Hawaii Day 5 (Honolulu, HI) Transferring Hotels, Quick Trips Out and More Time on The Beach

Today we transferred hotels to another hotel in Waikiki. Most of the morning was spent packing.

After we settled in my mom went to a MuuMuu factory and I went back to the Ala Moana mall. This time, I spent some time at the target there. I was going to meet up with with my mom when I was done but I took too long we didn’t end up meeting up until lunch. I’m getting some usage out of the bus pass!

We went to the Marugame Udon spot and it was really good. It was hot and humid in there but the food was worth it. We got a couple of things to go too.

After we walked along the beach for a while and snagged a couple of poke bowls to bring back to the hotel for dinner

Today was extremely laid back. We have a trip out to diamond head early tomorrow morning. 

Hawaii Day 4 (Honolulu, HI): A Laid Back Day, More Shopping and Finally Touching Water

 Today was a pretty laid back, short day so there isn’t much to report. 

After we got up and had breakfast I headed back out to the Ala Moana shopping center to pick up a few things and explore another area. My sister and I picked up a few pretty cool finds on this trip. I wanted to go to Target but forgot all about it. I’lll be making another trip or two out there before the trip is over. 

I went back to the hotel, had lunch and lounged around for a few hours then it was back out again to explore the rest of The Royal Hawaiian Center. 

While I was there I caught a hula performance by a local Halau. It turns out that we went through most of the mall the first time around. On my way back I came across another area, the Waikiki Beach walk. This are had a lot of boutiques and eateries. It wasn’t very big but it was pretty busy. I followed the trail all the way to the water and spent some time there. I FINALLY MADE IT TO THE WATER!!!

I headed back to the hotel and had to head back out again to grab dinner. We went to the Steak Shack on the recommendation of one of my coworkers and it was great! They were out of chicken so that gives us an excuse to go back and try the chicken. The lines were long and the wait was long but it was worth it. Good call!

Tomorrow we’re moving to another hotel and the vacation continues there. I still have to pack!

Hawaii Day 3 (Honolulu, HI): Mini Luxury Strip Mall, Exploring and Taking the Bus

After breakfast today we explored a street that looks a lot like a mini Rodeo Drive. Just like yesterday, we started out before anything was open and did a lap around the area and hung out around the mall. There were your standard super high end luxury shops, a few middle end retail stores and boutiques. Off of the block there were two other high end malls with similar shops, the International Market Place and the Royal Hawaiian. My mom made it sound like the International Market Place was another large Asian market like KP Plaza. Boy was she wrong! You'd think she'd tell us a little about it because she went earlier this trip. We were kinda just told us to go because it was highly recommended. My mom isn't really one for fancy high end luxury shops so I also wouldn't expect her to suggest somthing like this. It’s crazy how much shopping they fit these areas. There are little alleyways around this area that have street vendors. I didn’t get a chance to go through those. At a glance it looks like the street vendors they sell trinkets at you would normally see at flea markets. Maybe I’ll go back later. We also found a couple of business parks to wonder around. I feel like we’ve covered a lot of ground exploring today. 

The two malls off of the main strip were themed to look like a rainforest. They’re placed across the street from each other and both look like a continuation of the other. We lounged around the Royal Hawaiian headed went back over to the International Market Place when things started to open up. We didn’t do a lot of shopping today, mostly exploring. Half way on our way back to the hotel we decided it might be a good idea to grab bento boxes at a market in the mall so we wouldn’t have to go back.   

Our mom got back from her Hula workshops early today so we went back to Don Quijote, the Ala Moana Mall and Walmart with her. While we were out we grabbed more bento boxes, this time from Don Quijote. We took the buss when we went out this time and the the public transportation is really easy to use and navigate. Busses also run a lot more frequently which also makes things super convenient. Using the public transportation cut down on a lot of walking time, we were able to spend a lot more time exploring rather than walking. 

While out and about this morning we came across a Museum of Modern Art. Maybe my sister and I will go there while we’re here.

Hawaii Day 2 (Honolulu, HI): Breakfast Take-Out, Lots of Shopping and Even More Walking

Today we did an insane amount of walking!

The breakfast buffet at our hotel lets you take a plate to go! It was crazy! Best believe I took a to go plate after we ate. After breakfast we headed out on a mile and a half walk to Don Quijote then a little further to the Ala Moana mall. 

The Don Quijote is an Asian super market surrounded by a bunch of other stores and walk up cafes. When I say supermarket I mean, "super," like, “omg-how-do-they-fit-all-these-items-in-a-store-in-an-even-bigger-store-in-a-single-block,” super. They had groceries, housewares, clothes, electronics and street food. I’m pretty sure the market took up the whole block. 

