Winchester

William Walker: the diver that saved Winchester Cathedral

Jane Austen
Soldiers everywhere
 A very nice ride through the Cotwolds brought us to Salisbury and finally in Winchester. Home of the famous Winchester Cathedral with among others the grave of no other then Jane Austen. The Cathedral was saved from ruin by a diver who helped to restore the foundations in the 1960's.

Day II: the Cotwolds and about


Waddesdon Manor

The MG club outside Claydon House

Stowe House

Eddie on your typical English road

Nice Mill in the Cotswold
The weather is more sunny today - which is nice while driving, but less when walking around. Anyway there are lots of things to see. Houses for sure, but also sweet landscapes and tranquil villages with thatched roofed houses. We ended up in Cheltenham.

The day I flew a Haviland Trident (well almost)

In an (Haviland Dove) business jet - rather comfy (on the ground that is...)

Here is your (trident) captain speaking

The Haviland Company was a famous airplane manufacturer. In WWII the created the Mosquito - a wooden frame aircraft which was very agile and a huge success. After that the made the first jet propelled fighter planes and commercial air crafts. Unfortunately the latter were to so good and crashed a lot (The Comet) so Haviland almost went broke. The Trident was a humble sucess before Boeing and Douglas took over the business.

House II: Hattfield House

This house is much older, but has a nice interior.

House number I: Wimpole Hall


Our route will take us along many houses and we start of with Wimpole Hall. Like almost any other house in the UK it ruined the founders and is now part of a trust. Luckily the weather is dry, but not sunny because visiting these houses in your motor suit is otherwise far to warm. The roads in the neighborhood are well maintained and have lots of curves. 

First Stop: Colchester


Colchester is a pretty small town with an ancient Dutch Quarter (Dutch traders were living here long ago). It also has a very old Castle based on a Roman Temple. (and many many giraffes for promotion of the Zoo).

Back to the UK

 We are on our way for a little motorbike tour circle around London. We started our trip with the excellent ferry crossing from Hoek van Holland to Harwich - which takes you right in the heart of England in a very convenient manner.


Today is Mandela day

Happy birthday Mr. Mandela!

Sunny Munich

Had a free moment in sunny Munich today - so I visited the always fun and interesting BMW museum and Welt. Saw the BMWi3 concept car - which really looks very appealing.

Bill Cosby's best Sweater - ever

Dr. Huxtable wore more then 131 different sweaters over the years - this one was chosen by his fans as the best. I totally agree.

Meanwhile in Rio..


I am in a (inifite) Bioshock

Finally got my hands on a copy of Bioshock Infinity. Looks very sweet - Cannot wait to play - but it has to wait till after our motorbike trip to England.

Canterbury Tales

Next week we will visit Canterbury and I can finally see where the Tales originated from and to see the destination of the travelers, the statue of Saint Thomas Becket. Cannot remember a lot from the stories though - maybe a good thing to reread a few before.

Hmmm...


Biking around

Today Marijn and I had all kinds of meetings around Amsterdam - so we took our bikes and had a "Tour D'Amsterdam". My antique original Gary Fisher Bike is still rolling strong...

How to become a zombie in 10 minutes? watch World War Z!

Wow - this is probably one of the most boring movies I have seen in a long time. The story is unbelievable, the script ridiculous ("I need answers!") and the editing or slow motion (yawn) or do fast that you cannot see anything... I came out of the theater rather numb - like a...uhh... zombie.

The Sydney Opera House - from Lego

Still working and learning on my Arduino projects - but I must admit that I am lured away by the new Lego Creator kit: The Sydney Opera House. 2989 pieces, 63cm wide... hmmm. Not sure where to put the final result. Anyway - have to wait till September to order it.

Painting by numbers...


Time to return home

After a fun couple of days riding here in sunny Eifel - along the Mosel, through ancient wooods and quiet towns, it is time to return home - which is fun as well :-)

History is still alive


Here in The Eifel on every corner of your trip you will find tiny villages who will transport you right back in time - centuries. You can imagine the original inhabitants wandering around as time stood still.

Time for a little snack

Luckily there are plenty of sweet places for a stop...

Essen wie Gott in Deutschland


The food in our Hotel is actually pretty good - combined with the view, the sun and the company you wondered what else do you need.

A room with a view - Ahrtal

We rode to Ahrtal (Germany) to have a couple of short motor trips in the neighborhood. Our hotel is perched on a wine hill overlooking Bad Ahrweiler and the view from our room - and the restaurant is really mesmerizing...

Meanwhile on Venice Beach


If I can't marry my Boyfriend...


Breaking (a) Bad (habit)

We couldn't resist any longer - after years of futile excuses not to watch Breaking Bad, we just capitulated and went on a bing viewing weekend of Breaking Bad. Until now? Great!

Ibiza keeps on giving

This whole Ibiza theme gives me lots of inspiration - so I created a new track and already have some new ideas for even more :-)

The Met unbuttons

The famous Met’s admission button will be replaced by stickers - it was to expensive to keep them apparently.  A pity because it was part of the experience and part of the art actually.

Quantifying stress

Sometimes it just nice to have a break from the quantifying group and just walk/run/sleep without any devices - well for a couple of minutes that is - I am afraid to lose vital data otherwise :-)

Jag leker med Elden

Mina första svenska låt är remixen från Brott och Straff. Vad täcker ni?

Men of Steel? I don't think so...

Also "Men of steel: seem to shiver in the cold...
The new Supermen is rather disappointing: weak story (we spend hours on Krypton, then talking and then ruining Manhattan). Like a lot of current movies is is about 33% to long (2 1/2 hours). Henry Cavill is sweet looking - especially without shirt and with a beard - but I am not sure if he can replace Christopher Reeve. But then again: can anyone?

Me - by Karen


Just in time: Feedly (it's even better then Google reader)

Now that Google reader is retiring -for reasons still unknown to me- I had to go for an alternative in order to keep on reading/browsing trough hundreds of articles a day. I considered and tried some alternatives, but Feedly clearly is the winner. So from now on I Feedly will quench my thirst for everything that is new(s)

Illa Negra - Ibiza lounge track

Motor break


New recipes...

Since I got connected with IFTTT (if this then that) life got yet an other level so much easier. There are hundreds of interesting recipes to use and the boring times of copying stuff from one place to the other or checking things manually are over.

I don't miss desperate housewives but DO miss Preston & Porter...

On the left Preston (Max) and the right Porter (Charlie) or is it the other way around?...
Wouldn't it be great to have a spin off show with the Scavo brothers? I am not a fan of teen wolf - so that doesn't count...

Arduino!

Thanks to the great people of Conrad, today my Arduino Starters Kit arrived. So I can start to develop all kinds of awesome electronics projects. First I have to start with the very basic stuff though - to get the hang of it.  In a couple of months I hope to create something like the Robotshop Rover...

If you fall - I will catch you.


London - last day

In the British Museum, there are always a few favorites which are a fixed item on our route. The Rosetta Stone for sure, some mummies (always great), the original Portland Vase and the Wedgewood copies. We never saw the Warren Cup though and we had some trouble locating it in the vast exposition rooms - now knowing that is ts actually a tiny cup and NEXT to the (roman) Portland vase...