May 27-29

We arrived in Guangzhou a bit early (5:30pm) and whizzed through Immigration and found our 2 suitcases already waiting on the carousel - together even, a bit of a miracle. The China Southern flight was fine - flat bed but the service did not even come close to SQ; e.g. there was only 1 bottle of FC for all of business class and essentially no wine. A good side effect was that we did not drink too much. After collecting our luggage and passing through customs, we found the bus to the Pullman pretty easily. The bus was ready to leave and we arrived at the hotel and were all checked in and hit the lounge well before 7pm (happy hour ends at 7:30). I had a G&T and Dieter had a beer as they had no wine - cripes. However they had a complimentary a la carte food menu, so Dieter ordered a pasta and I had a salad Nicoise which was exceptional. Then it was off to bed early. We got up pretty early the next morning and while enjoying a Nespresso struck the GFC; aka, the Great Firewall of China. Many Western sites were blocked; e.g. SMH, Google, .... We had a pretty ordinary breakfast in the hotel restaurant then got ready to hit the town. First order of business was to figure out how to pay for the metro as we planned to take the metro from the airport to Canton Tower. The concierge told us we needed cash or Alipay to buy a ticket (and that you could not use credit cards). So I downloaded and registered for Alipay; alas Alipay needs internet access to make a payment. After much fussing around at the ticket machine a guard took pity on me and let me hotspot to his phone and we secured 2 one-trip tickets. On appraoching the barrier gate I noticed large sign stating that you could tap on/off using any foreign credit card. Even the guard seemed unaware of this. The metro trip to the tower was uneventful but took 45 minutes. We arrived to find it very quite even thought they were setup for long lines. We also found out basic entry was free for seniors but the extras (like the outdoor viewing platform and the gondola around the top cost extra - again they took Apple Pay. We returned to the hotel in time for a late lunch followed by showers then off to the lounge for happy hour. After a couple of hours rest we took the hotel shuttle to the airport at 10:30pm. We were all checked-in and sitting in the lounge in less than 30 minutes. The China Southern flight to IST left at 1:10AM (now May 29) and arrived at 7am local time still on the 29th. Since our flight to Malta was a separate ticket with Air Malta we had to clear C&I, collect our luggage and re-check-in, then clear exit-immigration - this was all done in record breaking time - no queues and fast service. We were settled in the "IGA" lounge (catch-all airport lounge for anyone not travelling on Turkish Airlines or *A) in less than 30 minutes. The flight to Malta left on time at 10:30 - we were the only passengers in euro business class (economy class seat with the middle one empty) - we were served a pretty good lunch with French Champagne but  the FA was the  most unfriendly we have ever encountered.

Friday May 29 

We arrived as indicated and got to our holiday apartment in Sliema at about 1pm to find it was not ready (as expected) but we could leave our luggage there. We walked around the waterfront, stopped for a drink then found the closest grocery store, a Lido only 5 minutes walk away. Lido is just like Aldi so very disorganised with somewhat limited selection. We managed to get some fruit, yoghurt and water. By the time we were finished the apartment was ready so we settled in - unpacking and showering before going out for dinner.

Saturday May 30

First full day - after our standard holiday breakfast of fruit and yoghurt we got onto Marko (our host) about the TV which we could not figure out. After an hour of back and forth he sent a technician who somehow got it working (clearly Marko had never personally turn the TV on). 

So thinking it was fixed, we set out for self-guided walking tour of Sliema. We did a big shop at the closest grocery store (even closer than the Lido and 10 times better) - we stocked up with makings for 2 pasta dinners and some bread, ham and cheese for lunch and/or dinner. Back at the apartment around 1pm we had a light lunch then settled in to watch some of the French Open. We again had all sorts of drama getting the TV to work - after much jiggery-poking around we got onto the pay TV channels.  The FO was on the channel "France 2"; however, their coverage ended at 3:30pm and cutover to "France 3" which was not on our subscription, we then located Eurosport which was also covering the French Open but alas it was also not in our subscription. 

Later in the afternoon we went for a seaside walk and stopped for happy hour at one of the many bar/restaurants dotted along the way - we each had a Mai Tai (2 for 1) for 8Eur.

We headed home for showers and a pasta/salad dinner.

