Tag: citytrip

Frankfurt – day two

Our second day in Frankfurt, again a pretty hot day. So today we started out early. We got breakfast at Matilda’s Kitchen in the Westend which is a residential area. Where most of the residents seem to have retired. Pretty early in life.

After a nice breakfast we walked around and got on the subway to the museum riverbank. Which proved to be a very good choice. We visited the Städel.
There was an exhibition on 80’s artists from the BRD. Not entirely our cup of tea, but some nice pieces. The modern art exhibit had a few very cool art works. Would have been great to have just one on your own wall. A poster just isn’t enough. Also some very nice paintings from painters like Max Beckmann. Also some works from old masters like Vermeer, Rembrandt etc.
They advertise with them as well but that doesn’t reflect the overall collection. Which has a lot more to offer. I really liked the 19th and 20th century exhibit a lot.

There was also a photography exhibition with work from Barbara Klemm. which was very cool. She made pictures of people watching art and artist portraits. As well as some nice street photography.
We had read about it but didn’t realize it was at the Städel.

It’s a very big museum and it took up lot’s of time. Very worthwhile if you get the chance. The other 33 museums will have to wait for another time.
After the Städel , we got hungry and visited the first place nearby. A burger joint which wasn’t bad. After refuelling we headed back to the city centre. I wanted a jacket which was nowhere to be found. So off to the Nordend again. For our last night in Frankfurt and the final night of our holiday, which is always a bit sad.

We again made use of the excellent and fast public transport network and ended up at the Weinstube. Which is absolutely great. Nice wines and also nice small dishes to go with the wine. A very good way to end the day. Back at the hotel we went for a swim on the 18th floor of the building, normally nobody is around especially at a late Friday night. Not so much this time. Lot’s of people. So after a quick swim and looking at the view we left again. We had one last drink at the bar and headed up to our room. The thunderstorms had started and we had first row seats. Floor to ceiling glass rocks. After watching for a bit I fell asleep.

Frankfurt has been a very nice surprise with a lot of very cool places and neighbourhoods to visit. It’s worth a visit , take a few days and just wander around you will enjoy it.

Frankfurt – day one

Today is our first day in Frankfurt, not your typical city for a citytrip. But mostly big city’s are cool one way or the other, Frankfurt being no exception. The opposite to our surprise.

We started our day pretty late, first stop was breakfast or should I say brunch or even lunch in Nordend. A very cool neighborhood, with lot’s of bars and restaurants. After breakfast we just strolled around and took some pictures.

After the Nordend we decided to check out the city center. Which is a lot busier with all the shops and restaurant chains being there. Not as much fun. Frankfurt was bombed heavily in the war and most of the old city is gone. A bit of it is still there, and partly rebuild which is full of cheap bars and restaurants. Everything is aimed at getting drunk very fast for as little money as possible.

After buying some records we decided it was time to go for dinner. We went to Oostend restaurant which is near the new ECB headquarters at the river. A very nice part of town, except for the ECB building and surrounding perimeter. Which is really out of tune with the rest of the neighborhood.

After a nice meal we walked along the river and there was a nice summer theater and music festival going on. So we stayed there for a while and enjoyed the scenery. Lot’s of people just hanging around and enjoying summer.A very nice place in a surprisingly fun city.Wish we had more of this in the Netherlands.

Walking down the river to the next subway station. With a train every 6 minutes , which is great. We went back to our hotel and had a drink at the bar.

Heidelberg

It’s time to leave the black forest and head for Frankfurt, on the road to Frankfurt there is a nice University city, Heidelberg. Which is a nice break from driving. It was pretty busy on the road today.

So after little over 2 hours we reached Heidelberg. It’s a small city and has a nice vibe. Apart from the bus loads of tourists which remain mostly in the Hauptstrabe and the main square , which is good for the the city population and people like us.

I wonder if they see anything at all, just staring at their Ipads , Iphones and whatever device they are attached to. And don’t forget to wear your headphones at all times. Ow and when you take a picture, make sure that you are on 99,9 % of the picture with a landmark in the background, preferably making some sort of peace sign. Well now you have an idea which type of tourist discovered Heidelberg.

We spotted a nice Moroccan restaurant with really good and cheap food. Very busy place. We then just wandered the streets a bit and stopped for a drink here and there.

It was getting late quickly so we decided to grab a burger at die kuh die lacht and head for Frankfurt. The traffic was mostly gone now and after little under an hour we reached our hotel. Now it’s time for a quick shower and a drink. Tomorrow we will explore Frankfurt.

Munich – Day three

Today our third full and final day in Munich, started out with a nice breakfast at the same place as yesterday, Maria. Very good once again and I got lucky 🙂 , I had the last croissant.

