New Year’s Day started off with a hike to Manoa Falls, which was the perfect start to 2016. The hike itself wasn’t too long, and the waterfall was beautiful! The water was very chilly but it was just what I needed after hiking with the hot sun beating down on me.
Our hike to Manoa Falls was followed by watching the Rose Bowl but as an Iowa fan, I don’t care to talk much about that.
In Italy, I tried to go skydiving twice. The first day, the plane broke. The second day, they had the plane fixed but the weather was too bad.
I figured, third time’s a charm right? Might as well go skydiving in Hawaii, the view would be better anyway!
Saturday we waited for about four hours waiting for the sky to clear up so that we could go skydiving before it was cancelled for the rest of the day. The third time was not a charm. Sunday was our only hope, so we rebooked.
The jump was so thrilling and the view was spectacular, and I savored every second.
I think it’s safe to say that while I loved bungee jumping, skydiving was my favorite adrenaline activity, and my favorite thing that I’ve done here in Hawaii this winter.
We took the kids on a field trip to the Sea Life Aquarium, where some scenes of 50 First Dates were filmed. I was able to take a few good underwater photos in the touch tank, and a few not as good photos at the dolphin show. (side note: I don’t support the domestication of large sea animals for entertainment shows, but it wasn’t my decision to book a field trip there)
We also had a kid get pooped on by a bird, (it was a field trip shirt, it’s fine) and it was hilarious.
This was my first Christmas away from home and I must admit, it didn’t really feel like Christmas. It was one of my favorites so far though, and our Project Coordinator made a wonderful little Christmas setup for us in a cabana on the beach. She even got us all presents!
MWR rented out paddle boards to us for free and we had a wonderful morning brunch lounging on the beach and exploring the beautiful ocean.
Later, we went to Lanikai and hiked the pill boxes there. The view was one of the best I’ve ever had and the weather was perfect (on the hike).
Swimming in the ocean after was a bit chilly because the wind had really picked up, but we enjoyed some time on the beach and a nice walk to get chicken katsu (surprise!).
It was indeed a very merry Christmas.
Before I knew I would be traveling to Hawaii this winter, I fully intended on attending whatever bowl game Iowa would be going to. Considering Iowa made the Rose Bowl and I’m across the ocean, my first bowl actually ended up being the Hawai’i Bowl at Aloha Stadium.
I didn’t care much about San Diego State or Cincinnati, but it was a great experience, and we had a lot of fun! There was a hula show for halftime and we also saw the most and best rainbows so far during the game.
I’ve been slacking a little on posting since my arrival but it has been very busy since I landed in Hawaii a week ago! I’ll need to do a few different posts so they aren’t incredibly long. I figured I might as well start with food since it’s one of my top favorite things.Our first night we got in at 1:00am so it was packed snacks for the airplane for me. Our second night, we went out for Korean BBQ (very popular in Hawaii) and I had real chicken katsu for the first time since japan and I was ecstatic. We took it down to the beach to eat and I finally started to feel like I was in hawaii.
Since then I’ve been reunited with more amazing Japanese things like hi-chews (the real kind) and sushi-go-round.
Monday night we went out for a friend’s birthday and I had Mac Nut Chicken Katsu (with macadamia nuts) and that was delicious as well.
Although I’ve had it at least 3 times in 7 days, I do eat more than just katsu. It’s been decently hot, so I’ve had plenty of shave ice(way better than sno-cones from the mainland), macadamia nut ice cream, and Dole whip from the Dole Plantation.
Friday evening we began our trek to Interlaken, Switzerland with a train to Milan. Because we had to stay overnight in Milan, we wanted to see a little bit of the nightlife there so we attempted going to one of the popular clubs there but apparently it costs €30 to get in, and of course we all just brought €20 because clubs are usually €15 and the extra would be for taxis. As we turned around to leave, a few guys walking around there told us that they would show us where the other clubs are but they actually just took us to a restaurant that was so boring I fell asleep and then we just ended up going back to our hostel. Not the night we had expected, but nothing ever goes as planned.
Saturday morning we took two trains to Interlaken, Switzerland. We walked around the town and took a bus around Lake Thun, which was unbelievably beautiful. 
