Santorini is a perfect place to extend your summer feeling and enjoy some beach days before autumn arrives. Early September is the best time to travel: beautiful, almost empty beaches, fun but not too crowded nightlife and lots of nice restaurants without tourists all over. My suggestion for a relaxed day is to rent a car, drive to Perivolos Beach, enjoy the day at WET Stories drink some iced coffee before having lunch at Nets Fish Tavern next to the beach. Santorini offers many good restaurants like Metaximas in Exo Gonia where I had amazing lamb with mint and yoghurt sauce or the grilled sardines at Nichteri in Kamari. Kamari is a nice spot for a day trip and offers among lots of small shops and bars the most beautiful Openair Cinema. The Feggera Restaurant serves exquisite traditional food on a terrace with a nice view over Megalochori, here the keftedes are a must! Then there is il Cantuccio, a small italian Ristorante in Firostefani with delicious spaghetti frutti di mare. After dinner a short walk with a stunning view over the Caldera leads you to Thira. Thira is the main village and offers everything a touristy place does: shops, bars, clubs and lots of souvenirs. After dinner a drink or sangria at Kira Thira Jazz is perfect to start nightlife. Next day same again…
Eat
Buffet van Odette | Wonderful smell
Mondo Mediterraneo | Pure gusto
De Belhamel | Romantic location
Small world | Great food
Drink
Door74 | Ring the bell
Cafetabac | Stand on the streets
Latei | Watch the crowd
Cafethijssen | Play the game
Do
Stedelijk Museum | Collection of modern and contemporary art and design
Noordermarkt | Biological fresh food and fleamarket
The 9 Straatjes | The heart of Amsterdam’s canal district
The Movies | Art house cinemas since 1912
Oude Kerk | Amsterdam’s oldest parish church
Westergasfabriek | Cultural park
Easter Docklands | Architecture
Shop
Sukha | My Favorite
ThePropertyOf | Men’s Bags and Accessories
Blacksheeproad | A mixture of streetwear and high fashion
LockStock&Barrel | Nice collection of different brands
SPRMRKT | Concept store
Meeuwig | Check your oil
Tampopo | Asian delicatessen store
“Sleep and dine from one to five stars” is the concept of the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam. All 117 rooms differ in size, interior concept and furniture, a combination of modern Dutch design and timeless classics. The Lloyd Hotel is located in the heart of the Eastern Docklands only 5 minutes by bike from Central Station, with views over the water and away from the noise of the city.
The Hotel is set in a revamped 1920s building with a vibrant story: First built as an emigrant’s hotel by Evert Breman, the German occupier converted the building 1941 into a prison. After that, it became a detention centre for juveniles in the sixties, before the city of Amsterdam rented out the Lloyd Hotel to a foundation, which turned it into workshops for artists. The plan to turn the building into a cultural embassy and a one to five star Hotel came 1997 and was realized and reopened as Lloyd Hotel in 2004.
My room 401 was all about space; with walls to fold out to change the spaciousness and create room for the bath and a cosy sleep space. I liked the atmosphere, the comfort and the friendly service at Lloyds and I appreciated the bike drive along the IJ after a long day in the city.
A cultural walk from the VitraHaus with it’s impressive spaces – to the Fondation Beyeler with an exhibition about Richard Serra and Constantin Brancusi – both with a refined use of lines, proportions and material.
Sorry for the bad quality of the pics – a good reason to visit and see the places yourself..
Always on the lookout for good food and special ingredients I came across the concept of LaVialla. On our way back from Italy we stopped by the Fattoria and filled the car up to the brim with penne, oil, wine and sugo.
LaVialla is a beautiful farm estate about 8km north of Arezzo and is run by three brothers of the Lo Franco family. Their commitment to biodynamic organic sustainable farming is very strict and the project of combining old farming methods with new technology is very state of the art. They use their beautiful estate to show how they produce and want the guests to understand the difference and specialty of their way of farming.
I just had the feeling that everything is a little too much staged and prepared for tourists. But on the other hand, if this concept helps to create a sensibility of sustainable production, then this way of “show production” makes sense and the success proves them right…and not to forget: the products are really good…
A long table, friends, good food and drinks, interesting talks in a nice atmosphere – that is my intention for the TAVOLATA evenings. I’m very happy that Frank gives me the opportunity to welcome my guests at freiwerk, a wonderful design and interior store in the heart of Kreis 3. So yesterday I was able to start my new project with the TAVOLATA UNO having a wonderful evening.
Thanks Christian for the delicious Pasta Bramasole and Bea for the pictures! Grazie a tutti per questa bella serata e fino alla prossima volta…
Casa Bramasole – il Paradiso. No words except: arrivederci e a presto! Booking and information on casainitalia.ch
The “Trattoria” was opened way back in 1934 by Amerigo and Agnese. The Region of Emilia Romana is the place and the market of origin, the basis of the Trattoria. They cook with the believe in the simple cuisine, in their words: “the products from the courtyard, the hen house, the vegetable patch, the fields and woods are the same today as they were back in the early days, and these things are the soul of our dishes.“
The “Locanda” offers accommodation in five different rooms located in a quiet private lane in one of the oldest houses in Savigno. I stayed at room nr2 which was very affectionate decorated. A mixture of modern and antique designs, different old woods, iron doors, windows with colorful glasses and lovely details.
The “Dispensa” is right next to the Trattoria and offers many products which are served in the Trattoria. Such a nice opportunity when you can take a little moment of this spezial culinary experience back home.
www.amerigo1934.it | Grazie Sarah and Mathis for the Tipp