A good start of the day. It was around 30 degrees celcius so we planned a relaxed day walking around and visiting some places we forgot the previous two days.

We visited the Asam Kirche , very cool indeed. Did some shopping, no purchases which is good. We then checked out the surf in Munich, which is pretty cool.

Very skillfull surfers indeed. It’s at the beginning of the English garten and due to some sort of barrier in the river there is a constant single wave.

Lot´s of people watching and very polite surfers. Everybody gets a wave. Awesome. Be sure to check it out when in Munich.

After that it was way past lunch time and we ate at the Goldene bar, which was nice and a terrace in the shade.

Finally we went to see the Keith Haring exhibition. At first I didn’t want to go as it was a bit late in the afternoon but my better half convinced me otherwise. Very good indeed, we had seen an exhibition in the Brooklyn Museum so I was afraid I wouldn’t see anything new. I was wrong. Lot’s of work we hadn’t seen before, which came from private european collectors and lot’s of big pieces. Very happy we did go !

We slowly returned to our hotel and decided to dine in the neighbourhood. Nice meal and a very good bottle of wine.

Munich is a very nice and relaxed place to visit. Especially if you stay away from all the tourist stuff (Basically Altstadt) and like exploring different parts of the city. It’s full of nice parks, restaurants, shops. Lot’s of art and musea as well but we simply didn’t have time. It would take a full month to fully see everything.

Munich is well worth your time. You can easily spent a few days.

Munich – Day two

Second day in Munich, started out with a 5 km run and then pancakes for breakfast, our hotel is situated in Isarvorstadt , a very nice and relaxed neighbourhood with lot’s of cool bars, restaurants and shops.

This was our starting point for the day, we walked around and then crossed the river to Haidhausen, this is a bit further away from the city centre and has zero tourists, it does have a very small town atmosphere.

We stopped for a soup at spoon up then walked around and got a beer at Zum kloster, sat on the terrace for a while reading and slowly made our way back.

We ended out day at the Trachtenvogl were we had a meal and some of the famous chocolate milk.

Our feet were killing us in the mean time so we headed back to our hotel. Relaxing and having a glass of red wine.

Today we encountered lot’s of parks, green zones and squares. There are so many places to just enjoy the nice weather it’s obvious why lot’s of people want to live here.

It’s the perfect city if you enjoy a walk nice restaurants, bars and we haven’t even started with the museum’s yet.

The more time we spend here the more we like it.

Munich – Day one

We are on a short holiday in Germany, starting in Munich. We were there once in 2013 for a Depeche mode concert. Just for a short while. We decided that we should go back for a longer stay.

So here we are. Today we just walked around town, checking out a few neighbourhoods. Mainly Schwabing , Maxvorstadt and a park called Englisher Garten. Which is just big , pretty cool in size but not as well maintained as Central park or Regent park.

Discovered a few very nice bars, a cool breakfast place called Joon.
Also a cemetery which since the early 1930’s functions as a park.

Not a lot of tourists in these places, luckely. Munich is a very green and spacious city. I can see why it’s one of the best places to live. Albeit a bit expensive. Especially housing. That’s pretty much unafordable.

One of the cool things about the city is a lot of people ride bikes. Which is good, the traffic isn’t as busy as you would expect from such a large city.

Tomorrow another day and a few other neighbourhoods.

Rock Werchter 2015

Just got back from Rock Werchter, last year was the first time for me with some of my favourite bands of all time. Among them Metallica. This year the main head liner supposed to be the Foo Fighters until Dave Grohl decided to break a leg. No damage done, not for me at least. The first day started with the Eagles of death metal , just relaxing in the sun and listening. Very nice start of the day. Next up Royal blood. Lot’s of energy especially considering there are just 2 guys rocking. Very good show.

In the barn, Patti smith and her band perform ‘horses’, apparently her breakthrough album. I just know a couple of songs, but this is a rare opportunity to see the old gall rock it. My expectations were topped. If you get the change go see her. Florence and the machine was my absolute for the day. What an energetic show. Very nice sound as well. Enjoyed it a lot.

Faith no more was cool as well, we were standing with a few dedicated fans which was a lot of fun. Only problem was the sound quality , way too much bottom end. Nonetheless enjoyed the show.
Finally the Chemical brothers, which started out with Hey boy hey girl. Excellent start, too bad straight after that the energy took a dive. So after about 40 minutes we called it a day. Bit disappointing but maybe the show got better after we left. Excellent start of the festival. Ow and did I mention the sun.

Day two , went to see Kovacs, Ibeyi, Of monsters and men, Death cab for cutie, the cat empire , Balthazar, Alt-J, Roisin Murphy. Kovacs was very good, although the singer was a bit insecure because her in ear monitoring didn’t seem to work. And this being the first time on such a big stage must have a been a bit unnerving. She shouldn’t have been. Never having listened to the band before I think it was a really good performance.

