Wedding Day in Darmstadt, Germany

 Our son's wedding to his beautiful bride.  Weddings are declared and considered legal only through and by the Town Registrar.  Church weddings occur afterwards -- to let the members officially know that the couple is now to live together as husband and wife.  

Getting ready for the reception given by their church

Bride's bouquet

BFFs and Bride & Groom before the Registrar

Legally wed!

Let's party in the town square, yay!

Shangri La, Hawaii: Doris Duke's Mughal Garden

Continued from  here... 

More views of the Mughal Garden at Doris Duke's estate in Honolulu. Note the presence of the elements that would make up a Mughal-style garden (though her garden is a lot smaller): water, illuminated niches, walls, a central waterway, lotus shaped fountains, geometrically-shaped planters; and of course, overall beauty and peacefulness.  My visit to the estate was on a very warm day, and the sight of the water had me grabbing my water bottle for a long sip. 

looking through the open door  from inside of the Mughal Garden to the estate's courtyard & banyan tree

The courtyard below is where tourists are dropped-off by the Hawaiian MOA shuttle bus. Tours to Shangri La are conducted Wednesday to Saturday;  at 9am, 10:30am and 1:30pm.  Cost is $25 general admission to the tour, and includes entry to Honolulu MOA. Note:  ONLINE BOOKING way in advance highly recommended. 

Main outside courtyard with Banyan tree and door to Mughal Garden

... continued HERE  

Oahu Hawaii Diary, Day 1: Hale Koa Military Hotel

We stayed at Hale Koa (House of the Warrior) Hotel for my sister's destination wedding.  The hotel  is a beautiful, beach-side resort serving members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families (how appropriate that today is Veteran's Day!!!).  It is located on 72 acres, next to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. We were on the 9th floor of  Maile Tower.  Our family took-up three rooms, one after another.  From our balcony we could catch sight of Maile Gardens, Trump International Hotel; and Waikiki Beach. My sis & her hubby had even better views from their 12th floor suite on the other tower.  Friendly pigeons would sometimes check us out.  No food for them meant they'd move on to another balcony.

View from our hotel balcony. To the right is the groom and his mom

Honeymoon ready!

My Bottega Veneta bag made it to Hawaii!

Bye bye, birdie.

Waikiki Beach, and Diamond Head Volcano