Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau

One of the last frontiers in the Alps was the Eiger Nordwand (Eiger North Face) which was first ascended in 1938. We didn't want to climb it, but just see and experience the sheer size of it and take a train through the Eiger up to the Jungfraujoch. Sounds crazy, doesn't it and yes it is, but about that later.

But first, we hopped in a rental and drove to the medieval town of Gruyère at the language border of  German and French in Switzerland. 

The castle's chapel is home to a Tibetan museum, which is very impressive.

Assuming that the movie Alien is well known, it is somewhat of a surprise that the creator of the alien itself has a museum in old village as well as a bar. It is like the movie, somewhat disturbing.

Our next stop was Lake Geneva, where we stayed the Hotel Rivage in Lutry, very quaint and right at the harbor. The entire region is called Lavaux and besides being a World Heritage site it's also known for its wonderful white wine.

The slope on the Swiss side faces South and that is ideal for growing grapes. The villages are embedded in the vineyards and each village is very proud of their wine, e.g. Saint-Saphorin, Epesses etc.

We were at this magical location at the right time and those grapes look so delicious, but they are destined to become wine.

We bought a bottle of white wine and enjoyed it on the pier, as it is legal to open alcohol in public. It did feel a little strange to not having to hide the bottle.

Over the Col Du Pillion, we drove to Wengen, which can only be reached by train. The car is safely parked in Lauterbrunnen. From our room we could watch the Jungfrau changing colors while the sun was setting. It was a magical moment.

Next morning we took a train from Wengen up to the Kleine Scheidegg and then further up through the Eiger Nordwand to the Jungfraujoch, the top of Europe (3454m or 11332 feet). The tunnel is 9km long and on the way there, the train stopped in the middle of the Nordwand where passengers had a short time to look out the windows in a very protected environment. However, since late 2016, trains no longer stop here, which is a real shame. On the South side, there is another 5 minute stop at the Eismeer (Ice Sea).

From here it goes to the Jungfraujoch, from where you can hike on the glacier to the Mönchsjochhütte. In an emergency, it serves mountaineers as a shelter.

The view down the glacier to the Konkordia place, where other glaciers meet, is just breathtaking and it seems to never end.

From the Kleine Scheidegg, we decided to walk down to Wengen, along the world famous downhill race track (Lauberhorn). It is very steep and longest world cup race in the world. The track even features a tunnel underneath the railway that racers have to navigate at high speed.

I'm so glad we made it on foot.

Wakatobi

We did a lot of research to find the perfect place for muck diving. Well, first, what is muck diving: It's diving and exploring sediments like sand and other natural debris and searching for weird and wonderful marine creatures. It's unlike reef diving where the environment itself is pretty.

The Palagian, a liveaboard located in Indonesia, offered exactly what we were looking for. The dive yacht is 115 feet long and offers room for 10 guests. The yacht is a part of the Wakatobi Dive Resort in South East Sulawesi.

Each dive is different and we were lucky to have captured some incredible pictures, such as below anemone fish, trying to hide.

Anemone Fish

Flatheaded Crocodile Fish

Nudibranch

Sea Urchin

Pygmy Sea Horse

Peacock Mantis Shrimp

Lion Fish

Decorator Crab

Napoleon Snake Eel

One night we stayed in a bay where we could hear the muezzin call to the daily prayer. In the morning kids were having fun watching our bubbles when we surfaced from our early morning dive.

Before and after our stay on the Palagian, we spend some time on Bali, which is a very charming island with many temples and other ancient structures. We stayed at the Beach Hotel in Nusa Dua, built in a traditional style.

The fountain had beautiful stone carvings demonstrating what local artist are capable of producing. It was very peaceful.

Our private driver Katut took us around the island and this gave us a unique perspective of many local customs he explained in details. He showed us rice patties on the way to Kintamani, which is a village at the edge of a large caldera.

Kintamani

On the way to the rice patties we stopped and tried Luwak coffee beans, and I still prefer a nice espresso.

Rice Patties

Ubud has lots to offer, a dense forest, temples and macaques. I was more interested in the local architecture, whereas the monkeys were more into how can we annoy those visitors.

When exploring Bali, it is highly recommended to see a traditional Bali dance performance, where like in a western theater, an entire story was told. In this case it was a mythical tale with demons etc.

Appenzeller Land

A mountain range called Alpstein occupies most of the canton of Appenzell. We took the cable car from Brülisau up to the Hohen Kasten. The recently renovation included a revolving restaurant. After checking out the view we started hiking towards Staubern, where the Drei Faltigkeiten can be seen on the other side of the range and then continued to the Saxer Lücke, where the Kreuzberge stand out like shark teeth. To the left, it goes down to the Rhine valley and the mountains on the other side are located in Austria. From here it goes down to the lodge Bollenwese at the Fälensee. After a well deserved bier we headed back to Brülisau.

