The Land of Fire and Ice 🇮🇸

September 12, 2022

Today, I am (almost) fully back to my regular blogging habits. After my vacation (see below) and being back at work for a few days, we spent a couple days in Vienna. Last Saturday afternoon, right after we returned from Vienna, we helped my son move, for he starts the next level at university to receive his master’s degree. “Almost” because today is my youngest son’s 20th birthday, and, after work, we are going to celebrate that. So, still, I am not back completely. However, let’s start with a review of my summer vacation:

On Vacation🌋

August 29, 2022

I had to wait a while, but now my vacation is finally here. This time there is no lying on the beach and no swimming in the sea. Ok, there are beaches and the sea, but it will be way too cold for swimming. The only thing that invites us to swim in the fresh air are warm springs.

Bella Italia 😎🇮🇹 – Rimini, Bologna, Bellagio

Here we are again with the third part of our Italy trip. If you want to check out the first two parts of our trip please click here Bella Italia 😎🇮🇹 – Genoa, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and here Bella Italia 😎🇮🇹 – Florence, San Marino.

The last part takes us from the Italian east coast back northwards and close to the Swiss border to lake Como. Rimini was about to awaken when we arrived. the beaches are still empty but you can tell from the installed umbrella holders what may be going on during the main season. Over a large part of the promenade, people were busy setting up food stands. The view from our hotel room was gorgeous day and night. We could even spot San Marino from our balcony. I would like to come back when there is more going on to feel the pulsing life, but I don’t think I was one of those lying on that beach together with thousands of others. The old town again is typically Italian and it is almost like one big market. I love that.

Bella Italia 😎🇮🇹 – Florence, San Marino

Here we are again with the next part of our Italy trip. If you want to check out the first part of our trip please click here: Bella Italia 😎🇮🇹 – Genoa, Cinque Terre, Pisa

What do I need to say about Florence… I don’t think a lot. I have been to Florence four years ago already. It was wonderful to return and see old and new places. Still, the Piazza del Duomo, the Pallazzo Vecchio, and, of course, the Ponte Vecchio are the most famous and impressive parts of the city. We found a great spot the Piazzale Michelangelo from which we had a gorgeous view over the whole city of Florence. But enough babbling, welcome to Florence:

Bella Italia 😎🇮🇹 – Genoa, Cinque Terre, Pisa

Two weeks ago, we spent a week traveling through the northern part of Italy. It is not a secret that I love this country that borders Switzerland and is, therefore, only about 2.5 hours away from us. I will share the trip in three posts to give you some impressions without flooding you. So, this week will be dedicated to beautiful Italy.

Ciao dall’Italia 😎

Cinque Terre

Only two weeks ago (over the Easter weekend), we went for a short trip to Italy. But already long before, we had planned a coast-to-coast tour around the northern part of Italy that we started yesterday.

Trip to South Tyrol

November 3, 2021

Here I am with my promised post about another escape to a beautiful place on this planet: South Tyrol. Although it sounds like it was a part of the Austrian federal state Tyrol, it is not.

Fall Impressions

November 1, 2021

The picture above shows one of the views I am having from my house.

Three weeks ago, we spent some wonderful days in a spa hotel in the German/Austrian Alps. Since I know that many of you would like to see some pictures, I am happy to share some of the impressions with you.

Fall in the Mountains

October 11, 2021

St. Johann i. Pongau, Salzburg

As long as our children were little, we went on vacation in October during the school vacations. Until the youngest turned six, we went to a family hotel in a mountainous region in Salzburg, Austria. Later we made these weeks our beach vacation and went with them to Greece, Trukey or Egypt.

Impressions of Lake Garda and its Area

September 14, 2021

As promised, here I am, back with some photos of another picturesque place of this planet. This time, we stayed in a vacation apartment in a camping resort directly at the lake. It was a different kind of vacation, very uncomplicated and therefore even more relaxing and rejuvenating. The weather was gorgeous. We rented bikes and explored a part of the closer area, chilled at the pool, took walks at the promenade, and visited a few beautiful places.

