Back in Oslo at the Hotel Christiania Teater
August 30, 2019
Oslo is a beautiful city, but whatever you do, don’t try to drive in it. Even people who grew up here can’t do it. In particular, trying to get to the Hotel Christiania Teater from Lillehammer is, well, “interesting” in that Chinese curse kind of way.
As a creature of habit who has found a great property in Oslo, NPS is happy to stay at the Hotel Christiania Teater again. The only wrinkle is that someone else has booked 620 for Wednesday night. Scooped!
That meant we were relegated to room 510, which is a nice room with an inner courtyard facing “view.” 510 is very nice, but is not at all a 620!
510 is dominated by this comfortable bed
The suite sitting area is in the same room as the bed (which in our view makes it less of a suite and more of a room)
bathroom alcove
the shower is set apart by a huge heavy door
Sadly the plumbing seems to wake up early and make insane amounts of noise. An alarm clock of sorts.
The glass shower compartment, this shower is OK
One of the best parts of Hotel Christiania Teater is the bar downstairs which is top notch and always nice to visit.
Negroni with Norwegian gin
Excellent Indian food can be found at Jaipur.
Delicious
And of course a visit to Himkok is pretty much mandatory.
Experimental aquavit cocktail
Experimental Aquavit Cocktail
2cl aquavit
2cl tequila
4 cl beech water kefie
10 ml ambrato (bison grass)
10 ml Italicus
stir down. serve up.
Oslo #himkok bar pic.twitter.com/PSRIQrGJJ8
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) August 28, 2019
After a one day delay, room 620 became available. An excellent, interesting, quirky space with a great shower.
Alcove respite on 5 @HotelChrTeater pic.twitter.com/z0pWkidLjw
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) August 29, 2019
The supermodels show off 630
bedroom is all bed
walk in shower with tub
One of two great alcoves with windows
All in all 620 has tons of room to hang out, exercise (which is important since the hotel has no gym of its own), blog, read, etc, in comfort.
Some time in Oslo, included a visit to Gøran’s cousin’s excellent art gallery PURenkel.
I added a painting to the art collection.
starfish
There was also Indian street food, beer, and espresso.
Espresso oslo https://t.co/RvGRv3v9gb pic.twitter.com/m9nRBivt1C
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) August 30, 2019
A talk.
Visiting Miles
Dinner at Hanami was very good. Excellent sushi and great service.
Just skip the bar at the thief. These people have forgotten what hospitality is.
Five showerheads for Hotel Christiania Teater, one of NPS’ favorite hotels on the planet.
Grande Colonial Inn La Jolla Gets a Facelift
May 15, 2019
What a difference a year makes. Last year the Grande Colonial seemed a bit tired and long in the tooth. It has had a facelift.
View from 102
Though the architecture of the building has not changed, the room layout is much cleaner and more spacious. Even the long skinny bathroom (which remains long and skinny) is better.
Looking in the long skinny bathroom. Hey, the shower is not plastic!
This trend to delete bath tubs and replace them with modern shower spaces is a great trend. Much better use of space, and much more reasonable approach to morning cleanliness.
The best part of this design is that the controls are situated logically. No reason to get wet while you turn on the shower.
The rest of the room has been opened up, repainted, and re-imagined. Nice work.
102 bed
Seating area 102
Look how comfortable
Sadly, the parking lot has not been deleted. The ocean is over there somewhere.
Dinner at Catania was very good for a restaurant group property. Modern italian with a negroni to boot. Recommended.
Early negroni unless you are on East coast time pic.twitter.com/8HheWl4gTq
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) May 15, 2019
Sadly, the bar at Nine Ten (which is a very good restaurant in the hotel) is still sub-par. Gotta hire some hipsters who know what they are doing. The current bar suits the old, monied, and boring demographic of the hotel. Nuff said.
A badly made (poorly measured) negroni?! Ack. @grandecolonial @ninetenlajolla pic.twitter.com/07dkiFkT2k
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) May 16, 2019
George’s at the Cove, a La Jolla establishment of many years still deserving its reputation, still has the best cocktail program in town.
