Author: imanalyst

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Ireland, day 5 on Wild Atlantic Way

Only the Rally of Lakes could disturb and wake us up in the room of this fine Killarney hotel. Nevermind, it was the last day and we had to finalise the Irish adventure. Straight from the breakfast we visited the famous Muckross house. This place basically gave the origins to the Killarney National Park known as of today. After taking a small tour on the Muckross garden, we moved just few steps further, to see the Muckross Abbey with its big yew tree in the middle of the yard. From here we continued in our landmark tour to the Ross Castle. This medieval castle is surrounded by Lough Leane, from where O’Donoghue, the former owner, still arises. According to the legend.

The last route of our great Irish expedition brought us to the place where it all began, Dublin airport. 5 overloaded days, more than 1700 road kms and a huge portion of unique memories. Thank you Ireland, we’ll be back.

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Ireland, day 4 of Wild Atlantic

Ballybunion has a very lovely beach, divided by a castle in two; Ladies and Men’s beach. It also features cliffs on a side with a cave to be explored. The opposite side of the beach is then fully dedicated to a great golf club, which btw we also managed to visit 😉 From Ballybunion our steps led further towards south and the next planned stop was a place called Banna. Banna Strand is a fabulous 10 kms long and also quite wide beach featuring up to 12 meters high dunes. Wonderful! Pure joy. The hills visible behind the south side of beach stand on a Dingle peninsula, our target destination. Approaching the peninsula we visited Blennerville Windmill, before reaching Castelgregory, a popular spot for surfers and windsurfers. Just at the end of its beaches, we sat down to table in super tasty Spillane Bar and Restaurant. Here we decided to go for another challenge, to see the other side of peninsula, where the town of Dingle lies. To get there we used Conor Pass and were pleased by extended views from top of the peninsula hills. Charming little Dingle town has definitely a lot to offer.  Therefore we left it just after the sunset. Heading to our last accommodation we made a final stop to see another great beach called Inch Strand. This one can be even enjoyed directly from your car.

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Ireland, day 3 on the Way

From the town of Ennis, where we overslept the last night, we hit the road again. To start as we finished, we went to Kilkee and discovered its great beach as well as the Kilkee Cliffs. These differently shaped cliffs allowed us to go lower and feel the waves hitting the rocks roughly. From Kilkee we continued towards the Loop Head lighthouse at the end of the peninsula carrying the same name. This lighthouse awarded by many prices stands on its place from 1854 and fully functioning is visible up to 42 kms away. On the way back the Long Dock Pub restaurant in Carrigaholt invited us to its tasty cuisine. Afterwards we took a ferry in order to cross the opening Mouth of Shannon and landed in Tarbert. Lately, upon visiting a place called Glin, we headed towards our next accommodation in Ballybunion.

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Ireland, day 2 on Wild Atlantic

The second day on our way we started walking by the already quoted Galway places. From there the next goal was set to be Fanore. Driving the narrow road, we took a break in an old settlement to see the Dunguaire Castle. After that cultural break, we were about to discover something else. Fossils embedded into rocks at Flaggy Shore! …And yes, we also made sure, the fossils are pretty visible in there. Later in the afternoon, we finally arrived to Fanore. Its beach is a place, we could easily enjoy for the rest of the day… But the highlight was just about to follow. The magnificent Cliffs of Moher were exposed to us in all their beauty. As the clouds were moving fast and the Sun illuminated the cliffs in various angles, the Mother Nature composed a spectacular show, one would hardly ever forgot.

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Ireland, day 1 of Wild Atlantic Way

Walk out the house, jump on the bus, fly up – land down …and there you are!! So easily and quickly we found ourselves in the country of Ireland. Ready to start our trip towards the wild Atlantic, first we handled a proper car (3rd attempt was a successful one 🙂 On our way to Galway we stopped by a town called Tullamore. Yes the famous Irish whiskey producer, yes for an obvious reason. After a short break we finally reached the ocean by Galway. The 3rd biggest city has a plenty to offer in the city centre plus a nice places just next door. The Salthill Promenade and especially lovely beach called Silver Strand we liked a lot.

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Easter sunny bunny Easter

Usually we used to spend the Easter days up there on slopes. This year as the bunny days were postponed to late April, we had to go for an alternative. And we found a proper one. A place called Gaalgraben, just where the road carrying the same name ends. No traffic, no pollution and almost no people. I think it has happened for the first time to us, that we were accommodated completely alone. In a medium size brand new and just great hotel. In the middle of Mother Nature. What else would have we been looking for? Lots of hiking tracks a piece of history, oh yes Red Bull Ring was also included. And at the end we certainly couldn’t go any better than Aqualux in Fohnsdorf.

