How does it feel to wake up next to Angela Merkel? Or to sweat with Bono in the Finnish sauna? Or to lead a discussion with Bill Gates about equal opportunities? Closer than in the famous Hotel Seehof you can hardly come to the greats of politics, business and entertainment, because every year in January the „Grande Dame“ of the Davos hotels, is the place to stay to attend the World Economic Forum.
The sky is as blue as if it were a lie. A lonely cloud sticks like an UFO over the imposing triangle of the Piz Roseg and reminds me a little of the Lhotse in the Himalayas. I went up to the middle station of Piz Corvatsch and made my way to a mountain hut called Fuorcla Surlej. From here you get a first feeling for the perfect mountain panorama.
„Welcome to the living room of Pontresina“. Anne-Rose Walther greeted me warmly at the reception and gave me a fruity welcome drink. Suitcase and car disappear as if by magic and I feel directly at home at the newly renovated Tagesbar, the heart of the Hotel Walther or better of the new Hotel Walther.
With horror I stared at today’s calendar. It is already the 7th of july. Half a year has already passed and soon we will discuss how the summer has been like. There is still everything possible between too wet, too short and much too hot. But I´m even more concerned with the progress of time. We live far too fast, consume experiences like snacks and move the private into the virtual. If you do not stop there every now and then, life is quickly over. Not with me, I think and drive my car direction second home.
The four engines are purring like a kitten, as the mighty A380 glides across the dense cloudy sky over Miami. More sovereign than with the king of the air, one can hardly land in this art-crazy city. The sultry air thawes my deep-frozen shirt in seconds and nestles lovingly to my body. For the next two days, I stay at the Lord Balfour, directly in the epicenter of South Beach.
If you have been advertising for Franziskaner Weissbier for many years, you should actually know what the phrase “Auszeit” means. However, the chalets of the same name in Hüttschlag, Austria, raise the meaning to a new, unequally higher level. After the sunny start in Munich, the sky becomes more and more cloudy and the first spring clouds bear witness to upcoming heat storms.
„The west shore of Lake Garda is completely different from the heavily crowded east side,“ confirms Olliver Mayr, hotel manager of Grand Hotel Fasano. „We are more focused on individual tourism and luxury travel“. I believe that immediately, at the sight of the neoclassical hotel, which was built in 1888 and still breathe and exhale a lot of history. The interior in the reception area is completely white, the furniture a reflection of the epochs, in the air a pleasant smell of limoncello. Everything is well selected, very Italian, nevertheless inviting.
In or out? Man or mouse? No trivial matter if you consider the outside temperature of 15 degrees Celsius. But the words of Vedrana Vukosav, sales manager of the Hotel Kazbek, give me the last push. „So far nobody has jumped into the pool“. And this makes a more than ordinary impression. So at least I jumped inside and enjoyed this gem at the Marina of Batala all by myself.
The land of the Maya stretches on a peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico. It is an interesting mix of culture and all-inclusive program. So far, I’ve always been skeptical about the Mexican Spring Break, but after Machu Picchu last year, I really wanted to delete Chichén Itzá from my bucket list.
So off to Yucátan, off to Merida and first to the more „secluded“ cultural sites in the north-western part of the country.
It is shortly after 8 pm, when I finally pin the code into the powerful entrance of the Maison Azul in Merida. Reluctantly, the heavy gate gives way and I tap through a half-dark of shadows, religious artifacts, and bloated angels. The palace reminds me of the fabulous world of Carlos Ruiz Zafón and shines and enchants at first sight.
