Historic Hotel in Bruges

Advantages: Very Central, Attractive Listed Building, Good Facilities
Disadvantages: Part of a Chain and Past its Prime...

...In 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte was invited to stay at the 'Hotel du Commerce', Bruges, during an official visit to the city. He accepted the invitation. A superb triumphal staircase and a sequence of beautiful, 'Bonaparte halls' were especially commissioned within the then 200 year-old Hotel to mark the occasion. However, in what must surely have been a heartbreaking and insulting blow to all concerned, Napoleon cut short his official visit, and in the end he didn't even stay in Bruges at all. Today, nestled behind the winding and cobbled St.Jakobstraat, a quiet side street in Bruges' town centre, stands the old 'Hotel du Commerce', or to draw upon it its new and rather clumsy, official title, the Best Western Premier Hotel Navarra Brugge. It is a charming position for a hotel, just a brief stroll from Bruges' beautiful Market...

snowbunni 06.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Best Western Premier Navarra, Bruges

Wine appreciation for beginners...

Advantages: Great tasting, good value wine
Disadvantages: Can be hard to get hold of

...Firstly let me just say that I'm not a wine buff. I've been to a few organised tastings and have picked up an idea of what to look for, but by the end of the night I was always rather on the inebriated side rather than the civilised 'let's spit it out' corner. I have however been relatively adventurous with my choice of wines over the last few years and am really working out what I like (not what the experts say I should like). I'm currently having a major flirtation with Spanish reds and have recently found a great tasting, good value wine from Navarra that I want to tell you about. One thing I've learnt is that the taste of wine is dependent on many factors, from the weather and soil affecting the grapes themselves to the material the barrel is made of affecting the final taste of the wine. So here's some interesting background...

Jaycey 27.10.2004 · Read review
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Review of Fortius Navarra Crianza 1999

BS Seis - A Snapshot of Spain

Advantages: Spanish architecture
Disadvantages: Touristy

...eloquently sums it up; as you wander through the aesthetically pleasing alleys, admire and absorb the samples of architecture from Zaragoza, Sevilla, Girona, Málaga, Navarra, Barcelona itself and many other places. If that had been all, the Poble would have earned the full 5 stars. Unfortunately, the atmosphere was uncomfortably commercialised and touristy. Every other building was a tacky souvenir store, packed with visitors trawling through postcards, pottery and paintings. Admittedly, I too succumbed and bought an olive plate, which was very traditional according to my Spanish companions. However, to be perfectly blunt, this was the exception rather than the rule. Depending on how smitten you are by the stalls, the Poble takes an hour or two to appreciate fully. According to the guide, the venue also hosts discos and bars, which are open...

jefferson 12.05.2001 · Read review
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Review of Poble Espanyol (Barcelona)

PROXAM de TUDELA

Advantages: A surprisingly attractive town
Disadvantages: Not a lot of tourist infrastructure (not always a con)

...Tudela is hardly Euro-Disney. In fact it's not somewhere that will be on many tourist's list as a 'must-see' destination. It's really just a very ordinary, work-a-day town, halfway between Barcelona and Bilbao. So why did I go there? No special reason, I was travelling between Barcelona and Bilbao and I needed somewhere to break the journey. Somewhere that was just about.....that's right, halfway. When we scouted around on the net for a hotel, we came up with one we liked, the Tudela Bardenas (which I've written about). They have a pretty good website which has plenty of information about the area's attractions. So one thing led to another and we eventually decided to spend a couple of days there. TUDELA, with a population of 27,000, is the most important town in the La Ribera area of Navarra. Situated at a strategic...

proxam 01.08.2003 (30.03.2004) · Read review
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Review of Tudela

Recoil

Advantages: Action.....Action.....Action
Disadvantages: Poor acting

...= ..................Recoil (1998)................. = Directed - Art Camacho Screenplay - Richard Preston Jr. Producers - Richard Pepin and Joseph Mehri Director of Photography - Ken Blakey Production Designer - Helen Harwell Editor - Heidi Scharfe Costume Designer - Elizabeth Eckhardt Hair and Makeup Designer - Francie Hart Music - Timothy Wynn Cast: Gary Daniels - Det. Ray Morgan Gregory McKinney - Det. Lucas Cassidy Thomas Kopache - Captain Trent Billy Maddox - Mr. Brown John Sanderford - Chief Det. Arnold 'Cat' Canton Robin Curtis - Julie Sloan Kelli McCarty - Tina Morgan Maurice Lamont - Officer Alex Boorman Richard Foronjy - Vincent Sloan Michael Alaimo - Father Navarra Christopher Boyer - Abercrombie Vincent DePalma - Nicholas Sloan Griffin Drew - Hooker Francis...