On The Road Again Soon!

September 7, 2021

Mistakenly, I had this post scheduled for yesterday and had it online for a few hours. For those who have not seen it yet, here it is again on the right day😂

Buon giorno, amici! It’s only been two weeks since I returned from our family vacation in Corfu. But as I said in my post: set an anchor in the future! I took my own words to heart and booked a few days at a camping resort on Lake Garda in Italy a few weeks before we left for Corfu. So, in a couple hours we’re heading southward again to enjoy sun, warmth, and a relaxing time.

Impressions of Corfu #2

September 1, 2021

I hope you enjoyed the first part of our exploration of part of the island. Today we continue with the second day of our trip through Corfu. We drove towards the northern mountainous region and started with the highest elevation on the island, Pantokrator (906 m/2972 ft). The view and silence up there were breathtaking. The nerve-wracking drive on the extremely narrow and winding mountain road and the narrow streets through the small villages were forgotten for a moment. On the highest point there was a small church in the middle of a picturesque garden. It seemed like an oasis in the midst of all those rocks and sand.

Impressions of Corfu #1

August 30, 2021

Calimera! After our wonderful vacation on this beautiful and charming island, of course, I have to share the photos with you. Those who follow me on Instagram may have already seen a few individual photos. Here we go now with the extended version.

Summer Break 🌞🌴🌊

August 16, 2021

http://www.holidaycheck.de

Over here, it is the first day for the kids to go back to school. For us, it is the first day of our vacation. It is not six weeks like the school kids had, but I am more than happy with two weeks. Right now, we are already at the airport to catch our flight to Corfu (Greece). The trip was planned last year as a gift my husband and I made each other for our 50th birthdays. We wanted to have a vacation together with all our (already grown-up) kids and my mother. But “~~Life~~ Corona happened while we were making other plans”. Therefore, we are looking even more forward to the coming days.

Monday Song

Hello, everybody! I spent part of last weekend in a spa hotel in Tyrol, Austria. Because of my busy life, I enjoyed it, even more, to relax for at least a few hours. The hotel was amazing, and the huge spa area there is spread over 3 floors. I was in all the steam baths, the different pools (including an outdoor infinity pool), relaxed in the different lounges on normal beds, water beds, heated beds… YAY!!

Summer Break🌞

Hi, friends, when you are reading this post I am already burying my toes in Egyptian sand, hiding in the shade, reading a book (OMG, I am finally reading a book again🎉), swimming, simply enjoying the sweetness of life. Read more ›

Happy Wednesday

From today until Sunday I am on vacation. Since I won’t be online, I cannot get to answer your comments which is the reason I have not scheduled any posts for the rest the week. Have a great week and take good care. See you later!

In Love and Light

A Quick Stop In Milan

August 14, 2017

On the way back home we stopped in Milan. I have never been there and gladly took the occasion. Read more ›

Impressioni di Sirmione

August 13, 2017

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Today we went to the neighbor city Sirmione. Read more ›

Un Giorno A Venezia

August 12, 2017

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It was a dream day today and perfect for our trip to Venice. The photo above shows the famous Rialto Bridge but when you hear Venice, you may think immediately of this: Read more ›

Impressioni Di Verona

August 11, 2017

20170811_115536 Today we visited Verona. I have never been to that city before and was very excited to finally go there. Of course, a visit in the famous arena was a must! Read more ›

What A Welcome!!

August 10, 2017

I just have to quickly share a video. A huge thunderstorm went down followed by a scary and harmful hail storm while we were looking for a restaurant for dinner tonight. It shocked me that while we were standing under a roof close to me a pigeon just fell on the street hit deadly by the hail. The hail stones got bigger. It became really dangerous and we had to take shelter inside a restaurant. I took this video to illustrate what I mean. Read more ›

Our Ski Region – Malbun/Liechtenstein

February 11, 2016

Next week my youngest son is skiing with his class all week long. He is not a ski fan (as no one of us is) but he had to practice a little in order to get the feeling again. It was a beautiful day.

