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The whole city sees orange for a week. If you love the Pumpkin-fest as much as we do, the Banks of the Foyle festival is a pilgrimage, a must, as it’s simply the biggest celebration of Halloween in Europe. Performances, music, big parade, massive firework, lectures, … name it. Don’t forget the costume, you might get lonely.

We spent 3 days, walking around the city, having beers with zombies, discuss history with ghosts, and sing Irish songs with witches. And sharing Fish n’ Chips with a dozen Marios and Luigis…

We even (easily) managed to escape for a day, to have a peaceful moment by the sea, across the border…

The Walled city

Lying on the banks of the river Foyle, Derry (LondonDerry if you dare to call it like that…) is a walled city, stage of many historical events, from Plantation of Ulster to The Troubles, more recently.
You can feel the weight of the past, turned into lust for life.
A city packed with good vibes, especially during this Banks of the Foyle festival.

Our first step in History was the Saddler’s House, our mansion for this trip.
We were invited to stay in this charming Bed&Breakfast, here for centuries as well.
Family mood, easy going and super interesting. Regulars from everywhere come back every year, especially for the festival .
We learned a lot from our hosts and their guests, passionate about Derry and both Irelands.

We spent our time walking around Derry, along the wall, on the wall, on both sides of the river.

A big part of the center (Cityside, West bank of the Foyle) is pedestrian, and is perfect to wander. This is the oldest area, where are most of the shops, museums, bars and restaurants. Use the wall to go from A to B, stop here and then for a coffee. Perfect.

The impressive Guildhall is a symbol of the city. It is not only the city hall, but a museum and culture center as well.
The building is pretty much the highest in town, and you can see its red brick clock tower from almost everywhere.
It’s also a smart place to start a full tour of the wall.
(We highly recommend to start or/and finish your tour with a good meal at Cafe Soul, just next to the Guildhall.)

The Free Derry area was pretty intense as well… One of the place you go and wonder if it’s over.
You can discover by yourself, or try out the walking tour.

The original western core of the city grew bigger and bigger outside the wall, to finally reach the other side of the river (Waterside, East bank of the Foyle).
You can cross the river, in the center, using this bridge I fell in love with… The Peacebridge. I love its twisted look.

We “stepped into history” again, in the City Walled Brewery of James Huey. A brewery and restaurant, located on Ebrington Square, in barracks of a former military base, turned recently into a more entertaining area. I still wake up at night, thinking about Huey’s BOOM pale ale…

Halloween crawl

The Banks of the Foyle festival takes place all over the city, offering a wide and diverse bunch of activities.
More than just a big costume party, it’s a cultural event merging the spirit of Halloween and the local rituals and traditions. You’re invited to wander all around the city to attend a play, watch some art installations, listen to music, play a Halloween-special laser tag, learn how to make-up, etc…

On Saturday, the parade is the climax. A show dedicated to the Rise of the River Gods, protectors of the city, accompanied by a dancing joyful crowd of skeletons, witches, and other fantastic creatures. Everybody is already costumed since the morning and gather slowly on Strand Street and behinf the Guildhall, for the Finale.

A giant firework concludes this together-moment, and kids can go home,
everyone elso to the pub.

We made the best of the second option: Pubs.
We went to a small area, Waterloo street, where to find good pubs next to each other. You can walk in and out, discover new ones, follow new friends … Special shows for the occasion, the only way to see a Jedi playing the bass guitar on Folk Irish music if you ask me…

We just followed the flow, asked to people, and had an amazing night, having beers, floating like zombies in the streets of Derry, listening to Irish music or Beyonce.
A real festival atmosphere, safe and lively.

Bar/Pub Top 3:
– Grand Central Bar (Strand Rd)
– Gainsborough Bar (Shipqay Pl)
– Sandinos (Water St)

(Oh, and if you’re around Waterloo Street, day or night, Halloween or not,
don’t forget to check Frankie Ramseys Cafe, in William Street, for a Fish n’ Chips or a breakfast. It’s so good you’ll cry.)