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Rohr im Gebirge Themen Wanderwege

On a lovely Saturday afternoon 6th of April we decided to relax a bit in the nature again. Wisely we went just behind the corner to a close Zellenbach valley. Small village called Rohr im Gebirge offers nice and quality rooms in Kaiser Franz Josef hotel, which is also an ideal point to start the hiking tracks. From here the two Themen Wanderwege (Werkstatt Wald und Wasser and Sagenumwobener Tümpflweg) would be recommended. And if that wouldn’t be enough, you can still explore the nature around Pernitz and undergo the so called Biedermeier Erlebnisweg. With this set up, you easily end up with 36 kms of beautiful tracks accomplished.

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Präbichl from Vordernberg

Here we go, on the snow again! Between 8th and 10th of March we took also our friends, the Kiss Family and went, this time a bit further away, to check out the place called Präbichl. This well organised resort offers some 20 kms of mainly reddish slopes, situated on 2 opposed hills covered by forest. As an accommodation we may recommend the Alepnaquarium apartment in near Vordernberg. From here there are plenty possibilities for hiking as well. A tip for an after skiing walk would be a visit of Eisenerz town, old mining place, with it’s interesting sights, especially the Kirchenburg st. Oswald and Eisenerzer Schichtturm.

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Stuhleck from Altenberg an der Rax

Take your ski, grab my board …let’s go! For a weekend shorter than usual, between 22nd and 24th of February we have to go somewhere really close. The closest reasonable resort reachable from Vienna is Stuhleck.  Though quite tough to find a place to stay, we luckily end up in a nice Gasthaus called “Altenbergerhof” almost at the end of world .. erhh, well end of Altenbergar Bach Tal. And still only 18 kilometres away from Stuhleck slopes!!  The resort offers some 26 kms of good and funny slopes.  However due to its location, it is a bit crowded there, especially on Saturdays.

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Lackenhof from Lunz am See

This season there is plenty of snow and perfect skiing conditions. There are many resorts quickly reachable from Vienna, among the others Lackenhof. During the 2nd February w/end we picked up an accommodation in a close town called Lunz am See, some 10kms away from Lackehof slopes. The Land Hotel Zellerhof we can recommend for it’s wide and tasty eating options plus pleasant modern wellness. On the other hand the Lackenhof slopes spreading on Grösser and Kleiner Ötscher offer some 19kms of red and blue tracks well suitable for all.

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Sölden

As a nice tradition within our group of friends, we go year by year for a winter skiing vacation. At the very first years, several times in row, we enjoyed Slovakian Jasná. Later on, not only due to climate changes, we moved a bit higher and visited Austrian resorts like Kitzbühel, Kaprun and Schladming. Suddenly there was this idea. Why not to go to Sölden? Yes, Tirol, yes faaar away… But, what could follow all those wonderful places?! Sölden. The truth is, it is somehow special. Not just because of Spectre and agent Bond, but surely because of those slopes. Amazing! To be there, one feels privileged. Thank you Sölden!

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Barcelona

Down there to Spain again! It’s been a third time this year to none in the past. And why? Well, always for a different reason of course. Lately, between 14th and 18th of November, originally just to make a nice trip, but then also to celebrate Senko’s birthday.

Although we had quite a fair plan prepared, Barcelona turned out to be a bit too big and too interesting to manage all the scheduled highlights. Well, at least we picked up those like La Pedrera, Casa Batlo, Park Guell plus outer views of Familia Sagrada – all the great works of the greatest Antonio Gaudi. Not to forgot, we also enjoyed the Aquarium and Maritime museum and beautiful views from Monjuic and its castle. For the end of our trip, we couldn’t go any better than to Jazzsí club and experience a real flamenco fever.

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Stuttgart – Luzern – Innsbruck

There was a long awaited need for a business trip to Stuttgart. It has already been planned for 26th of October (Austrian National Day). Luckily the trip could also happen and was prolonged a bit at the end. Arriving to Stuttgart was a kind of blow due to the massive constrictions in the middle of the city and a noticeable smog coming not only from the works. Despite this small disruption we could do and accomplish the business.