Sunday May 31

We had pre-booked a 3 hour walking tour of the old town of Valetta - starting at 10am, so we took the 9:15 ferry over to the old town and walked about 10 minutes to our meeting place. Our tour had 20 people and a pretty good guide; however, it dragged on in the last hour. By mid-day the old town was packed with tourists. After the tour finished we had lunch at a cafe - it was about a 3 out of 10.

We then headed home via the ferry arriving around 2:30am in time for a half-hour of FO then showers, resting and planning the next few days activities. we stayed home and had cold cuts for dinner.

Monday June 1

Another amazing day weather-wise - sunny and high 20's every day. We took a harbour cruise in the morning - very interesting to see all the creeks off the harbour with 100's perhaps 1000's of boats docked - usual Mediterranean style - stern to shore and anchor to secure the bow.  We came home in time for lunch to find the lift out of order - we started up the stairs to the 4th floor (narrow and steep with no railings) - unfortunately the sensor lights weren't working properly so we had to use our iPhone flashlights to find the switches, further the second floor landing was totally covered in junk/rubbish. I contacted Marko who's onto it - but it seems no action until Tuesday - the lift is a real concern as even when working it is very rickety. In spite of our apartment being beautifully renovated the rest of the building is very dilapidated.

After lunch - we rested then headed out for some retail therapy - I scored some Max Mara navy linen pants and Dieter a shirt and 2 t-shirts.

Then it was home for dinner.

Tuesday June 2

Off to Gozo today. Alas, another "fog-dam". We took the 8:45am ferry to Gozo arriving at 10am. We met our "private" guide only to find there were 2 other people in his very small car!! A major argument ensued - he said private meant up to 4 persons; however, even if we were OK with that, it would not have been possible for both of us to fit in the car. The 2 already ensconced in the back seat were on the large size which no space for an additional person. So we told the guide we were cancelling our tour and would like a refund (of $230) - he told us we needed to go via the booking agent (GetYourGuide).

At this stage we just jumped back on the ferry we had come over on which fortunately had not left yet. While on the return trip I did a live chat with GetYourGuide who were very apologetic and by the time we reach Sliema I had an e-mail stating that a full refund would be forthcoming.

As a result - on arrival back in Sliema we hopped onto the ferry to Valetta and spent the rest of the day sightseeing.

We went out to dinner at the Skyroom, a roof top restaurant in a nearby hotel. The views were outstanding and the food pretty good.

Wednesday June 3

It was off to Gozo again today for a Blue Lagoon "tour" - the tour was actually a small ferry (25 people) transfer to the Blue Lagoon on Comino island where you can stop for 1+ hours before jumping back on board for a drive-by of some famous caves. We arrived at the Blue Lagoon around 10:50am and were horrified - see photos - the small rocky "beach" was body-to-body or even closer with people just floating / standing in the water. Influencers ruled the waves - all in the smallest string bikinis and largest botox lips ever seen. We left as soon as we could (11:20am) and back on Gozo found a bar on the edge of the marina and shared a sambo and a drink.  Back at home I checked the TripAdvisor reviews of the Blue Lagoon - should have done this first and saved a day.

Thursday June 4

We had pre-booked taxi to the ancient city of Mdina and adjacent Rabat. We had also booked a walking tour, which was interesting but we both agreed it would have been easier to just do a self-guided tour as both cities are very small. After checking out the local cafes we decided to head home for a late lunch of cheese and biscuits.

We had dinner at home.

Friday June 5

We took a newly booked 4-hour private tour of Gozo today so it was over to Gozo on the 8:45 ferry for a 10am start. The tour was very good and we saw all the highlights and a couple of lowlights. The tour finished at 2pm so we stopped at the same harbour-side bar for a drink and a shared sandwich before catching the 3:15PM ferry back to Sliema.

We stayed home for sandwiches.

Saturday June 6

Malta to Catania - see next entry.

Saturday June 6

We left Malta on Ryanair at 4pm - the flight arrived early but the luggage took over 30 minutes to even start tumbling down the carousel - fortunately ours was first off. We grabbed a regular taxi to our holiday apartment on Piazza del Martini where our host Jack met us. 

The apartment was a bit disappointing at first glance but you have to "go with the flow" and as time went by we decided it was just fine. Jack showed us around the unit including the very odd expresso machine (which turned out to be a disaster - more on this later). By 6pm we were ready to set out to find a grocery store and somewhere for dinner. After some difficulty we did find a grocery store and bought a few essentials for breakfast; alas they did not have any berries. Walking back to our apartment we stopped at a tourist trap (aka a restaurant) for something to eat - a shared burrata and a shared pizza. Wine by the glass here is very limited and also of the cheapest variety. We were finally back home at 9:30pm where we spent some time getting the TV to work - while there are lots of channels, all seem to be in Italian and none were showing the French open. Then it was off to bed.

