The Oyster Inn

Take me on the next train to the Oyster Inn, 
but unfortunately the 90m2 Waiheke Island is located close to Auckland quite a far stretch from The Hague. An Island without a water supply system where each house must maintain its own water supply, most collecting rainwater in cisterns, and must install a septic tank and septic field to handle sewage. This seems like a place for new modes of living; of dealing with what is present. Making people responsible and a strongly presented creative sector. 
No secluded Island is just fun and game but definitely the Oyster Inn provides a ' seaside hideaway with only 3 guest rooms, the perfect intimate escape. The complex boasts a kitchen, bar, shop and the 3 aforementioned rooms. At the bar you can load up with homemade sangria, Waiheke's best island wine and artisan beers amongst others. After (or before, which ever is smarter) you head to the shop where you will find all beach essentials. 

A room can be booked here.

thanks to Andrew for providing images courtesy of the Oyster Inn

Moon in Tallinn

New Nordic cuisine

a hot thing for food-lovers, a problem for those on a budget.
Not anymore...

Tallinn, in the Baltic, also has some lovely New Nordic food on offer and a lot more friendly in price then what you know off.

I enjoyed a lovely lunch at Kohvik Moon, which means as much as Poppy in Estonian. Simple, honest, sincere is what they strive for, and what they deliver. Booking is absolutely necessary as the charm of this place and high quality of food has not gone unnoticed.

Kohvik Moon
Vorgu 3
Tallinn 10415
Phone + 3726314575


http://www.kohvikmoon.ee/

West Town

love, always

Reykjavik

Days of Gray

Ice Ice Baby

first we take Oslo then we take Hamburg
or the other way around, Monica Bonvicini's:  She Lies (2007) off the shore off Oslo in front of the Opera House inspired by Caspar David Friedrich's:  Das Eismeer (1823-1824) housed in Hamburg's Kunsthalle. 


The synthesis of structure/skin/ornament explore the interface between nature and culture, or that of a cultural artefact. While reconstructing a famous Romantic painting, the work represents in a visual striking way the shape of an iceberg, as if one would have, by circumstances due to the global warming, ended up in the fjord in front of the opera house

Norwegian Wood

About Naoko | Midori |

Need I really say more about Norwegian Wood, 

and no, not talking about the Beatles song but about the novel by one of my all-time favorite novelists Haruki Murakami and its 2010 feature film adaptation by Tran Anh Hung. Central in Murakami's most read novel are themes of nostalgia, loss, memory and sexuality. This novel unlike most of his other works does not have that surreal touch to it but equally touches on subjects of society & human freedom. There are only few of his books that I have not read yet but I am saving these for times of need.

About the film; 

The film is open, so much is not said but everything the book contains is conveyed in one way are another. The exact point the book brings across is displayed perfectly in the emptiness of the film. Wonderful casting, set design, cinematography, and not to forget about the musical imputes by Johnny Greenwood and the mesmerizing backdrops of the Japanese landscapes. If there is only one book you will ever read by Murakami start with this one, but also make sure to see the film. 

The book makes a great present too.