The way back we took a byway through Switzerland and stopped by the town of Luzern. This is a nice old town with many landmarks and of course streets full of quality watches, jewellery and more. Also a nice place called Jazzkantine.

The next day we drove towards home and overslept in Innsbruck. Also, for the first time in here, we had to see all its beauty. And it definitely is worth of it. To explore the city – Central Hotel was a very convenient choice.

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Ötscher from Gössing

Since the year 2011 we remember 15th of October very well. We do also commemorate the day and usually spend the closest weekend to enjoy it. This year we choose a tiny little place called Gössing (or Gössing an der Mariazeller Bahn in full) which consists of 1 or 2 farm houses and a great old fashioned hotel. The better side of the hotel offers rooms with a wonderful view to Ötscher (from Slavic Otče = Father) peak. It’s also a perfect place to start various tours around. One we would definitely recommend is the Ötschergraben tour (known as Austrian Grand Canyon) which can be performed during one day also in combination with lunch at the Vorderötscher Schutzhaus.

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Walk around Lindkogel

Lovely warm weather on 6th of October invited us to visit the nature. We picked up the near and easy “Badener Lindkogel Wanderweg” and extended its suggested 7,6 km by another three or so. Especially the extension to Rauheneck castle ruins was a good choice as from the preserved castle tower, some beautiful views can be enjoyed. On the way back down the hill, we stopped by a place called Vila Eugen. This is basically a “schloss” lately occupied by Erzherzog Eugen descendant of Maria Theresia. Nowadays something like hypnotisation and soul correction could be found there.

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Windsurfing in Croatia

Not to miss our favourite summer destination, we went to Croatia also this year. This time on a special mission we stayed on Krk in Krk (the main town holds the island’s name 🙂 from 17th till 25th of August. Krk town lies just next to Punat and in between there is one of the well-known Windsurfing destinations. Of course, you should be a member of a Golf club, to get in there. Luckily we managed and could finally practise the lovely wind-salty sport endless.

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Sziget Festival, Budapest

Summer and festivals somehow come together. This year we wanted to refresh some of the old memories and therefor went to Budapest. Sziget Festival on Island of Freedom, 9th and 10th of August. 2 Days of great music experience and more. With our friends Senko, Tomas & Julka and Wolfgang we enjoyed the performances of Lana Del Rey, Gorillaz, Parov Stelar, Bonobo and definitely also those others.

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Vacation in Paguera, Mallorca

And the long awaited days are finally here. From 31.7. to 7.8. we decided to go for a vacation on Mallorca. Of course, these days everyone goes there, why shouldn’t we? But that was certainly not the reason. On the other hand with so many tourists heading there, we paid special attention to pick up the right place. And we found it! Small town of Paguera without the rush of Palma suburbs, gave us all long restful days full of happiness and joy. In a combination with excellent services of the hotel Coronada, we couldn’t dream more!

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Kiss Wedding in Krasnany

The big day “D” for our friends Tomas and Lenka, that’s 23rd of June 2018. Wedding, by its nature is supposed to be a special event. When it takes place in a romantic castle of Krasnany, surrounded by a great garden and lasts for 2 days, then it definitely is a special one. Dear Kiss Family, thank you very much for the invitation, we enjoyed your celebration a lot!

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Laxenburg park

10th of June, another sunny day here in Vienna. Although the Brazilian national football team came to play a friendly with the “österreichische elf”, we decided to go outside the city. As close as 25 km lies a small town of Laxenburg with its beautiful park. The dominant in the park is a Franzensburg castle situated on an island in the middle of castle tajch. The best way, how to enjoy the view on castle (favourite summer residence of Habsburgs), is to rent a motor boat and explore the tajch.

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Ibiza, Ibiza

Once there was a Stag party. Some may remember well, others maybe less but it has been accomplished. Early in the morning on 19th of May a group of 8 (so called “Kiss Army”) successfully boarded on a plane heading to Ibiza. Exciting 4 days of adventure were fulfilled at lunch on 23rd of May back at the same Airport. Such a huge mass of energy, passed by so quickly. Luckily no one’s got injured, nothing was harmed. We all enjoyed it and survived.

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Sankt Gallen, Gesäuse

And the first post is here! Please enjoy. Longer Austrian weekend from 10th to 13th of May we spent in a small village of Sankt Gallen (Styria, not the one in Switzerland 8) which is a part of Gesäuse National Park. We have been hiking in the park and completed around 40 km, all mainly uphill. A beautiful piece of country!