A couple of days of New Orleans – which where amazing.

One full day walking around in the Garden District (wow- what an amazing houses overthere)…..
And one day going on a swamp tour…. looking at a lot of water – green stuff AND yep – alligators…!

And then a trip to Panama City Beach…… doing totally NOTHING…except for enjoying the sea and the sun……. (nope – no oil on these beaches). Drinking beer and REST……!

Yep – again – some amazing days……

Complaints…??
Sure – but not worth the mentioning!

Totally forgot to tell you; we also did a tour on Graceland/Memphis…..
Really impressive….!!

Then a drive to Natchez – nice scenery…..as we did not drive the normal route – but we went via the 61.
We had an AMAZING bed and breakfast overthere…. -> Bluff Top Bed and Breakfast…… a nice porch with view on the Mississippi…. WOW….
Again “THANX” to Neil – the owner if this B&B.

Natchez is also a beautifull place…. hope to go there again.

And then again – a very nice drive via the 61 to New Orleans…… what to say about this city uh…?? Except for…. WOW…. or triple WOW or even more wows….
Nice…we have 3 more days in New Orleans !!!

Hi there,…… the first post from THE holiday….
USA trip 2010!

Yesterday we did arrive at Houston….picking up our rental car…. => little disappointment; we where going for the extra charges IF they would have a Ford Mustang Convertible..but NO…
Ah well – we still a nice car… no worries there!

Other worries?
Nope; all is going fine!
Nachododges hotel was nice; good food at the neighbors…. and we went to bed at 22.00h = 24 hours AWAKE…. – so we where TIRED!

Today a 9 hour drive to Memphis… arrived at the hotel in the early evening.

Sooooo- tonight we went to Beale Street in MEMPHIS…!

It is all nice shiny and flashy….

But then….. we got confronted with the ”USA waiter mentality”…. we got a waiter at the Irish Pub (Silky Sullivan something)…. we told the waiter we wanted drinks AND food…..
So – firs an order for drinks…white wine and a beer….

Very fast he delivered the drinks and was confronting us with the bill….
So – I told him we also where going to order food….. BUT his shift almost ended….!!
Uh….. what…??
So – his shift is ending and I need to be confronted with his dumb procedure of “I want to get my tip money”..??
OOOOOOH NOOOO!!!!
And this is why I don’t like the tipping part….
Last year in New York – this year in Memphis….; no real service – but fixated on “the tip”…..

And both the hotels; AGAIN- do you really have a lot of midgets in the USA…??
In both hotels – the shower is pointing at my nipples instead of my head…. WHY…??

And hotel Memphis (Sleep Inn); no free internet on the room… only for business and in the lobby,….. WHY…???

I do have more questions…….!

As you can imagine; we are really bored during such a drive….. – and we start “counting stuff”…
My comment (and question); did you know that ALL THE WALLMARTS between Houston and Memphis are located at the LEFT of the highway..?? Except for the last one in Memphis!!
But…. WHY….??

And uh….. all those questions on the highway about  “do you want to sponsor the highway”….
I think they already have a good sponsor…. called Goodyear (or another car tire sponsor)….
Keep the highway really bad; as you can see on the highways with all the broken tire pieces…. PFFFFF…. is it that hard to keep some good highways..??

Is it all negative..??

Ooooh noooo !!!

We have some amazing weather…!!

Counting the days…!!
Counting the days….. just a couple of weeks to go…. and then finally my holiday!

In one of my previous posts I was mentioning about some extra costs I am facing on my next trip…..!
By the way; it has been changed into -> Houston – Memphis – New Orleans – Savannah – Atlanta – flight to Toronto

One of my “already” conclusions for this trip; more expensive – more complicated…. pfff

More expensive…??
As I said before; plaintickets more expensive…. rental car more expensive…. And you know what…?? The car rental – first they said “not returning to the same station will not give extra costs…..”…. but apperently they where wrong; extra cost – $ 250.–
And what do you think about the euro – which dropped about 10% of his value…. Which will mean; 10% extra costs…!!
Next; the oil price is about half of his value last year – but the gas prices went up…..

Sorry – I really do not understand this crisis…….

More complicated?
And then the most sad part; the BP Oil disaster….
Very sad and I am afraid we still do no know what a huge of disaster this is going to be for the environment…. the people involved etc…!

So; yes – I should stop wining about the 250 dollar and 10% and the gas prices and the plane tickets…..!!

No no no…. this is not a Catholic promotion blog…
I just like old buildings and nice art….

Well…. then the Sistine Chapel is probably one of the best building to look at….
BUT; I have never been there… still – I can tell you how it does look like.

And soon can you; just look at the nice and beautiful virtual “tour” you can make on the website of the Vatican!!

Enjoy!
Sistine Chapel

(found this page via NRCnext.nl)

While I have been on a little holiday – I did receive an email with a real nice link…..

As you can read on my site; I am most certainly the kind of “unbeliever”…… and I would not call the Catholic Church my friend….

(don’t get me wrong; I don’t have anything against Catholic people….. I am just the kind of person who is “a bit against” all religions….     )

BUT; that does not mean that I do not like the history of religions. And I am most certainly very interested in all kinds of backgrounds…..

Okay; back to the email I got….. it is a link to the Vatican; it shows a Virtual Reality Tour of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran.

Just look at them; and be amazed…..!!

