A Glow In The Dark Road
I found this story on the BBC web site. It describes how photo-luminescence is going to be used in The Netherlands to make a road safer. It follows a similar idea in a park in Hammersmith that I reported here.
I backed a guy, who was doing something similar thirty years ago, but nothing came of it, I probably wasted a grand, so it wasn’t something I couldn’t affoprd.
I have only seen one successful application of the technology and that was in the Hotel Windsor in Nice to create a ceiling of stars, that dimmed as you went to sleep.
It was very romantic and I wonder if the hotel still has the same ceiling.
But whatever happens to the road in The Netherlands, I believe it is a technology that has lots of applications and we’ll see a lot of it in the future.
A Strange Hotel
According to the guy at the airport, Chamartin station was the place to go to get a hotel and onward travel.
I had three options.
- I could travel on to Barcelona, as I knew it was only three hours away by high speed train.
- I could stay in a hotel and go round the Prado, before getting a flight home on the 13th.
- I could stay in a hotel and get trains home the next day, via Barcelona and Paris.
I queued up for information and as ever in Spanish rail information offices, you got no help whatsover. The ticket machines didn’t help either, so that eliminated option one.
So I had to find a hotel. There was actually a four star hotel by the station.
It was the strangest hotel, where I’ve stayed in recent years.
I walked straight in past a security guard and approached the desk and asked if they had a room. They did and said it was sixty euros.
I asked about wi-fi, so I could plan my escape to London, but the receptionist said it wasn’t working.
The bed was comfortable, but as to the soap, shampoo and other things you expect in a four star hotel, there was none.
I did get a snack in the bar of Iberian ham, but I was still very hungry as I not eaten since a runny omelette in the morning, except for a couple of EatNakd bars.
Some of the reviews in Trip Advisor are not very complimentary. Under a heading of Never Again, there is this one.
I booked a surprise weekend away for me and my girlfriend and I came across the so called 4 star Husa Charmartin Hotel and I was very astonished, not just by the poor service and the presentation of the hotel but also at the lack of good facilities. There were no tea or coffee making facility, no extra pillows and NO DUVET (yes Duvet). The Bathroom had mould and cracks.
But at least my room was clean, had a duvet and it didn’t have little furry friends running about!
If you read the Wikipedia entry for the station, you’ll see that it was built for the 1982 World Cup and it is now suffering from a rebuilt Atocha station. This probably explains why the hotel was at it was. It’s a bit like having a four-star hotel at Willesden Junction. Would anybody stay there?
My Hotel In Bordeaux
I stayed at Le Boutique hotel in Bordeaux.
Le Boutique Hotel In Bordeaux
It was OK and they found me a very good restaurant for supper on Thursday.
But I wouldn’t stay there again, as the lift to get to my room was not to my taste. I can think of some, who would have used it once and left the hotel.
Hotel Du Palais, Biarritz
The Hotel Du Palais is a hotel steeped in history and luxury.
I would have stayed there if it hadn’t been closed for the winter.
After all, they did let Michael Portillo in.
A Sensible Hotel In Biarritz
It was the third time in recent months, that I’d stayed in a Radisson Blu hotel.
It was practical and the bathroom was one where I could have a good bath, without fighting the designers ideas. Not sure on the tile design though!
i could also have taken my ironing, as I don’t have one at home.
I also got gluten-free bread with my meals.
Something, that I couldn’t photo was the television. A normal Samsung, but it had access to every channel possible. I watched the London flavour of BBC1, but all the other regions were available. So even Alex Salmond would have felt at home! If you’d been a Coronation Street fan, ITV was also available.
These days, with satellites and the Internet everywhere, surely a hotel can provide guests with every possible flavour, which has some degree of decency and taste. If I can get hundreds of channels in my house in Hackney for a few hundreds a year, I can’t see the problem.
A Bathroom For Flirts?
I took these two pictures in the Silken Gran Dominie hotel.
C would have loved this, it gives endless opportunities for discrete displays of flesh to your partner.
She could be an exuberant flirt at times.