Sunday June 7

We were up early and tried in vain to get the expresso machine to work properly but it seemed hellbent on spraying water and coffee grounds all over the place. I sent Jack a message asking for help - and he came over to re-demonstrate how to operate the machine. Give me a Nespresso any day.

We set out to find the Lidl grocery store and check out a few restaurants. The Lidl was OK but lacking in many items - particularly cheese and any wine over $5 a bottle. We did buy makings for our ubiquitous pasta/salad holiday home dinner, some prosciutto and Emmental cheese. It was quite a hike to the Lidl - a good 20 minutes but alas you need to be flexible.

After dropping the groceries home we headed out again looking for a deli and a wine store - we did find a wine store and bought a bottle of Mt Etna wine for 26 EUR but no cheese. We wandered around for a while then headed home picking up 4 huge bottles of plain water as according to Jack (our host) you should only use bottled water for coffee and cooking. The web; however, does say it should be safe to drink tap water.

Monday June 8

Today was our BDO (Big Day Out) - a 10 hour small group tour to Villa Angela and Valley of the Temples. To cut a long story short: the van was packed with 8 persons (3 across even in the front seat), there was a lot more driving than sightseeing, the driver/guide was the worst ever (we must develop a special plaque for this award), and the sites were boring - never again. 

Back at our apartment (at 6:08pm) we started with happy hour before even showering, followed by sambos for dinner.

Tuesday June 8

Only a half day tour today - Mt Etna. Our pickup time was 8:40am which can imply you will be the last ones which usually means the worst seats; however, our guide/driver was early and we were first on board. The van was better and initially we were only 6 persons but we added one more at the first stop (toilet, cafe and meeting point for other 4x4 vans). The tour proceeded half way up Mt Etna where we stopped for a 1 hour hike to one of the extinct craters. It all went pretty well - all vans in the convoy stopped for a late lunch at a mountain restaurant where those on the full day tour got lunch and those on the half-day had to fend for themselves - so we had a beer, Diet coke and a bag of chips. Around 1:30 the half-day trippers headed back to Catania - instead of a luxury 4x4 van we were piled into a clapped out jeep with another couple and 2 guide/drivers - the drive home took 1.5 hours so we only reached home at 3pm - quite tired. So we stayed home for sambos.

Wednesday June 10

Off to Syracuse (or Siracusa in Italian) today - see next entry.

Wednesday June 10

We left Catania today - first we had to get a taxi to the airport to pickup a hire car - this was all a bit stressful: firstly the pre-ordered taxi arrived 15+ minutes late, then he dropped us at the wrong hire car depot so we had to roll our luggage some 200 meters - all the while stressing that we would make it to Siracuse by noon at which time there check-in at our hotel closes until 3pm. We finally got our car, an MG3, and were on our way - it took about 1 hour to reach our hotel, Fortalenza Charm House, a boutique hotel right in the old town. Francesca met us (more or less right on noon) and showed us the parking garage and fortunately our room was ready. It was a large junior suite with a small mini-bar/kitchenette. The hotel was only renovated in 2024 so is really in top condition - even the lift.

We did a mini-settling in and then walked over to Ortegia island (2 minutes) away to check out the fresh food market, restaurants and supermarket. Our "excursion" was only partly successful - we got yoghurt but no fruit as when we returned to the market they had pretty much closed up shop. We checked out a couple of restaurants as our kitchenette is not suitable for cooking; maybe sambos. Later (after 4pm when another local Coop re-opened we found some berries). We went for in dinner at Puros, one of the top rated restaurants on Trip Advisor.  It was fine but really a pizza place - service was excellent.

Thursday June 11

We drove to Ragusa today - a highly acclaimed ancient village on a cliff side. As usual the driving presented some navigation challenges but we made it in 1+ hours. It was quite hot tramping around but it was very quaint and picturesque. We opted not to make any more stops as by 2pm it was really too hot (for us) so we drove home arriving around 3:30pm.