Then, around 2:00 when my friend Salome got off work, we met up with her and went straight to a place where we could paddle board on Lake Brienz. My first experience paddle boarding was a success! It was nice to get off shore a little bit. We also swam a little bit, but the lake felt like an ice bath.
Lake Brienz is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been in my life. 
I had the opportunity to meet Salome’s mom and brother and then we headed to her apartment. Her apartment is by far the coolest apartment that I’ve ever been in (and I always brag about my roommates’ interior decorating skills so that’s saying a lot). Salome and her roommates are wonderful artists living in a beautiful loft with a hammock and a view of the Swiss Alps.
We went out for dinner at a Swiss restaurant near Sal’s apartment. Most everything in Interlaken is near Sal’s apartment because Interlaken is very small.
I’ve learned that I don’t actually like Swiss food that much because it’s mostly just a lot of potatoes, so I just had cheese fondue for dinner. Fondue is a winter dish for the Swiss but an all season dish for the tourists.
Salome took us out for a night on the town. She knew so many people everywhere that we went that evening, because Interlaken is so small and doesn’t have many pubs. We ended up seeing a lot of people we knew that night too, because we ran into a group of Camp A counsellors from Stuttgart, Germany. 
Sunday morning we woke up early to start our hike at Harder Kulm. The hike took us less time than we thought; we finished in a little under 2 hours, so it wasn’t too bad. The view was absolutely gorgeous. Harder Kulm is in between the two lakes, Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, so we could see both from the top. 
Switzerland is one of my favorite countries that I’ve visited so far. So much beauty and raw nature to explore. 
Our hostel in Sorrento was unlike any other booked. Because sometimes traveling with a total of six people can be difficult, we booked beds for four and for two, so that even when we had to split up we would still be together. When we arrived at our hostel they told us that there were four different rooms. Two with two beds and two with one bed. We decided that the most fair way to pick would be to flip over the cards, mix them around and each choose one.
I ended up being in a female dorm without any other girls that I was traveling with, but I didn’t spend much time there and it wasn’t too bad. The view from our hostel roof was stunning. We saw it for the first time at sunset and it made up for every sunset that we have missed so far here. 
Saturday night we rode on Vespas to the beach for an adventure, which of course was a blast with my favorite people. 
Saturday morning we walked through Sorrento to find a beach. Sorrento is by far one of the most beautiful places that I’ve ever visited.
Luckily, we ran into a few Americans at the bus stop who told us about the nearby beaches and watering hole. They instructed us to take a taxi there and back, and with perfect timing a taxi drove up. Our driver’s name was Raphaele and he was awesome. He pulled over for us to take photos (the taxi ride was flat rate too). He joked with us and told us how to get down to the watering hole from the place where he dropped us off. He gave us his number at the end of the ride so that we could call him for a ride back. 
We had a bit of a hike down to the Regina Giovanna watering hole but it was so worth it. 
Like I said, Sorrento is breathtaking.
We swam around the watering hole for quite awhile and jumped off of the rock wall in there (lower to the water than where I was standing to take this photo of course).
When we were done swimming we hiked back up a little ways and found some nice rocks and just appreciated the most beautiful view before having to make our hike back up and head to the train station.
Raphaele (our taxi driver) was still very nice but did very odd things on our drive to the train station. He asked if he could joke with us again and then showed us a very explicit video of a “very nice lady” who also happened to have very large man parts, along with a second similar video. It made everyone in the car very uncomfortable and none of us really knew quite how to react.
Regardless, we made it to the train station safely with just enough time for fresh lemon granita (like a slushie but better).
Our trip to Capri was interesting from the start, when we met a few travelers from England in one of the train stations. They were all very intoxicated and therefore very friendly. They started talking to us and we couldn’t stop laughing both at how funny and ridiculous they were. They were on our same train, only they planned on getting off in Rome.Our train ride was rather boring, like most are, so we ended up chatting with them in the middle area near the restrooms until we got tired and went to sleep. They taught us about English banter (which is much more offensive than American banter) and insults like “do you even croquette?” Or “do you even first?” (First as in first class).
We just passed through Naples on our way to Capri, so we didn’t get to see much, but the most undeniably noticeable thing about Naples is how dirty it is. It was disturbing to see the amount of litter everywhere, particularly in a port city on the ocean.