George's at the Cove is still the best cocktail bar in La Jolla pic.twitter.com/El9ddZSYIL
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) May 16, 2019
Joree Weatherly was a top notch barman who served us this cocktail. It has a name, but Joree did not write it down on the recipe I asked for. Lets just call it Trentino Tincture. Actually, it turns out to be named Shiso Piney
1.5 Amaro Junipero gin
.5 Pasubio amaro (from Trentino where I spent a year in 1993)
1 lemon
.75 shiso syrup
2 dashes of pine tincture
top with soda. serve on rocks in a collins glass.
This amaro is from Trentino where I lived in Italy in 1993. Gotta get some for my bar! It has an interesting blueberry note. pic.twitter.com/akuXYUCxCW
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) May 16, 2019
When we returned the next night with a cast of hundreds, Joree made use these great cocktails:
Mezcal Manhattan
1.5 Mezcal
.75 montenegro
.75 Averna
2 dashes mexican spiced bitters
Stir down, serve on a large cube
Negroni Amarillo
1.5 Mezcal
1 pamplemousse
1 suze
2 dashes sage tincture
Stir down, serve up with sage leaf
United upgraded us on the way out. Lets hope that works for the way back too. Global services rock on! Um, nope. No upgrade, and we’re here to tell you, economy sucks!
Well that sucks. @united once again fails to execute on a regional upgrade cert. They are pretend and not a perq. Number one on the upgrade list #globalservices
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) May 17, 2019
NPS is impressed. Nice work updating the property! Four showerheads for the Grande Colonial.
One Night at the Kabuki (Japantown, San Francisco)
March 18, 2019
After a weekend of staying with friends (paul, jim and chloe), we spent one night at the Kabuki before heading out of town early in the morning.
1602 is as nice a room as ever. We have been here before.
1602 bedroom in the upper corner
Kabuki 1602 @HotelKabuki. Sweet. pic.twitter.com/lVNYvqftIN
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) March 18, 2019
SF sunset @HotelKabuki pic.twitter.com/Hl08Xp3etn
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) March 18, 2019
There was just enough time to dash down a craft cocktail before dinner.
The Daffodil-Narcissus
1 oz Sipsmith gin
1 oz Bols Genever
1 oz honey/water 1:1
.5 oz lillet blanc
.5 oz lime juice
spoon of greek yogurt
egg white
dry shake. shake on ice. serve in a collins with a big cube and dill garnish.
Kabuki cocktails and dinosaurs @HotelKabuki
Sweet pea and dafodil-narcissus pic.twitter.com/FkdQCTchWU— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) March 18, 2019
Dinner at Mourad was very good indeed. Expensive as all get out, but great food and an excellent quirky wine list.
Superb @mourad_sf with @elinormills @AmyBarley @sfjacob pic.twitter.com/LqVHXM0nYW
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) March 18, 2019
And we now have a new driver in SF.
Four showerheads for the Kabuki and thanks for putting us up in our favorite room.
The (second ever) Great Belgian Rum Tasting (2019)
February 5, 2019
OK, well, the first one of 2019, but the second one ever.
The Great Belgian Rum Tasting of 2016 was a smashing success. So we decided to do it again some three-ish years later.
What that requires is a flight to Brussels, and a drive out to Lichtervelde.
You may recall that Lichtervelde is home to the world famous Eenie Meenie the goat. Eenie Meenie is getting on in years, and we were glad to see her again while she is still alive.
Eenie Meenie in the house
Things are much swankier than ever at chez Madou, where the bar is well stocked, Liberals are available at all times, and the kids are on track to shake up a mean cocktail.
Makings of a Liberal, including superior bourbon from Virginia
Start em early. Just don’t shake a martini.
Here’s how things proceeded on the rum front.
