Katia & Guido arrived in Honolulu early yesterday morning. They had a long layover before continuing on to Kona and so we had a few hours to spend together. They kept saying how strange it was to see me here in Hawaii when they are used to always seeing me in Italy with them. I felt the same way. It was strange speaking my not so great Italian and seeing them here in Hawaii but also so wonderful to be together with them again.

I had planned to take them out to breakfast but they already grabbed a quick bite to eat at Starbucks in the airport and were not very hungry. After leaving the airport, I decided to checking out the views from the Pali Lookout. I had not been there for years now and thought it would be a nice place to go to see some wonderful views of Oahu. It was a little fogged in when we arrived. The fog started to lift just as we were about to leave. They were amazed at the beauty of the area and did not imagine so much “green”.

Here are a few views of the windward side of Oahu from the Pali:

Next, I took them on a drive through downtown Honolulu. We first stopped at the King Kamehameha statue. This was on Katia’s list of things to see.

We also went to see the Kawaiahao Church nearby and then spent some time walking through Chinatown. I ran into the grandparents of a little boy who was in my class a few years ago there. Hawaii is definitely one of those “small world” places!

We then drove through Ala Moana Beach park and found a parking spot, something that can be pretty tricky to do on a Saturday morning.

Katia & Guido were so excited to put their feet in the Pacific Ocean for the first time. They were amazed at how warm the water was.

Right after we left Ala Moana, the skies darkened and it started to pour. We headed back toward the airport. Our last stop was a quick visit to the Harley Davidson Store to pick up a couple of t-shirts for friends of theirs. We said our goodbyes at the airport and talked about where we would meet when I pick them up next Thursday to start our mini vacation together here on Oahu. Hopefully that pesky little or I guess I should say big hurricane nearby will stay south, the weather will be good, they will have a fabulous time on the Big Island and we can have our little vacation together next week.