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I booked this trip well ahead, not only because it was cheap months ago but also because I wanted to experience the Semane Grande aka Aste Nagusia - a week of partying in Bilbao. By booking the flights early I could also score a cheap but decent room at the same time. I imagine that last minute rates must have been skyrocketing with all the tourists visiting Bilbao for Aste Nagusia.


On the outbound flight I took a route via Düsselorf whereas on the trip home I connected in Stuttgart. I never had the chance to fly through Stuttgart so I was happy that it was an option. Once in Bilbao I noticed how many different routes would have been available. Bilbao is very well connected for a city which is merely 50% larger than Kiel (which has no commercial airport at all).


The airport was supposed to be interesting. A fellow traveler pointed out that the airport does not have an arrival hall - and she was right. Once you picked up your belongings you'll find yourself outside in the nice (in my case) weather. I took the dirt cheap bus into town. There is absolutely no reason to spend any money on a taxi as long as you are staying in the downtown area.


I exited the bus at the first stop and walked the few meters to the Guggenheim museum - the presumed highlight of Bilbao in terms of architecture. It turned out that the river was lined with interesting individual buildings and the city itself was generally beautiful as well.








Right after I took this picture I should have gotten inside for some food ... but I did not. Later all places were crowded with drinking and eating folks preparing for the night. I ended up getting one of the typical local sandwiches instead.


I walked along the main drag where the celebrations would happen later that night - as every night throughout the week. As my hotel was close I did some shopping for water and snacks before checking in and relaxing for a while.


Before dusk I returned to the Guggenheim hoping for some decent shots but it wasn't as good as I expected.




The small old town streets were lined with groups of people flocking around bars. Some even had text books for their songs of were putting on free dancing shows for everybody. Others went a bit over the top and built a canon complete with speaker system and huge amplifier.


There were lots of kids running around although later in the evening the streets were really crowded and kids disappeared. I enjoyed another kalimotxo (red wine and coke), watched the fireworks display and an hour later and called it a day.

About a month ago - in the middle of my relocating progress - I flew to Larnaca, Cyprus for a day. Condor runs a plane on a HAM-LCA-HAJ-LCA-HAM giving you more than enough time to drive up to Nicosia for a nice touristy day.

I slept well on the flight and not having any luggage I was landside in Cyprus in no time. The sun was shining and a pleasant 25+ degrees Celsius added to the good mood. The plan was to pick up my rental car and do the one hour drive to Nicosia for a full day of exploring in the last divided capital of Europe.


The car was OK, although sporting some stains and wobbly mirrors. Right hand drive is not a real problem and I did not end up banging my right hand into the door too often.



The drive to Nicosia was - totally unexpected - not bad in terms of driving style nor road conditions. Nicosia felt safe and with only few locals and tourists roaming the streets wasn't too busy to begin with. The deeper I got into the alleged shopping paradise the more the streets were bustling with locals. I went up to the highest building in the area - a tower-like business center with a small museum on top. The views were OK but the windows were so dirty that most of my photos went straight to the bin.





The border separating the Greek from the Turkish side runs straight through the city and fortunately since a few years a mid-town border crossing eases travel between the two parts for tourists and locals alike.





The main drag ends right at the border crossing. I was kinda hoping to get my passport stamped but even with all the opportunities it never happened - and I asked! When crossing the border you receive a small piece of paper which allows you back onto the other side later. The whole process takes merely five minutes.





Leaving the border posts behind you'll be right in the middle of a bazaar area with a few interesting food outlets. Somehow I did not feel like eating kebab that day.

















Finally a restaurant got my attention and I sat down for an amazing lebanese salad with crunch bits of bread sprinkled with lime and oil as well as some chicken.







My time was only limited but I assumed I've seen a good part of the Nicosia attractions. Another hour later I was back in the Larnaca area, topping up my car and stopping by at the main beach drag of Larnaca.





