Sunset Saturday XXXXXII

Last week we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge to Dumbo and enjoyed the beautiful views of the Manhattan skyline! New York is such as fantastic place and we were lucky to get some sunny (and even mild) days in the middle of February...

Sunset Saturday XXXXVIII

Sunset behind palms and rice paddies in Ubud, Bali. During my first trip to Bali we stayed in a villa in the middle of the rice paddies and went for a walk around the area just before sunset. From a distance we could hear the chanting and drumming in a nearby temple and the air smelled of flowers and incense....

bei Kaiserwetter auf der Wiesn

The weather during the Oktoberfest was exceptionally nice and so we enjoyed the sunshine and warm temperatures.

I went there with dear friends from Austria and we walked around the Theresienwiese, where the Oktoberfest is taking place, before we entered one of the beer tents. In the afternoon, we went for a ride on the "Wiesn-Rad" and had a beautiful view of the Oktoberfest, the masses of visitors, and Munich, and it felt really good to be home.

counting down

(picture: Wiesn 2006)
This week was the last week before our big holiday and so I was busy finishing stuff for work, and meeting people before we leave for Munich tomorrow.

The Oktoberfest is starting tomorrow as well, and since it's been three years that I've last been there, I am kind of excited for this as well (I even had a dress made ;) Plus, I am really looking forward to seeing my family and friends back home, and hopefully we'll get some nice, relaxing days in sunny Italy, too.

back from the island

We're back in Gabs and I already miss the ocean, the beach and the tropical green vegetation of Zanzibar island. It has been such an amazing trip, with everything and much more than I hoped for!

Sunset Saturday XII

This picture is from my first trip to Bali back in June 2009. I was meeting up with a group of friends that I hadn't seen in a while and was excited to see them. I wasn't really prepared for the stunning views and the sunset over the infinity pool at our hotel, and the beauty of this special island. Ever since that first visit, it has definitely been one of my favorite places in the world and I would loooove to go back there (rather sooner than later)...

Where there's Smoke, there's Thunder

This past weekend we drove up to the Victoria Falls with my parents, who are currently visiting from Germany. After a night at Nata Lodge, we continued our journey to see the water masses of the Zambezi River falling over the edge.

On our way, we encountered some elephants on the roadside, passed huge sun-flower fields, spent a lot of time at the border and finally arrived just in time to catch the last hours of light over the glorious waterfalls.

The next morning we walked over the bridge and took some more pictures of the falls, the gorge and the beautiful scenery.
At high water, the falls really give you a good shower and you can't even see the bottom of the gorge, but the sound of the roaring water definitely makes it all very exciting.
I seriously love this place and could visit it over and over again.
Maybe next time I'll go to the Zambian side?

all pictures (except the family pic) taken with my new camera!!!

Chasing Waterfalls

A few instagram pics from our trip to the VicFalls.
It was great to visit the falls - this time with very high water levels!
I'm loving the rainbow in the second picture. At some point we could even see a full 180° rainbow. And we spent some lovely days up there where it still feels like summer.

happy holidays!

our beloved locally-grown Christmas tree, decorated in beautiful Bavarian colors

hope you all have a wonderful time

merry X-mas!

in the kitchen

Ever since I made it to my parents' place I've been busy baking (and eating) X-mas biscuits. Outside it is freezing and it has been snowing for the past days, but in our kitchen it is warm and cosy, and this is where I am spending a lot of time these days, watching the snow fall and enjoying a hot cup of tea. It's good to be home for Christmas!

falls & friends

In late October I went for a weekend in VicFalls (but I only got the pictures now) where we celebrated my best friend's birthday with hightea on the terrace of the famous Victoria Falls hotel, had a sip (or two) of Zambesi and a real African party for Halloween.

All the time, we could hear the thundering of the water and even see the spray high in the sky. Of course, we also went close to take a look (and some pictures) of the falls and the beautiful rainbows.

It's been my second visit to the falls and it's quite different when the water is low, but magic nonetheless. I'm hoping to see the falls again soon, preferably next time together with my favorite man!

All pictures taken with my sister's camera.

some more days around the Cape

Even though we had a full week in Cape Town, it seemed like time was flying too fast.
There is just so much to do there!

We managed to visit Stellenbosch and some of the nearby vinyards,

went down to another end of the world at Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope,

spent a lovely day at the beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens,

and finally went up Table Mountain with what felt like a million other people and all the way down almost by ourselves on a very long, steep downhill hike.

After all these activities there was just enough time left to enjoy the fantastic views for a last time before heading back to Gabs.

It was a fabulous week (despite both of us having an ugly cold for a couple of days) and makes me wish I could live there for a while...

A big thank you to our friend Jan for hosting us and showing us around!

Market Day

We spent all morning at the thriving neighbourgoods market in Woodstock.

It was recently featured in my favorite magazine and so I was very keen to check it out. And I'm happy to report it was exactly what I expected: Busy scene, beautiful setting, delicious food and lots of creativity.

It's so good to be back in a real city for a while! Luckily, we have a full week to get our proper dose of the mother city :)

Most Liveable City

Monocle has voted Munich the most liveable city in 2010!

As a native to this beautiful city, of course I've always known this ;)

And it’s good to see that also other people share this opinion…

pics: Rathaus at Marienplatz, Maibaum at Viktualienmarkt, Hofgarten of the Residenz