The lineup of seven rums
Cubay Ronera Central
Cubay Ronera Central: CUBA
Oak. Bitter. Alcohol nose. Under signed. 5 year. Proof 86. SCORE: 6
Havana Club Barrel Proof
Havana Club Barrel Proof: CUBA
Nice nose (no esters). Butter with a twist. Hot. Post sugar not too much. Proof 90. SCORE: 7
Pampero Aniversario
Pampero Aniversario: Venezuela
Venezuela. Post sugar. Balanced. Island style. Proof 80. SCORE: 6
Ron Millonario
Ron Millonario: Peru
Peru. Ester on the nose. Central America style. Brown sugar with ester twist. (Madou like it.) . Proof 80. SCORE: 5
Ron Barceló Imperial Blend
Ron Barceló Imperial Blend: Dominican Republic
Wins for ridiculous bottle. . Over sugared. Over oaked. Proof 86. SCORE: 5
Clément Single Cask
Clément Single Cask: Martinique
Rhum agricole. Great nose. Bitter. Mature Oak. Proof 93.6. SCORE 8
Clément Cuveée Spéciale XO
Clément Cuveée Spéciale XO: Martinique
Too hot. Under oaked. GAH. Proof ?. SCORE 4
Notes were kept.
Verdict is in.
The final order.
The final order:
1. Clément Single Cask
2. Havana Club Barrel Proof
3. Cubay Ronera Central
4. Pampero Aniversario
5. Ron Barceló Imperial Blend
6. Ron Millonario
7. Clément Cuvée Spéciale XO
8. Dettol
Special guest rum
As has become a tradition, a special guest rum was added to the mix just for fun. This year, dreft was replaced with the lemony goodness of Dettol
Special guest rum (slot 8)
Your host and the final order (plus or minus one)
Of course no visit to the new bar Madou would be complete without some tiki.
Yes, that is what you think it is (in Belgium)
Zombie for the tiki win
And no evening would be complete without a Liberal.
WRT showers and places to stay, above the bar is a complete guest suite featuring wood beams, skylights, a sitting area and glass showers. Sorry, no pictures.
Fix showerheads (plus one) for Madou’s new digs. Can’t wait to be back.
Thanks Madou.
Rydges South Bank Brisbane: Back on Top (part two)
December 2, 2018
Our first taste of Rydges South Bank Brisbane left a bad taste in the mouth. But a meeting with the GM in the morning cleared things up.
While we were off having breakfast, our room was switched to a very nice suite (room 1028).
Switched rooms @RydgesSouthBank. Much better. Last night was a disaster. pic.twitter.com/PW72C6vDDP
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) December 2, 2018
There is plenty of room in 1028. And two balconies to boot.
Wrap around balconies
Room to exist
Working desk
A separate bedroom
The bathroom is big enough for two, and has a big tub.
Much better shower. Ahhh!
The shower is very nice
Breakfast at the Gunshop Cafe is delicious. Great espresso and juice.
Gunshop cafe Sunday brunch
After which, an excursion to Stradbroke Island (called “straddie”). Ferry ride on a bus, picnic lunch, beer, hiking, gelato, swimming in the ocean. A great day.
Point Lookout
The seas were high, and we got wet, which was a blast!
See more pictures from the Stradbroke trip.
Dinner at Julius Pizzeria was authentically Italian. Great pizza and great people.
Julius Pizzeria
There is a budding cocktail scene in Brisbane. Thanks to Rachel at Wickham we were looped in. We can confirm that Saville Row is top notch. (Look for the orange door.)
Hey look, Brisbane cocktail scene. Savile row rocks it. https://t.co/wwRUnQTLUw pic.twitter.com/x9vrfxJm66
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) December 3, 2018
Likewise Electric Avenue is a great place for a cocktail. Jess created a drink for us.
Jess at Electric Avenue
Rye Surprise
45ml Bulliet Rye
20ml dry vermouth
15ml lemon
20ml kiwi puree
40ml pineapple
8 dashes peychauds
shake. double strain. serve up in a coupette. garnish with dehydrated pineapple.
Rye Surprise
Apparently a Brisbane cocktail called the clockwork orange was a contest winner…which contest we don’t recall. It falls squarely in the tiki category.
Clockwork Orange
20ml aperol
20ml cherry heering
20ml passionfruit syrup
30ml gin (monkey 47)
25ml lemon
2 dashes orange bitters
shake. strain. serve over crushed ice in a tall collins glass.
Bars we were unable to visit but heard tell are good include: Legends Speakeasy (find the passcode on the net) and Tomcat (behind Bill Murray).
Skip the Pancake Manor. Though it is built in an old church the food is awful and the espresso is worse. Greasy spoons should be greasy but not just bad.