Larnaca is a bit disappointing. I wouldn't like to spend a week there for a beach vacation - but them I won't spend a week at the beach to begin with.
Back at the airport I had enough time to shower in the lounge (I love to be able to shower in the lounge!), grab a few bites of local food and watch a soccer game waiting for boarding to begin. The better part of the flight home I slept - after all I just moved my apartment the day before in some 30+ degrees heat.

Cyprus for a day: definitely doable. Next time I'll drive west and discover some of the coastal towns.

I started off my first day in Muscat with breakfast at the hotel. The hotel got mixed reviews for the breakfast and I found it to be somewhere in between a nice try and mediocre. I left for the harbour area to start exploring.



The taxi dropped me off at the fish market where locals were trading everything from small crabs to huge tuna. While in the front row unprocessed fish was traded an entire section of the covered market was occupied by men cleaning and cutting fish for the customers. Quite interesting to see how fast those men cut down fish.
The fish market is in the northern corner of the small corniche which is lined with merchant houses, a mosque and the famous Muscat souq.



I walked along the corniche towards the souq on the southern end of the corniche.






In front of the souq a sign confirmed what I've already guessed while walking around in the sun. It was already quite hot.








After walking around for almost an hour I got myself some water and a cold mango juice at one of the many coffee shops.



I wanted to walk back through the souq to the waterfront where I wanted to grab a cab back to the hotel for a nice break. After all Muscat proper is quite small and I would have enough time for more exploration later in the day. I ended up chatting to a spice vendor in front of his shop for an hour. He had amazing mixes of roasted spices. Not only did I taste and buy a lot of things but we also traded a few recipes. I told him about my figs with feta cheese creation (baked in the oven with fresh ground pepper and some honey) which he loved and wanted to try asap. I've asked him for some pointers on what to see in Muscat and Oman. He got me interested in the Nizwa region which I looked up on the Internet and in my Lonely Planet book. Later that day I put in a reservation for a small car the next day.

Next to the hotel one of the few large Lulu Hypermarkets just opened offering an amazing array of fresh cooked food as well as prepackaged local salads and fresh fruit. I did some shopping and took the loot to my hotel room.



In the evening I hailed a cab to take me to the old town area. The driver dropped me off in a region that somehow matched the destination but then wasn't. It was one of the few rip off things that do happen. Well it happened which means I'll be safe for the rest of the year. In the end I walked a bit and took another cab ... I might have lost 2 Euro but did not care too much.

Relatively few people live in the palace area and as I was a bit early for sunset most of the tourists (not that there were so many) had yet to arrive.

My travels took me to Chicago. Again? you might ask but Chicago is still an amazing city and there are new areas to explore every single time. For this trip I used a couple of vouchers to bring the total cost down quite a bit. Last year I earned a free night in any Hyatt property voucher and decided to use it for a night at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. With all the relocating and new job things happening I couldn't see myself going to Tokyo any time soon so I decided to get a free night at the Park Hyatt Chicago instead.

I've been staying at a couple of fancy hotels but most of the time I don't spend too much money on them. Certainly not the $350-$450 the Hyatt was asking for. I wasn't sure what exactly to expect but the room itself was a pleasant surprise.



I made it Chicago quite early in the day but thanks to the time zones I was already hungry. Luckily The Rosebud (on Rush) was right around the corner from the Park Hyatt. The place received amazing ratings and with a $5 lunch burger special I could not resist. Heck, I just left home this morning and was in sunny Chicago right in time for lunch - amazing.



The burger was very good. Throughout my trip I would plan small and big diversions simply to try more burgers that were rated exceptionally well by friends and various websites.

Next up - and honestly the only thing on my map for the day - was a long stroll down the Magnificent Mile towards the Chicago River and to the Cloud Gate. Since the Magnificent Mile is lined with interesting shopping venues it took me quite some time to reach Wacker Dr and the river. The Apple store didn't really grab my attention yet but the Garmin store next door was great. They had the whole lineup of Garmin GPS devices to play around with including the huge backup devices used in private planes.