Select one of the buildings; once you are inside – you can use the left mouse button to go through the building (do not forget to watch the amazing ceilings)….. if you have a scroll button – it will get you closer to the object….!

Basilica of Saint John Lateran

Last Friday I have been watching a tv show/quiz….. and one of the questions was;

if you leave your bicycle UNlocked, can you get a fine of;
a. you will not get a fine
b. fine of 30 euros
c. fine of 70 euros
d. fine of a higher amount

With this question I was totally convinced; you will NOT get a fine…!!
Oooooh I was WRONG…!!
The correct answer is; a. fine of 30 euros

Uh…. what…??

So – our society is really this far..??
Probably you will get the fine because you are tempting a thief to steal your bicycle..??
This way the world is turned around uh..??
Next step will be;

“Yes judge; I took all those 150 bikes….- but you know what……??
I am not the one who is guilty…!! Those people left their bikes UNLOCKED…. this way they did something totally AGAINST THE LAW…..!!
IF they would not have done that, I would not have been able to take those bike…. See; I didn’t steal them – I took them…. And uh… those previous owners of the bike; they still should get their 30 euro fine….!!”

And you know what……?
When you go to the police – reporting your bike stolen; first thing the police is normally saying “sorry – we have a lot of stolen bike; there is not really a chance we can help you“……–> but – be careful to not mention you forgot to lock it… cause then you will hear “sorry – we have a lot of stolen bikes, there is not really a chance we can help you….. AND it is your own fault and because of that “fault” you will get a fine of 30 euros”

I have been laughing about a lot of ridiculous laws – but wow…. this law IN HOLLAND….. (number 1 country with bikes)…… it did not make me laugh…. it made me SAD!!

Last year I spent my holiday in the USA and Canada….  a nice circle from Toronto – Niagara – Washington – New York – Toronto
I had a lot of fun….. saw amazing stuff…. so – I really had a great time.

So; busy with making plans for my next holiday -> I am thinking of the following one; Houston – New Orleans – Orlando – plane to Toronto.

All this is starting in Holland…. – so lot of preperation; I need a plane – I need hotels – I need a car….

So – I thought “in time of crisis – the prices should be lower OR at least the same….”….

Especially after my little “failure of last year”; I booked my plane ticket and a week later – our Dutch Government announced they would stop a certain airport/plane tax….
THIS would have meant; my plane ticket about 60 euro cheaper…
But okay – this would start after the 1st of July…. – I traveled before that date….so => just “bad luck”.

Last week I started looking for my new plane ticket – thinking of “well – this time – it MUST be cheaper – as that tax is still not back”….

WOW – that is wrong thinking….

Same ticket is going to be 70 euro MORE EXPENSIVE…

But okay – car rental business must be bad uh..??
Less people renting cars etc etc…

Again; WRONG….
Same car is going to be about 80 euro more expensive…..

I checked the hotel in Toronto; surprise surprise – MORE EXPENSIVE….

My humble opinion; the financial crisis must be over…..
AND I am spending more money on my holiday this year…. pffff

BUT; I really do not want to hear the hotel business – the car rentals – KLM/NWA/Air France/AirCanada about “bad times” and “less sales”…..

Okay – maybe this all sounds like a weird idea…., BUT; I really do like the idea…..

AS you all know; I went to New York last (early) summer -> and yep – I have been on Times Square.. and most of my attention went to the people on the street (and sitting on their chairs); WATCHING THE ADVERTISEMENTS…!
Why would you spend your time watching huge billboards…??
I have no idea….!!

But this week; some tweets of Ernst-Jan Pfauth (DutchProBlogger) caught my attention; “We’re Gonna Replace All Advertising on Times Square with Art. Here’s How“…..
Just a simple idea; get the money AND the artist to put nice art on the big light screens on Times Square…. and make Times Square (for the first time…?) look REALLY NICE….!!

Lets see if the Dutch can change New York (again)…..!!

Details; the Times Square to Art Square page

Just wanted to share this little video with you all;

Some people are just grazy about Christmas AND the game Guitar Hero….. and the result;

Christmas Light Hero is using 7 light controllers from Light-O-Rama built from kits to control 21,268 lights and LEDs. Each controller has 16 outputs and 2-3 TTL level control inputs that are used by the game system to fire different programmed light sequences depending on what happens in the game. It relies on the fact that the game sequence is very consistent. If the game and the lighting sequences start together, they will stay in very good sync through the length of the song. The light program allows branching and overlays for fail, star power and “ready.” I have some ideas to automate the initial show/game sync, but for now you have to push doorbell buttons at the right moments.

To program the show a video recording was made of a perfect round of Guitar Hero playing Eric Johnson’s Cliffs of Dover. The timing of all the dots and the light show choreography follow that video.

When you play, you watch only the Christmas lights, but the audio you hear is from the Wii, so your flubs are broadcast for all to hear (people in cars can tune 99.1 and crank it up as loud as they want.) When we are not playing, a separate version of the program that has the audio from the recorded game plays with the lights as a loop. The YouTube video also has this audio, (because I forgot to record the direct audio when I was shooting the documentation, and the camcorder did not pick it up very well.)

A video screen is on the driveway showing the game video, but if you want to be on the high score list you have to make it through the whole game only watching the Christmas Lights. Even though the game is in “easy” mode, the lights don’t provide the same timing detail as the game does, so it is much harder. Even expert Guitar Hero players have a hard time with the lights, and nobody has made it through without errors (yet).

Source; Christmas Light Hero