Recently, we’ve been writing a lot about plastic and waste in general and we know some of you might ask the question: “But where do I get food that’s not wrapped in 20 layers of plastic?” Well, you’re probably surprised that even a rather small city like Innsbruck already has some Zero Waste Shops. Also, we know that some you might not be familiar with how these kinds of shops work, so we’ll tell you a bit more about that as well.
Read MoreJust the week before Christmas, a friend and I went to visit another friend who’s currently on a student’s exchange year in Edinburgh. To be honest, Scotland has never been high on my list of places I wanted to visit, but in the end, it turned out to be one of my favourite places I have been so far. I’ve always liked the United Kingdom, but I have never been a big fan of London, as I felt like something is missing there, especially when compared to Edinburgh. It’s a big city and a business and commerce hub, but, to me, it lacks a bit of flair, but this is just my personal opinion. (Sophie, on the other hand, loves London and it’s probably one of her favourite cities ever.)
Scotland, however, absolutely amazed me. We stayed for 6 days; so, the little guide I am writing today would be perfect for when you’re visiting Scotland for a week (then it’s not going to be as stressful as our first days, since we tried seeing as much as we could).
Read MoreI think it was about three years ago that I tried yoga for the first time. For me, it was love at first sight. At first, I didn’t know how to start, but then I found Adriene Mishler’s YouTube channel “Yoga with Adriene” and she showed my exactly what to do. With yoga, I had the freedom to whatever I wanted to do on that mat; I could fit a workout in when I wanted to, I could focus on flexibility, I could just meditate and move my body in a way that feels good. But then I fell out of the habit. I stopped doing yoga on a daily basis. At first, it became every other day; then weekly; then, maybe, if even, once a month, until I stopped completely.
Read MoreNot too long ago, we posted a blogpost about unnecessary waste where we also announced that we would do a one-week zero waste challenge this January. We even had a friend join us and together, we tried to produce as little waste as possible. In today’s post we will tell you all about our experience with this challenge, what we learned, what took us by surprise, and what we will take with us and continue in the future.
Read MoreWe spent our last 48 hours in Japan climbing the famous Mt. Fuji. The idea definitely was not mine, but when my friend suggested it, I immediately said 'yes'. I mean Mt. Fuji? That “hill”? Easily. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. Even though the Fuji seems small, it is a 3774 m high mountain (the highest one Japan has to offer), closed for hikers during the winter months and still an active volcano. But by the time I realized what I had gotten myself into, it was already way too late.
Read MoreA few days ago, we gave you a little introduction to a topic that has become of big importance to us personally: (plastic) waste. It’s been great getting so much feedback from you; may it be by asking questions or mentioning points we haven’t talked about yet. We definitely plan on giving this topic regular attention and even made a one-week challenge to find out if we are capable of going completely zero waste, but you’ll hear more about that in a few days.
Read MoreOn the beginning of this blogpost I have to admit I was not sure how I should write it. Should I keep It quite general, so no one gets offended or thinks it’s too descriptive? Or should I stay true to myself and tell you in detail what I saw and heard, and what changed something inside of me? I want you to know what to expect when visiting these cities, so I decided to stay true and tell you about the most important heart-breaking parts of history we as human being should all be aware of. I can’t tell you about these beautiful cities without talking about the horrors their residents have lived through in the past (also, since we have already written about Pearl Harbor and the other side of the story in Sophie’s Hawaii series). Despite all that, I think it’s important to highlight how much has changed and why they are definitely worth a visit.
Read MoreLet’s start by telling you a little story. A few months ago, Natascha was on vacation in Italy. The beach was clean, the water too and everything seemed fine. She was enjoying her time on the beach with a friend a until she saw a woman with 2 kids. Or, to be honest it was not even the woman who she noticed first. It was the plastic wrapper of the woman’s croissant. It landed right on Natascha’s lap. The wind carried it over to her, but the woman didn't care at all. Natascha saw about 3 wrappers making their way across the beach. What made her angry the most - she was lying right next to a bin. When getting up she would have been there within less than a step. But it was the wind who was taking her trash away. What a role model for the kids ... So Natascha went over there and told her off.
