Dolomites

Imagine an ellipse that starts in Switzerland, goes through Germany, Austria, then Italy and back to Switzerland. That is what we had in mind when we planned this vacation.

A two hour drive let us to the castle that was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria and nearly bankrupted the German state of Bavaria. Luckily they finished building it and now it is one of those points of interest that attracts a lot of people filling the states coffers. Trust me, we had to stand in line to get over the Marienbrücke to climb up to see it from its most beautiful side. I do believe that since it inspired Disney's castle, one needs to to see it at least once in a lifetime. This would be a good time to check it off the list.

Our next stop was scheduled to be in Innsbruck where in 1964 and in 1976 the Olympic Games took place. Why did we pick Innsbruck? Because we needed a place to stay between Germany and the Dolomites and as a bonus we visited the Swarovski museum. I was impressed with the different exhibits that are incredible and so diverse.

Driving over the Brenner pass we ended up in South Tirol, the Italian mountain region where they still speak German. We stayed in a mountain resort town called Badia at the Rosa Alpina Hotel & Spa where we enjoyed an excellent dinner.

We planned a hike around the most famous place in the Dolomites, Tre Cime de Lavaredo. We did read that one should be early at the park because of the limited parking at the Rifugio Auronzo. Guess what, we were later than we expected and police closed the park due and we were force to park our car at Lago Antorno. From there it was a 2.5 hour hike up to the Rifugio, where the actual hike around the "Drei Zinnen" started. We decided to go for and we were absolutely floored by what nature had to offer. After a total of 7 hours we returned back to the car, tired but very satisfied.

We changed the location and stayed at the Miramonti Boutique Hotel from were you look down to Merano. The rooms were incredible with a view of the mountains and so was the infinity pool.

Are we done yet? No, not yet, the circle has to be finished first. From Merano we went back to Switzerland, guided by the GPS, which let us over the Passo dello Stelvio (Stilfser Joch Pass) a very winding pass with more hair needle turns that I have ever experienced. It's the second highest pass in the Alps at 9045 ft, only 43 ft lower than the highest. It was tough driving it by car, but my congratulations go to all the bicyclist that rode up that pass.

Back in Switzerland we stayed in Graubünden with family and enjoyed a typical Swiss hotel in Ardez. They offered free apples, which was wonderful. If you ever vacation in this region I highly recommend a local specialty called the "Bündner Nusstorte", a nut tart with caramel and walnut.

Hawaii and Kauai

We were looking for adventures on a Hawaiian island and we found what we were looking for on Kauai.
It all started when we were still at O'Hare and we found out that our plane had a mechanical defect and that we would miss our connection from LA to Kauai. After spending numerous hours on the phone we ended up spending the night in LA and so that we could take the first plane to Kauai next morning. This also meant that we would miss our planned helicopter ride, which would have been one of the highlights of this trip. Luckily, we were able to book it on another day that turned out to be way better than originally planned.
The coolest part of this helicopter ride was that the chopper had no doors and one could take photos with no reflection. It was absolutely amazing and I would recommend it to anyone who has no fear of height. The down-wash was incredible and it almost ripped the camera out of my hand the first time and the strap around my wrist saved the day. This way of seeing the island allowed us to explore locations that otherwise would not be accessible, such as the estate of the Robinson family.

Then we went tubing through irrigation flumes and tunnels dug in the 1870s. Ok, I agree that it was not very adventures, but it was very relaxing and one saw the island from a different angle.
After that went zip-lining with Koloa Zipline. This was our first zipline and I admit that it was a lot of fun. Our very professional guides told us so many interesting stories about nature, the former economy and movies that have been shot here on the island.
Hiking the Napali coast was more strenuous than I expected. Even though, it was nice and dry weather the hiking path was sometimes very slippery and somewhat challenging with our Merrells. The view along the coast was stunning.

Who would expect a mini grand canyon on an island. Well, that is what Waimea canyon is and a drive through this natural wonder is a pleasure and provides many lookout opportunities.

On Wednesday, we flew over to the Big Island were we met up with friends to enjoy more of the island's pleasures. Again, we took a helicopter tour, this time with doors and saw some unique places, such as the lava field.

A couple of weeks prior to our arrival the Kilauea volcano was erupting and entering the ocean at Kamokuna. We were not lucky enough to see the spout, but flying over the volcano was still very memorable.

Of course there are so many other things to discover here on the Hawaiian islands that we will be back another time.