TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Strange enough the searing headache I carried the whole day today Friday only pestered me right after the Simple Minds concert featuring OMD (Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark), all eighties flick, last night. Precisely after the concert finished in Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam Arena my head throbbed. UGH. Was it was the noodles I ate? The red wine I drank? Or the two glasses of Heineken beer I had during the concert? Or maybe it could be the work stress added into all these. Hmm. Well, it’s not pleasant at all going to bed with a headache and waking up with it, moreover bringing it all the way to work the next day. Anyways, I’m better now and I have uploaded a few of the fotos below. Dutchman took a number of one-minute footages, see below after the fotos. One of the things I am happy about is Dutchman and I are into the same music =) During the thirty-minute short break after the OMD introduction. A few years ago Dutchman and I were also here for the Simple Minds concert and we w...

Last month Dutchman and I went with the Dutch family on a weekend hike in Bruggelen near Apeldoorn (Gelderland provincie) in the eastern part of the Netherlands. We first had some tea, coffee and tart in a restaurant where we parked the cars. It was a beautiful day; dry, not so cold, very little wind and the sun is up. A totally different day compared to the day before that was raining cats and dogs, I was already a bit worried that the hike will be cancelled but the weather forecast promised for a great day on Sunday and it did! These fotos were taken just before entering Bruggelen forest in Beekbergen, we came across a manege and it looks like the horse likes me! lol Progressing with the hike here, the forest lays quietly on a bed of bright red orange dried leaves, so beautiful! There were many needle-like trees in Bruggelen forest. Mushrooms, acorns and dried autumn leaves... A button red mushroom with white spots, I tried recollecting where I have seen red mushrooms with white spot...

Oh boy, I was not really prepared to see all the grandeur and fantasy fairy-tale like parks in Sintra. I thought I will be seeing castles, palaces, stately mansions and that’s it, but little did I know that these estates have amazing out-of-this-world gardens—no that would be too modest—they have parks, HUGE parks! Sintra has a potpourri of nature and man-made parks that is so startlingly familiar—in my dreams, lol. It’s like those parks in Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz but the stage pushed back to the medieval ages and with the abundance of nature, that’s what the parks are like in Sintra. Well, what can I say, it really felt like I was in a different world... that I am peeking into a fantasy world. I guess when you are filthy rich you can afford to let your imagination run wild and make it come true. Like Michael Jackson (not a fan of his music though), he had Neverland. Quinta da Regaleira Just a ten-minute walk from Sintra town center, this luxurious four-hectare m...

When the news came out that Belgian Prime Minister, Herman van Rompuy was elected by EU leaders during a closed dinner session tonight as the first European Union President, it didn't came as a surprise. Herman van Rompuy reminds me of Merlin in the Arthurian legend. In this foto he looks like he has a sinister plan in mind, hehe. He actually has a sense of humor, very poetic and an avid blogger as well! Check out his haikus and his blog , but they are all in Dutch. Isn't it cool to have a president who is a real blogger? Van Rompuy has been the front runner candidate for the EU Presidency, with the charming Tony Blair from the UK, Harry "Balkenende" Potter of the Netherlands and VVF iron lady of Latvia as other favoured candidates. Obviously, van Rompuy coming from a "centre-right" political party in a centre-right filled EU parliament, with France and Germany backing him up (hint: both countries swearing against Turkey joining the EU) what else can we ex...

On my last evening in Sintra, I went to the Alcobaca Restaurante for dinner. I was hankering for a locally produced aperitif. The waiter suggested that I take a glass of Moscatel from the region, so I did. Booze dinner The restaurant was in this cave-like setting. My dinner was gambas on cream sauce which was a house specialty and came in highly recommended. I did not want to have white wine to go with my seafood, which normally is the choice, so the waiter told me that half a liter of Colares red wine would be a good alternative. As you can see the pattern now, there’s more booze than the actual dinner, haha! Nevertheless, I can handle myself very well. I don’t really go overboard as I know my limits. I am just a curious cat who wants to try everything. This is the restaurant alley during the day: Ginja time! After dinner, I went back to my hotel and Ginja (also called as ginjinha) was waiting for me. Ginja is a Portuguese alcoholic drink made from Morello ...