Today, on 5th of Iyyar, 61 years ago, Israel became an independent country.
Happy Birthday, Israel.

I apologize for the poor quality. Photos were taken by phone, because due to the nature of the trip I didn’t take the camera.

After yesterday’s day trip to Gibraltar I’m happy to report that it’s still there and still as it was in September. Petrol, cigarettes and alcohol is still cheap, litre of petrol 95 Euro costs 63p and pack of Gauloises £1.40.
The monkeys are still there, and there are many of them. Locals say that nowadays there are so many of them that they’ve become a menace and are being put away. That, of course, sparks protests. …

UK version:

Estonian version:

The test is available at euprofiler.eu. Of course, as any test, it’s not absolute truth (for example, et UK version suggests my positions are closest to BNP, for which I would never vote), but it perhaps gives you an indication.
I know I am going to vote for the Tories in the European Parliament election, but if you don’t yet know who to vote for, maybe this test helps a bit.

Haarlem is a small town near Amsterdam. It looks very much like Amsterdam, but is better, since there are no hordes of tourists and the life seems more relaxed and calm. I spent there couple of hours and took some photos:

Near Haarlem there’s a town called Hillegom. It’s quite a boring town, but what makes it interesting is that its flag is identical with Lithuanian flag:

And near Hillegom there’s another boring town of Lisse, which …

If there’s a place on the Earth where nothing ever changes, it’s Amsterdam. Whenever you go there, you always know what to expect. Smell of cannabis, canals, half-naked prostitutes, idiots on bikes, trams… the whole pot. Due to idiots on bikes, it’s pretty impossible to drive in the city, because the cyclists come from everywhere all the time and they just don’t care about anyone else but themselves, so they terrorize both drivers and pedestrians. …

Some 30 miles from Brugge towards Brussels lies the town of Gent. It’s quite similar to Brugge, but it’s not as touristic and it shows. Houses haven’t been restored and are rotting, there are no masses of tourists (well, except perhaps in cafes) and the town is quite quiet. Perhaps this is real Flanders, I don’t know. But if you want to see a Brugge-like place without the tourists, then go to Gent.

There won’t be …

Bruges, or actually Brugge (since it is in the Dutch (Flemish) speaking part of Belgium) is located in northern Flanders and for younger generation it’s probably famous because of the film “In Bruges”. Some say, it’s a very touristic town and real Brugge is actually around the historic centre, but what else would a tourist want to see, if not the historic centre and take a boat ride on the canals.
It is a nice little …

Again I have to say I’m sorry for not blogging for a while. The reason for that is a little road trip to the continent in last weekend. The following places got honoured by my visit: Bruges (Brugge), Gent, Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Lisse, Hillegom, The Hague and Haarlem.
I’ll soon try to find a bit of time to post some photos and info about the places.
Until then, take a look at this and weep again because …

Bentley Mulsanne Turbo in Brixton.

You can find the Thames Barrier or flood gate east from Greenwich, precisely here:
View Larger Map

A view to City, Canary Wharf and east London from Royal Observatory in Greenwhich. (Click on the photo for a larger view.)

In both Windsor and London, the temperature was 27.5°C this afternoon. It’s summer!

Windsor is a nice little place to take a day trip to. Highly recommendable.
Besides, me and a friend of mine, we saw a red haired soldier there who carried a backpack and walked straight in the castle from the big gate. The soldier looked incredibly similar to Prince Harry. Unfortunately, he walked by quite fast, so we couldn’t ask him if he really …

Police would no longer need to suspect that an offence has been committed in order to stop and breath-test a driver. Breath specimens taken at the roadside would become admissible as primary evidence in court, removing the need to carry out additional tests at a police station. Drivers would lose the right to demand a blood test.
It’s of course nice that the Government are trying to reduce traffic deaths, but the …