The village is called Malbun and it is our ski region. On the photo, you see one of the ski pistes. It is a small one. The bigger ones are in the background and on the side above and behind the trees. Read more ›

California, here I come…

November 2, 2015

Hola all together! I hope you are doing fine. Just a brief hello from SoCal and a few impressions in order to prove that I am still alive!!! Read more ›

Gozo – Sister Island of Malta

October 12, 2015

Today we had the best weather. No clouds and almost no wind at all. A relief after the strong winds of the past days. We spent all day on Gozo Island. Gozo is a small island next to Malta. We took the ferry. After a 20 minutes ride we arrived at Mgarr. What is always the first you can see is a church. Perhaps you have noticed that in my previous posts too. Malta and Gozo together have 365 churches. Read more ›

Candle Night

October 11, 2015

The photo above shows the view from where I am sitting while preparing this post.

Once a year in Birgu/Vittoriosa the Candle Night takes place. A huge part of the historic city is only illuminated with candles. That means candles everywhere. The houses are beautifully decorated with candle as well. There are also food booths and stages all over.

We did not make it through the whole area. It is really huge! We were so lucky to be at Malta at this time. Read more ›

Hop on – Hop off through Malta – 2

October 9, 2015

Hi all together! I am back from a tour through the southern part of the island. Hope you enjoy the photos! Read more ›

Hop on – Hop off through Malta – 1

October 8, 2015

Hey, friends! I hope your day has been well so far. I had a great day. We toured through the north of the island sitting in a bus with open roof top. The weather has been gorgeous as you can tell from the pictures. I stop rambling now and simply share the beauties of Malta. Read more ›

Malta – First Impressions

October 7, 2015

Hi friends, I am quickly dropping in and want to share some first impressions around the area of our hotel. We spent walking around until the early afternoon and then I was glad I could rest a little in the sun. That was when I replied to your comments 🙂 Read more ›

Malta is special!

October 7, 2015

This one is a message for my Hippie brother Rich. Read more ›

Goodbye Liechtenstein… Hello Malta

October 5, 2015

Tomorrow I am going on vacation for a week. I heard a lot and saw lots of pictures of this little island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea right below Sicily.

Sweden – Stockholm 2

Today we visited two museums. The Vasa museum and the ABBA Museum. The rest of the day was filled with shopping… yes, my daughter convinced us. Now I am completely done!!! Read more ›

Sweden – Stockholm

Today we arrived in the capital of Sweden. It is a really lovely city and like each one we visited by now very, very clean and well fostered. We went through the old town, visited the Royal Palace, strolled through the shopping miles, and went on a little boat tour. Read more ›

Sweden – Trosa

Hey!!! We had a great day with lots of sun today. After a coffee in this special little café in Nyköping

we went back to the hotel and I turned on my laptop quickly. Read more ›

Sweden – Nyköpinghus (Castle)

When it stopped raining tonight we took the chance and headed for the nearby castle just around the corner of our hotel. Read more ›

Sweden – Norrköping / Nyköping

Hi again from a country where every village sounds like a piece of furniture. Since Rich keeps you updated about my mission here in Sweden I had to submerge for a few hours. But I share some secret photos with you about the places I were… Read more ›

Sweden – Linköping/Locks

The weather went down today. We were lucky that it was dry although pretty windy and cool in the morning. We drove to the locks of Berg. There are 10 locks all together leading from the lake to the river (or the other way around of course). Read more ›

Sweden – Uppsala

Today I bought a new pair of sunglasses. It turns out that whenever I travel the world lately I either forget them at home or I take a wrong pair along. When I wanted to put on my sunglasses today and opened up the case I looked a bit surprised (not as surprised as I looked when I found the condoms in my daughter’s room…). I took along the sunglasses of my daughter. But the ones she wore when she was 11. My collection of sunglasses is growing.