From the Chicago river I walked south into the Loop area where the elevated metro provided for the stereotypical Chicago feeling. I did some shopping at Macy's and continued to the Cloud Gate.



From the Cloud Gate I walked all the way back to the hotel stopping at Walgreens on the way for some snacks and drinks. Had I known that there is a M Burger right around the corner I would have gotten myself a burger.

Last week I've visited the Mall of America, not only to pick up an Apple iPad for a friend but also to do a little shopping. Besides its size the mall is best known for the Nickelodeon theme park inside. The mall is the second largest in terms of retail space but thanks to the theme park the largest in terms of enclosed area.



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Upon arrivial in Barcelona I was greeted by blue skies while the Alpes and Pyrenees were still covered in snow.



For the journey into town I had several options and went with the train. In retrospect the bus might have been more convenient, though. I started walking from from the northern tip of Passeig de Garcia. The street is your usual major street improved with a bit of Gaudi architecture as well as nice street lamps, trees and the sunny weather to go with it. Around the La Rambla area I made took a few diversions through the narrow streets with all the small stores.



The pedestrian area was bustling with people so it was hard to get good shoots. I went to the La Boqueria market off La Rambla where the (morning?) market was still in full swing. Main staple on the market was the jambon but most of the produce looked tempting. Among the fruit stands were a few tapas outlets. It was too busy and after all sitting there would make one the perfect target for petty crimes. The area outside the market appeared to be area targeted by those folks.



I continued walking to the amazing Plaza Real and the Plaza de Sant Jaume. I intended to visit the Museum of City History underneath/next to the Plaza de Rei but they were closed until later that day. I decided to wander around and wait for it to reopen. Instead of often quoted 60 minutes you need to tour the museum I spent around 90 minutes as it was amazing. Basically it is a maze of walkways through an archaeological excavation accompanied by an audio guide. The exhibit was a part of the old roman town found while moving (yes!) another building on top. The exhibition features everything from the city wall (made of recycled stones and even tombstones) to an upscale home with connections to the sewers. There was also a church with multiple generations of building projects - all on top of stone inlays in perfect condition which used to be part of the home next door. Overall this museum is a must-see for every visitor!



Finally I was off to early dinner at Cerveceria Catalana. I thought about ordering the huge sampler plate but instead went for three small dishes and a cold beer.







Albeit the Hamburg came last the food and service was good. This tapas bar was the obvious choice for lunch the following day. I took the subway to Diagonal Mar commercial center where I stopped by at the local Alcampo supermarket to get some water, wine and sweets to nibble on. At the Hilton I checked into my King Executive room on the top floor (23rd) with a water view. The woman at the check in desk informed me that although I had lounge access (nice outdoor terrace on the 15th floor) she recommends that I would head down to the full restaurant for breakfast - fine with me. I went upstairs, took a long bath, had some of the nice red wine and relaxed in the easy chair while watching US TV (Family Guy marathon). Bliss!

The next morning I went downstairs for breakfast and ordered poached eggs as I could not find regular eggs on the buffet. A few minutes later two slightly overdone eggs were served on toast with some salad. People from neighboring tables stared at me but when I pointed them to the menu which lists all the stuff one can order the kitchen must have had lots of orders coming in in a short time.

I took the subway to La Sagrada Familia and on to Park Güell where I walked around for about an hour. Unfortunately weather changed a bit to the rainy side and made me head to lunch earlier than anticipated. When I arrived at Cerveceria Catalana the lunch service was still in full swing and the rain made more people flock around the umbrellas outside. I resigned and went to a family style place where the only thing worth mentioning was the mushroom salad.

