Botanical garden since 1638!
http://www.dehortus.nl/
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Alfred Stevens (Van Gogh, Amsterdam, 11-12-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
After being taught at a Belgian art-academy he moved to Paris where he was a big success. He was befriended with well-known people like Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Flaubert and Edgar Degas.
His style is academic and realistic but most notable about his work is the fact that he depicted the "modern" woman of the higher societies in everyday scenery when other academic painters mostly painted historical, mythical and biblical scenes. His women are indeed quite "ordinary".
Another interesting fact is that he didn't really paint portraits of higher class women but used a model dressed up in expensive dresses.
This exhibit runs un till 24-1-2010. If you want to see this exhibit or go to the Van Gogh at any other time you'd best go at friday night. The museum is usually open un till 22:00 and it's nice and quiet for a change! There may also been interesting events like plays, music, etc going on so check it out!
http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?lang=nl
At the Russian court (Hermitage, Amsterdam, 11-12-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
The Hermitage in Amsterdam is the foreign part of the real Hermitage in St-Petersburg. The building has recently been renovated and now has loads and loads of exhibiting space so it's great to get the feel of a real Russian royal court.
The objects are all very pleasant and interesting to look at. And by reading the texts you learn a lot about the live at the Russian court and Russian history itself.
Check it out: http://www.hermitage.nl/en/
Exhibit un till 31-1-2010.
The Raveonettes (Depot, Leuven, 10-12-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
But now I finally had a chance to see them!
I love the retro-sixties sound of The Raveonettes. It makes me feel happy and alive even though the songs on the latest album are mostly about broken hearts, rape, drug-abuse and criminal acts. I guess that this paradoxical contrast makes their music more substantial than it otherwise would have been and so more enjoyable.
I love all their songs so the gig was great even though the sound wasn't always that good. Hopefully we ill get to see them again some other time!
Check them out: http://www.theraveonettes.com/showscreen.php?site_id=419&screentype=site&screenid=419
Sunday, December 20, 2009
A Place to Bury Strangers (Botanique, 11-11-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
Actually I had only really heard this band a few days before this gig but I loved their new record so much I just had to see them live :-)
They make this very enjoyable retro-new-wave-noise which isn't a genre yet I guess but is still the only way to describe them ;-)
And I must say that it was a great gig even-though it was pretty short (an hour I think). It was loud, dark, energetic, noisy and refreshing.
Check them out: http://www.aplacetoburystrangers.com/
Controverses (Botanique, 21-11-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
This exhibit is about controversial photographs ever since the start of photography so it will not be very interesting if you are not interested in photography or ethics.
Included are a lot of pictures of wars and disasters but don't worry there are also pictures with a lighter content.
The best thing about this exhibit is the explanation every photograph has about why it is or was controversial. You will recognize many of the pictures but you may not know the full history.
So if you want to know more about history's most controversial images check out this exhibit un till 3-1-2010.
http://www.botanique.be/cgi?usr=tdjhncxz9p&lg=fr&pag=877&rec=736&frm=0&par=secorig866&id=4821&flux=16665269
Yo la tengo (Depot, Leuven, 11-11-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
This band has been making interesting Indie music for 25 years but I must admit that we only recently discovered them so no worries if you've never heard of them. If you like bands like Elbow, Magnapop, the Breeders and even Sonic Youth you'll probably like them too.
This is the second time we have seen them live and they rock! But don't expect cool people and some kind of show: it's just great music played by musically versatile persons.
Live they are even better than on record so be sure to check them out if you like their cd's!
http://www.yolatengo.com/
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Ty Breizh (creperie Bretonne)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Restaurants |
| Cuisine: | Other |
| Location: | Rue Pont d'Avroy 28, Liège, Belgium |
Brilliant pancakes!! Try the one with ice cream, chocolate sauce and salty caramel as it is divine!
Celtic Ireland Pub Liège
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Restaurants |
| Cuisine: | Irish |
| Location: | Boulevard de la Sauveniere 145, Liège, Belgium |
This must be one of the most beautiful Irish pubs in Belgium and maybe even in Europe!
It's very large, very beautifully decorated (especially as it was Halloween) and extremely cozy.
We didn't get to taste the food so it's only 4 stars for now ;-)
Aquarium-Muséum Liège (1-11-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
The aquarium isn't very big but quite interesting as you can see that most have been a living environment for quite a while. And they have some pretty cute sharks :-)
The museum has loads and loads of skeletons, stuffed and otherwise preserved animals. It's a great place with beautiful specimens as you can see on my pictures ;-)
We also got to see two special exhibits: one about Primates and one about Mermaids which were both quite interesting. There were also a lot of information boards about Darwin in the museum especially for the Darwin-year.
And best of all: it's all very cheap! So for more information: http://www.aquarium-museum.ulg.ac.be/
Star of India
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Restaurants |
| Cuisine: | Indian |
| Location: | Rue du Plain Incliné 115 |
A nicely decorated Indian restaurant. The food is quite tasty and not too expensive.
