in between piles of books

will always be a good address. if there is something i miss in this small town, it's a decent bookshop. a bookshop big enough to get lost between the shelves, with people of all ages reading skattered all over the place. sitting on the floor, in armchairs or standing, leaning on the shelves. i used to work in a good bookshop for years. i love bookshops with coffee bars and armchairs. they may just want to lure you in and sell more books, but what the heck, they deserve top sales with the cozy atmosphere they create.

mooie adressen in nijmegen

i've come across a few cool stores in nijmegen. (coming)

aveda

to mark the end of my youth and the start of my life as an - uh - real woman, i treated myself to a haircut at aveda in the hague, where i found myself on my 30th birthday to vote at the embassy and apply for a new passport. it came with a full back, neck and head massage. i am ashamed to say that i knew aveda only vaguely before that. after that, i have been doing some reading and it just seems like such a good company. no animal testing, no animal ingredients, all natural, fairtraded, biological products that smell wonderful. definitively a good address!

more info

delicious hot chocolate in bruges - dat kan!

(bar-c)

opening hours in belgium in general and bruges in particular can be a bit of a mental challenge to the meticulous northwestern european. bar-c (c for chocolate) in bruges is sometimes open, sometimes not and when inquired about the opening hours the staff replies "i don't know. it depends." and they don't want to go more into detail than that. when bar-c does open, it usually opens around 11 pm. and there is no way of telling when it is going to close. in the beginning i thought it to be one of these plentiful belgian tourist traps but this is not the case at all. i certainly had the best hot chocolate i have ever had outside my own home and the chocolate used here is of high quality ranging from different countries of origin and with different characteristics - not the standard over-sweet belgian stuff. And of course you can choose between various white chocolates and chocolate with cocoa of different intensities up to 80%. try tanzania or the extra dark pur uganda and you're in for a treat. all drinks can be made with soy milk, which is unusual in brugge.

(from the menu)

in addition to hot drinking chocolate, the usual pralines, truffles and tablets, bar-c sells chocolate genever, chocolate beer, chocolate soap, chocolate liqueur, cookies and the menu features chocolate rundstofvlees (chocolate beef stew - i never tasted it) and a wide selection of chocolate fondues and other chocolate based desserts and drinks, and a handful of lunch dishes which has nothing to do with chocolate. i had champignons on toast which comes with heaps of fresh salad greens, tomato and cucumber. i requested to have it prepared without any dairy, which was no problem at all. the champignons were roasted in olive oil and a generous amount of very aromatic freshly ground pepper. it was very good.

in spite of the appeal you would think that such a place has to chocolate hungry tourists, i found myself alone in the restaurant during lunch time.

(chocolate and rose soap)

second hand or vintage stores everywhere

tone sige's tonica vintage corner has been saving the past for the future in oslo west since 1976. i stumbled across it once on the way to uni, and have been coming back ever since. the dress once belonging to marylin monroe and the genuine dior hc dress from 1966 never found their way to my wardrobe, but a beautiful skirt from chloe did (and continues to travel with me wherever i go) and heaps of other goodies. apparently, nick cave has checked it out, and so should you!

tonica vintage, schønings gate 14a, oslo, norway

tone also used to have a branch in haarlem, but apparently it doesn't exist anymore.

more info

2mas in nijmegen offers a mix of old and new, and is worth a visit.

2mas, wereldstraat 97, nijmegen, the netherlands

more info (and webshop)

le bibelot

don’t let the weird new interior of le bibelot put you off.. let the eyes rest on the menu instead, which boast of quality and you won’t be dissapointed once the food is one the table. everything is cooked to perfection.

sadly, the friendly cat dissapeared after they redecorated the place, but there are still plenty of bibelottes!

le bibelot – uw franse restaurant, oudegracht 181, utrecht

more info (dutch)

hemehuis

hemehuis is as beautiful as it is pampering, this must be the most relaxing spot in brugge. my favourites include the steambath, the beautiful little pool, the norwegian style cold bath on the roof top, the relaxation room with a fireplace, and the wornderful tea room. drinks, food and products are organic and the tea is delicious!

brugge, belgium

more info (dutch)

don't leave the neighbourhood before having spent a few minutes on a bench letting the pictoresque view from predikherenrei sink in (see the pic by tanguy below), preferably with a bar of newtree's delicious dark chocolate with thyme and linen seeds.

