Malta (30.05.2017 - 06.06.2017)

For a quick getaway (and our first holiday in more than a year) we decided to fly almost last minute to Malta.

Malta because of the distance (I'm not flying to the other side of the planet for a one week holiday), the climate (some of us wanted to work on their tan ;)), the history (having something to do and see) and the many ship wrecks in the area (diving!).

We checked out the old city of Valletta, hit the beach and then of course went diving. There are 14 official wrecks around the island and many more unofficial ones. I visited four of them, one up to 110m long! Also the marine life was the best I've seen so far in the mediterranean!
Besides that we did of course also travel around the island. In hindsight we should have rented a car... There is an extensive public transport service on the island but it doesn't run that often and was always late. Not like in Japan ;)
So we had a look at the cliffs, the blue grotto and the old city of Mdina which I liked more than Valletta the capital. We found a small and quiet plaza where we had wine and some platters. What more do you want?

Malta has a long and changing history which has shaped the island, its cities and its language (a variety of arabic and an official language of the EU!). And because it is quite close to Sicily, there was no lack of good Italian restaurants. :D Sadly there is a lot of construction going on and the main commodity seems to be real estate...

A visit to the neighbour island of Gozo was also on our schedule so we headed north by bus and then by ferry. On the even smaller island (67 km²) we rented a scooter for the day which allowed us to visit everything with ease. Cruising around the island we saw some of the many stone quarries of Malta. If there is one thing in abundance then its (lime)stone! Sadly the famous stone arch, the Azure Window,  broke apart this march but there were enough other impressive cliffs to see.

And then the week was already over and it was time to fly home :(

Our trip to snow and fun!

It took me almost a year to cut it but at last I did it!

Every song used in the video we heard plenty of times on the chairlifts ;) If we were riding further out in the woods you just had to stop and list to find you way back to the slopes :D

Songs in order of appearance:
- きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ - PONPONPON , Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - PONPONPON
- きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ - CANDY CANDY , Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - CANDY CANDY
- BTOB「Dear Bride」 MV full ver.
- a flood of circle - 花
- きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ - にんじゃりばんばん,Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Ninja Re Bang Bang
- きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ - インベーダーインベーダー,kyary pamyu pamyu - Invader Invader

La Confitería, Barcelona

www.facebook.com/La-Confiteria

We stumbled upon this little gem of a cocktail bar by accident. Set in an classical building over hundred years old and filled to the ceiling with cocktail supplies. 

Having all kinds of weird and wonderful cocktails on the menu we just had to try some. All came with funky accessories and something burning ;) If you ever end up in the area you have to stop for a drink!

Signature drink gets served on a tiny shipping pallet ;)

Yes that is a bell pepper :D

Tasty!

Over the highest mountain pass in Europe (13.08.2016 - 15.08.2016)

We drove over the french alps back home to Switzerland! 

But first we had another night in an old castle surrounded by vineyards in the Piedmont region. The following morning we took the most direct route to France. Not exactly the fastest but it made us cross the lovely Colle delle Finestre. At least the uphill part was... The downhill part was a dirt road the first eight kilometers. Not so funny on our tiny wheels.

Anyway, we made it and then crossed the mountain pass between France and Italy. Next was the Col de L'iseran, with 2770 metres above sea the highest in Europe! Okay it was only ten metres more than the Stelvio pass which we did in the beginning of the trip ;)

Snapped some pictures and then we descended to the village of Val d'Isere. Exhausted we decided to enjoy the lovely weather a bit more and stayed for the night.

In the morning we drove on to Chamonix to see the mighty Mont Blanc. And then we were only two passes away from Switzerland! Over some tiny passes we then progressed to Gstaad/Saanen for the final night. 

The night was short and the morning after brutal but we still managed to drive all the way home. 

In total we did 3'504 km in three weeks... At least I did, Winstons odometer displayed 90 km more?! Don't know which one is right :D

Top of Europe!

Along the Côte d'Azur (10.08.2016 - 13.08.2016)

After leaving Andorra (and crossing one gigantic traffic jam uphill) we drove to Carcasonne for the night. The little city is well preserved and looks really nice towering on the hill.

The following day we drove all the way east to the coast but didn't quite make it. The crazy Mistral made riding our micro machines way to dangerous. We were almost blown off and had to lean into the wind at certain times. It was blowing up to 60km/h from the side o_O. So we spent the night in Salon de Provence and continued the following day with a big headache ;). A lovely stretch between the hills later and we reached St. Tropez! 

Here we stayed on one of the luxurious yachts anchoring in the gulf. Okay it was an old rundown boat, but still! Having a swim and enjoying the view was awesome. Also at night we got picked up were all the fancy people waited to get to their boat :D The illusion was a bit spoiled when our broken little dingy arrived, but still! ;)

St. Tropez otherwise isn't really worth mentioning... A lot of ladies dressed as girls and a lot of girls dressed as ladies. Weird world between the yachts and Ferraris.

The next day I would never have traded our motorbike against one of these luxury cars. Almost all the way to Cannes was one never ending traffic jam. We must have overtaken millions of cars... 

A brief stop and off we where for lunch to Nice. Enjoying a last time the fresh spoils of the sea.

On to Monaco, country number eight of eight! Almost three thousand kilometers behind us and still not home :D

We toasted to our success and drove on.