I remember one incident, where in a hotel in Berlin with a two-star Michelin restaurant, she’d secretly put the full set of underwear with stockings on for our mutual enjoyment. She was demure to everyone in a silk suit and I knew nothing of any surprise, until she returned from the loo, felt for my hand under the table and put a small scrap of fabric into my grasp.
The small scrap of fabric was her knickers.
She was then unduly slow with the rest of the meal!
My Hotel In Bilbao
I stayed at the Silken Gran Dominie hotel in Bilbao.
The hotel was comfortable and although it was a five-star one, I got each night of my say at €102.30.
The food and service were good and I ate in the hotel for most of the two days, as they knew their gluten-free and I wasn’t too sure about other places in the city.
But various little things were not what you would expect from a good hotel.
The wi-fi was free, but the passwords were so complicated, I never managed to get connected. My username was all numbers and letters with a password of kKf6vaW6. Ty typing those in on the small screen of a Samsung S3 Mini. But at least they provided a free desktop machine in the Business Centre.
There was no bathrobes, tea or coffee equipment or free water in the room, which I expect in a five star hotel.
There were also a few small details that annoyed. One was that you could only empty the bath from inside it, as you couldn’t reach the control for the plug. Note the picture of the bath! It’s full of water, which I couldn’t release once I had got dressed.
On the other hand the house wine cost just two euros a glass in the hotel’s cafe. And it was good too!
I’d definitely stay again, but I would expect the same cost!
My Hotel In Geneva
I didn’t have a hotel, when I arrived in Geneva, so I just walked out of the station and tried the first I saw.
It was a design hotel, called the Hotel Christal.
There were the usual small design glitches, but I’d certainly stay there again, as it was so convenient for the station.
The thing that annoyed me was that the socket, didn’t take my standard European adaptor. It was a new French design, which looks to be incompatible with the rest of the continent. In one excellent hotel I stayed in, there was a panel which accepted every possible plug.
I also found the coffee machine too clever for me. When will designers realise that those who buy their products have money. And many who have money are retired with the odd health issue.
My Hotel In Genoa
I’d booked a cheap hotel in Genoa, because the Alexander Hotel looked to be close to the main railway station at Principe. It was very close!
The Alexander Hotel taken From The Metro Station
The hotel was clean, in an excellent location and the staff were friendly and helpful, even if they didn’t know about the metro.
Checking on the Internet, Genoa doesn’t seem to be too well served with hotels close to the main station. So if you’re going to Genoa, I’d do your research thoroughly.
A Big Mistake In Naples
I know Naples well and I like the city a lot, but I still made a big mistake, by not getting a hotel right in the middle and preferably by the station.
I choose to stay at the Holiday Inn and it all went well getting there as the taxi was just ten euros.
I then needed to get back into the city to have something to eat. I wanted to get to Umberto’s restaurant, which is one I’ve used before that is very celiachia-friendly.
I thought there would be a bus, as coming in, I’d noticed the stop on the other side. But the guy at reception said that the only way to get back to the city centre was to take a taxi and he would call one. Like an idiot I believed him.
The taxi driver appeared about twenty minutes later and insisted I wanted to go to Pompeii. I ignored him and felt that perhaps the best thing to do was take an early night. He then called the receptionist and as I was hungry, I negotiated a trip to Umberto. I didn’t get the direct route and it cost me twenty euros to return.
But at least the meal was worth eating, even if I was a bit stressed. I finished the meal off with this ice cream.
Ice Cream at Umberto’s
It tasted as good as it looked. But then I trust Umberto’s, as everything gluten-free is clearly marked GF. And they even do gluten-free pizza!
Coming back, they sorted the taxi for me and I got back to the hotel for fourteen euros. As they said, I should have got a hotel in the centre.
The room in the Holiday Inn was actually quite comfortable and good value.
In the morning though, when asking another receptionist (female) how to get to the city centre, she gave me the timetable of their free shuttle bus. And of course, one would have been convenient to have used in the evening.
I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere near a Holiday Inn again. Especially in Italy!
The Anonymous Widower 