Shoulda gone to frisky goat in the first place pic.twitter.com/H1RnmrQN3p
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) December 4, 2018
QAGOMA is an excellent museum. The modern art collection is far superior to the science museum’s stuff. Just stick with the art. Have a beer in the courtyard.
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) December 4, 2018
Beer, lizards and statuary at GOMA pic.twitter.com/CVo7sJ784q
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) December 4, 2018
The botanical gardens are also worth a visit.
Four showerheads and a tip of the hat to Rydges. Thanks for fixing things. Now for some sleep!
Hidden Lodge in Queenstown is a Hidden Gem
November 24, 2018
Hidden Lodge is the bomb. Make sure to stay here if you stay in Queenstown, New Zealand. The property is just as gorgeous as the surrounding countryside.
Hidden Lodge living room overlooks lake Wakatipu
The Wha room is downstairs and overlooks a verdant lawn.
All showers are glass
The Toru is upstairs with windows on both sides.
The shower is NPS approved
The wood fired hot tub is an excellent place for a soak. Just make sure it gets properly stoked!
Wood fired hot tub
The food and cocktail scene in Queenstown is pretty touristy, but that can be a good thing. Food at Blue Kanu is creative and delicious.
Budda at Blue Kanu
Get the KFC at Blue Kanu
Cloudy Bay bubbly
On the other hand, though the scene is fun at VKnow, the food does not live up to its hype. Danny is a hoot.
Joe’s Garage serves a nice lunch.
For cocktails, the Bunker can’t be beat.
Experimental Cocktail
Barman Dermot Hynes made us an Experimental Cocktail
10 ml Laphroaig
45 ml woodford reserve
20 ml lemon
10 ml sweet vermouth
10 ml simple syrup
dash angustora
stir down. serve up. twist.
Take a walk up Queenstown Hill.
Five showerheads and a hope to return for the Hidden Lodge. Just top notch.
Back at the Grant Street Inn in Bloomington, Indiana
November 6, 2018
Though NPS has lost track of just how many times we’ve stayed at the Grant Street Inn, our previous visit seems to have been in October 2015! Whoa. Well, it’s nice to be back.
The good news is that room 30 was available (or rather, became available) for this visit. Thanks to the staff for freeing it up!
The fireplace in 30 no longer seems to function
The bed, on the other hand, functions just fine.
Still no opportunity to try out this hot tub thing
The plastic shower can be forgiven due to the hot tub thing. We guess.
It was a nostalgic visit this time, back to the town where NPS went to grad school. The weather was awful, rainy and chilly, so, as a result, much time was spent inside.
A new cocktail club in town called C3 Bar is worth a visit. Had to teach them how to make a Lion’s Tail, but they did a fine job. The food is good and beats the kind of weird suburban location hands down.
A visit to the Irish Lion was an absolute blast as always. So much laughter! And great Sazaracs made with Whistlepig 10 rye.
Back up to four showerheads for the Grant Street Inn. One of these years, maybe the hot tub will come into play.
After a seriously turbulent night flight across the pond, a bus ride over the Frankfurt tarmac, a multiply-delayed ICE train and a missed local connection, it was nice to arrive at the Nestor Hotel and have a room ready to go. Walking over from the train station is very easy indeed, and helps you stay awake. Check in was easy even in zombie mode.
Sadly, the Nestor chain appears to be set up to accommodate conferences and large groups more than anything else. This is a four star in Germany, which puts it right smack in JW Marriott territory. Everything looks pretty good on the surface, but it is really cheap veneer with thin carpet allowing lots of noise between rooms. A business class hotel. Not NPS’s cup of tea.
The little NPS cubicle (replete with tiny bed) is 308.
Lil teeny bed in 308
The sitting area and desk are all within 15 feet of the bed
Fortunately, Ludwigsburg is resplendent today.
View from 308
The bathroom is likewise “cozy” and very Euro.
Not plastic unless you count the tub, which is plastic
Sink stand
There is a big pipe in the bathroom. That is just weird.
