Catalina Dreamin’

I’m stepping off the ferry from Long Beach and like every other time I have set foot on Catalina Island, I fall in love all over again. No wonder. Such perfect romantic setting. Locals call it the ‘Island of Romance,’ Hollywood has featured these sun-kissed shores in many of its movies and flocks of love…

Santa Fe, City Different

Santa Fe, New Mexico. City Different, so the slogan goes. And indeed, when strolling around the historic Plaza past the chic clothing and extravagant jewelry stores, one notices immediately the staggering difference to the world beyond this oldest capital city of the United States. Maybe it’s the dry desert air coming over the Sangre de…

In Linz Beginn’s-It Starts in Linz

In Linz, that’s where it begins. IT. A product launch. A new invention. A travel adventure. Whatever. The possibilities are endless. This slogan of my hometown was the going phrase the day I kissed my parents good buy on a snow drenched December day in 1981. And today, after thirty years, the saying has morphed…

1001 Nights

One cannot help but think of Princess Scheherazade’s fantasy tales of 1001 Nights when gliding into the frankincense dusted world of the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. Sprawling along the pearl white Arabian Sea shore, this magnificent structure featuring shimmering blue mosaic domes, arched facades and cooling fountains looks like a transplant from Arabia’s…

Emerald Hills

After a few days soaking up the humid air and stinging sun at the golden beach, we decided to head up into the hills for a bit of a cool off. Our destination was Kandy, a UNESCO World Heritage site nested in the emerald hills 116 km east from Colombo and about 500 meters above…