Loch Súilí and Bun Cranncha

After this Halloween night, we needed some fresh air and green.
So we asked Joan from the Saddler’s house and she informed us the sea was only 30min from Derry.

After an amazing brunch at Primrose Cafe, we grabbed a bus, destination: the Lake of Shadows (or Lough Swilly. Perfect for Halloween!!), in Ireland!
Actually we did not realize at first, that we would cross a border. We were just told “Go to Buncrana, it’s only 30min from here”.

Buncrana, on the other side of the border is a cute litlle village on the shores a Fjord. It was so peaceful, perfect to finish this weekend.

It made us want to come back in Derry as starting point for a road trip all over both Irelands.
Maybe next year, “Knock on Pumpkin”.

The post “We take Halloween very seriously in Derry” appeared first on Hejorama.

I believe it’s entirely possible to get a good loan these days. I visited Loansonlineusa.net to find the funds I needed for my project. I needed to take out a loan without worrying that I’d be judged because of my credit history, and this website gave me that opportunity.

Going going,
back back,
to London London

It all started with a short stay in London, one of my favorite cities in the world and natural beginning for any good English road trip. We stayed in East London as always but this time decided to choose a hostel close to London bridge as we really enjoy the development of the lively and fun Southwark/Bermondsey area. Not to mention Borough Market, of one our favorite in the city along with Broadway market. It also gave us the chance to discover the BFI, the British Film Institute located on the South Bank, for drinks at night which we highly recommend.

For accommdation we chose the Rose & Crown, a proper English pub with a few hostel rooms which we really enjoyed : great location, super friendly staff and convenient amenities. It also gave us the chance to experience something new when our 2 American dormmates decided to bring back boys in our 4-bed dorm. But that’s for another story…

After two days in London, we got our rental car and headed to Suffolk. Now for all our readers driving their car on the right side of the road, don’t assume that it will be easy to switch to left and be extra careful at the beginning. If you can, pay the extra for an automatic car and spare yourself the effort to adapt to the shifting stick on the left. It’s all very worth it as it will allow you to really explore various areas of the country very easily but make sure you don’t ruin your trip with an accident.

And if driving a car isn’t an option for you, bear in mind that England as a good railway system and Suffolk is only a couple of hours away from London. Once there, biking or hiking are two great ways to get around as we experienced as well.

Ivy Grange Farm

Thanks to VisitBritain, our base for our Suffolk exploration was a fantastic yurt in Kim and Nick’s amazing Ivy Grange Farm. It was our first glamping (more about this in a coming article) experience and their glamourous yurts really are a new way to camp in comfort but still very close to the nature. It was a perfect fit for us as we are quite fascinated by all nomadic tribes and for a couple of days we felt a bit part of the Golden Horde of Batu Khan. And while we were not there to conquer any land, we did ride the camp bikes with passion around the countryside like fierce Mongol horseriders.

Among all the activities available, discovering the area by bike was definitely our favorite one and we spent an entire day in a quest to see all the Saints of Suffolk. It was a brilliant orientation race recommended by Kima and Nick on our arrival at the farm. We biked for about 40km in the area and managed to see all the beautiful churches of the Saints but one. I guess we wanted to leave ourselves a reason to come back and complete the quest!

Chillin’ on
English Riviera

A ride to Southwold would be only about an hour and half but decided that the car would allow to spend more time there before heading to the festival which was luckily exactly between Ivy Grange Farm and the coast. And this beautiful beach city of Suffolk definitely deserves the time of a good visit.