But now I want to share our day in Uppsala with you and the trip from there to Linköping. It was a 4 hour drive. We were led through forests and along lakes and ponds. Sweden is spread with ponds and lakes all over this huge country. But now enjoy the photos: Read more ›

Sweden Report – Arrival in Uppsala

Hi guys! How I missed you already. It is not much but I love to share some pics with you. Read more ›

Time To Say Goodbye!

Yep, perhaps I am gonna have some smörrebröd soon…. Read more ›

Sunny afternoon in our Ski region

February 8, 2015

Yesterday was a totally foggy day in our valley. We planned a week ago to go to Malbun which is the place in our country where people go skiing. Driving up the mountain villages we reached the fog limit. Then driving through the tunnel we arrived in a different world. Our daughter’s boyfriend and our youngest son went skiing while my husband and I went for a walk through the beautiful landscape. The sun was beautiful and mirrored my happy mood. Read more ›

Balboa Peninsula

November 28, 2014

On the day of Halloween we went to Balboa Peninsula. This beautiful place lies along a wide beach and is the extension of the Newport Beach beach. At the end of the beach of Balboa Peninsula you have a view to Corona del Mar and also to the harbor of Balboa Island. I was often sitting at a view-point at Corona del Mar looking towards Balboa Peninsula and always wondered how it might be over there.

We had a beautiful morning – only few people around.

After that we drove up to Hacienda Heights. It has become a tradition to go to this Buddhist temple when I am in So Cal. I love that temple. Unfortunately it is not allowed to take pictures in the big temple house. It is beautiful. There is such a special atmosphere of peace and relaxation. Since I took pictures all the other times I did not take too much this time. Therefore I share some photos with you from former visits.

In Love and Light!

Trip to Oceanside CA

November 18, 2014

It has been a while since I posted my last impressions of my days in California after the I CAN DO IT convention and my book signing. Btw., you would not believe what is happening at the moment in my life. On Sunday I gave my last workshop for this year and it was awesome. I am very excited about scheduling my workshops for next year. Yesterday I got a call from my publisher and perhaps I get the chance to give workshops in a big business hotel in our capital beginning next year. It is still in discussion but things are in motion like the offer for another marketing campaign with Kimberly Rinaldi. I met her at the book signing in Pasadena and she just got back to me. What a year!!!

Naples CA

November 11, 2014

You all know what Venice (Italy) is about and probably most of you know that Venice Beach has its name right because of the canals which remind to Venice. But have you ever been to or heard of Naples? The village is located next to Long Beach in Alamitos Bay. It was built on three islands.

Forget Venice, forget Venice Beach! Naples is the most beautiful, enchanting, and romantic place at a canal system. It is also a lot bigger than Venice Beach. Most of the houses are more kind of mansions, with beautiful designed front yards.

When we arrived in Naples it was almost sunset and not a lot of people were outside. The romantic aspect was even raised when a gondola came by. I definitely have to come back and spend a little more time at this inspiring place. And perhaps take a gondola ride. Oh, and very important: It smelled well and is super clean wherever we walked!

This house is huge!!!

Isn’t it a treasure?

In Love and Light!

Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1)

November 7, 2014

When we drove down from Ventura all the way south we decided to go over the PCH since we’ve never experienced the scenery above Malibu. It was the most beautiful ride!

Ventura CA

November 7, 2014

Last week on Tuesday we left Santa Barbara. On our way down to Costa Mesa, we stopped at Ventura beach and harbor. On one side of a long headland, you find a beautiful beach, on the other side there is the harbor with shops and restaurants. Very nice place!

Charming Pasadena

November 5, 2014

Back from my trip to So Cal I finally caught up with most things and now I want to start posting all of the beautiful things I could experience next to my unforgettable book signing experience at I CAN DO IT Pasadena 2014.

Trip to Boston – with heavy rain and chance on tornados!

