After waking up and having breakfast at the Kameha Grand, we took the tram to walk through Zurich‘s historic city center. We visited a few churches and Christmas markets around the Limmat, the river that runs through the city, as well as the Lindenhof and Polyterrasse viewpoints.
Continue reading “Historic Zurich”Oeschinensee and Thun
After breakfast at the Essential in Interlaken, we took the train to Kandersteg to visit the Oeschinensee, an alpine lake accessible by gondola. After hiking to the lake and back, we visited the town of Thun to see Schloss Thun, its historic castle. We briefly stopped at Spiez to enjoy the view before returning to Interlaken for dinner.
Continue reading “Oeschinensee and Thun”Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, 2024 Visit #2
We went back to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens today after visiting for the first time this year two weeks ago. We once again saw a variety of flowers and birds. We in particular had many Orchard Oriole sightings as well as many swallows as usual, though unfortunately no Baltimore Orioles.
Continue reading “Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, 2024 Visit #2”Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
It has been about 6 months since our last visit to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in NoVA. We missed cherry blossom season this year but were still able to see many beautiful flowers today. And, of course, a variety of birds, including the sometimes elusive Baltimore Orioles!
Continue reading “Meadowlark Botanical Gardens”Hakone Golden Route
After waking up at the Conrad Tokyo and having breakfast, we checked out and took the Shinkansen to Odawara. From there, we took two local trains to Gora in the Hakone region. We checked into the Indigo and took a funicular along with two gondolas to reach Lake Ashi. We boarded a pirate ship to cruise the lake and landed at Hakonemachi. We walked through the Onshi-Hakone Park, with views of Mount Fuji, and ended up at Motohakone, still on the shores of Lake Ashi. From there, we took two busses to complete our loop, returning to Gora to enjoy our in room onsen!
Continue reading “Hakone Golden Route”