Volcanoes National Park

We spent a day driving and walking through the amazing Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and saw so. much. lava (duh!). No, seriously, we were floored by the size of the fields of hard black rocks. And even though we didn't get to see any actual flowing lava up close, seeing the ripples in the rock formations, how they covered roads and trees, and being able to look into old craters and ancient lava tubes gave us an incredible insight in the crazy world of volcanoes.
We also drove back into the park after sunset and got to see the glow emanating from an active crater of the Kilauea volcano. Realising that the hot bubbling liquid that was jumping up and down in front of our very eyes is what the whole centre of our earth is made out of was a rather humbling thing. 

Mauna Kea

One of the items at the top of our to-do list while on Big Island was to watch the sunset from above the clouds from the (almost) top of the Mauna Kea volcano. And boy were we happy we took our small rental car all the way up the steep mountain-side to the visitors center at 9200 feet (2800 meters) - the view (and subsequent star-gazing show) were ah-ma-zing (as I'm sure you'll be able to tell by the small avalanche of photos that follows). 
:-)

Big Island - exploring the North East corner

Having stocked up on mochi at Two Ladies Kitchen in Hilo, we drove up North to explore the area. We stopped several times on the way before making it up to the Waipio Valley viewpoint; there's so much beauty to be seen everywhere! Waterfalls, stunning views by the sea, cool antiques shops in Honoka'a, delicious smoothies... the whole day was a real treat.

A morning at White Sands beach

Rome 2014 - Tivoli

One morning we left the apartment early and set out to the Villa d'Este in Tivoli, outside of Rome. What an amazing site! The villa, and most particularly the gardens, were absolutely stunning.
You'll probably be able to tell how excited I got by the amount of photos I took. :-)