Southwold has a typical pier like most english beach towns but features a very unique attraction: “The Under The Pier Show“. If you expect a typical arcade game area when you enter the space created by Tim Hunkin, you will quickly realize that there’s something odd about the coin-operated machines in there. Just to give you a quick gilmpse of the arcade “games” avaiable, our favorite one is “microbreak”, a motorized armchair and TV set that takes you on a very ironic trip around the world through an hilarious animated film. Forget about Street Fighter and Pro Evolution Soccer, the real deal is in Southold: Rent-A-Dog, Bathyscape or Microbreak are way more fun and unique experiences!

During our research for the trip we also learned that English writer George Orwell spent some time in Southwold during his youth and actually took his writer’s name from the Orwell river that crosses Suffolk. As an hommage to one of our favorite writer we had lunch at Marks Fish Shop on High St where he was supposed to be a regular customer.

Getting the proper attitude
for Latitude

After a coffee on the beach, we had to leave sunny Southwold and a short drive took us to Henham Park where Latitude festival takes place. We decided to arrive early and avoid the usual hassle of big festivals: massive jams at the parking lots, queues to get the bracelet, etc. But from what we could see everything is well organized at Latitude to avoid those inconveniences and the staff was super helpful. Didn’t take us a long before we were laying on the grass with a beer deciding on the acts we would go and watch at night.

We had a great time at Latitude and were delighted to discover a festival that is about much more than just the music. It’s a fantastic artistic experience in the beautiful forest of Henham Park. Of course, having the chance to see Santigold, Young Fathers, UMO, Ezra Furman, Caribou and Django Django perform almost back to back was amazing.

But we were also stunned by the unique theatrical experience of “With a little bit of luck” co-produced by the company Paines Plough and writer Sabrina Mahfouz.

And this was just one of the great acts we saw over the couple of days of the festival which included wild parties at the Electro Shack, hilarious comedy in cabaret and old school soviet Russian vibe at the Dasha. For more about the festival head to our recap post on MustLoveFestivals.com and a full multimedia coverage in our dedicated article.

Last day, with ancesters

After two days of fun at the festival, it was time to head back home but not without a stop in Sutton Hoo, an archaeological site where you can discover a bit more about the “East Anglia” history and walk around the medieval burial site. Honestly there isn’t that much to see outside of the museum but it’s an interesting spot to get some information about the past of Suffolk.

The city of Woodbridge nearby can also be a good stop on the way to or from London. It has some beautiful medieval houses including the Hill House Hall bed and breakfast where we had the chance to stay for a night. Located in the oldest house of the region, this charming bed and breakfast takes you a bit closer in time to the East Anglia back when it was ruled by the kings buried in Sutton Hoo. But with much more comfort!

This final episode was the end of our trip in Suffolk which was much more than just a getaway trip in the countryside as you can see and we had the chance to live many cultural and artistic experiences over the course of only a few days!

The post The Suffolk adventure appeared first on Hejorama.

It took me a while to figure out how to talk properly about his project… rdv o globe.

Konomi*

rdv o globe is a concept store,
where you can find a selection of independent fashion designers from all around the world (Aganovich, Isaac Sellam, First Aid To Be Injured, Syngman Culcula, …),
as well as jewelry, hats, music records, items for home, …
all gathered according to what Shunsuke likes. Meaning only very, very good quality.

Shumi*

rdv o globe is a fashion brand,
cause yes, Shunsuke designs his own collections twice a year.
After having worked so long in fashion, he started to create his own clothes, and has nothing to envy to older and more established brands.
All together with the other independent designers, it’s perfect. All makes sense, all makes taste.

Mikaku*

rdv o globe is a Café,
where you can have a drink, hang out, meet Shunsuke’s friends and old colleagues,
and most of all eat better than in most of european restaurants… #fact.
Shunsuke does not care about fusion food, he just cooks with his young fellow Yuta;
they experiment, reinvent old receipes, from japanese raw fish in the simplest way, to french classics that he pretends to cook better than french people themselves… Bœuf Bourguignon for instance. I’m keen on believe him, though I’ll have to check on this last one.