The Ala Moana mall also felt really big. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m not familiar with it or if it really is legitimately huge. It was fun to navigate because the floors were staggered. Some areas were a single story, others were 4, there were half floors and lots of areas were hidden around corners like a maze. There were also streets between the surface streets and the parking garages integrated with other stores on the bottom 2 floors. Finding a way out was a little difficult. We got there before most of the stores opened and spent most of the morning there. They have everything there from your regular mall stores to the ridiculous high end stuff that us average Joe’s can’t afford. The Macy's occupies 4 floors. On top of all of those stores, there’s also a full sized 2 story Walmart, 3 story Target and Sam’s Club! I felt like we covered an insane amount of ground and we still had a mile and a half walk back. 

We got back to the hotel, had lunch, lounged around the room for a bit and went to the pool. We had a bit more time to kill, ended up heading out again, came back and people watched from our window for a while. While we were out and about we ran into what looked like a high end convenient store next to the Ritz Carleton. It was just a rebranded standard ABC Store! The outside was a bit nicer and it did have a hot bar and coffee bar but those were the only differences. The items they carried were exactly the same and even the price tags looked exactly the same! 

Our mom was out doing hula workshops all day and had hula practice when she got back to the hotel so my sister and I went to the poke bar at the fancy rebranded ABC Store.

After that it was time to call it a night. We’ll pick another direction to walk in tomorrow or maybe hop on a bus somewhere. This walking thing is not the business

Hawaii Day 1 (Honolulu, HI): Dropping the Dogs Off, Wondering Around and an Attempted Journey

Day 1 just like any other day 1 was a travel day. I had dropped my parents off at the airport for Hawaii a few days ago, my sister and I are meeting up with my mom today and my dad is heading home. We had to meet up with my dad at the Honolulu airport to hand the car keys off so he can take the car that we had left at the parking lot when he gets back.

Today was pretty laid back but exhausting. We had to wake up at 4 to get the dogs off to our grandma’s and to make it to our terminal on time. 

After we landed we hopped on a shuttle to our hotel, checked in and explored the area. There’s a bunch of convenient stores and gift shops around our hotel. My mom was at the flea market with the rest of her group so my sister and I kinda just picked a direction and walked around on our own. I found a local brewery that I might want to explore later. We’ll see how things go.

By the time we met up with our mom everyone was exhausted. We attempted a journey to the Don Quijote market but didn’t make it. Then we pondered a trip to a ramen shop but didn’t make that either. We ended up getting food from one of the many ABC Stores and called it quits. 

Travel days are exhausting! Tomorrow we’ll be more rested. 

Danube River Day 7 (Nuremburg, Germany): The Last Day

Today was the last day of our trip.

Our tour didn’t begin until after lunch so we took a bus out to explore the city center of Nuremberg. There’s a lot of statues, art, shops and restaurants out here. Nuremberg is a very medieval town.

Our excursion today took us out to the Imperial Palace. While wondering around the castle our guide explained a lot of the castle defense features to us. Our tour didn’t take us through any of the castle’s buildings which was disappointing. It’s incredible how much thought the architect and builders put into the design of the castle. Because we explored the area before our tour, we had already been to a lot of the places that our tour guide took us.

After we got back from our excursion, we had dinner and I went back to the room and packed… I dislike packing!!! I’m not sure if I’m going to get any sleep tonight. We have a super early flight tomorrow.

This trip has been an absolute blast! I’ve never traveled to such a cold place before and boy was it super cold out here. The cold made me realize how much time we spend outside when traveling. On this trip I went to a classical concert and saw some gorgeous castles and palaces, visited a monastery and an abbey and had the best bratwurst sandwich I’ve ever had. This has also been the first time I’ve ever celebrated a new year while traveling. That was one of the highlights of my trip!

Here’s to many more!

Until my next adventure, Cheers!

Danube River Day 6 (Regensburg, Germany): A Walking tour, Downtime and German Fare

The only thing we have planned for the day is a walking tour through Regensburg.

Our three and a half hour walking tour started out on the pier and we made our way to the city center, a visitor center to warm up and a cathedral. The pier was deserted! Because today was a holiday everywhere was closed. Regensburg is one of the largest towns in Germany and locals believe it has the best Bratwurst in the world. We were actually able to try some at the world-famous Sausage Kitchen which was luckily open today. It was the best thing I’ve eaten on this trip so far!

After lunch on the ship I lounged around for a while and was finally able to take that nap I’ve been wanting to take the whole trip.

Dinner tonight a themed night with typical German fare. They had pretzels, sausages and a cheese plate waiting for us at the table and even more food and deserts at the buffet line. It was delicious!

What a way to start a new year!