We spent some time trying to figure out where to have dinner - all restaurants are either pizza places or have a very similar combination of Sicilian dishes (including such specialties as sardines, octopus, tuna, whole fish, ...) none of which really appeal to us. We finally opted to go to the "salumiere" in the market area - it was packed out at lunch time but quite at dinner - the food was very disappointing but they had an excellent wine selection. We took our bottle of wine home and finished off the evening with a final glass on our terrace - lovely.

Friday June 12

In the morning, we walked to the Greek and Roman ruins in the city. On returning to the hotel we had to move our car to a paid spot which we found on the island of Ortegia; however, it seems we may have violated the ZTL zone (local traffic only).

In the afternoon we took a 1.5 hour small boat tour around Ortegia then walked around the old town for a while before returning to the hotel for showers.

We had dinner at what seemed the best restaurant in town, Osteria Siracusa - recommended by Michelin - it turned out to be real fine dining. We arrived at 7:30pm (opening time) and were almost the only guests - seems to be a pattern here and in Malta - higher end restaurants are not at all busy.  Anyway the dinner was the best so far.

Saturday June 13

We set off for Noto this morning - about a 35 minute drive away and another very scenic ancient hillside village. It was very enjoyable - with only a few navigation challenges.  We returned around mid-day and found a parking lot on the Syacuse side (as we may have violated a ZTL area by parking in Ortegia yesterday - we'll see if a fine is forthcoming).  A ZTL area is one with traffic limited to locals only during certain times.

We walked over to Ortegia and found a lovely cafe overlooking the super yacht marina - we had a beer, Aperol Spritz and a shared sandwich - all very good. We spent another hour or 2 walking around the old town and visiting the cathedral. 

Later we returned to our hotel for showers and decided to have dinner at Agape (highly recommended by TripAdvisor) - it was, over all, disappointing.

Sunday June 16

Off to Taormina this morning - see next entry.

Sunday June 14

We left Syracuse at 9am to drive to Taormina - even though it was Sunday, traffic was quite heavy particularly at the entry toll booth to the freeway. We arrived around 11:30am and found the winding mountain road up to our hotel quite hairy. (After going up and down this road a few times in the hotel shuttle it did not seen so hairy).

Our stay started off on a bit on the wrong foot; even though our room was in the new wing of the hotel and lovely and modern it did not have a Nespresso machine (as expected). Dieter "discussed" this with the front desk people and finally one lady said we were wrong but she would try to find us one (as it came to pass this never materialised).

We took the afternoon shuttle into the old town of Taormina and wondered around checking everything out including the cablecar down to the beach. We finished off with a drink on a hotel terrace overlooking the water. 

Back at the hotel - we had dinner in house - the restaurant is lovely overlooking sea but only a few tables were occupied - surprising since the hotel is fully booked - we presumed most guests take the shuttle into town for dinner.

Monday June 15

This was our first and only full day in Taormina - we took the hotel shuttle then cable car down to the beach where we booked a 45 minute boat tour. You got what you paid for (10 EUR pp) - the whole thing was a CF - leaving 40 minutes late, you needed to wade in into the water over very unstable rocks to get to the boat. Anyway we saw some of the caves and did a drive-by of one of the $5000+ pn hotels (where Pauline Hanson stayed a few weeks late with her bestie, Gina) - it looked amazing but at that price it should be. Now the beach was just rocks with 20 EUR entry to any area with sunbeds - many people just used the free area with towels laid on rocks - not a grain of sand in sight.

After our cruise we stopped at a beach bar/restaurant for a drink - quite an expensive undertaking a they charged a 3 EUR PP cover + relatively expensive drinks. However in Sicily (like most of Europe) if you order a drink you get a selection of nibblies which we counted as lunch.

Back at the hotel we had dinner there again to an almost empty restaurant - but the food was fine.

Thuesday June 16

Off to Palermo today - see next entry; however below is a list of our issues with the hotel:-

• The Nespresso machine - probably our own fault when booking as some room types do have them but extremely annoying

• There was a kettle with 2 nescafe tubes - these weren't replaced after the first day and we needed to request this several times

• On returning to our room the first day none of the power points worked (they did before we went out) - on raising this in person at the front desk - the first person simply said they had no idea - the second person did something on their phone then said it should be OK now (and it was !!). 