lukedspurs 08.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Recoil (DVD)

Tudela Bardenas

Advantages: Modern, well equipped and inexpensive
Disadvantages: No view from the window

...I've visited Spain more times than a matador has greased himself up to squeeze into one of those silly costumes they wear, but usually it's a question of either staying at a beach resort, or renting a villa in the hills close to a beach resort. This year, we decided to fly to Barcelona, pick up a car, and tour Northern Spain. One of the hotels we stayed at was the TUDELA BARDENAS, in the Ebro valley town of Tudela, Navarra. The town is about halfway between Barcelona and Bilbao. ? LOCATION ? The hotel is located directly opposite a park and the Plaza del Toros on Avenida Zaragosa, the town's main thoroughfare. If you're arriving from the direction of Zaragoza, it's very simple to find - just exit the motorway at Tudela South and follow the signs for town centre. Naturally, I didn't, and I had to negotiate my way round...

proxam 25.07.2003 (26.07.2003) · Read review
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Review of Hotel Tudela Bardenas

The best Tapas in Breda ... I think!

Advantages: Fantastic food and prices
Disadvantages: Smoky inside (but only until July)

...at the best of times, so I apologize if I've missed anything from this review due to dodgy notes and hazy recollections. For example: "Sore - ached for her, talks a white fish!" I think I actually meant "Service - waited for her, takes a while for each dish!" I also have "A LOT OF DRUNK DUTCH!" screaming at me in capitals from the page but methinks that was a bit rich coming from our group. Here are some other things it took me a while to work out. "Hanlore snookers here!" = "Hardcore smokers here!" "Not all mattresses spread Sp" = "Not all waitresses speak Spanish" "Tell truth about civic!" = "Tell truth about wine!" Tell truth? Well I was told it was OK, quite strong. It was a young wine, Navarra, and only one of us had some. THE RESTAURANT The name FEBO is actually a bit of a Dutch in joke. In...

larsbaby 08.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of FEBO, Breda

The breakthrough album

Advantages: Quality of production, music & lyrics
Disadvantages: Gloomy cover, will take ages to 'grow on you'

...& Alan Weighll on bass guitar Frank Clark on acoustic guitar Clive Hicks on 12 string guitar Alan Parker on rhythm guitar Colin Green on Spanish guitar Barry Morgan & Terry Cox on drums Dennis Lopez & Tex Navarra on percussion Paul Buckmaster on solo cello Diana Lewis on moog synthesiser Brian Dee on organ Skaila Kanga on harp Backing vocals were Tony Burrows, Kay Garner, Tony Hazzard, Madeline Bell, Leslie Duncan & Roger Cook. Dick James had set a £6000 budget to record the album & it was recorded in January 1970 at the Trident Studios in London. It was only half finished when the £6000 budget had been used up. Dudgeon had to go 'cap in hand' to Dick James to get more money to finish the album. Once Dick James heard the finished recordings he released the money & it was completed. The whole album was recorded live & completed in...

ScottishWestie 15.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of Elton John [Remastered] [Hybrid SACD] - Elton John

COME TO SPAIN!

Advantages: Beaches, good climate (in general), night life, cultural places...
Disadvantages: Not to come..

...Cantabria, but it has two important cities, Gijón and Oviedo. It has a very good gastronomy, with a special importance for the ?sidra?. PAÍS VASCO It is one of the most ?conflictives? communities because of the terrorism of ETA that wants the independece of the community. But it isn?t really worrying for tourist, because their horrible murders are directed to politicians most of them. The best city in this community is San Sebastian, a really beautiful place, while Bilbao is also an important city. They also have a regional language, the Euskera. NAVARRA It is a small community, with an important history, its important city is Pamplona, and the best time to go... in the ?San Fermines? it is a special party of some days from the 7th July with bulls and people who run with them. Of course, I don?t recommend you to be one of those...

The_Spaniard 07.11.2003 · Read review
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Review of General: Spain