Island hopping I: Bol (on Braç island)

Our boat from Makarska to Bol got cancelled at the last minute, so we travelled back to Split and caught a catamaran from there.

What shall we say about Bol? The mountains were lower than on the mainland so we managed to make it all the way to the top.

Our hotel had a nice pool to cool off and relax our sore muscles.

But the food was only so-so, so we had to resort to eating cake to fill ourselves up. And it was all just a bit too pretty for our tastes...(also, too many British tourists and too many coughing people for comfort).

Frans described it as "like being in Disneyland and not being able to leave". It definitely wasn't as bad as that, but not our favorite stop in Croatia...

Day 1: To Edmund-Graf Hütte

So, after arriving by train...



... eating the usual Austrian breakfast with Semmeln...



... and a Kochei...



... we finally started hiking...



... ending the day with the usual Kuchen and beer.

In numbers: 3:42h, 7.6 km, 1247 m ascent, 117 m descent.

Happy Birthday!

More Austria pics to come, but as a palate cleanser a few pictures from one month ago, when we were camping and celebrating A's birthday with family!

Some Final Pics from Our Holland Visit

We are home after all our summer travels! So I guess it's time to finally post some (not so recent) pictures from our visit to Holland. Pictured above: a palpable hue of anticipation of the birthday of Poppa...



... and here the Mohn cake Ellen made for him (and us)! You can find more pictures of the birthday on Ellen's blog.

Then, for old times' sake (and great food), we went to Snackbar Bird in Amsterdam:





Still as good as we remember!

Also, Vennington in the Prinsenstraat:



Still famous for their BLT sandwiches and fruit shakes, and rightly so.

Soon: a few photos from the Zillertal. For a more extensive report look at Ellen and Christiaan's Bergvakanties blog. The first four posts are up, and can be found here, here, here and here.

Best Birthday Evah!

We went to Henry's first birthday party yesterday.



His mom had baked a beautiful hippo birthday cake.



And the weather was good enough to just chill in the garden.



I am quite sure this was Henry's best birthday evah!!!!1!!!11!!1!eleven!!

Second Birthday

As you all know, A had decided to celebrate her birthday in the Neue Regensburger.



This turned out to be a very good choice: there was birthday Germknödel (the candles were schlepped up the mountain by Team Hilvaria Studio's), garlands, Obstler (like the good old days --- supposedly there is a similar picture of A celebrating her birthday with Obstler in a Hütte from long ago)...

Rectification by Anke: In fact, it was bubbly, not Obstler (I was only 13!) and it was in front of our tent down in the valley. If my parents can still find the photo, please scan & send, so we can share it with all our  readers who have not seen it yet.



... birthday cake generously given as a present by the Hütte, who were tipped of by the garlands, and even had encouraged a Dutch group of Christian hikers to sing Dutch birthday songs...



... and very good food in general. Pictured above: the best Kaiserschmarrn of this holiday.





The Schlutzkrapfen and pork with Knödel where very festive and tasty as well! I think my Tyroler birthday may just be due next year.

UPDATE Now with embarrassing photo!

Birthday!

I wanted to keep it a secret, but Skype has told everyone I have ever talked to over the internet (many of whom were potential employers) that today is my birthday. So then I may as well post it on the blog as well...

Today is not a perfect day for a birthday, as our imminent move is causing me plenty of stress. So the rest of the birthday celebrations will take place 11 days from now, starting in the morning in the Franz Senn Hütte, from where we will hike to the Neue Regensbürger Hütte (4 hours). You are all invited! Don't forget to bring sturdy footwear and rain gear.

Golden Tripod Attic

Another favorite in Beijing: Golden Tripod Attic near the Olympic Village.



This restaurant has awesome dumplings.



Yum...



... o.



Also: some surprisingly good okra.



I forgot what these cakes where made of, but I remember enjoying them tremendously.



Interestingly enough, the sweeter dishes turned out to be harder to photograph.

Sunday Afternoon

Yes, yes, I am still in Peru, and I am hopelessly behind in posting. This post covers last week Sunday afternoon, and hopefully I will be able to post some photos of the past week later today or tomorrow.

On Sunday afternoon I was exhausted, but nonetheless dragged myself through the Monasteria de Santa Catalina. It is a huge monastery, that used to house a large number of rich nuns. They had nice little apartments filled with nice furniture, music instruments, and servants. At some point, the pope sent over some party pooper nun, who freed the servants and made the nuns give away their material possesions.

Half way through the monastery, the combination of jet lag, lack of sleep and high altitude (2300 meters) almost made me fall over, but fortunately, they had a nice little cafe where I had some espresso and lime pie.

After finishing the rest of the monastery, I headed to a restaurant in the suburbs which was supposed to have excellent Arequipena food. I ordered a gigantic plate which had all the specialties (except for guinea pig). I can't say I thought it was very good. Maybe it was jet lag, or the fact that I had eaten a huge piece of pie earlier, but I again only finished a fraction of my plate.

I felt quite guilty about that, so I kept apologizing to the waiter. He then offered me some anise liqueur to "settle the stomach" and just when I thought the Peruvians are really nice people (which, in fact, everyone I have met since then has been) he proceeded to "accidentally" overcharge me. Even when drunk and overtired, I can still remember what the right price is, mister!

Let Them Eat Cake

Ellen's birthday present last year was pâtisserie lessons.



I think they worked out well.