Hoher Kasten

Staubern

Drei Faltigkeiten

Kreuzberge from Saxer Lücke

Bollenwese

Fälensee

When we arrive in Brülisau we proudly look up where we started earlier this morning. We are tired and are so glad to be able to take of our hiking boots.

 

Hoher Kasten from Brülisau

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Venice

In order to really understand and enjoy the essence of Venice, I recommend staying in one of the many hotels on the island itself and yes, it is going to be more expensive, but it is so nice to walk "home" after a day of exploring the walkways, bridges and canals.

Walking along the water front at Piazza San Marco, we noticed the gondolas bobbing up an down. It ended up as a perfect image representing Venice.

One one of our strolls we found a local artist making glass art, for which the entire area is known for. We watch the artist for a while before we found a crab that he made. It's has a new home now. 

Because we are very interested in any glass art we went on a day trip to Murano by using a bus ferry, like everyone else. Here we checked out the glass factories where they create their beautiful artwork. It is absolutely stunning what can be done with such a fragile material.

We continued on to Burano, by using a bus ferry, like everyone else. The houses are very colorful and it make a quiet village look upbeat and cheerful.

This was a fantastic trip to one of probably most unique destinations in the world. It's easy to see why it is on the bucket list for so many people.

Fiji

We are very excited to go back to Fiji and spend a week on the Nai'a, Since there is a direct flight from LAX, it's not really a big deal. It makes up for one of the best diving locations on this planet.

Even though the visibility was not as great as it was last year we got some good shots, such as from the lion fish. Looking up from the view finder after taking the image, I realized that it was right in front of me, starring back at me and not retreating even one inch.

One dive that I missed last time was Kansas and this time I paid attention and took the right turn and it was absolutely great. Now, I even know why this dive is called Kansas.

Live on board was great and there was even video photographer Nick Hope on board, who documented all the dives. This video from BubbleVision has footage from our trip.

It is one of the many traditions of Fiji, as a welcome of other important occasions to partake in a traditional kava ceremony and who would refuse such an invitation, where the entire crew sings local folklore and we all drank freshly made Kava, a brownish liquid - the kava gold.

Paris

Even though November is probably not the most ideal time to visit Paris, this is our first time in the City of Lights and it now has it's own place in our memories. 

The city has so much to offer, on art and architecture. Just imagine if they had decided to tear down the Eiffel Tower after the World's Fair in 1889 was over. That would be unimaginable.

The structure can be seen for miles and is a great help to get your bearing when walking around. It's absolutely worth going up all the way to the top, so you can enjoy Paris from this very different perspective.

Arc de Triomphe

If you get tired there is at lease two options. First, one could choose from one of hundreds of street cafés, sit and enjoy the Parisians go about their business.  Or second, you could convince yourself and take the Metro, which at first, looks a little intimidating, but the trains are so easy to use, once you get the hang of it.  Here, everyone takes the Metro, for work and in the evening for going out. We always felt save, even at late hours.

When walking in Paris, one should immediately recognize the unique architecture of the beautiful homes, were people actually live (must be quite expensive).

It's hard to have a favorite museum, be it the Louvre, the Musée de l'Orangerie or the Centre Pompidou, or the Musée d'Orsay.

The Louvre is a little overwhelming at first, because of  its size with all the wings, rooms and corridors. It is fantastic what kind of art can be seen and one can easily overlook a painting from Leonardo Da Vinci that hangs on one of those walls in a long hallway. The wing that exhibits marble statues from Roman times was empty and it's quite an experience to look Julius Caesar in the eyes. We were lucky to also spend some time with Mona Lisa as the room was almost empty. I admit, that I expected the famous painting to be a lot bigger, but I was still impressed by the "aura". I recommend, visiting the Louvre multiple times, because it's huge.

Don't forget, that Paris can also be explored at night. After dinner, we took a walk down the Champs Élysées, where the Arc de Triomphe was illuminated.

A former railway station serves as a museum now, called Musée d'Orsay. A vast collection of impressionist is exhibited here in a wonderful building on the left bank of the river Seine.

Because it was a great and sunny day, we decided to go and check out the Notre Dame. The cathedral is impressive and its size is misleading until you get close and then you realize how immense the structure is and now many details are in places where nobody sees them. 

We climbed the stairs to the bell tower and came across the gargoyles, which are all hand carved and different. They overlook the city and keep demons and evil spirits way.

One of the days, we took the train to see the Palace of Versailles, the favorite residence of French kings and the summer residence of Napoleon. The hall of mirrors defined the word "Opulence" perfectly. It is incomprehensible, how much gold, time and effort was invested in probably one of the most majestic palaces in the world.

We finished this vacation with a train ride from Paris to Zurich, Switzerland on the TGV (Train Grand Vitesse or high speed train). The speed was around 180 mph and it was especially impressive when two trains crossed.