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Winter Adventures 2024

January - February 2024
Switzerland,Germany,Singapore,Bali,Thailand Read more
  • 19footprints
  • 5countries
  • 33days
  • 302photos
  • 29videos
  • 21.5kmiles
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  • Winter Adventures 2024
    31
    Day 2

    Weekend in St Gallen

    January 12 ⋅ ⛅ 32 °F

    We arrived in Nuremberg, grabbed the rental car and made our way to St Gallen. Around the halfway point we stopped and had lunch in Ravensburg Germany. Once we arrived in Switzerland, we got showered and cleaned up for pizza and gifts with Dennis, Jelena and the grandkids. The next morning we met them along with Jelena and her son for the morning at an indoor water park. After the park we went to Jelena and Dalibor’s home for an hour. After getting ready for dinner we met everyone at a restaurant with traditional food. Klaus and I decided to stop for a drink in downtown St. Gallen at a bar we really like. We woke up Sunday, packed up the car and went to Dennis and Jelena’s to have breakfast and say our good byes. It was great seeing everyone and we miss them already. We drove from St Gallen to Nuremberg where we will be for the next 5 days.Read more

  • Winter Adventures 2024
    Day 4

    A Week in Nuremberg

    January 14 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 32 °F

    Arrived in Nuremberg, checked into the Karl August Hotel and walked to an amazing Italian restaurant for dinner. After dinner we came back to the hotel and went to the Sauna for a bit.

    Day 2- Klaus worked today and I was lazy and relaxed. I finally got moving and had dinner at a cute wine bar. When Klaus got back to the hotel we went to a cute bar and had a glass of wine, a Sarti Spritz (It’s a take on an aperol but with a liquor called Sarti) and a cheese plate with the most delicious fig and horseradish jelly. Off to bed, Klaus has an early morning.

    Day3- Klaus went to work for the day, I froze my butt off and walked around. Klaus got back and we had dinner at an Indian restaurant, not normally something we would choose but the food was great!

    Day 4- Klaus was up early again for work and I was slow to get moving 😂😂. Once again I walked around the charming town freezing my butt off with the rain snow mix. Did a little shopping and met Klaus back at the hotel. Tonight we walked to greek restaurant with once again amazing food. Unfortunately we ordered a grilled platter and I was unaware that the entire thing was pork 😂😂😂😂 needless to say they were quick to remedy the situation and got me a plate of grilled lamb so yummy!!!! Ended the evening at the hotel bar with an aperol and espresso martini.

    Day 5- We woke up and were supposed to drive to Stuttgart then Munich but Klaus is sick again with the never ending cough. Grabbed some cough drops, a cappuccino and a cake called bienenstich. (one of his grandmas favorites) 🍰 We drove to Munich did a little shopping and ended up at the doctors hoping to get medicine to control the cough on the 12 hour flight tomorrow. Checked into the Hilton at the Airport grabbed a little dinner and rearranged the suitcases, we will only be taking carry-ons for the Asia trip. The larger suitcases will be stored at the airport until we return for our flight home to USA. Super excited to ditch the cold, bring on the heat and sunshine. ☀️

    Day 6- I unfortunately have the cough also. 😞😞 Barely slept, loaded up on medicine and made it to the lounge for a mimosa before our flight. ✈️    Read more

  • Winter Adventures 2024
    1
    Day 11

    Singapore

    January 21 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 90 °F

    Boarded the Singapore Airlines flight and got settled into the super large and comfy first class seats. The champagne was wonderful and our coughs are under control for the moment. A couple hours into the flight and it all went downhill, I spent the next 10 hours in misery with a head ache, body aches and cough. Unfortunately we could not get the full experience of a flight we had been looking forward to.

    We arrived at the Clan hotel and so went straight to bed. We would spend the next couple of days mainly sleeping and miserable.😞

    I had made reservations at Spago Lounge months ago and we didn’t want to miss it. We got dressed and went out for a couple of hours. The Marina Bay Sands Hotel was something like we have never seen before.

    On the final day we managed to walk around for a bit and went on the carousel, which happens to be the largest in Asia. Did a river boat cruise, saw the light show at Gardens by the bay and tried Chicken Satay. Our final stop was the famous Hawker Center from the movie Crazy Rich Asians, where we tried some traditional food.

    Went back to the hotel and got organized for an early flight to Bali.    Read more

  • Winter Adventures 2024
    2
    Day 14–17

    U Bud Bali Day 1 &2

    January 24 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 88 °F

    We arrived in Bali made it through immigration and customs and met our driver to take us to the hotel and excursions for the next few days. On our way to the hotel we stopped for a meal over looking the rice fields and got to witness a ceremony where the local people take offerings to the temple.

    1 1/2 hours later we arrived to the beautiful Kayon Valley Resort, it is absolutely beautiful and tucked away in the jungle about 10 min from the crazy of downtown U Bud. The staff is welcoming and accommodating. They drove us part way down the hill on a golf cart then we tracked by foot to room 304. Absolutely beautiful!!! After getting situated we had a couples massage at the spa. We got cleaned up and had dinner at our hotel which included a live show of traditional dances. After dinner we went back to the room and lights out. Unfortunately neither of us are 100percent yet and very tired.