• Any issue had to be reported in person by going to the front desk as the phone in the room did not work - they said they would fix it but never did

• The safe did not work properly

• Many staff spoke limited English even though the majority of the guests were English

• When you order anything at the bar or restaurant they just ask your room number - you never sign a bill - needless to say our final bill had 2 duplicate charges (which they removed)

• Now the big issue - Dieter booked the hotel direclty by phone over 9 months prior only to find when we were there that they had not given us the 20% discount - raised this met with refusal to admit this.

Tuesday June 16

We left Taormina at 9:30 and drove to Catania airport - the drive was relatively easy until be got to airport where traffic congestion and poor instructions from both Google Maps and Apple Maps to the rental car drop-off; however we made it. We walked over to the airport terminal to find the bus stop for our bus to Palermo. Finding the bus stop was easy as there is a major bus exchange right outside the terminal. However the 45 minute wait for our 12:10pm bus was 1.5 hours, the last 45 minutes in the blazing sun where the crush of people trying to get on different busses made it look like an Iraq market on a bad day. Our bus was totally full but once it got on the way we arrived around 3:25pm. Since the bus station in Palermo is at the train station we found a taxi right away. It was about 15 minutes and 20 EUR to our "luxury" apartment.

On arriving at the building our hearts sank - it looked about one step up from a crack house. The lift looked like a post-war Soviet one but somehow it made it to the fourth floor. The apartment was quite OK but not what I would call luxury. Neither of us could figure out why we did not booked a hotel since our stay is only 3 nights.

Anyway we dropped our bags and set out for the closest grocery store, The Family Market open 24 hours. Expecting a mini-mart we were pleasantly surprised to find a full on grocery store of a high standard. While walking to the store (200m) we discovered our apartment is very close to a main street with high end shops so I guess our neighbourhood is OK.

We decided to go a high-end sky bar in a nearby hotel - the bar (which also serves food) was hopping mainly with Yanks on a tour. We had a glass of wine but decided to forget about eating there as it was so busy. We went to a nearby restaurant that Dieter had sussed out and since it was now after 8pm just had a pasta and a glass of wine. Then it was home to bed.

Wednesday June 17

We kicked off with our usual holiday apartment breakfast (fruit and yoghurt) then decided to get an overview of the main city site by taking one round on a hop-on/off bus - this took just over an hour and was good - the bus stopped for 5-10 minutes at 2 of the main points of interest so we could hop off, take a few photos and hop back on. On the way back to our apartment we did some grocery shopping planning to dine at home for the next 2 night.

We then did a self guided walk around all the points of interest - over 2 hours but very interesting.

Thursday June 18

We took a half-day trip Cefalu about 1 hour away by train. We took an Uber to the train station ($26) then caught the 9:31am train - it was packed to the gills; unfortunately the aircon did not work for the first 30 minutes - then it finally came on. 

The town (often described as one of the prettiest in Italy) was really lovely we walked all around taking in the duomo including the (paid) visit to the towers. Down at the water front we stopped for a light lunch at a seaside cafe. We then headed back to the city.

When we got off the train we decided to walk home, an estimated 30 minutes but with a few wrong turns and it took over an hour.

By the time we got home it time to start the pack up / clean up for our departure on Friday. We stayed home for a quick sambo for dinner while polishing off the adult beverages.

Friday June 19

Off to Munich today - see next item.

 

Friday June 19

We left Palermo today - we had pre-booked a car to the airport for 9am - it arrived early but that was fine as we were 'locked and loaded'. It cost about $100 to get to the airport which is 30k's outside but we arrived in about 40 minutes which was good considering they recommend allowing 1 hour. After we checked in for our LH flight to Munich and cleared security we found out the lounge was before security and we weren't allowed to go back. Dieter was fuming 😡

After a 1h40m flight we waited 30 minutes for our luggage then caught the S-bahn to the city - the S-bahn ride was late due it stopping for some reason and hot as whatever aircon they had was totally insufficient - we finally got to out hotel, the Sofitel at 6pm. A very long travel day to get not all that far. We dropped our bags and went to the bar for a well deserved drink.

Back in our room - we showered and had dinner at the Sofitel's fine dining restaurant to use up our $US100 dining credit which was part of our booking.

Saturday June 20

Our only full day in Munich - we walked around the pedestrian area shopping as we went. We both scored some new "loot" (white pants and a great dress for me, and new Polo jammies and a shirt for Dieter). We went out for dinner at one the many restaurants which offer a $200 cash back from AmEx - we had an excellent meal. 

Sunday June 21

Off to the Dolomites today - see next post.