From Naples we boarded a ferry to the island of Capri. On our ferry boat we met two other students from Iowa, who attend our rival school, Iowa State (go Hawks!). The sun was blazing but the weather felt perfect.
In Capri, I bought a small pizza from the area where pizza was invented (Naples) and though it doesn’t look perfect, it was delicious!
Almost immediately we boarded our boat that we had rented for the day in Capri. I was the official driver, though a few of my friends took turns trying it out for awhile while I got some sun. My coxswain experience has come in handy in a real life situation! The island was so beautiful to see. We stopped at the white grotto, the green grotto and the blue grotto. I regret not bringing my GoPro into the green grotto but of course I only had limited battery and was making it last.
The white grotto was the first that we explored. We anchored (which was an experience in itself, finding a place to anchor where all of the other boats wouldn’t get mad at us) and swam to the rocky shore to climb the steps to the cave. Getting up onto the steps was very difficult because you had to jump up with the tide and even then it was very slippery. I cut the bottom of my foot, my elbow, and my hands on the rocks, but the cut on my toe was the worst and bled quite a bit. Then we climbed the hot rocky steps up to the neat cave where we had a beautiful view of the sea.
The next stop was the green grotto, which I don’t have many pictures of but was absolutely beautiful. We went snorkeling there and saw the fish underwater and found a small sandy “beach” area inside a little cave there. The water inside the green grotto actually looked green and was so beautiful and clear. The swim back to the boat from the green grotto was one of the hardest swims of my life. The waves had gotten higher and the tide was pushing against us. I accidentally swallowed too much salt water during that swim.
After we made it to the boat, we made use of our lifesaver ring since the swim was so rough and we had it in the boat. After all, we are all lifeguard certified!
When we got to the blue grotto, we weren’t allowed to anchor. We were told that we could swim in for free after 5:00pm, otherwise it would be €13 each. We got there right at 5:00 pm hoping to take turns swimming in. Since I had been driving the boat, we needed someone to take over while I went in so two of our friends volunteered. The only problem was that other boats had almost entirely closed us in and with the drifting I was having to continuously adjust the board moving forward and backward, side to side. When the other girls took over we moved a little too far forward, then a little too far backward, then a little too far forward almost crashing into another boat rented from the same place as ours. I took over and moved our boat out of the blue grotto waiting area.
The boat that we almost hit had a man in it who offered us a buoy, even though a few minutes prior he seemed very upset. Then, after we had our boat buoyed in the waiting area, we see him on the phone, looking angry again. Turns out he was tattling on us but it worked out for the better because we ended up having a free skipper for the rest of the day (which was less stress for me) and we were all able to go into the Blue Grotto together.
The singing man that was originally going to take us changed his mind when we told him we weren’t going to pay an extra €13 to swim inside and he made the 3 of us cram into another boat with the other 3 girls in our group for the same price. We’ve learned that Italians are very cheap and will do just about anything to make a little bit of money.
Though we weren’t in there for but a few minutes and €13 is a ridiculous price for it, the Blue Grotto was one of the most gorgeous places I’ve seen. From the pitch black inside, you can look down and see the bright blue glowing water. With nothing but natural light, the entirely dark Blue Grotto is lit by the water coming into it. Our boat rower did sing to us while inside (beautiful tunes that we recognized from the Lizzie McGuire movie) which was very cool, especially since we didn’t experience that on our gondola ride in Venice.
Underwater photo in the blue grotto
Munich is a very beautiful, lively city with, like almost all European cities, has a very rich history. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring it and all that it has to offer. 
Olympic grounds
In Olympic park
In Olympic park
English gardens
English gardens
English gardens
Accordion player in the English gardens
English gardens
Friendly geese begging for food from strangers in the English Gardens
When exploring Munich on Sunday, we found a festival, or rather the festival found us and we followed the music. There we enjoyed an ice cold beer while sitting in the grass relaxing, listening to the live band play.
I love German food. I’ve had doner kebabs and curry wurst before coming to Germany, but of course the food is much more authentically prepared and delicious here in Germany.
Alyse In Wonderland 