A different world: Honolulu

Time is flying,,, On Monday we flew from Kona to Honolulu, a short 40 min. flight with Hawaiian. We got into the city with an Uber and checked into the Shoreline Waikiki Hotel, where we've stayed twice before and which we like because it's modern, colorful and sort of "hip", with a rooftop pool (below), a balcony and a fridge in each room, free coffee in the morning and dessert in the afternoon, plus a couple other bonuses. On this day we only checked out the beach at sunset and Waikikis newest brewery by the same name. 

Tuesday morning - after a quick breakfast with excellent taro donuts from a food truck nearby, eaten on the hotel patio - we took the bus to the Bishop Museum, a fantastic museum on Hawaiian culture and history in several buildings, located beyond the airport, a bit out of town. Haven't been there before and stayed for over three hours! There is also a modern natural history/science building, dealing with nature, flora & fauna, environment, etc.

Bishop Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in honor of his late wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha family. On the grounds of the original Kamehameha Schools for Boys, the museum houses an extensive collection of Hawaiian objects and royal family heirlooms as well as a collection on other Pacific island cultures.

Back by bus, slow-slow-slow, first into Chinatown (Honolulu has a big Asian, and, especially, Chinese population), then we continued to the Iolani Palace (photos below), where the Hawaiian Queens and Kings resided until 1900, when the Americans took over and Hawaii became an U.S. Territory. 

Surrounded by the skyscrapers of the Honolulu Business District, this area - Honolulu - has little to do with touristy, kitschy Waikiki, the beach community with plenty of hotels, stores and the famous beach. In total, the metro area of Honolulu counts over one million people!

 

On the way back to the hotel - passing many fancy brand stores (examples above) - we stopped at one of many shopping malls in Waikiki to watch the Hula presentation on stage (photos) before we enjoyed the sunset at Waikiki Beach, not quite clear skies, but okay. What a different world again: noisy, hectic, showy, kitschy, fancy,,,