more info (newtree alpha thym)

if you feel a little peckish after sweating in the steambath, drop by ryad on the way back to the centre, only a few mins walk from het hemehuis, and dig into one of the tasty plates or mezzes from their moroccoan-indian inspired cuisine.

ryad, hoogstraat 32, brugge

more info

the café in the grande mosquée de paris

what can i say? visiting the café in the grande mosquée de paris feels like being back in sham - having tea with your friends in an naufara. thanks to my dear tanguy for taking me!

paris, france

more info (french)

sai thong

very simple bungalows in between koh tao’s characteristic boulders along an empty beach with fantastic snorkelling and a wonderful little restaurant. you’ll have to walk through the rainforrest for at least 25 mins to reach any place where your cell phone will work and you can purcase something or use the internet. in other words, this resort is perfect!

koh tao

having made plans to go trekking in isaan in the north and visit villages and khmer temples, i was rather sceptical to be dragged along to koh tao. once we got there, however, it turned out to be a paradise. it’s a green and hilly, sleepy little island with empty beaches and strange rond boulders scattered all over it. there is a small centre with several dive centres, a mini mart and a few restaurants and bars – and suprisingly few partying backpackers. the diving was less interesting than expected but the curries were not!

raintree cafe

“there’s great pizza out in white river” my friend fiona wrote on my fb wall, so christopher and i decided to take the trip. we went down to mendana avenue and jumped on a bus to white river. there, just past the betel market, was raintree café, looking half-way like a village hut, situated directly onto the sea-side with a palm-tree roof and a lovely view out over iron bottom sound. we ordered a large veggie pizza, and i think it’s one of the best pizzas i ever had. the pizzas are wood-fired local style with locally grown ingredients. if you’ll ever find yourself in honiara, you know where to go. bring a book and take your time. they also have a bumblebee wireless hot spot.

white river, honiara, guadalcanal, solomon islands

the temple ruins of baalbek

the temple ruins of baalbek, overlooking the snow covered mountains and the stunning bekaa valley of lebanon is garanteed to take your breath away – at least mine. keep in mind that it is very chilly during winter – don’t leave from beirut in a t-shirt and sandals.

one of the ruins once aspired to be the the largest temple in the entire roman empire. although never completed and marked by the ravages of time and lebanon’s violent history, the six gigantic columns that are left today make a pretty impressive sight.

baalbek, the bekaa valley, lebanon

underwater pub

underwater pub is an atmospheric pub with a dive theme, located in cosy st. hanshaugen in oslo. the interior features an impressive range of historical artefacts from the underwater world, some of which are rented from the norwegian maritime museum. if you want a snack with your beer tapped from old SCUBA tanks transformed into beer dispensers, they offer delicious italian style pizzas from the pizza bakery across the road.

some pics from underwater

dalsbergstien 4, st. hanshaugen, oslo, norway

more info (norwegian)

every tuesday and thursday, underwater pub arranges opera nights with live performances by singers from the national opera. it is a very fun and genuine experience – the singers will stand up every now and then and perform a piece, and sit down and enjoy a beer in between. it goes on all evening. the opera nights are free of charge, and you can come and go as you like, but it is appreciated if you shut up during the performances.

more info (norwegian)

frognerparken

vigelandsparken, or frognerparken as we locals call it, is a beautiful park not far from majorstuen in oslo with 212 sculptures of men, women and children, all modelled in full size by the norwegian artist gustav vigeland. if you’re visiting oslo and want to hang out with the locals, this is where you’ll find us – all the kids, teens, students, mums and dads, elders, dogs, and pet mini pigs. we spend as much time as we can in the park, grilling, sunbathing, jogging, chatting, chasing sticks, rollerblading.. you name it

main entrance in kirkeveien, near majorstuen, western part of oslo, norway

more info

noosa national park

lokated by noosa heads and its city beach, noosa national park offers a peaceful and interesting retreat after an exhausting morning paddling for (what you think might be) the perfect waves. you can walk along the beautiful coastal track or follow tracks that will take you deep into the bush, through various sorts of forrests. choosing the latter option, you might run into koalas, and rare and threatened wildlife such as the glossy black cockatoo and the ground parrot, amongst others.

there’s great surfing along the coast of the national park, but only for those of you who are far more experienced than me. crappy surfers like myself will have to satisfy themselves with the city beach

noosa headlands, the sunshine coast, queensland, australia

more info