Kuchiatari*

rdv o globe is a mood,
a lifestyle of hospitality and enjoying life,
through art, design, gastronomy, music, meeting friends in a place like home,
without following any trends, just ones instinct,
and taste.

rdv o globe is Shunsuke’s taste,
rdv o globe is Shunsuke.

rdv o globe is one of those few places where everything fits perfectly together, makes sense,
and is not “over-concept”.
Just guts and personal (high) taste, matched in the best way.

rdv o globe
2 Chome-22-1 Higashi
Shibuya-ku, Tōkyō-to 150-0011
Japan

rdv o globe Website and collections
rdv o globe Facebook page
Shunsuke's Instagram

*Taste

Konomi  好み  Taste, Choice, Liking
Shumi  趣味  Taste, Preference, Predilection, Favorite Pursuit, Predisposition
Mikaku  味覚  Taste, Sense of taste, Flavour
Kuchiatari  口当たり  Taste, Reception, Hospitality

Big up and Love to Ruben, who introduced me to Shunsuke.
#WaF

The post It’s all about Taste appeared first on Hejorama.

Besides the actual ceremony, I think the best part was to to be welcomed as family, in this Japanese Berlin community, who met to perform their tradition, and share it with their european family and friends. Weither it’s here in Berlin, or back in Japan, I highly respect and love the Japanese sense of hospitality. I met truly generous and open people.

After the Temae, we had a great time eating japanese food, and exchanging expatriate stories.
A truly good moment.

This legendary gambling masterpiece demands perfect timing because the rising multiplier crashes without warning. Punters must withdraw stakes quickly to achieve massive success. You should test your luck and play aviator game immediately.

For more information, initiations or lessons,
(or to find Japanese tea if you know your sh*t,)
I suggest you to pay a visit to Macha Macha (Facebook page), a cute and real japanese place in Berlin.

About Temae

” The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha (抹茶), powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called chanoyu (茶の湯^?) or sadō, chadō (茶道^?). The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called (o) temae ([お]手前; [お]点前^?).”
More on Wikipedia

Thanks to Mari, for always satisfying my endless appetite for Japan, anywhere <3

The post Berlin Japanese tea ceremony appeared first on Hejorama.

DORMA 21 Open Air

Our Strøm festival started with an afternoon party at Østre Anlæg garden, right behind the Statens Museum for Kunst. It wasn’t easy to find the spot for the party in the park, but the loud bass of vinyl shop Dorma 21 guided us through the woods. As with most of the Strøm events, this one was free and you could bring your own beers, and it was the perfect picnic spot. We chilled there for most of the afternoon listening to some great tunes by DJs selected by Dorma 21 for the occasion. The shining sun made this a perfect start to our Strøm experience!

Pølsefest

On Thursday, we started our day of partying with a proper sausage fest. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of ladies at this party including the brilliant four-girl DJ group “Apeiron Crew”, who made people dance even after they were full of hot dogs. All the attendees at the party at LOS café in the hip area of Norrebrø were invited to bring “pølse” with them (sausages in Danish), to have them cooked by a chef while they drank beers and listened to music.

That was really brilliant event and we loved the BYO sausage concept. You could really see that organizers wanted to have a great time and not just make money, as can sometimes be the case with successful festivals. Great music, fun people and sausages can only result in a great party that even a massive storm couldn’t stop…

Jane Fitz at Jolene

Thursday turned out to be a great day, as we ended the night in the “Meatpacking District” at club Jolene, for what would be the best party of the festival for me. We arrived late, but just in time to see the main act, British DJ and producer Jane Fitz, whom I had never heard of. And while I don’t know much about electronic music, I can tell you that I haven’t partied like that in a while! What I love with smaller venues like Jolene is that it gives DJs the chance to really connect and interact with the crowd. It was all about the music and having fun, the real festival spirit. Thank-you Jane for an amazing night!

