Do you like pineapple?

Woke up in New York and a mere 20 hours later we were in Maui.

Pretty much this the whole way around

We stayed on the island's north coast. A shuttle from the airport took an hour and we arrived bleary eyed and dazed, not at all ready for the stream of information the woman at the counter had prepared for us. Maps, guides, local attractions, resort rules, beaches...

"Hey, do you guys like pineapple?"

A little surprised we answered we did. We did like pineapple.

"I have a pineapple for you, wait here."

We had it for breakfast and it was incredible. We bought another later that day.

Avocado burger at the Gazebo

In fact for us, Maui was the perfect end to our trip. We walked to the market and stocked up on fruit and vegetables to eat on our porch and did very little except walk on the beach and drink cocktails in the evening.

Beaches like this

Yeah we were sad to leave New York but we were so so happy to have temperatures above freezing for a couple of days. We could look out across the beach from our room; in fact we could see all the way to the next island. In the morning we walked in the shade of the mountains and in the evening we watched the sun set over the ocean.

It was hard to fault the views

The island's volcanic origins meant the coastline was bay after sheltered bay, the sandy beaches protected by long rocky outcrops. The beaches were different to the ones we know at home; no slogging it for five minutes across the sand to reach the water. Out of the hotel and into the water in thirty seconds.

Milk costs a lot. That's the price of living in paradise.

For a place that neither of us had wanted to visit before the trip, Hawaii has become a place neither of us can wait to visit again. But next time we would want to see more of everything and probably achieve more than sitting in our hotel room and reading.

Sunset at Maui

Not that there was anything wrong with that.

Terrible tourists

A quick confession; we are terrible tourists. Museums, galleries, well-known-monuments frequently slip our attention. If this record of our trip has shown anything it is that we like to walk the streets of a place and sample its fare. That's our tourism.

That's what we do.

That said, our first day in New York was especially sketchy. It was the coldest place we had been by a significant margin and we spent a significant portion of the day cowering from the weather and buying warm clothes.

But it would be a waste to spend our whole first day in New York without walking a little and seeing something. Walking wasn't easy; the sidewalks were icy and the gutters were overloaded with snow and slush. We figured we could blast straight out from where we were staying, take some quick photos, and turn toward Ninth Avenue for some food. 

Our hotel was between Sixth and Seventh avenues and had a rooftop bar which gave us a view of midtown Manhattan.

A view of some unknown building

The bar had an NFL playoffs happy-hour so we went up for some photos and a beer to fortify us against the conditions. 

A walk straight up Seventh Avenue took us to Times Square which was near deserted (for Times Square) and gave us an opportunity for photos.

Yay, made it

We crossed to Ninth in search of some comfort food and thank goodness stumbled on Hudson Station, which had craft beers, good wine and a sample plate of sliders.

Contemplating an angle of attack

From there we finished our small lap, walking back down to 26th Street and crossing the avenues to our hotel. Not the most active first day in New York, but it gave us the opportunity to explore our immediate area, and let our plans fortify for what would be a packed few days.

Everything's bigger.

The flight from San Francisco to Austin was scenic; we saw California drop away and raise up to Nevada, flow into the salt flats and standing stones of Utah. We were sitting on the wrong side of the plane to see the Grand Canyon, but did watch the Arizona mountains roll away to the north. The terrain flattened and smoothed until we could see clear to the horizon with nothing but the patchwork of fields on the landscape.

The landing in Texas was another difference. In San Francisco, the plane passed the bay bridge and the airport, turned a hard 180 and dropped like a stone to touch down.

The way into Austin was long and slow as the terrain, and it seemed we were inches from the ground a long time before rubber touched tarmac.

With a few airport transfers under our belt, we can rate Austin as one of the best. The bus from the airport to downtown cost us $1 each and dropped us a block from the hotel. It also exposed us to the people of Austin who were loud, energetic, and friendly.

Around the corner from the hotel was a well recommended spot for dinner called Moonshine. It was cold out so we declined the offer to sit on the patio.

