Now, as I had a chance to go out (a lot!) in Brighton and taste its nightlife, I have changed my opinion about the city. Wow, I am not sure what it is, but I could comfortably state that Brighton's nightlife could comfortably compete with Liverpool's and even London's, depending on what wanted to do. The quality of the clubs, pubs and bars, as well as their value for money was phenomenal, but still not as good as the clientelle. Even if for 'window shopping' only, there was plenty to look at! ;)
May 20, 2009 12:00 AMBrighton (GB) - day two
Weather in Brighton, one of England's prime seaside resorts (the fifth most visited city in England in all), is almost perfect. There is plenty of sunshine and the day temperature is very pleasant. If there was no wind, or at least if it was lighter, it would be perfect indeed. Some people impressed me with their courage to take a dip in the sea, as I am sure the water must have been terribly cold.
This week is also the Brighton Festival Week. Being locked in (not the P.Diddy's LOCKED IN Twitter movement!) on a conference, I do not have much chance to check on it. I know that there is a large tent pitched near the Royal Pavilion that is just a large beer garden. Nothing special about it.
May 19, 2009 12:00 AMBrighton (GB) - day one
I am in Brighton on business. This is for the first time. I mean I had been in Brighton before (not long ago, actually), but never stayed overnight, and not had too much chance to go out. Now, I should have plenty of opportunity to check places more carefully, perhaps take some pictures, all depending on weather and schedules, but all look rather promising. Particularly weather.
May 17, 2009 12:00 AMLovely Salzburg on very sunny weather!
All clouds disappeared today and the views of the snow-capped Alps revealed themselves. After free buffet breakfast at the JUFA hotel, I quickly climbed the hill to take some pictures from the fortress, before the sun was going to get too harsh. The Alps looked great!
Then, I descended back to the old town and realised that it was going to be too hot for me in my chocolate leather jacket, so returned to the hotel, dropped it off and went on wandering around the town again. I did the same route like yesterday snapping places in the better lighting. Yesterday, I was lucky with the music festival and today, I was lucky with weather. The day was truly fantastic! So super in fact that I managed to burn my nose and forearms. Yes, I arrived completely unprepared for this kind of weather!!
I sat down at a few cafes and bars outside and enjoyed my weekend out. I drank my favourite beer (hefe weizen), probably too much and too quickly, so later I turned to Coke to quench my thirst first, and then a beer to enjoy. This worked very well.
I ended up at the Mirabell Palace and gardens and was again gobsmacked with the view all the way to the white castle on the hill. Already then, I could not wait for the nightfall to see the city panorama nicely illuminated.
I walked along the grassy banks of the Salzach river and watched how the Salzburgers fried their bodies. It was some sort of a grassy beach I guess, although there was no swimming in the river. The current was really strong, the river flowed much faster than a person could walk!
I stopped for a pizza on the Alter Markt and took my time. I went on discovering places to go out at night, and at sunset, I joined happy hours at a bar floating in the river. It was really nice, but they did not serve weiß beer!!
It got chilly at night, so I fetched my jacket and went to one of the footbridges to take a few night shots.
May 16, 2009 12:00 AMFirst time in Salzburg, Austria!
I had to get up at 4am, after sleeping only for two hours, to catch my 06:30am flight to Salzburg. I was impressed how easy it was to get from the Salzburg airport to the centre - a €2 trolleybus departed from the front of the terminal and terminated at the main railway station, just a quick walk away from the old town. The city, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is lovely. The hilltop castle with its whitewashed walls and facade, dominated the city. Weather was a bit mixed and the clouds blocked the view of the Alps.
I was very lucky (hmm... that's what I thought initially, and on my third thought) to witness a street music festival, during which young musicians presented their skills. Genres varied from punk rock to jazz to swing to classical to blues to ... a few unrecognizables. But I was in a musical city and it felt appropriate for this event. Streets were packed and everyone seemed to enjoy the festival.
May 14, 2009 12:00 AMIs China Airpass from Star Alliance a myth?
A few weeks ago, I got really excited about making a booking of the domestic flights within China for my holiday this summer. It now appears as though the reservation might have been bogus. I have been constantly on the waiting list for each domestic flight while plenty of seats have been available all this time. I called Lufthansa with whom I make the booking (Air China did not even respond to my initial request) but they were particularly unhelpful. I learnt that the reservation was going to automatically expire on 20 May and they were going to do nothing about it. In fact, the London office of Lufthansa claimed they could not help at all and that I had to call an office in Germany. They swiftly gave me a phone number, which was incorrect anyway. An automated message (only in German!) gave a correct number, but after spending 20 minutes on the line, I got nowhere. I called Air China European Centre (the London number did not work) and spoke to a couple of people to investigate. They did not know much about the China Airpass, but told me that the only class available for those flights at the time of my phonecall was 'Y', which is fully flexible economy. In comparison, the Airpass was in class 'L' with Shanghai Airlines and class 'H' with Air China and was cheaper by about £150. Anyway, I made a new booking with Air China but could not pay for the ticket, because of some utterly peculiar bureaucratic rules, and since this is class 'Y', I have until 15 July to pay for the ticket. In this case, I will wait until 20 May to see what happens with the mythical China Airpass.
