The Åland Islands or Åland (pronounced "Oh-lahnd") are a group of small islands officially belonging to Finland in the Baltic Sea, consisting a surrounding archipelago. It is autonomous, demilitarised and is the only monolingually Swedish-speaking region in Finland. Åland's original name was in the Proto-Norse language - Ahvaland which means "Land of Water". In Swedish, this first developed into Áland and eventually into Åland, literally "river land"—even though rivers are not a prominent feature of Åland's geography. The Finnish and Estonian names of the island, Ahvenanmaa and Ahvenamaa ("perch land"), are seen to preserve another form of the old name.
I was looking into taking a vacation over Christmas break, and Milica from Trip Designs suggested going to Hawaii, and to be more specific, island hopping. First we went to Oahu and next to Kauai. As I never been to Kauai I needed some ideas on where to stay, and based on Milica's suggestion we strayed at Sheraton Kauai Resort. I was so glad I followed her suggestion, as the hotel had beautiful views, nice beach and it's very kids friendly. They also offer breakfast buffet, with a wide variety of food, perfect for picky eaters as well as grownups. Nothing beats the fresh bowl of pineapple for breakfast! Pool was perfect for kids, but the best part was surf lessons. My 8 year old son learned how to surf thanks to the best surf instructors! Thank you Trip designs for making my Christmas break so enjoyable.