Ludwigsburg pic.twitter.com/rBExBPfOB6
— Gary McGraw (@cigitalgem) June 18, 2018
After a much-needed invigorating shower, it was off into town for lunch. Greek food at Die Griechin is very homey. Great people. Authentic, if not uninspired fare.
The battle to stay awake involves foam pic.twitter.com/6GQu6wMBHg
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) June 18, 2018
Breakfast at the hotel is very nice, and the restaurant serves a decent lunch as well. Service is friendly even if the kitchen is slow.
On a more upbeat note, the Black and White Cocktail Bar just a few short blocks away is cozy and excellent. We were among the only patrons on a Tuesday night.
Amer Picon in the house means a Liberal or two.
Look what we found in ludwigsburg @MacCocktail @LoveTequila pic.twitter.com/C3TZnCIwfS
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) June 19, 2018
La Barrosa Cocktail (by Mario Wirth)
50 ml carlos I brandy
10 ml Strega
.5 ml Balsamico creme (can sub px Sherry)
Amaretto spray on top
Stir. Serve on one big rock.
Make sure to visit the Black and White Bar if you are in Ludwigsburg.
Dinner at the very friendly Zum Urigen was authentic and about as German as you can get. The owners are from Vietnam, but have lived in Germany for 30 years. This place has a very local feel with lots of patrons who know each other.
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) June 20, 2018
A very low three showerheads for the Nestor, where function overrides style, and things feel fairly fake.
Grande Colonial Inn, La Jolla: Oldest of Old School
May 17, 2018
A grande dame is what this place is, like one of those powdered but slightly too made up, overly attentive birdlike old ladies with a string of natural pearls. The problem is that the perfume is cloying. Frankly, this is a beautiful property if you’re into this kind of old money faded elegance, but, you see, we’re not.
Set in the heart of La Jolla by the Pacific, the Grande Colonial is an institution. It has been here so long that it rests comfortably on its laurels. The staff is ultra professional, engaging and extremely well trained. The common areas are luxurious in an old school way. The restaurant nine-ten has been very good for so long that NPS has even dined here multiple times. The chef is named Jason.
I was assigned suite 102 overlooking the pool and a parking lot. That kind of says it all. Parking lot?
102 entry and seating area
The shape of the room is strange. There are mirrors everywhere, even where they don’t belong. But it’s not a hamster cage!
seating area by the heater presided over by the giant TV
a comfortable poofy bed
The colors and muted and the style is dated in a vertical striped sort of way.
nope
The shower is a plastic tub with an obesity bar. Fortunately the shower curtain is not plastic, but still. These kinds of showers do nobody any good out there in the world. Lets replace them all. 1950s tile is cool.
A nightcap at the bar involved a Corpse Reviver #2 made by muscle memory with no sign of measurement. The non-measurement is a problem, because to do its magic, this drink must be precise. But everyone at the bar was very professional and friendly even as they slung drinks like they had done it forever.
A kinda CR#2 at nine-ten Colonial Inn pic.twitter.com/hwPM5lfvwy
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) May 17, 2018
Breakfast by the ocean was excellent. Sadly, it did take place on east coast time.
Espresso and the Pacific pic.twitter.com/PbkODO2MBc
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) May 17, 2018
After mandatory conference fun was complete, we headed down to San Diego for dinner and a nightcap. A visit to Jsix was unremarkable and good. Funny that we had never tried Jsix before, because it is situated in the Salomar Hotel property chunk.
Suze Collins @JsixRestaurant @Kimpton pic.twitter.com/rnuUmHBMPF
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) May 19, 2018
After dinner, Noble Experiment was on the docket. As always, the cocktails were remarkably delicious.
As always, outstanding @NExperiment (Bill's big birthday beverage) pic.twitter.com/0yS2DCrNvj
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) May 19, 2018
Here’s how to make a drink we invented called Bill’s Big Birthday Beverage:
1 oz cardamaro
1 oz ancho reyes
1 oz fresh orange juice
2 dashes habanero shrub (bittermens)
shake, serve on a big cube. no garnish.
In the meantime, three showerheads and a new perfume choice for Grande Colonial.
(Oh, and United airlines…I will not be flying you across the country any more after the return trip. Economy plus sucks on a cross continental route, even in an exit row aisle seat.)
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