Steilküste, Portugal, great medication against November doom and gloom
Spent the second week of November in Portugal to escape the darkness and gloominess of Berlin. Berlin in November-March is truly horrible. Even more disgusting than the rest of the year. We went to a relatively lonely spot on the coast west of Lisbon, close to Cascais. A beautiful hotel built on the site of…
Roxburgh et al.
Roxburgh is most likely not on the “Top 10 Must See” map for most tourist guides. We spent a few days here a couple of years ago and liked it very much. And there’s orchards everywhere, so fantastic produce left, right, and center. And blackcurrants. I love blackcurrants. Blackcurrants are the best. Real-fruit blackcurrant ice…
Everybody loves sandflies
Well, maybe not everybody. Maybe not even most people. Maybe most people actually hate them. 😀 We headed from Christchurch straight down to Te Anau on New Year’s Eve, stopping for breakfast at Cafe Verde in Geraldine and fantastic fresh fruits and produce from the orchards around Cromwell. Te Anau was packed, only a few…
New Zealand, again
After long deliberations we had decided not to cancel our trip to NZ. It was a tough decision for me, still not sure whether it was the right choice. Have to buy a flat to get out of the dirty rental this year and I might come to regret spending the money on vacation. But…
London calling, one last time
One last time, ein langes Wochenende in London. Mit kulinarischen und kulturellen Highlights. Die beste Reisebegleitung hatte sehr gut organisiert und es gab Christmas Lights at Kew Gardens, Fawlty Towers at the Apollo und Mad Hatter High Tea at the Sanderson Hotel. Lovely dinners at Sael and Mallow and Mali vegan Thai, plus great breakfasts…
Cross country skiing paradise
Celerina is not just great for hiking, but also a good base for cross-country skiing aka ‘Langlauf’. I used to cross country ski as a kid, but that was many thousand years ago. So I treated myself to private lesson at Langlaufschule Celerina to re-learn basic technique – and then enjoyed the beautiful setting of…
Morteratsch Gletscher, Berninafälle, Pontresina, Stazerwald
Holy shit! Just when you think it can’t get any better, you turn a corner and see that massive Glacier range, illuminated by the first rays of sunlight, in the foreground a frozen forest and semifrozen river. Fucking beautiful! 🙂 Took the bus to “Morteratsch Abzweigung” and walked down to Morteratsch station – do this…
Winterspaß galore: Celerina – Samedan – Bever – Spinas und zurück
Zweite Etappe. Während es gestern noch ab und zu ein paar Wolken gab, ist seit Mittwoch komplett blauer Himmel, strahlende Sonne. Besser geht es nicht mehr. Morgens losgelaufen und schon nach fünf Minuten ein erstes Highlight, der “dampfende” Inn. Die ersten Sonnenstrahlen treffen auf das eiskalte Wasser, wunderschön, die Bilder bringen die tolle Atmosphäre leider…
Winterwandern im Oberengadin
Oberengadin. Celerina. Back again. Same place, same hotel (Hotelino Petit Chalet), because why change if things are perfect?! Again, a super relaxed and punctual travel … Swiss from BER to ZRH, then via SBB and RhB to Celerina. Everything just works, even my luggage arrived relatively quickly and undamaged. Got settled into my room and…
Beautiful foggy day
Der letzte Tag meines Kurztrips ins Oberengadin war eher “so-so” vom Wetter her. Viel Niederschlag und teils ordentlich Wind und Nebel war angekündigt, also war klar, dass ich eher unten im Tal bleiben würde, weil sonst wenig Spaß und potenziell gefährlich auch. Zum Glück gibt es auch im “Flachland” ausreichend Wanderwege, die bei nicht so…