Nachtessen in Kiew...

Churz nachde 4i am 15.02.14 nachere sanfte Landig in Kiew heimer üs ufe Weg zumne Restaurant gmacht. Dank üsem super Guide em Hans (wo zum Glück nid wie mir z'erste Mau hie ir Ukraine isch) simer mitemne Taxi wo dr Chauffeur keis Wort vo üs verstange het, i fougendes Restaurant gfahre:  Kozatskyi Stan, Boryspil Highway 18, Kyiv.

Mir hei jo auso gar nid gwüsst, was üs erwartet aber das Znacht isch eifach delicious gsy... 

s'Lokal isch no vou Valentinstagshärzli gsy...

Hhhhm zum Glück isch sMenü ou no Englisch gschribe gsy... ;-)

Oli und Sindy auf dem Weg nach Sochi

Hüt am 10i ischs de nach langer Planig und vile Momente vor Verzwiflig ändlech losgange... Danke Urs, Mum & Grossvati für eui Begleitig a Flughafe... Fasch pünktlech het üsi Maschine vor Ukraine Airlines Richtig Kiew abghobe!! Woooow wie lang si mir scho nüm imne Flüger ghocket wod Stewardesse no müesse dSafety on Board vorfüehre... Mit öpe zwüschdrinne mau luege womer äch fang ungerwägs si isch de ou nix gsy wüus nämlech gar kei Fernseh het gha!! Hihihiiii...

Üsi Schwiizer Alpe - haut immer wunderschön!!

Momouuu mir verstöh aues...

Es het nid nur e chli Näbu gha... ;-) es paar Sekunde vordr Landig heimer ersch a Bode gseh!! 

The end of our two months trip... :-(

Due to the long distance we had to fly from Hawai'i to Switzerland, we made a stopover in San Francisco and Napa Valley for another five days. ;-) We gladly tell you what we experienced there and how we spent our last days.

The city of San Francisco can be seen in the background.

Most of the time the Golden Gate Bridge was encircled of heavy fog. Even nicer when the sun once appeared.

One afternoon we visited the picturesque village near San Francisco called Sausalito. It is located at the other end of the Golden Gate Bridge and has a lot of good restaurants as well as lots of houseboats standing in the harbor. 

We visited the favourite salito's crabhouse...

...and had a delicious meal on the patio (cheese, meat, bread with beer and wine) with a nicely overview on the harbor.

Alcatraz 

On another day we took the earliest ferry (09:10 a.m.) to get to the famous Island of Alcatraz. It took us about 20 minutes to get there. As soon as we arrived we got some headphones and could explore the former jail with an audio tour on our own. 

There are different cellulars installed to show visitors, how the inmates had to live when this prison was open.

The cells in the D-Block were the least populars. Inmates were confined to their cells 24-hours per days, with the exception of one visit per week to the recreation yard, and these visits were alone.

AT & T Park - Home of the San Francisco Giants

That's exactly the same thing what Oli does when he's not able to watch his favourite sport on TV. ;-)))

In the afternoon we joined a Stadium tour in the AT&T Park, the ballpark of the San Francisco Giants. It was similar to the one we made in Denver but this time we were able to visit the clubhouse (Dressing room). 

 

Charlie Brown and Lucy van Pelt are huge Giants-Fans.

The famous coke-bottle with the old fashion baseball glove.

The Napa Valley

At the very end of our two month journey we checked in at the Westin in Napa Valley. This time we got a real appartment with a fully equipped kitchen and a famous american refrigerator. ;-) We liked it, although we never cooked there. 

 

The village of Napa is very picturesque and we felt like being in an European city. There are a lot of bars where visitors are able to degust some wines and of course some very nice restaurants.

On our very last day we visited the Napa Valley on a Winetrain tour. First of all, Gaille (the woman next to Oli) drove us to the Raymond Vineyard where we can learn something about the history of this winery as well as a lot about wines itselfs and the whole Valley. 

 

 

Raymond Vineyards was founded in 1970 and a long time managed by the Raymond Family. 

One day they felt like fishing or golfing is more fun than producing wines. Then they sold the whole vineyard to a French domestic family named Boisset.

Today the vineyard is inspired by the vision of Proprietor Jean-Charles Boisset. 

Raymond is a dynamic destination dedicated to inspiring its guests  passion for fine wine in an environment of exploration, creativity and elegant whimsicality, where each in a series of diverse experiences progresses visitors into another world of discovery and exceptional wines. 

 

On our tour we were able to have a glimpse into the library (all books are made of wine... ;-))

In another exercise we could taste different spices and had to define what flavour we could smell. (of course these were all flavours you can smell when drinking some wine)

There is also a wine dedicated to the proprietor's dog who's called Frenchie. Whenever a visitor would like to take his dog to the vineyard he can fell free to do so. There are enough boxes where the dog can be and spend some time also with other dogs. There is also a camera installed therewith the dog can be supervised by its owner. How funny is that? :-p

We could also degust some freshly picked bunches of grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon. They were tasting very sweet.

At the end we learned a lot about the storage of the wine and how sophisticated the whole business is until you get some good wine.

This is the street of senses, where you can smell the different flavours which can be found in the wines.

For example "honey". Mmmh...Yummy!

After the wine tasting we entered the wine train which took us from St. Helena back to Napa. They served us a three course meal while we drove down the Valley and could see the different wineries along the track.

 

At the end of this inspiring day we strolled through Napa and saw at the local market these cheeses. The Emmentals (where Sindy comes from) are äbe everywhere... ;-)

 

 

Now it's time to say goodbye to two months of real fun and sun. We would like to say Mahalo (Thank you) for reading our posts and following us the last weeks on our trip. It is very hard for us to get back to work tomorrow. But our next trip will come soon ;-) 

Lots of Love and Aloha

Sindy & Oli 

Aloha from Maui

We do not have many pictures of the landscape of Maui because lots of the time it was quite foggy on the island besides in Wailea where our hotel was located.

 After a short flight from Lihue to Kahului (Maui) we arrived quite early at our hotel and had to wait a bit until our room was ready. Below you will find some impressions of our accomodation for the last days we spent in Hawai'i. 

The view from the balcony of our room towards the northern part of the island.

We could catch some beautiful sunsets at the hotel pool.

The hotel disposed on two pools. This one was only for people over 18 years old and was so chilling.

The pool area by night.

 

The Road to Hana

The next day we decided to explore the Island and head out to Hana on the favourite Highway 36. Top down, sunscreen on, radio tuned to a little Hawaiian music... That's how we drove this favourite highway to Hana. Hana is only about 50 kilometers away from Kahului but due to the very curvy and narrow street it takes you about three hours for one way. At the end of the day you have to go the same way back. ;-) But going to Hana is about the journey, not the destination.  Below you will find some pictures of this beautiful but also very special highway.

At the very end of this road we wanted to visit the famous pools of ‘Ohe’o who are the most popular attraction in East Maui. Beautiful waterfalls and pools in an absolutely stunning setting. What we didn't know that this attraction is operated by the Government. Due to the shutdown this facilty was closed. Nonetheless we had a great time and enjoyed the trip to Hana very much. 

Black Sandy Beach is another viewpoint on the road to Hana.

The Sand on this beach is almost black and is located in the Wainapanapa State Park. This large beach is set among lava cliffs and the sand is actually small, smooth, lava pebbles. A small sea arch, sea caves, and seaside lava tubes are located in the beach area. King's Highway, an ancient Hawaiian footpath, leads from the beach area along the coastline for 3 miles to the town of Hana.

Hang loose while watching the sunset from the pool...