Read MoreDespite falling in love with Tokyo the moment we arrived, we had to move on in order to see more of this beautiful country. We stayed in Japan for two and a half weeks and our plan was, of course, to see as much as possible. We went westward and intended to spend about 4 days in Kyoto and Osaka before heading on to Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Traveling Japan is really easy as they offer various options, including night busses, an excellent railway system (more on that and the Japan Rail Pass later) and so on.
Read MoreWe are so glad that you liked our Beginner’s Guide to Innsbruck. We realized, however, that there’s still so much more we haven’t mentioned, and, before going into more details and showing you some of the secret hidden gems in the city, there are still some more classic tourist attractions, which are equally as beautiful, that we have to mention.
So, here’s part II to our Beginner’s Guide:
Read MoreHAPPY NEW YEAR!
We can’t believe it’s already 2019! Time surely does fly!
Since the idea of Alps and Abroad has been born last summer, and the blog finally having gone live in October, we have come quite a long way; even though it technically hasn’t been that long. Nevertheless, we thought that the start of the new year should be a possibility to look back, even for us. For both of us it has been an incredible journey and we can’t believe how far we’ve come – and all this in just 2 months! The blog has been a motivation and chance for us the explore and create things and we both want to share how much and in what ways this has changed us and made us grateful.
Read MoreWe’re so glad you loved Sophie’s Hawaii-series, so now it’s my turn to tell you all about what, most definitely, can be considered the best trip of my life – so far. On 17th of July 2017 one of my closest friends and I boarded a plane in Munich (because, just like we have already told you, it’s the closest bigger airport to Innsbruck); that’s the beginning of an an 18-hour-long journey, with a quick-stop in Abu Dhabi, that would take us to Tokyo Narita. We have both travelled a lot in our lives and can assure you: Japan’s border control has to be one of the nicest and quickest you’ll ever come across.
Read MoreIf you follow us on Instagram, you will know, that a little over a week ago, Sophie went to Linz. On Sunday, however, she went to Vienna to visit a friend whom she first met when she was in Hawaii last year. Vienna is such a magical city, especially during the holidays. Since there is so much to see there, they had a pretty busy day exploring all kinds of Christmas markets and sights.
Read MoreThis week, I went to Edinburgh with a friend to visit a friend who’s studying there for a year. It is my first time in Scotland, but definitely not my last one. Even though the journey to Scotland was a rough one, due to flight delay and storm during touchdown, we decided to go to the Christmas market right away after dropping of our bags and also during the rest of our stay we went there nearly every day until now.
Read MoreVisiting Innsbruck during Christmas market season is definitely a must, so if you ever have the chance to do so, don’t miss out! Especially when there’s snow, you definitely get into a festive mood. There are numerous markets of different sizes, so we decided to write a little guide, just so you know which one to visit and what the makes of them so special.
Read MoreNot too long ago, I spent a day with my sister at the beautiful Eibsee, also known as Lake Eib. We went by car, as it’s just about an hour from Innsbruck and only half an hour more if you’re coming from Munich. Just remember that if you are using Google maps or a similar service you should enter the parking area or hotel Eibsee as your final destination, or otherwise the services will send you on a very long and complicate journey to the other side of the Eibsee (including an hour walk just to get to the lake).
Read MoreThe weekend we went to the Christmas markets in Salzburg, we initially had planned to go to Munich, but as the Bavarian Christmas markets open later than the ones in Austria do, we had to wait one week more. But our wait was definitely rewarded.
Read MoreHere it is: the fourth and final part of our mini-series covering Hawaii. Today’s post is a very special one, since it is all about the island of Kauai, which is a little further north than Oahu.
When I was in studying in Honolulu, I went to visit Kauai once for 3 days and I wish I could go back in time and make it 3 more days, because this little island is heaven on earth. Kauai is also known as the “Garden Island”, because it is said to be the most beautiful out of all of them (which is hard to imagine, because all of them are stunning).
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