Enghaveparken

The grand finale of Strøm is the two-day outdoor event that is held at Enghaveparken in Vesterbrø. It’s basically the best of all the week’s events in one place, over two days. There’s a big lawn where you can chill and listen to some good tunes. Or if you want to learn more about the electronic scene and the industry, there’s a series of master talks in one of the tents. We had the chance, for instance, to listen to DJ Champion talk about the U.K. scene he’s part of. It was really interesting, but of course it was the best to hear him play later that night on the main stage.

Between sets and concerts you have a big choice of food stalls. I’m not talking about the usual crappy fast food you find at festivals, but actually delicious meals. And like at all the Strøm events, I found everything very affordable. But maybe that’s because Copenhagen is very expensive in general.

NOTA BENE:

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If you’re like me, you’ve mostly heard of The Hague for the international court of Justice. Pretty impressive, but maybe not the first destination you would pick up for a weekend trip.
Big mistake of course.
After having seen Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the past, I would say it’s the best of both worlds, with its own identity.
The city is lovely, “split” in two parts: the center and the beach. Two different settings for a common (very chill) mood.

Festivals were again our very good excuse to spend a weekend in The Hague: ThissFest, Night at the Park and Parkpop.
ThissFest is a songwriter festival, taking place in all the city center, with mostly local artists.
Night at the Park and Parkpop occupy Zuiderpark, a huge public park transformed for the occasion into a playground for the largest free Pop festival in Europe (#Fact).

 
In the following part, you will find the points that will be developed soon in dedicated posts.
You can already find a few links and addresses though.
Till then, those flashbacks will give you an overview of those 3 days in The Hague.
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Wander by day
in The Hague

– Lovely Architecture
– Walkable, surfable and ridable city. Bikes and horses (#trueStory)
– Lots of good coffeeshops like Lola Bikes & Coffee to fill up the battery when exploring the city.
– Good art and especially contemporary art in galleries like Stroom or Gemak, and directly in the street.

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King Kool Hostel

– Probably one of the Koolest place on earth
– The space is awesome, lots of smart and funny ideas
– Awesome owner Jan, aka King Kool himself.
– The story of an Australian traveler who became part of the furniture, after he built it.

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Behind the dunes
of The Hague

– Peaceful atmosphere of northern sea beaches
– Surf culture, west coast spirit (kind of)
– Lots of good coffeeshops, bars and even clubs to chill by the sea, like Indigo Beach Club
– Get lost in the dunes and some Land Art if you get lucky

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Let’s dance
in Zuiderpark

– Parkpop, the largest free Pop festival in Europe
– Day and Night at Zuiderpark
– What happens when the national football team plays a worldcup game during the festival

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Night Crawling The Hague

– The city center by night, lively and safe
– ThissFest and live concerts all over the city
– Night crawl from bars like De Oude Mol or De Kikker to more dancing places like De SuperMarkt and Paard van Troje

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We were invited to stay at Copenhagen Downtown Hostel, which is perfectly located about five minutes away from Tivoli Gardens and the main city square. The neighborhood is very vibrant and pleasant, consisting mostly of small streets filled with restaurants and bars. Since it’s quite central, there are many touristy places around, but also more interesting hidden lively local spots. But don’t worry, the very helpful staff of the hostel will help you find them. You can also check our “Alternative guide to Copenhagen”  to discover some of our favorite places in town.

For us, the strongest feature of Copenhagen Downtown Hostel is the bar, as it’s actually a very cool place to have a drink, without the usual feel of hostel bar or common room. It’s probably one of the best we’ve been to on our travels to date. We  even went back there for drinks when we were staying in other parts of the city. It was the perfect place to hang out with the bean bags on the street, or to meet people at the big shared tables.

We also really appreciated the extra efforts made by the staff to bring people from the hostel together. I’ve only been to a few places around the world where it was as easy to meet other travelers, or even locals hanging out at the bar. To be clear, I’m not talking about cheesy bar crawls or drinking games, but cool stuff like free dinners shared by all the guests, morning runs in the city, or ping pong competitions.