Iberyi , which means twins in (I forgot what language), was excellent. The two girl really got the crowd going. Alt-J was very cool and very very packed in Klub C. Hot as hell as well. Roisin Murphy, she really is a bit strange. Changing lot’s of outfits. The singing and the music was very very good. Go see her. Sound quality was very good as well. The other bands I watched but didn’t stuck with me as much. One thing I learned is that The cat empire only needs to be on stage and that’s enough for the audience to start partying. Not really my kind of music but fun to watch anyway. Good second day as well, weather very nice again. Only thing is time flies.

After a good nights sleep it was time to relax and enjoy Leuven a bit. We walked around a bit and decided to have a few drinks and lunch and leave a bit later. This evening it’s the Prodigy which will consume some energy. We arrived late , around 6 and started with the war on drugs, relaxing in the sun and listening some good music. After that Noel Gallagher’s high flying birds, which got going when they played don’t look back in anger. Unfortunately it was the last song. Lenny Kravitz up next which was good , not special. A bit of a long intermezzo and it took a lot of time to get the audience going. Bang the Prodigy. Start to finish it was full throttle, very cool and got a lot of people starting little pits all over the place. Made the day. Very nice too see them again.
Only one day to go.

Fourth and final day. After a short night the day started out with a walk around Leuven and checking out some University buildings and wandering around the city trying to find some Geocaches. Always a fun way to see another part of the city. Last day brought The Vaccines, Circa waves, Alabama shakes, Ben harper and the innocent criminals, Kasabian, Maxi Jazz and the e type boys and Muse. Best band of the day Alabama shakes without a doubt, Muse rocked as well. Really liked The Vaccins as well.

Another very good episode of Rock Werchter. Good vibes and great music. What more do you want.

Amsterdam

Yesterday we went to see an exhibition at Huis Marseille , it’s in a very nice old house along one of the canals. The building alone is worth the visit. The exhibitions were excellent as well. First one on the work of Cor Jaring, he used to work at the docks and started making photo’s. Later on he made a living out of it. Beautiful pictures from his trip to Japan and very nice pictures by Sander Troelstra which portray Cor in his final years. Really liked it.

Another one was by Eddo Hartmann, pictures from Pyongyang. Very desolate pictures with lot’s of empty spaces outside and inside buildings, subway stations etc. Haunting sometimes. Like there’s absolutly no one there. Very well taken pictures. Enjoyed it a lot. The museum also has a backyard and with the nice weather it was an excellent place to relax.

Next up was lunch at “cafe de Pels” , beer and a sandwich. Next stop was the museum van Loon. Which is a big mansion from an old merchant family. Not really my cup of tea. Although it’s nice to see all the old furniture and craftsmanship that went in to make it. It’s not something I can spent hours watching. But once again a beautiful garden, were we spent some time reading.

Last museum of the day was Foam , with an exhibition from Noémie Goudal, she made structures (from paper I think) and puts them in a landscape. Very cool indeed. There was also a series by painter Carel Willink. Skies over the city a study on clouds for a painting. I didn’t enjoy it that much, but maybe I just reach my art and museum limit for the day.

Time for food and drinks at the foodhallen/ , always nice. Then a nice dinner at a tiny cafe near the Nieuwmarkt , forgot the name. Well it was something with bear in the name. All round a very good sunny and relaxing day in Amsterdam.

Ghent

This weekend we have been visiting Ghent, a very nice city. Not to big but lots of nice neighbourhoods. We were staying at the Big sleep B&B. Very nice old house with large rooms and a swimming pool in the garden. I didn’t pack any swimming gear unfortunately. It’s situated near the city’s historical centre, which you can easily walk.

We mostly wander around a city and decide what were we go as we go along. Walked around the old docks, checked the St Bavo’s Cathedral. We ended up walking towards a nice record shop and in the same street there was an old Begijnhof. Nowadays a lot of artist live there and they were showing their work in their homes.

Some nice art, but as always too expensive for me. Near our B&B there was an Sicilian restaurant, one of the best in Ghent apparently. On a Saturday night it was advised to make a reservation. We decided to try anyway, luckily a table was available. The food and wines were excellent. So if you go to Ghent , be sure to eat at Il mezzogiorno. , afterwards a few drinks at a local bar. Maybe a bit to late but what an excellent day!

The next day we were greeted with an very good breakfast and very nice weather. Sunshine and 21 degrees. Nice ! We decided to take it easy and just stroll around the city and stop as often as possible to sit and enjoy the sun and a good book. Very enjoyable day all round. There is a lot more to be seen and done in Ghent. Much more than we did. But it’s also a good place where you can avoid the big crowds and just have a relaxing weekend.