Back at the airport I was told that my flight to Frankfurt was about an hour late. Since my connection in Frankfurt was only 55 minutes this sounded like trouble. To make bad things worse it was the last flight of the day (arrival at 10:45PM in Hamburg) and the last Hamburg-bound flight before the Lufthansa pilot strike. I tried to get on the Munich flight and even though they managed to find me a business seat did not let me board as the Munich-Hamburg connection was totally oversold. I bought Internet access in the lounge and checked my options. For sure I wanted to stay clear of Lufthansa mainline flights as much as possible. I was hoping to get to anywhere in Europe with a connection to Hamburg Monday morning. The obvious connection was through Milan on Lufthansa Italia - one of the reasons why the Lufthansa pilots were on strike. Unfortunately the flight was canceled leaving some 150 passengers in Barcelona and fighting for seats on the remaining flights. The Stuttgart flight was fully booked as was the Düsseldorf one. My only hope was that the Frankfurt flight could make up some time on the way and would bring us to Frankfurt in time to make the connections. In the end we barely made it thanks to a slightly delayed flight to Hamburg. I was in Hamburg five minutes before the curfew with all the information displays already showing impacts of the Lufthansa strike ahead.

The amazing Hong Kong Island skyline as seen from the southern tip of Kowloon in a hazy night. My rice sack tripod came in handy - well spent money on THE pod.

Being the foodie I am here are a few pictures from the food we enjoyed in Hong Kong. Note that all the airplane food will follow in the next few days.

First off here's a typical snack from the Grand Stanford Intercontinental Club lounge.



The second evening we went to a Korean BBQ place. Basically you purchase a seat and select raw food from the buffet. Once back at your table a waitress fires up your gas BBQ on which you cook your own food.




The third day was well spent at Sushi One. Since we were a group of five we ended up ordering lots of dishes to share.



In the background of the previous picture you can see beds of rice with a tuna paste on top. It was amazing and I guess it wasn't even toro quality.












The following day we met with more people and went for dim sum. It turned out to be a quite touristy place although lots of locals were present. The dim sum wasn't offered in the traditional boxes but ready to eat on the plates.

During my Hong Kong trip last week I had the time to walk around Kowloon a bit.

During my trip to Tbilisi, Georgia I had the chance to see the Tbilisi Holy Trinity Cathedral also known as Sameba Cathedral. It's quite an interesting building - actually brand new compared to most churches I visit.

I finished uploading the photos, so here they are:

• Everglades and Miami Ocean Drive
• Miami Heat game and misc Florida
• Florida Keys

Just before Christmas I've been on a short Florida trip with a friend. We basically only zipped around the Miami area with side trips to Key West and the Everglades (Shark Valley). Here's a collection of the food that we enjoyed.

Before evening arriving in Florida we had some breakfast and a snack in the Hamburg and Düsseldorf lounges followed by in-flight lunch and dinner.




From a few years back I knew that there were two shopping malls close to Miami International Airport. One of them had a Fuddruckers. After some shopping and before the imperative grocery run (Walmart) we stopped by there. It's all fresh and the meat patty was never frozen! You can/have to get your own toppings for the burger.



The next morning we stopped at one of my favorite breakfast spots: Crackerbarrel. The first time we went there I opted for French Toast instead of the more common egg based stuff.




Finally: Five Guys. In my opinion one of the best burger places on the East Coast.


The next morning a certain friend wanted to try something different: the cheap Denny's chain. It turned out to be barely OK food esp. with the alternatives around. But hey, if that's part of the US experience I'm willing to do it again.



Next up was a hibachi/teppanyaki place. It's a japanese steakhouse. In this case an independent place has been just taken over by the Benihana chain. I had to convince my friend to give it a try but it was well worth it.



I did not take pictures of the shrimp appetizers.

I had the chance to visit the Airbus plant in Finkenwerder yesterday and the dimensions are incredible.

Guess how many planes fit into the large building with the glass front.



Yes, the roof is a clear giveaway, four brand new Airbus A380 barely fit into the building. And inside were one Emirates, two Qantas and one Air France bus in the final assembly getting their interior installations done.