Sunday June 21

We left the Sofitel in Munich at 9am and walked, with our luggage, to Europcar about 10 minutes away. We got the car (upgraded to a BWM 3 series, we could have had an X5 but we declined as we felt a smaller car was preferable on mountain roads). It took nearly an hour to collect the car and get Apple Car Play sorted out so we were finally on the road at 10am. Due to some crazy thinking on the part of Apple Maps we did not go over the Brenner pass but took secondary roads through the valley. Traffic was heavy and we reached the nearest open supermarket (to our apartment) at 2pm. Then it took almost an hour to do a big shop so we finally reached our holiday apartment (Golden Hill) at 3:30pm. We were totally mentally exhausted and stressed from the drive and the navigation. However the apartment was amazing - a 10 out of 10 (even with a few issues - like a very small freezer and no ice in the ice cube tray).

The biggest mystery was they had expected us the day before (for an 8 day stay) which it seems we paid for - however Dieter was sure he had called and changed this but unfortunately had no e-mail confirmation - in the end they only charged us for the 7 days.

We unpacked and settled in for happy hour and sambos for dinner.

Monday June 22

We took it fairly easy today - still in recovery mode. Since our apartment is a 2 k's outside the actual town of Dobbiaco - we went into town (which is very small) to check out the Tourist Information center, the shops and restaurants. Now if you look at a map, Dobbiaco looks like a sleepy hollow in the middle of nowhere but the whole area is booming - tourists everywhere - cars, busses, bikes of all types, hikers, and so on. 

We wanted to visit the head-line attraction of Tres Zinnen (in German) but you have to reserve parking - the only spot we could get was the following Saturday at 3pm and all shuttle busses were fully booked all week.

We returned home for a light lunch then drove to some nearly lakes to walk around.

We stay home for dinner - pasta/salad.

Tuesday June 23

We drove to the Sexton goldola (about 8 k's away), sorted out our 3 day (over 4 day) pass and walked around the top - before heading down we had a light snack at a mountain restaurant.

A thunderstorm moved in around 3:30pm, fortunately we were already home. The rain cleared just in time for us to walk down the hill (2 k's) for our dinner at WinkelKeller. The dinner was very nice - large portions - we agreed maybe it's better to have 2 entrees and share a main. We walking (i.e. hiked) back up the hill to our apartment - good exercise after a dinner.

Wednesday June 24

Up early as usual - there was a hot air ballon floating by. We drove to Pragser Wildsee / Lago Di Braies, a lake about 20 minutes away. This is one of the headline attractions so we had to booking parking (10 Eur) in advance and since it was 5 K's away we also had to book the shuttle service (another 10 Eur). (Note one of the confusing things here is places and streets have both a German and an Italian version; e.g. Toblach Dobbacio (where Toblach is the German name for Dobbacio),  etc)

The lake was lovely with towering mountains around it. This is  a nice walk around it - a bit up and down - 1.5 hours at leisurely pace. Back at the start we had a light lunch before heading home, stopping to do some top up shopping.

We stayed home for dinner.

Thursday June 25

We visited Innichen, one of the loveliest villages in the area. We took a gondola to Gigante Baranci, the area with a Fun-bob and walk around "large" displays of giants (mainly for children). 

We stayed home for dinner which was a "fail" - fliechekase and roesti.

Friday June 26

We took a couple of gondola rides - first to Croda Rossa and did a challenging walk then finished with nice lunch. Then we finished the afternoon with a ride up the Stiergarten gondola. 

We went out for dinner to Gausthaus Weber - unfortunately it was also a total "fail" - while there it started to rain and the quote on a taxi back to our apartment was 25 Eur so we elected to walk - about 25 minutes uphill - but the rain held off.

Saturday June 27

Today was our big trip to the Tres Zinnen - the headline attraction of the area. Since you need to book parking in advance (40 EUR) - the only reservation we could get for the entire week was Saturday at 3pm. After having a banana for lunch, we drove part way there hoping to stop at Miserurina Lake but there was absolutely no parking so we drove back to another lake for a short before heading up to the Tres Zinnen. We were early but they let us in anyway. The viewing area is at 2300m where there is a Refugio (Auronzo) and the start of many walks. We took one of the shorter ones to a chapel (30 minutes return). The whole area is quite amazing with the towering jagged peaks but we still think Zermatt tops it.

