Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Brussels (and Amsterdam)



What a wonderful weekend...

This time, we went to Brussels and to Amsterdam, to celebrate my birthday. I think this one is the best I had...

We took Eurostar from “Waterloo International“ to Brussels-MIDI. It takes 2 and a half hours to get there and it is much faster that do it by air.

Brussels is amazing city : very beautiful, majestic and ancient. We spend the whole day roaming the city and in the evening we met with Arkady and Noga. Together, we saw more of city sights and had couple of drinks. They showed us a female version of “The Mannekin Pis”, “Jeanneken Pis” (peeing girl). That was a pervert sight, but I guess that peeing boy need to have a countepart. Just before the trip, I asked some people about what to do in Brussels. Most of them told me that 2 days in Brussels is too much and that there is nothing to do. That is so untrue! The only problem we had was with 2 French guys whom send us in wrong direction when we asked for a directions to the hotel.

Two days after, we took a Thylis train to “Amsterdam Central”. Another 2 and a half hours on the train the we were there. That weekend, there was a music festival in Amsterdam. There we met Mark and Natasha (A.K.A. Comrade Bonita) and also stayed in their place. The guys are great, so funny and a live! They gave me a very special birthday present: “Venus Trap” flower.

Enjoy the photos : http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/BrusselsAmsterdam

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Rochester


Another week, another city...

This time we were in Rochester. It is about 45-55 minutes from London by train in south east direction.

Rochester is a beautiful city. Not too large like London but large enough to be interesting. The older parts of the city are built around Rochester castle and cathedral. It is a really old castle of around 1300. If you go there, this is a must place to visit. After paying 7 quid (for both of us), we spend 2-3 hours exploring the old norman castle. When you go to the top there is a really magnificent view over the city.

From the top we noticed a gorgeous leafy park where we spent some time afterwards. The parks there are very different from London “generic” parks, where you see flowers and lakes. Here they are full of trees and shady benches to sit and relax on.

After historical places we went to Rochester high street to do some shopping and relax in an Italian restaurant.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Brighton


Brighton
Ohh.. that was a long week and short weekend.
We took a direct train from London to Brighton and in 50 minutes we were there : sun and beaches. The city is nice and sunny, and the each is cold and stony. Well, not exactly stony, but it is full of pebbles and small stones.
So, first of all, we went to a Saturday market near the train station. It is located in small and very colourful alleys where you can buy everything : from old typing machines to Shakespeare in welsh.
From there, we went to some old church and had a breakfast in front of it. While we were chewing our sandwiches some guy tried to sell us some weed. We were so shocked which guy interpreted as our stupidity and tried to explain to us that it is just “ganja”, “marijuana”.
We have also visited The Royal Pavilion.It is a former Royal palace built as the home for the Prince Regent during the early 1800s. It is notable for its Indian architecture and Oriental interior design.
After that, we went to get some sun tan on beach. We spend more or less 2 hours on the beach (I event managed to sleep for couple of minutes.... undetected by my wife) after which I was red as lobster in beer. Alyona also took a deep in the ocean which was too cold for me (yeah.. it is not fare, she is from Baltic country!).
Ohh... sh*t! I have almost forgot to mention that there was a “love parade” (which means “Gay-People-Walking-Free-On-The-Streets-Wearing-Almost-Nothing-And-Touching-Each-Other”). They also refer to Brighton as “The gay capital of Britain”.
OK, done with the gays...
After 2 hours on the beach, we went to hang around the city, do some (small) shopping and finally got to very nice Italian restaurant (ASK). I have to say, the prices were not sky high but not too cheap either.
To summarize the tripe it 2 words : Good (yeah.. only one...).