August 20, 2014

Boston was the last stop of our vacation. When we left Buffalo that day severe weather conditions reached the northern east coast of the US. I took the first turn of driving. During the first two hours I had a hard time to make it through the heavy continuous rainfall. At times I thought to just pull over and wait till the worst is over. Sometimes I couldn’t see anything. Anyway, after two hours the rain got lighter and a littler later it even stopped at times. When we arrived at Albany the worst rainfall was over and my husband grabbed the steering wheel. Up to 50 miles before Boston we had a good ride and even sun in some areas. But then it got dark again – really dark!

Trip to Williamsville!

August 19, 2014

Now I finally get to my beloved area we lived for more than a year in 1998/99. To me it was the most wonderful year in my life. Only my little family and I in a country I always yearned to live for a while. My dream came true and it turned out better than I could have ever dreamed of. Of course, there where times I felt a little sad when I thought of traditions with my parents and sisters which I could not keep up that year. But that did not matter at all because all the other impressions like our new friends, the new traditions we built up, we all integrated in the daily life, my daughter going to pre-school and speaking fluently English with 3 years, our first son born over there…. what a year! We are still in touch with our friends and also with the director of my daughter’s pre-school. She was so sad when I told her that we are going back to Europe and my daughter would leave.

Trip to Buffalo Downtown!

August 19, 2014

My last report has been some days ago. But now I am back on track! I love to share some impressions of the rising City of Buffalo. Buffalo used to be a center of industry up to the 80s. During the 90s and the crisis it all fell apart. Buffalo Downtown was pretty dead and empty. The suburban instead started to grow. When we came back to Williamsville (in the suburban of Buffalo) this July our friends told us to go and see the beginning changes in Buffalo. They are working hard on making the city a new place to explore. Also it started to become a center of medical research – most of all in neurology. All the old factories are remodeled as lofts for the medics and scientists.

Trip to St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake

August 15, 2014

The Canadian Side of the Niagara River provides a lot of beautiful views, spots and places. One of our days we spent driving to the Spanish Aero Car. We took a ride on a cable car leading us over the Whirlpool of Niagara River. Once you get caught of the dangerous current, you can’t escape anymore.

Trip to Niagara Falls

August 14, 2014

Yippie!!! Today is the day and I am finally at the point where I can share my recent memories about Niagara Falls with you. When we lived in Williamsville (in the suburbs of Buffalo, NY) Niagara Falls was one of the points of interest where we lead all our visitors to. It was only 45 minutes away from home. I loved to go there no matter what time of the year. It also was a wonderful experience to be there at the Festival of Lights. Downtown Niagara Falls was beautifully illuminated and the City Center turned into one Winter Wonderland with a huge ice rink. We visited the falls pretty often, and in the end, we were totally fed up with the them. We even told our visiting peeps to go by themselves.

Trip to the Big Apple – Impressions

August 12, 2014

While we have been to Manhattan we visited so many places like wall street, made a city tour, walked through the Battery Park, shopped at Macy’s, sucked up the pulse on times square and broadway and so much more. Our two days in NYC were truly filled whith a lot of impressive memories and the weather supported everything! My last post about Manhattan shall give you some impressions over the city itself. Although I would not want to live here it is a great adventure that has everything you could wish for. NYC is not America but it is one of my favorite cities to travel to!

Now enjoy a bunch of photos showing parts of the Big Apple!

The following two pics were taken from the roof top of our hotel:

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This used to be Macy’s first location…!

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I am looking forward to posting about the Buffalo area the next time!!!

In Love and Light!

Trip to the Big Apple – Empire State Building

August 11, 2014

One of the most impressive moments of our visit definitely was the view over Manhattan from the Empire State Building. I already stood here in 1985 with my parents and it was great to be here again. My husband, my daughter and my older son have been to New York City in 1999 (the kids were 4 years and 3 months old). But at that visit we saw Manhattan from the World Trade Center. I am so glad we took that chance!

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