A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
For my birthday, Inna made dinner reservations at Dio Deka, our favorite Greek restaurant in Los Gatos. Fortunately, Alex was in town for his job interview and could join us for dinner. . . After parking near Los Gatos High School, we walked over and were seated inside. We looked at the menu and ordered the following items: . Appetizer: Soutzoukakia (over-baked lamb and beef…
Read More: Birthday Dinner at Dio Deka
On Saturday, September 13, Inna and I visited the Flower Piano show at the Golden Gate Gardens. We wanted to enjoy the sights and smells of beautiful flowers while listening to beautiful music. . When we arrived at Golden Gate Park, we had real difficulty finding parking. Eventually, we found a space many blocks away. After parking our Tesla, we stopped by Tartine Inner Sunset…
Read More: San Francisco Flower Piano
Friday, August 29, 2025 . . About a week ago, Inna and I decided to visit North Lake Tahoe (Incline Village) during the Labor Day weekend, when we would have Monday, September 1, off as a company holiday. Inna had made hotel reservations at the Incline Lodge for 3 nights and dinner reservations at a couple of restaurants (Soule Domain and Big Water Grille). .…
Read More: Back to Incline Village, Lake Tahoe
After my wing foiling session at Coyote Point, I drove to Palo Alto, where Inna had made dinner reservations for 18:00 at the highly-rated Ettan Indian Restaurant. . . We had eaten at Ettan last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Ettan is extremely popular and challenging to reserve on short notice. . . After I had parked my Toyota Sienna in a nearby parking garage,…
Read More: Dinner at Ettan, Palo Alto
After checking the iwindsurf.com pro forecast, I decided to wing foil at the nearby Coyote Point. Being late August, winds are less reliable and can quickly die out. . . On arrival at Coyote Point (a 45-minute drive from San Jose) via US-101, the wind was showing as 16 knots. I decided to rig my brand-new Duotone Slick SLS 5.5m wing (to provide additional thrust…
Read More: Wing Foiling at Coyote Point
Since Alex was leaving for Georgia Tech (Atlanta, GA), we decided to treat him to dinner (and to celebrate his birthday, which we missed). . . . I found Joey Valley Fair on Google Maps and was surprised to see so many high ratings (for a local restaurant I had never heard of). I was intrigued, and Inna and I made reservations while we were…
Read More: Dinner at Joey Valley Fair
Sunday, August 10, 2025. . Start: #351, Cameron House, A82, Loch Lomond, Alexandria G83 8QZ, Scotland . End: #316, Courtyard Marriott, Keflavik, Iceland. Highlights: Lava Restaurant, Blue Lagoon . After waking up around 08:30, I showered and dressed. When Inna was ready, we walked downstairs, into the long corridor leading to our breakfast buffet. . . . . At around 09:00, we joined the queue…
Read More: Enjoying Blue Lagoon, Iceland (August 10)
Saturday, August 9, 2025. . Start: #351, Cameron House, A82, Loch Lomond, Alexandria G83 8QZ, Scotland . End: #351, Cameron House, A82, Loch Lomond, Alexandria G83 8QZ, Scotland. Highlights: Cameron Spa, Bike Ride to Luss, La Vista Restaurant . . . . . After waking up around 08:30, I showered, shaved, and dressed. When Inna was ready, we walked downstairs, into the long corridor leading…
Read More: Bike & Spa at Loch Lomond, Scotland (August 9)
Friday, August 8, 2025. . Start: #7 Seabeds Luxury Lookouts, Woodlands, Glencoe, Scotland End: #351, Cameron House, A82, Loch Lomond, Alexandria G83 8QZ, Scotland . Highlights: Kilchurn Castle, St. Conan's Kirk, Inveraray Castle & Garden, Ardkinglas Woodland Garden . . . . . . . . I woke at 07:30, showered, and dressed. The weather outside was gray and drizzly, but we had to get…
Read More: Castles & Loch Lomond, Scotland (August 8)
Thursday, August 7, 2025. Starting: #7 Seabeds Luxury Lookouts, Woodlands, Glencoe, Scotland. Ending: #7 Seabeds Luxury Lookouts, Woodlands, Glencoe, Scotland. Highlights: Jacobite Steam Train (Hogwarts Express), Glenfinnan Viaduct. . . . . . After waking up at 08:00, I showered, shaved, and dressed. I noticed that our breakfast basket had already been delivered to our room. The basket contained one plain croissant, one pain au…
Read More: Hogwarts Express, Glenfinnan, Scotland (August 7)
Wednesday, August 6, 2025. Start: #7 Seabeds Luxury Lookouts, Woodlands, Glencoe, Scotland End: #7 Seabeds Luxury Lookouts, Woodlands, Glencoe, Scotland . Highlights: Hike to Buachaille Etive Beag mountain top, Hike to Glencoe Lochan, Hagrid's Hut, Skyfall Waterfall . . . . . . After waking up at 07:30, I showered and dressed. I noticed that our breakfast basket was delivered to our room. The basket…
