Located on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula it’s FULL of people living as they wish. Some in schoolbuses, some in cabins, many w/o running water, electricity or with all the amenities, but the hearts are full. There are people living off the grid and the entire town is geared toward spirituality. The town of Homer has been called for many years, ‘the cosmic hamlet by the sea’. Do the bay…you will find many interesting people living a conscious, purposeful life.
According to a contributor Delta Junction, Alaska is the “highest per capita weed smokin’ community – about 85% of the town here does!”
“After spending the past few summers in the wonderful state of Alaska, I must let you know that the entire state is a great place to be. All summer long there are bluegrass shows, festivals and trips to be taken. Whether you are into the Matanuska thunderfuck, fruity pebbles, or any of the other delectables of the state, or just hitching around to see the land, you surely are welcome no matter what you are. I’ve had more amazing experiences in Alaska than I could ever imagine. My boyfriend and I hitched over a thousand miles to Homer. We had no problems getting a ride. Jerry’s twin (right down to the nubby fingers) picked us up and let us camp in his front yard, fed us strawberry daiquiris and smoked all night. Let everyone know that Alaska is only part of the US because of it’s government and monetary units. Go and visit, you may never come back :)”
I just wanted to emphasize how cool Alaska is. I have lived here my entire life, all 19 years of it. I have visited many other places but there is no place, no where like home, because home is where the weed is and we’ve got the best! Lookin’ for the ultimate festival ? We’ve got the Talkeetna blue grass festival every year in the begining of AUG. its four days of camping in the woods and trippin’ to the sounds of blue grass. a must for anyone who wants to meet thousands of other people lookin’ for a happy, fun time. keep on tokin’
If you’re looking for good, wholesome Mexican food in Ocean Beach, look no further than Ranchos Cocina. This OB institution has been serving up hardy fare for locals for many years. With an emphasis on fresh, authentic ingredients and recipes, the cuisine is tasty and unique, not your typical Mexican menu.
You will have a hard time deciding what to eat from their vast, reasonably priced menu. It seems all the usual Mexican dishes are offered with unusual options like tofu, blue corn tortillas, black beans, and even tempeh (made from soybeans) in your dishes.
Vegetarians and vegans, who abound in OB, are well served at Ranchos with dishes like Tofu Burritos or Tempeh Tacos. In fact the selection is overwhelming as they can turn nearly anything Mexican into something vegan. They also offer a variety of mouthwatering salsas along with their freshly made corn chips.
The choice spot for an afternoon lunch is their low-key outdoor patio, surrounded by plants and flowers. The interior is a bit dark, but spacious. There’s an abundance of Frida Kahlo reproductions on the walls. The biggest gripe with Ranchos is an often long wait and not the best service. So don’t go there if you’re in a hurry, or try them in the off-hours when they’re not so busy.
Info:
Daily 8 am-10 pm
Address:
1830 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., Ste. H
San Diego 92107
Phone: (619) 226-7619
Perhaps Amsterdam’s oldest rave venue? The "Societas Studiosorum Catholicorum Amstelodamensis Akhnaton" was founded by Catholic Students in 1953!
Formerly the Amuse Theater, the Sugar Factory is located directly opposite the entrance to the Melkweg, at the Leidseplein in Amsterdam.
As with all Amsterdam venues, they claim to be all things for all people… featuring art exhibits, live musical performances, films, theater, and more.
Considering the location, right off the Leidseplein, this should become a popular venue for Amsterdammers and tourists alike. Especially if they offer quality entertainment.
The Jordaan was build at the large expansion of Amsterdam in early 17th century, as a district for the working class and emigrants. The population increase during the next centuries was enormously, caused by the stream political refugees like protestant Fleming, Spanish and Portuguese Jews and French Huguenots who mainly settled in the Jordaan. It was a poor district with small houses and slums, every little room stuffed with families and lots of children. The entire area was one ghetto with open sewers, canals served for both transport and sewer, and no running water. Around 1900 there lived about 80 thousand people, nowadays about 20 thousand.
In 25 years of travel, this is the worst hotel in which we’ve ever stayed. It was dirty, cramped, and in disarray. There is no elevator, our room was the size of a hamster cage, and the phone, one window, and one of the two naked bulb lamps were broken. The carpet was threadbare and stained, the sheets had holes, and our room overlooked an abandoned building, complete with debris, broken glass, and rotting vegetation. We fled after one horrendous night and felt like escaped POWs, except the Geneva Convention requires that POWs have more rights!
Myself and a friend recently rented two single rooms in the ‘hotel’ Monopole, Amstel 60, Amsterdam, to the tune of €60 per night for four nights (€250 + city tax) on October 11th -14th.
My heart sank when we got a look at the first room; a small, dank place with twin cots, dirty marks on one wall, a tatty thin carpet, old fixtures and fittings and a unpleasant view of what appeared to be an industrial building with a grimy roof.
The second room three floors up a break- neck stairs into the attic, was similar to the first but icy cold and dull in the day time, with more dirty marks and a fist-sized hole in one wall. The single sheets which covered the matresses seemed clean but the dank duvets on top looked like they hadn’t been washed in several weeks; there was a dark brown cigarette burn hole in one. Having viewed the warm and inviting looking rooms on their website, my friend and I were quite upset about the arrangement. When I asked to be moved from the attic to another room, I was told that we had gotten a special offer and that ‘rooms in this part of Amsterdam generally go for €90 or more’.
We had to lug our own bags to our rooms. That night we discovered that the club behind (ironically called ‘Escape’ – at this stage I wanted to) had little to no sound-proofing and that it went on until 4.30am (bar Mondays when it shut its doors at 2am). Strangely, the hotel Monopole makes no mention of this or the bar/club right next door to them on their website.
On the third evening when we arrived back at the hotel, we found our towels hadn’t been changed, or rooms/ toilets cleaned or toilet rolls replaced. In fact the only thing touched and removed was the cups we had requested (much to their astonishment) the night before.
Some kind of hammering and building was going on in one of the rooms for much of the time we were there (daytime only).
My view of Amsterdam was sullied by the very poor accommodation and lax approach offered at the hotel Monopole. However, aside from the hotel, I did get to see beautiful Dutch architecture, ground-breaking painting, creative theater, layers of history and the wonderful buzz of such a diverse European city.
I do not normally write restaurant reviews but was so appalled by Maurya; I feel the need to warn all. It wasn’t the food that appalled me (the food was rather lush) and it wasn’t the decor, which was to a certain extent authentic. It wasn’t even the service, which was slow, but hey if good company surrounds you, it tends to be less of a concern. NO, what I and my fellow diners we dismayed by was the bill. It was OUTRAGESOUS! If you deducted the alcohol and water off the bill and calculated the food only, we were charged 50 euros EACH for food alone. Tell me, how does one eat 50 Euros of Indian food? We are not talking a Michelin Star restaurant for goodness sake! On checking the bill, we discovered curious costs. I won’t go too much into detail but we were highly overcharged. There are extra costs such as spiced rice, 6 euros per person. (There were eight of us, which amounts to 48 euros for rice alone). There were a lot of other additional costs as well that are not stated on the menu or mentioned by the waiter.
Anyway at the end of it all we refused to pay the total amount because it was clear he was trying to rip us off. We asked him to deduct 50 euros, he refused and was extremely rude to us shouting and carrying on. (Very professional). We asked him to call the police because we were not paying the amount on the bill. He did, the police came (5 of them) and after hearing both sides of the story and reviewing the bill and the menu the police agreed with us and we paid the amount which we thought was fair. Be warned! At the Maurya, they are rip off merchants!