They also have take-away but I doubt if they will bring it all the way to Mechelen ;-p
Hotel Husa De La Couronne (Liège)
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
This Spanish chain of hotels makes an effort of being environmentally friendly by some simple changes in the hotel-structure (more natural light = less use of electric light) and I hope they will keep making changes to become even more friendly to our planet :-)
The rooms are nicely decorated, clean and quite large. The bed was very comfortable and there is a tv which even has the BBC on it ;-)
The breakfast-buffet is pretty good with fresh croissants, yoghurts, juices, etc.
And you can have a room for a great price if you book at hotelspecials.be :-)
Also check out the hotel-site: www.hoteldelacouronne.be
Le Grand Curtius (Liège, 31-10-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
The museum itself is rather new but the building is pretty old and full of rooms, views and secrets.
Their collection ranges from modern guns to ancient glass (both regional products by the way). They even have an Art-Nouveau glass-vase with bats on it! (see pic)
Also part of their collection are Egyptian mummies, Neanderthal bones, Masonry objects and beautiful Medieval artworks.
Most surprising are the rooms with exotic and golden Empire furniture and clocks. This collection belonged to Baronne and Baron François Duesberg and was donated to the museum to exhibit .
And last but not least there is also a nice restaurant with great beer, sandwiches, soups, pies and deserts. It's not very cheap but the quality is great!
More info and to see some of the collection: http://www.grandcurtiusliege.be/
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Botanical Garden Liège
A nice small garden with a glasshouse you can only visit a few hours a week :-(
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Nostradam
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Restaurants |
| Cuisine: | Other |
| Location: | Blegium, Mechelen, Blauwhondstraat 25 |
A nice, cozy place to eat something not too expensive. They have great applepie with icecream!
http://www.nostradam.be/
Nouvelle Vague (Depot, Leuven, 21-10-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
You may think this is just a cover band which makes nice laid-backed covers of classic New-Wave and Punk songs but then you've obviously never seen them live!
The show is extremely energetic and lifts the songs to an even higher level. So Nouvelle Vague doesn't just make great covers they make great music :-)
Check out their next Belgian show 1-12-2009 at the Botanique in Brussels!
http://www.nouvellesvagues.com/
De Thien Geboden (The Ten Commandments)
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Restaurants |
| Cuisine: | Other |
| Location: | Belgium, Mechelen, Wollemarkt 4 |
If you want some decent Flemish food at a very cozy location this is a good place to go! Good value for money and their Flemish "stew" tastes excellent :-)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Pixies Doolittle Tour (14-10)2009, Forest National, Brussels)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
What can I say: they are my favourite band and they are brilliant and this is the third time we had a chance to see them! They are among the most uncool and un-rock'n'roll looking people on this planet but their music is definitely the opposite.
And with this concert they have proved once again that they are indeed everything their clothes do not suggest ;-)
If you weren't there you can still buy some of the concerts online so it's almost like being there: http://pixieslive.sandbag.uk.com/Store/DisplayItems.html
Yam Mie Yam
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Restaurants |
| Cuisine: | Asian |
| Location: | Veemarkt 8, Mechelen |
The concept is a bit weird: the restaurant is Asian with Thai influences but it's also a cocktail-bar with Cuban influences. Ah well, as we like both and we've heard good things about the food and the cocktails we are quite willing to try!
The food is indeed yam mie yam: good portions, exquisite taste, fresh and nice to look at. I also loved my cocktail and it was even quite well matched with the food :-)
The restaurant is quite small but if you have to wait you can always sit a while at the cocktail bar. It also has take-away (not sure if that includes the cocktails haha).
Saturday, October 17, 2009
National Botanic Garden of Belgium
http://www.br.fgov.be/
Brilliant and we've only seen part of it! There is a castle, a giant glasshouse and loads and loads of outside space with trees and all kinds of other living and growing things.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
London (2009)
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/
http://www.britishmuseum.org/
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/
So many nice exhibits! We just have to go back again ;-)
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Kitty O'Shea's Pub
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Restaurants |
| Cuisine: | Irish |
| Location: | Brussels, 42 Boulevard Charlemagne |
We didn't eat here yet (there is a small restaurant area btw) but at least they have two kinds of red beer (which of course gets them points on my list).
And of course football on a big screen which just makes them a typical Irish pub I guess ;-)
Read more info on the site because it gets more interesting after reading it: http://www.kittyosheas.com/kitty_brussels.asp
Thursday, September 3, 2009
British photography and other exhibits (Fotomuseum, Antwerpen, 30-8-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
More info: http://www.fotomuseum.be/en/
People On Show and other exhibits (museum dr.Guislain)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
It's a visually interesting exhibit with loads of old posters from shows with "cannibals" and "amazons" and other exciting "savages".
It also raises a question we should all consider, especially in this age of "reality-tv": where does interest in watching other people and cultures become degrading for those people or cultures?
Also exhibiting in the museum is Goran Djurovic, a Serbian artist with fascinating paintings. His world is filled with a certain darkness, people pulling strings and awkward situations.