    Day 2 - We woke up, got dressed and went to breakfast. After breakfast our driver picked us up for a full day of activities. We started with a 60 min traditional dance that tells a story of good vs evil and a little humor thrown in. After the dance we went to a coffee plantation which includes that super expensive coffee that the animal eats the berries and poops out a bean 🫘. Unfortunately they put sugar in all their coffee and tea when they brew it so it was tooooo sweet for us. Next stop Monkey forest, it was fun to walk around the beautiful grounds and see all the monkeys. Our driver dropped us off in downtown Ubud for a yummy lunch. We were supposed to call him when done but unfortunately I left my phone in his car. Luckily Klaus had find my iphone on for me and we walked 7 min to a parking lot where after a couple rounds we found the car but not the driver. 😂😂 We sat around for about 20 min until Klaus finally found him at the local mart. Leave it to me to mess something up! We went to the rice field village next where we got our pictures taken on the famous swings and I went zip lining. The evening ended back at the hotel, a quick swim in our pool, a bath and nighty night.    Read more

  • Winter Adventures 2024
    1
    Day 15

    U Bud Day 3 & 4

    January 25 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌩️ 88 °F

    Today we woke up, had breakfast and our driver picked us up for another day of action.
    Our first adventure was ATV riding thru the jungle followed by lunch at their pool club. It was super fun, we got very dirty and the scenery was beautiful. Our next stop was a quick stop to see the lake and volcano of Mount Batur, it was a 20 degree temperature change but felt great. After the volcano we drove to the traditional Tenganan Pegeringsingan Village. It’s claimed to be one of the cleanest villages in the world and each family opens their doors to everyone whom visits. You are able to see how they live and purchase goods from them. We got back to the hotel left our back packs at the front desk and got a ride to downtown U Bud. It’s absolutely crazy busy with the cars and scooters traffic jams and chaos. There is tons of shops and restaurants that line the busy streets. We had a snack and a glass of prosecco before making our way back to the hotel.

    We woke up, and had an early breakfast before hanging out at the pool for a couple of hours. We Packed our bags and the driver picked us up for our next part of the journey in Sideman (east Bali). On our way to Sidemen we stopped and saw a beautiful waterfall.    Read more

  • Winter Adventures 2024
    1
    2
    Day 17–19

    Sidemen Bali

    January 27 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 84 °F

    Our next stop is Sidemen which is located East Bali. This is much quieter than U bud and surrounded by rice fields. We will be staying the next two nights at the beautiful Wapa Di Ume hotel. Once again the balinese people are so kind and welcoming. We checked in and got a tour of the property before making our way to our beautiful room. After getting settled we had lunch and hung out by the pool for the afternoon. We got back to our room and the staff had turned down the bed and arranged the netting around the bed. It looked like straight out of a fairytale. After showering and reading for a few minutes I was once again asleep before 8:00pm 😂

    We woke up the next morning and went on a guided 45 walk through the rice fields. It was an adventure, that included a couple missteps luckily no injuries. Back at the hotel we had a coffee and tea at the restaurant while the staff prepared our floating breakfast. After our amazing breakfast enjoyed in our pool we spent the afternoon at the main pool. Klaus took a walk along the river that runs along the property while I read. We finished lunch just as the rain clouds rolled in. We got back to our room just in time, the rest of the afternoon was spent watching the incredible storm from our room. We walked into the village and had dinner at Asri, it is the first night in Bali we made it to dinner and stayed awake past 8pm. We walked back to the hotel, got ready for bed and lights out around 9pm.    Read more

  • Winter Adventures 2024
    131
    Day 19–20

    Seminyak Bali

    January 29 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 88 °F

    We woke up, had breakfast, got a head neck and shoulder massage and packed up to head to Seminyak. The car ride was around 2 hours with crazy busy traffic. What a difference between the sleepy rice fields of Sidemen to the party town on the ocean. We checked into the beautiful Seminyak Beach Resort and headed to the pool over looking the ocean for the afternoon, we ate lunch and had watched the beautiful sunset. We got back to the room changed our clothes and walked to a restaurant in town. After dinner we walked back got ready for bed and lights out for Jill. Heading to Thailand in the morning.Read more

  • Winter Adventures 2024
    111211
    Day 20–23

    Chiang Mai Day 1

    January 30 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    We flew from Bali to Singapore had a quick 1 hour layover then arrived in Chiang Mai. The hotel had a driver pick us up and bring us to our hotel called Coucou, it is a new hotel located in old town Chiang Mai. We got settled in and walked to a local restaurant for dinner. After dinner we walked around a local food market, got cleaned up and went to bed.

    Day 2- We woke up at 5:00am for a 6:30am Cultural tour. Which Included the following:

    - Visit the hidden forest temple(a female monk temple), experience the process of making merit in Buddhist’s way (Taamboon, offer food, pouring holy water), experience monks chanting, get blessed from Buddhist monks, etc…
    - Have breakfast at the temple (we ate the same breakfast as the monks after they finished)
    - Stopped for a coffee at a local shop located off the road. Such a yummy smooth coffee!
    - Visit the famous umbrella village “Ban Bosang village”
    - Visit the famous silk making village
    - Visit wood carving village “Ban Tawai”
    - Lunch, at a beautiful restaurant over looking the water.
    - In the afternoon visit two temples, 1. The holy temple “Wat Doikham” 2. The famous silver temple “Wat Srisuphan”

    After the tour our driver took us a to a local spa where we got amazing massages. We got back to the hotel, Klaus had some work calls and I got cleaned up for the evening.

    We went to a restaurant called Hummus for dinner, very nice change from Asian food. Amazing food and best baklava we have ever had. Walked back to the hotel, early morning of tours.    Read more

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