Read More: Hike to Buachaille Etive Beag Peak, Glencoe, Scotland (August 6)
Tuesday, August 5, 2025. . Start: #165, Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland End: #7 Seabeds Luxury Lookouts, Woodlands, Glencoe, Scotland. Highlights: Stirling Castle, Lake Lubnaig, Glencoe . . . . . It was time to prepare for the long drive to Glencoe, Scotland. I woke at 07:40, showered, and shaved. . I also packed all my bags, though not completely (since we would have…
Read More: Stirling Castle, Scotland (August 5)
Monday, August 4, 2025. . Starting: #165, Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland Ending: #165, Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland. Highlights: Holyrood Palace, Afternoon Tea at Palm Court, Ten Thousand Hours Show . . . . . . . After a restful sleep, we woke at around 07:30, showered, and dressed. We decided to try a different breakfast eatery (as we were not impressed…
Read More: Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, Scotland (August 4)
Sunday, August 4, 2025 . . Starting: #165, Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland Ending: #165, Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland. Highlights: Royal Botanic Garden, Water of Leith Walk, National Galleries of Scotland, La Clique Show, Dinner at The Ivy . . . . . . . . After waking up at 07:30, I showered, shaved, and dressed. When Inna was ready, we decided…
Read More: Water of Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland (August 3)
Saturday, August 2, 2025. Starting: Room #411, Hotel Island, Reykjavik, Iceland. Ending: Room #165, Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland. Highlights: Oldtown Edinburgh, Festival Theater: Make It Happen . . . . . Because of the early flight out of the Keflavik Airport (KEF), I set the alarm for 05:00. We quickly woke up, dressed, and rushed downstairs, where our taxi was already waiting (we…
Read More: Fringe Festival at Edinburgh, Scotland (August 2)
Friday, August 1, 2025. . Start: Hótel Laugarbakki, Iceland End: Hotel Island, Reykjavik, Iceland Highlights: Glanni Waterfall, Barnafoss Waterfall, Björn's Home . . . I can't believe it's already August 1st! Time sure flies when you're on vacation. . . . After waking up, showering, and packing our suitcases, we stopped by for breakfast in the large dining room at Hótel Laugarbakki at 07:37. Unfortunately,…
Read More: Horses & Waterfalls, Iceland (August 1)
Thursday, July 31, 2025. . Starting: Hótel Edda Akureyri, Iceland. Ending: Hótel Laugarbakki, Iceland Highlights: Whale Watching (humpback whales) on Lilja, Fish Stew at Gisli Eirikur Helgi Kaffihûs Bakkabrædra, Kolugljúfur Canyon . . . After waking up at 06:30, I showered, shaved, and dressed. We had to be ready by 08:20 to load the minibus, as we had an 08:30 Whale Watching tour scheduled. .…
Read More: Whale Watching in Akureyri, Iceland (July 31)
Wednesday, July 30, 2025. Starting: Wilderness Center, Egilstaðir, Iceland. Ending: Hótel Edda Akureyri, Akureyri, Iceland. Highlights: Rjúkandi Waterfall, Stuðlagil Canyon, Mývatn Nature Baths, Godafoss Waterfall, Akureyri downtown, Akureyrarkirkja, Dinner at Rub23 . . . Happy Birthday, Alex!. . . . . . Our Wilderness Center accommodations, in Egilstaðir, were fairly Spartan but comfortable, not too hot or cold (we had the windows open at night).…
Read More: Enjoying Mývatn Spa & Waterfalls, Iceland (July 30)
Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Starting: Adventure Hotel Hof, Fagurhólsmýri, Iceland . Ending: Wilderness Center, Egilstaðir, Iceland . Highlights: Eastfjords, Djúpivogur, Borgarfjarðarhöfn, Puffins, Wilderness Center . . . In the morning, we woke at 06:30 to get ready for another busy day. Our guide had planned to show us Puffins (which required extra driving time). . . . . . . . . It was slightly…
Read More: Puffin Encounter, Iceland (July 29)
Monday, July 28, 2025. Starting: Geirland Hotel, Kirkjubæjarklaustur Ending: Adventure Hotel Hof, Fagurhólsmýri. Highlights: Skaftafell Glacier, Jökulsarlón Glacier Lagoon, Diamond Beach, Fjallsjökull Lagoon . . I woke at 06:15, showered, shaved, and packed my suitcase and backpack. Our Arctic Adventures tour guide had scheduled an early departure at 07:45, and we needed to start breakfast at 07:00. . . . . . . . .…
Read More: Hiking the Skaftafell Glacier, Iceland (July 28)