Sunday June 28

We were required to check out of Golden Hill at 9:30am and Carmen (owner/manager) would not cut us any slack. So off we went to Cortina - see next entry.

Sunday June 28

We left Golden Hill at 9:30am and arrived at the Radisson Residences at about 10:30am with no navigation issues. The checkin person said they would put our room (ie. apartment) on a rush with housekeeping and it would be ready in about 1 hour.

We walked around the pedestrian area (our hotel is just on the edge of this area) visiting the tourist office, checking out restaurants and the Conad grocery store. 

We went back to the Radisson at noon and our room was ready - overall it was disappointing particularly for the price > $800 pn. In particular, it was not air-conditioned (we were gobsmacked) and the bar fridge was quite hopeless so it did not take much for us to realise that cooking was "off the table". We unpacked and returned to the grocery store to get breakfast stuff and, since we had decided to just do sambos for dinner, some cold cuts and bread. Rain set in around 2pm and lasted for about 2 hours. Since it was now late in the day the shelves at Conad were bare, particularly bread.

Anyway back at home we had happy hour and by this time realised the fridge could not cope. 

After our light dinner we did another walk around the village then headed home for an early night.

Monday June 29

At breakfast we realised that the fridge was probably as good as it would get - most things were now cool but far from cold.

We set out for the Telfour gondola/cable car where we planned to just walk from the top of the first gondola as it was pretty cloudy but by the time we got there (7 minute drive or 20 minute walk) it seemed a lot clearer so we bought return ticket to the very top (3100m) - the summit was amazing but it wasn't really clear enough to get great photos. We made our way down the 2 upper cable cars to the top of the gondola and stopped for light lunch. We had planned to walk back from here but the weather was closing in so we took the gondola back down and drove back to the hotel. Not very long afterwards a thunder storm, complete with hail, set in.

We went out for dinner.

Tuesday June 30

We did a walk starting in the village along an old railway track - one way was slightly downhill (which you did not even really notice) but the return the slight uphill became quite noticeable.

We had dinner at 5 Torri pizza place - cheap, cheerful and popular but not the greatest pizzas ever.

Wednesday July 1

The forecast predicted rain and storms but it started as a clear and sunny day (cool mornings but reaching 27C by 2pm). We drove to Cinque Torri (about 25 minutes up a winding mountain road) and took a chair lift where there were amazing views and many walking tracks. We took the most popular one to a rufugio (mountain hut) which was lovely - we elected not to continue to the next rufugio as the track looked very precarious. We returned to the top of the chairlift for a light lunch.

Back at home - we did some shopping as we had planned to have dinner at home. Good luck we did as a thunderstorm moved in around 4:30pm.

Thursday July 2

We drove up past 5 Tori to Passo Falzarego where we took a cable car to the summit of Piccolo Lagazuoi (2,762 m). There were amazing views and lots of WWI history including tunnels. We (ie Dieter) had decided to walk down, supposedly it should take 1.5 hours. The trail was not only extremely rocky and steep but poorly marked - in the end it took us 2.5 hours mainly because of me. At the bottom we stopped for a bite to eat then headed home.

We went out for dinner at Domo Eats a place we had discovered on our first day.

Friday July 3

We decided on an easier day after we changed our mind about hiking to a "great" mountain restaurant after reading some reviews none of which were favourable. Instead we did an 8k walk along another section of the trail on an abandoned railway line. 

The rest of day was quiet but we had dinner at the El Ponte, a pizzeria just 2 minutes from our hotel. To our surprise it was excellent even though we had pasta and not pizza.

Saturday July 4

Off to Langenfeld, Austria about 10k's from Solden. See next entry for the story. 

Saturday July 4

Off to Austia - Langenfeld, the drive took about 3 hours. We had been quite put off by prior communication from the host but when we arrived the "cleaning lady" met us and showed us around. Off her our bat she let us checkin early (On arrival @ 3pm) and reduced the, never mentioned until the day before, security deposit from 400 to 200 Eur - she also told us we could use their laundry even though the "owner" doesn't like people using it.

The apartment is quite amazing and even thought surrounded by other houses it has spectacular views.

We then took a walk around our village which was more substantial than I expected.

We stayed home for sambos.

Sunday July 5

First day out we drove to Solden (about 10-15 minutes) and used our complimentary guest card to ride 2 gondolas to 3100m where the Ice Q restaurant is also located - it is a fine dining restaurant- we planned to return for lunch one day. Solden seems to be the mountain biking capital of the world - even the local busses tow bike trailers. Every second gondola was allocated to bikers.