Another exhibit is Burland/Toyland. The Swiss artist François Burland recycles everyday waste materials into great objects! His world is full of funny and beautiful vehicles like submarines and planes.
All exhibits un till 13-9-2009. More info: http://www.museumdrguislain.be/
Festivals (summer 2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
26+27-6-2009: Dijle Feesten Deflux
A great new stage actually IN the Dijle-river makes for a great sound on our balcony!
Bands we've heard: Moriarty, TUNNG, Maden Suyu, Joe Gideon & the Shark, Nid&Sancy.
28-6-2009: Ottertrotter
Multicultural free festival with great food from all around the world and music too of-course! We saw Amparo Cortes (flamenco).
18-7-2009: Rock Herk
Free festival with loads of alternative bands. We saw:
- This Will Destroy You: a nice new instrumental post-rock band from Texas
- And you will know us by the trail of dead: ok but their songs still lack structure and purpose
- The Horrors: the band we came to see and they were brilliant!
- Woven Hand: yes again and the sound is better here!
6-8-2009: Lokerse Feesten
Always a nice one to visit because it's cheap, easy to reach and a nice location. We saw:
- Nid&Sancy: still great live! Where's your acid brother? Fucking machines!
- Etienne de Crecy: better than expected and the cube-light show was great.
- Orbital: wow they were brilliant! Heaven is a place on earth!
21-8-2009: Pukkelpop
One of the best festivals! So much to see and do!
- The Airborne Toxic Event: loved their cd and they are good live but possibly better in a nice club
- Buraka som Sistema: the sound of kudura ;-)
- Glasvegas: I so wanted to see them and it was terrific! First Belgian gig too!
- The Ting Tings: fun!
- Vampire Weekend: a really nice band with happy songs
- Snow Patrol: love their songs and they are great live
- Fever Ray: brilliant atmosphere, totally loved it!
- Placebo: not their best gig but it's always nice to hear their songs
- dEUS: still one of Belgium's best
- Blood Red Shoes: it's nice but I had expected better
- Kraftwerk: great retro-futuristic fun!
Lisieux
Calvados, Normandy, France: the biggest place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes!
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisieux
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Le Petit Mont and surroundings
Morbihan, Bretagne, France: another brilliant cairn! Especially note the German bunker inside it o_o
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/megalithes/index.html
Friday, August 28, 2009
Please think about this!
Over 80% of environmental damage from clothes happens in the after care (that's your bit!). The way your detergent was made, the effluent it produces, the temperature you wash your clothes at all has an impact on the planet. Why not try ecological washing powder, wash at low temperatures and dry your clothes outside on the line.
Now go and do your laundry ecologically!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Batz-sur-Mer
Batz sur Batz-sur-Mer ;-)
http://www.mairie-batzsurmer.fr/
And clos to Batz the weird German blockhaus: http://www.grand-blockhaus.com/
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Guérande
Loire-Atlantique, France: medieval city of salt (and a cool French murder series see: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Main_blanche)
http://www.ville-guerande.fr/
Friday, August 7, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Mané-Kerioned Dolmen
Morbihan, Betagne, France: a few impressive dolmen on the site of the road.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolmen_de_Man%C3%A9-Kerioned
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Against the day (Wiels, Brussels, 26-7-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
Exhibiting at the moment is the well-known Belgian painter Luc Tuymans but that exhibit ends today!
If you are a fan of his work it's really worthwhile to check out his latest paintings. There are some pretty exciting artworks to be seen!
You could also go there to check out the food because it's really really good! And very reasonably priced as well! And the good thing is that the food will still be there next week even though the exhibits will have changed ;-)
Check it out: http://www.wiels.org/site2/home.php (don't forget to check under "café")
Friday, July 31, 2009
St-Michel Tumulus
Morbihan, Bretagne, France: really big tumulus with a church on top and loads of cool insects buzzing around it :-)
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=9172
Kercado Tumulus / Menhir
Morbihan, Bretagne, France: pretty cool place with a really strangely placed Indian restaurant (see pics http://www.gralon.net/restaurants-france/morbihan/restaurant-auberge-indienne-de-kercado-carnac-2791.htm)
http://menhirs.tripod.com/tumuli.html
Kerlescan Dolmen
Morbihan, Bretagne, France: a Romantic dolmen close to the alignements
http://menhirs.tripod.com/dolmen.html
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Alignements de Carnac
Morbihan, Bretagne, France: impressive megaltihic monument eventhough it's just miles and miles of stones :-)
http://carnac.monuments-nationaux.fr/
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Toulvern Tumulus
Morbihan, Bretagne, France: this one is actually almost next to Le Rocher only there is a river between them nowadays...
http://megaliths.sherwoodonline.de/tumuli.html
Cairn de Gavrinis
Morbihan, Bretagne, France: you are not allowed to make pictures inside so check the sites to see how amazing and impressive this site actually is!
http://www.gavrinis.info/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavrinis
Le Rocher Tumulus
Morbihan, Bretagne, France: a real tumulus with no lights inside (damn that's dark!)
For exact location see: http://megaliths.sherwoodonline.de/tumuli.html
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