensee still more to Meersburg. Once upon a time there was a town, a town with a road; a town with a road at the top of the hill and a town at the bottom of the hill. Then one day the evil prince set out a decree from his castle, all the roads leading from the top of the hill to the bottom shall ever more be pedestrian zones with the excetion of one little vaguely marked street that we won't tell anyone about. Needless to say, this made finding the hotel somewhat complicated. Once here, though, I have to say it is a pretty town. Narrow streets, decent looking shops, and colorful buildings. I took a few pictures when the rain stopped, hopefully they look alright.

As usual, you can find the rest in the gallery.

Noch ein maß

Oktoberfest 2006: "A total breakdown of law and order" (a german policewoman at the scene).

After way more years than I care to admit, I have made a return to Oktoberfest. It was much the same as before, except much, much more crowded. By the time we arrived, all the seats in the beer tents were filled (and it was hours before the time they start serving). We tried several places, gave up and watched the parade. So, unfortunately, no beer tent shenanigans to report. Instead, we settled on lunch in a smaller tent and contented ourselves with sausages and a few maß of Paulaner, which was my objective for the day. We didn't stay too long after that as my mom does not particularly approve of these kinds of events. I elected not to go on the rollercoasters, mostly due to time, but they did look very impressive:


Likewise, no bumper cars either. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I really don't think the bumper cars looked nearly as dangerous as they used to. I mean what fun is that? I can remember when German bumper cars were ridiculously fast and you wished they'd issue neck braces so you weren't in pain for the next week. The world of my childhood is gone. But, in someways it isn't; the motorcycle stunt show was still there (and a fine piece of photography too if I might add):


Which brings us to the conclusion of our entry: a picture of me hanging with my homies. It's such a bad picture I just had to put it up. Don't ask me why we're all looking one direction and the picture was taken from another. They were supposed to wait until we posed.

For the rest of the details, go to the gallery.

Suspicious Iranian oil tankers

There is a very suspicious looking, giant, Iranian oil tanker that has been parked outside all week. I'm convinced it is up to something nefarious, especially when you consider the dream I had a couple weeks ago about a giant oil tanker crash in front of my building. I mean, shouldn't it be coming or going or doing something other than just sitting around? While I'm gone, somebody should keep an eye on it for me and let me know if it gets up to no good.

Off on the next vacation

Friday night I will be flying off to meet the parents in Munich. We'll be doing Oktoberfest, beer will be consumed. This will be such a change from last time when I was about 8 and had to stick to vast quantities of soda. Don't know yet if I will do the rides or not; beer and rollercoasters don't sound like such a great idea. Then we'll work our way through Garmisch, the Bodensee, Strasbourg, and Luxembourg. Finally, some touring of the Netherlands before dropping the parents back at Schiphol. So, I should probably start packing and figure out how I'm getting to the airport.

How to crash a car in three easy steps

Step 1: Convince the gemeente to close the main roads and put all the traffic on a road too small.
Step 2: Have some impatient fool jump out of the queue and straight into your door.
Step 3: Do it in a rental car. Seriously, you'd be really pissed if you do this in your own car. When it's no one's car and work is paying, the stress factor is waay less.

The ironic thing here is that this happened just down the street from work, when I was almost back from my trip. In spite of the damage to the driver's side, it looked as though the other guy wasn't driving away. So, I guess that means Nissan Note (gag) 1, BMW 5 series 0.

And yes, I'm fine.

I saw Mika Hakkinen!

Yes, I know I say that like a teenage girl would scream "OMG, I saw Justin," but seriously, this is big. I mean it's not an everyday thing. I got to Zandvoort too late to enjoy the monsoon that covered the support races, but I did get there in time for the main event. The view was very good and DTM was as competitve as ever. A good time all around with good racing and passing (just not where I was). Only disappointment was that Vanina Ickx didn't make it past the first lap, and I was looking forward to seeing her race. The pictures, unfortunately, did not come out at all well. Feel free to look here.

Weirdest thing ever

Judge for yourself


I mean, when was the last time you saw a cuban neighborhood drive down the street? Today I went to a big flower parade they were having near Schiphol (near as in my god that plane is close). I had expected floats with lots of flowers and colour, people waving, etc. What I was unprepared for was what there actually was. Elaborately detailed and themed floats of enormous size with impressive sound systems. Really, my pictures do not do it justice. They were more like giant moving discotheques blasting music as they went. These things had computers, tvs, you name it; and, of course, a giant generator trailing out the back. It was, a sight. Check the gallery here.