We wandered around on top, taking photos etc then headed down. We walked around the village looking for a a place for lunch - alas not much seemed to be open and we ended up at a place where we had the worst meal of the whole trip - it wasn't really a meal as we left nearly all of our shared kaese spaetzli. The village of Solden was an also a bit disappointing as there is no pedestrian-only area.

We headed home for one of our standard dinners - pasta and salad.

Monday July 6

As forecast it was a bit of a cloudy drizzly day but much better than expected. Due to the changeable conditions we opted to stay close to home (Langenfeld which as it turned out was a really nice village - 2 grocery stores, many hotels and sports shops). We did some shopping in the morning then did a local hike in the afternoon - about 2 hours with 250m ascent/descent and across an amazing hanging bridge built only 5 year ago. We opted for the longer route back to the village and stopped at a mountain restaurant for an afternoon refreshment.

By the time we arrived home it was time for showers and dinner at home (pork chop, green beans, porcini mushrooms and a few left over ravioli).

Tuesday July 7

 It started out as a fine day - cool as usual (7C) in the morning. We did a really tough walk in Otz - up to Hoch Otz - we started by going up the Acherkogelbhan gondola and started on a loop track but due to insufficient signage we hiked to to the top of another chair lift from which there was no way back except by retracing our walk up - at least it was downhill. We stopped at a mountain restaurant only 10 minutes from the top of the cable car for a light lunch (eggs and potatoes - Dieter's favourite). 

We went out of dinner at Hotel Ritz which had a 5 course menu for 58EUR - it was excellent.

Wednesday July 8

We drove to Umhauser where there is a waterfall which is amazing, not because it is so great a water fall but there is a suspended staircase which goes up 700 steps - it is an engineering marvel. Dieter went all the way to the top but I had to stop short and wait for him due to my vertigo on open steel staircases. It was still a vigorous uphill hike. We came home for a late lunch and had dinner at home (pasta/salad).

Thursday July 9 

We took one of the Solden gondolas up to Gigglijoch and hike down to Hocksolden then continued onto the mid-station of the Gaislachkogl gondola which also starts from the Solden town center. It took 2h20m and was a good work-out with a few hundred meters of altitude (down then up). Once we reached the mid-station we stopped for lunch then headed home.

We tried to go out for dinner at Hotel Stern but alas we were again thwarted as they had some sort of guest-only BBQ. So we headed over to Hotel Rita, expecting something similar to our previous visit but they had a different format - which was disappointing. 

Friday July 10

Last full day - we drove to a nice mountain lake then did a walk around stopping for lunch at a great restaurant. Then it was home for packing up and sambos at home as we had a 9:30am departure on Saturday.

Saturday July 11

We left at 9:30 for the 2.5 hour drive to Tegernsee - see next entry.

Saturday July 11

We left Lagenfeld at 9:30am and drove to Tegensee arriving around mid-day. Our hotel Luitpold was right on the lake (well across a road) and at first glance we were not impressed. We could not check-in right away so dropped our bags and found a sea-side bar/restaurant for a light lunch. On the dot of 12:20pm I did online check-in for our SQ flights home and was able to snag 2 front row seats for both of us.

We checked in and spent the rest of the day dagging about. We planned to eat at our hotel's restaurant but it was no longer operating, in spite of still having menus in the lobby. We tried 2 other places but both were closed for private functions. We ended up in a so-so Italian joint and both had pasta with pfifferlinge (German for Chanterelles).

Sunday July 11

Off to Munich for an overnighter then home - see next post.

Sunday July 12

We left tegernsee around 1pm and drove to Munich - staying overnight at the Hilton at the airport. By the time we finally dropped off our hire car (after not re-fuelling it due to missing the turn off to the service station) we checked into the Hilton around 3pm and found we had been upgraded to a junior suite.

Being very travel weary we had a drink at the outdoor pub at the airport then went to the Hilton club lounge for happy hour followed by dinner at the airport pub (as the menu at the Hilton's fine dining restaurant was totally uninspiring).

Monday July 13

Off home on the 12:30pm flight to SIN then SYD. Our 3 hour layover in SIN became 4 hours due a technical issue with the plane. We finally walked in the door at 9:30pm Tuesday.