Our server, Jess, let us know we had arrived just at the end of happy hour, which meant cheap drinks but best of all, half-price appetisers. Ali picked the warmed brie, which was the only item which wasn't deep-fried.

We thought.

What did we do to deserve this?

That was, we decided, a sign. The mains were offered as 'platters,' and we thought that seemed like enough for two people.

Jess concurred.

So our first night in Texas we got a steak. With red wine sauce and blue-cheese butter. And sides. Everything was good.

Ali realises every meal can come with mac and cheese.

Christmas eve brought a new issue; we had almost run out of socks. The hotel's laundry was out of order and there were no laundromats within walking distance. We spent the morning looking for a shopping complex in downtown Austin and there simply was not one.

Defeated, we took to sixth street to find some lunch and heard some cool music coming from the Jackalope. They had good beers and a deal on pizzas. We got a pizza to share.

Thank goodness we only got one.

Yup. That happened.

So formed our plan for a quiet Christmas Eve in Austin. We built a dinner of leftover pizza, salad, and bottled beer and hung out in our hotel room.

We also formed our plan for Christmas dinner when we discovered the Alamo. Dinner and a movie (at the same time) seemed to be a great option for our holiday away from home. There was only one movie showing, so we got tickets to The Hobbit sequel.

On Christmas we took the opportunity to go walking along the Colorado river.

It's winter so the trees are bare.

The overcast weather made for a comfortable wander. Whole families passed us, walking off their lunch to make room for their dinner.

Some dude and the Colorado River

The experience of dinner at the Alamo was fantastic. The movie didn't do much for us, but we loved being able to go in for a couple of drinks (all their drafts were local beers - there's a lot of great beer in Texas) and food while a movie was on. The more laid-back environment and the zero-tolerance attitude toward talking/texting suited as well.  Five stars. Would do again.

Crater and cocktails

The plan worked. Monday morning found us well rested and excited to put our time in Honolulu to use. So we went to the mall.

After a very successful morning shopping (total haul; 1 x hair straightener, 1 x SIM card, 1 x jacket) we got on a bus out to the Diamond Head Crater national park.

At the hotel we were warned to wear running shoes, not thongs, definitely not high-heels. The bus dropped us outside the national park area, and we paid our entry fee of a dollar. Including the two-fifty for the bus, the walk is a great, low-cost afternoon in Waikiki.

The way up

The path wound back and forth the inside of the crater. It was steep in places, but not difficult going, especially after seeing the walking paths in Norway. Things only got tough when we got to the stairs to the bunker, which are pictured later on.

It was busy in both directions, with a lot of tourists taking advantage of the view. And it was easy to see why.

Bunker on the right, Waikiki on the left. Sky above.

The island put on a little show for us as well, with the clouds sitting nice and low on the mountains for better photos.

After the walk up it was nice to break for a while and get some photos.

Directly below the ridge was a lighthouse and the beautiful reef.

Everywhere we went the waves broke far from the shore and travelled all the way in

The combination of natural structures and the aged military infrastructure made the walk quite interesting. Running up the stairs, ducking through tunnels and into bunkers broke up the trip.

The way to the top

Ali in a tunnel

That night we returned to the not-our-hotel pool for cocktails at sunset. Ali was smart and ordered a pina colada, which was delicious. I was silly and ordered a maitai, which was mostly rum, with some spice rum added for colour.

Every drop was worth it for the view.

It was a gorgeous evening, with music, dancers and drinks.

Walking in Wien

Our last full day in Vienna was mostly spent wandering through the city, trying to get a little lost and get a feel for the place.  We eventually got sick of walking and jumped on a train to the Danube, then had an argument about how blue it was.

I thought it was pretty blue, but the Liar maintains that it's more of a gray.

It did have swans swimming/fishing in it, which was cool.  Even better, you can insult these swans, unlike in Hamburg.  Stupid swans.

The island gave us a different angle of the city.

And an insight into a different part of its culture.  Beach bars, inflatable bridges and amusement centers line the banks of the island.

We walked back to the hostel, eventually.  The next day we left Vienna.