If, eventually, I have to travel on the new booking, my itinerary will need to change slightly, but I will be able to visit all the same places.
May 04, 2009 12:00 AMAntwerp (BE) and not Lille (FR)
The plan was to go for lunch and wander in Lille, but the problems on the train line diverted us to a destination in a complete opposite destination - Antwerp. Well, we had to make a decision what to do before we actually left Ghent, and since the train to Antwerp was imminent - that was it. Both of us had been to Antwerp on a few occasions before, but since it was Belgium's first city I had taken my friend three years go, we thought it would be good to reprise it a little. Weather was still rather unpredictable and it was quite chilly - the sun did not manage to peek from behind the clouds too often - so we did not linger too long. After browsing the shops a little, we sat down for some fried chicken, one of my friend's favourite dishes (just behind prawns, actually). Antwerp's magnificent central train station was covered in scaffolding, which was a pity, as I wanted to update my Antwerp photo library with some more recent shots. Nevermind. Uh, I noticed that the townhall, the grand building on the main square with many flags, was flying colours I had not seen before, including central and easter European states, like Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Czech Republic. I thought the townhall was only flying Belgian flags, but then I am not always right :)
May 03, 2009 12:00 AMA quick visit to Brussels
Obviously, I could not avoid going through Brussels this weekend, but I was not planning to spend any time there. However, we kinda lost inspiration what to do in Ghent, which was very quiet on Sunday, so we decided to hop to Brussels to see if there was more action. And it was. Surely for the capital of the country, we saw plenty of people there. We sat at one of the pavement cafes in the old town, which offered free wifi internet, and set up my friend's new netbook. I was impressed actually how well the small laptops worked in the wireless internet environment, and how powerful battery it had - 10h and how efficient it was! Then, we went to tease the touts on the 'restaurant streets', as we were actually not planning to have dinner yet, but as the sun was going down, it was a good idea for entertainment. Eventually, after wandering about the old town, and getting almost entirely frozen (I had to buy a jumper!), we made a strategic decision to sit down at one of the restaurants, I had used to eat when I had been a regular visitor to Brussels, under a heater and try some seafood pizza. It was good!
May 02, 2009 12:00 AMIn Bruges - a lovely place for a fairytale?
This was my second time in Bruges (Brugge). I was very disappointed with the weather forecasters, who promised cloudless sunny aura and they lied. The sky was full of heavy grey clouds and it was rather chilly for strolling without at least a light jacket. But the city did not disappoint. It was full of visitors, which might be a slight drawback for photographers, who'd prefer people not entering the frame totally unannounced... but otherwise lovely and clean. My friend and I sat down in one of the Brasseries at the main square and ordered steaks. They were good! Every now and again the sun was peeking from behind the clouds but for such short moments that it was actually more annoying rather than anything else. We wandered about the city's narrow cobblestoned alleys, squeezing in the crowds, trying to soak the atmosphere. I am now sure that Bruges reveals its fairytale side only very early in the morning, and long after sunset, when it is more than just a pretty town, and when the eeriness of the narrow alleys and canals is at its best, fitting perfectly with the centuries old architecture.
May 02, 2009 12:00 AMGhent (Gent) - there is plenty
My friend managed to confuse me saying that the city could be really boring (particularly on Sundays) but also that it was a great place indeed. There is in fact a lot to see and do in Ghent. I would risk saying that that it is a larger version of Bruges. It has great architecture, canals, a few pretty squares, grand mansions, and a very mysteriously looking castle. It is large enough to warrant at least a couple of days to explore, and its nightlife (both in the heart of the old town and around Overport) is vibrant and diversified. During the day, it can get really busy with people browsing the shops, but in the evening, the crowds descent to many pavement cafes and bars to catch their breath, lounge on the armchairs enjoying their sundowners. The street lights come up and the city shifts its image slightly. It becomes quieter and more mysterious.
In the night we obviously went out. The bars were packed! One of them Bar Des Amis was one of the best. It attracted a great mix of crowd and played delightful music from the 1980s and 1990s.