When it comes to the rooms, the hostel is very minimalist, but at least it won’t distract you from the main point of being there: exploring Copenhagen (or hanging out at the bar)! Everything was very clean and comfortable, but it did lack a bit of character from our point of view. We’re only mentioning it because the bar and reception area is very stylish and cosy, making us expect the same from the rooms. But, for the price of the rooms, it’s great value.

We will post more on our adventures in Copenhagen soon, but in the meantime, I recommend checking out the hostel’s blog, as there is some interesting insider information about the city.

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Generator Hostels is a chain of very nice boutique hostel around Europe. They now have eight locations in seven major cities, and while we’ve been hearing about them for some time, we’ve never had a chance to stay in one. And I have to say that I was quite impressed by the Copenhagen property, designed by Philippe Starck and located right in the heart of the Danish capital.

I’ll admit we were sold straight away when we saw the Petanque bar on the first level of the building, which provides a high quality area to play boules, one of our favorite pastimes on a sunny Sunday back home in Paris.

The entire bar area is very spacious and beautifully designed, where you’ll also find the typical features of a good hostel, including computers, comfortable sofas and cheap beers during happy hour. The hostel has also thought about your hangover days, adding a massive home cinema to chill while your day gets better. It’s also very nice when you are traveling long-term and just can’t go on partying every night …

After an easy check-in, we headed to our en-suite twin-bed room, which was very nice and actually reminded of Lub D in Bangkok, possibly my favorite hostel in the world. Our windows were facing the street, but it was surprisingly quiet at night, even with the windows open. I guess the fact that most people cycle around Copenhagen helps in lowering the noise pollution.

And when it comes to bikes, Generator has you covered with brand new bicycles that you can rent and park in the massive parking lot on the first floor terrace, right next to the reception area. They are all in perfect condition, and have the typical Dutch/Danish back wheel lock, so you don’t have to carry around an actual lock. And as we keep saying in all our articles about Copenhagen, you HAVE TO bike in this city, it’s just so perfect!

To give you an idea, here are the times to get to our favorite parts of town from Generator Hostel by bike:

• Cool bars of the “Meatpacking district” in Vesterbrø -> 12 min (15 after happy hour)
• Blågårdsgade in Norrebrø -> 6 min
• Amager beach -> 20 min
• Christinia -> 8 min (45min to come back if you stopped to smoke weed on Pusher St.)

We had a fantastic time in Copenhagen, but were so busy with all the awesome events of the Strøm festival that we didn’t spend that much time in the hostel. But we loved that it was so central, where we could easily stop by to grab a jacket or take a quick nap between concerts.

For cool things to do in Copenhagen, make sure to check our dedicated city guide and stay tuned for our full report on the Strøm festival!

NOTA BENE:

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It’s hard to explain why I liked Red Hook so much but I think it’s because Brooklyn is definitely my favorite borough of New York. But Red Hook is so out of the way and secluded in a way that it has is own appeal. Maybe it’s this stupid “off the beaten path” obsession or the fact that no-one ever told me about Red Hook, but I really felt like I randomly “discovered” something very nice.

In the end, Red Hook is only about a few streets: Van Brunt, Reed, Conover, Van Dyke, etc. but this gives a very nice “village” feeling to it that you don’t get in the other massive neighborhoods of Brooklyn.

And since it used to be one of the main port of NY–it’s still where the RMS Queen Mary 2 docks–a lot of things are about the sea and you sometimes feel like you are in a fishing village sometimes. If you are into seafood, it’s supposed to be one of the best places to get lobster rolls. Sorry but I can’t confirm…

My favorite places there includes: Fort Defiance, Sunny’s and Hometown Bar-B-Que. But make sure to check Alisha’s post for a more comprehensive guide of Red Hook!

Let’s finish with some of the photos that Daniel took while we were there!

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