Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Tag: Europe

Bratislava Day-Tripping

Admittedly Slovakia wasn’t exactly on my radar until I started planning our time in Vienna, Austria, which ended up being the first two days of our two-week Central Europe trip. Once I realized how quickly and easily we could experience an additional capital city on this trip, I decided to give up one of our Vienna days in order to take a day trip over to Bratislava.

We originally planned to take an organized tour (round-trip transportation plus walking tour) to cross the border for simplicity’s sake, but when I discovered the start time would require us to be out the door about an hour or so before I’m functional in the morning, I decided to DIY the whole thing. And it couldn’t have been easier.

Before we left for the trip, I booked bus tickets online through FlixBus, traveling from Vienna Erdberg to Bratislava Novy Most. The morning of our day trip we simply took the U-Bahn (underground subway) from our Vienna hotel to the Erdberg bus stop, hopped on the big green bus, and enjoyed the comfy one-hour ride straight to Bratislava. The Novy Most bus stop put us right next to the main old town area. Easy breezy, and much cheaper than an organized tour!

We wandered the cozy pedestrian streets of Old Town on our own, discovering quirky statues, a mixture between tattered structures and cheerful buildings, and ample people-watching opportunities.

If there’s one thing we noticed around Old Town, it was all of the quirky, fun-loving statues. This one popping out of the sewer garnered a lot of attention from fellow tourists, and where else can you have the perfect opportunity to sidle up to Napoleon hovering behind a park bench?

For an easy way to get up to the castle, we took the one-hour Up to the Castle tour on the cutest little open-air bus, the Presporacik-Oldtimer. It meets its passengers right near the historical building of the Slovak National Theatre.

At 20 euro per person, this ended up being kind of a pricey spin around the town while listening to a pre-recorded audio guide, but in the interest of time it worked out well. I don’t think we would have made it back to the FlixBus in time for our return trip if we had trekked up to the castle and back on foot. Plus it took us away from the historic center and showed us a bit more of the surrounding Slovak socialist architecture. Random fun-fact: we learned from the audio guide that the tallest building in Bratislava, the Bratislava National Bank, has twenty-three elevators. If that ever comes up on Jeopardy, I’m ready.

It’s worth noting though that if you actually want to stay and tour the castle and don’t want to hoof it back down afterward, this isn’t an effective mode of transportation since the Oldtimer only stops at the castle for fifteen minutes.

After exploring the city center and cruising around in the Oldtimer, we walked across the Novy Most bridge to the UFO Tower where we took a speedy elevator up to the observation deck for an amazing view of the city. The entrance fee cost 7,40 euro each, but I’m a sucker for a good view and photo op. Here is where you can get a better idea of how the more opulent and medieval historic center is nestled in among modern structures.

We enjoyed drinks at the bar right below the observation deck before heading back to the bus stop to catch our bus back to Vienna. Look how much ice they gave me at the bar to go with my Coke Light! If you are an American traveling in Europe, you know this is a big deal. (Not pictured, Chris’s local Slovak beer. And the amazingly refreshing lemonade was from a stop earlier in the day at a cafe called Moods.)

Somehow we totally missed seeing St. Elizabeth, the Blue Church. It’s on the outskirts of Old Town, and didn’t know about it until we got back from the trip! I’m kind of bummed about that because it looks like a really beautiful church. I don’t think we rode past it on the Oldtimer. I’ll simply have to put it on the list for the next time I happen to be in Bratislava!

I’m so glad we added this charming city to our itinerary, if nothing else but to dispel the only (wildly inaccurate) image of Bratislava in my head courtesy of the movie EuroTrip. It’s well worth visiting, especially if you’re right next door in Vienna. Up next, Chris and I hop on a train toward Salzburg, but first we make a stop in Melk!

October 17, 2016
Vienna, Austria: A Very Good Place To Start

Chris and I returned from Europe three weeks ago and I have yet to post anything from the trip here! I finally found a moment this weekend to start to catch up on things, and I’m starting with the very beginning (sing it with me: “…a very good place to staaart“) of our two week European trip with Vienna, Austria.

This whole trip all started with Chris’s inkling of attending Oktoberfest, and before I knew it, I had added three other countries to a two-week itinerary. I wonder how many European trips get planned like that? With everything in such close proximity it’s so easy to say, “Well, if we’re in Munich, we’re so close to Austria…and ooo, Prague isn’t far away either. It’s a direct flight to Vienna, so we we might as well sneak over to Slovakia…” and so on.

We arrived in Vienna just about as jet-lagged as we have ever been, but thankfully we found that our hotel was situated right across the street from one of the most famous cafés in the city, Café Central. Sure it’s a little touristy, but a traditional Viennese iced coffee was the perfect introduction to Austria in my opinion! (And thus began our two-week long affair with the café life.)

Despite my love for music and baroque architecture, I confess I didn’t fall head-over-heels for Vienna the way I did with a few other cities on our two-week European trek. Maybe it’s because we picked Vienna simply for the direct flight from Washington-Dulles, or maybe it has to do with our jet-lagged state in which we wandered the streets. We still had a wonderful time exploring the capital though, and if I’m able to return for a longer period of time someday, perhaps Vienna will end up wooing me after all.

I did love all of the statues and ornate details on nearly every corner. And we had gorgeous albeit hot weather.

Knowing full well we would be completely exhausted and all too tempted to curl up for a nap in our hotel, I scheduled a walking tour for the first day as the perfect way to beat our jet lag. And what better tour to book for two photographers than a Polaroid Photo Tour where we see the sights with instant cameras in-hand.

Formerly known as the PolaWalk, the tour gave us an instant (pun intended!) feel for the city by introducing us to major sites such as Karlskirche, Staatsoper, Hofburg and Heldenplatz, and also a few nooks and crannies we might not have noticed on our own.

For 55 euro, I wandered around with a vintage Polaroid instant camera and a pack of The Impossible Project instant film, taking in the scenery and composing instant memories. Chris opted for the no-camera ticket (25 euro) so that he could document Vienna with his own SLR. It’s a nice option for anyone who simply wants to join the tour sans Polaroid.

I actually ended up using my SLR, my point-and-shoot, and my iPhone in addition to the Polaroid camera like a crazy person. I’m ~~sort of~~ a documentation nut, but I’m just mentioning this to point out you are welcome to use cameras on the tour other than the Polaroid.

Another confession: we didn’t make it to the end of the tour! I didn’t even shoot all eight of my instant films. Not only were we still on Virginia time, it was over 90-degrees that day and it was too hard to stay hydrated. Chris and I hung in there for a good two hours, but the tour ran a bit longer than that and we simply couldn’t hang. But we thoroughly enjoyed our time with our sweet guide, Teresa, and the rest of the group, and I love my little collection of Polaroid snaps (which I lazily photographed for you with my iPhone, above).

We ended our day with nothing other than wienerschnitzel, local beers, and apple strudel at Augustiner Keller before crashing into our hotel bed at about 8pm.

And that was Vienna! We stayed two nights, but we dedicated the next day to seeing Bratislava, Slovakia (up next on the blog). Before leaving Vienna though, I couldn’t say no to another visit to Café Central to try Sacher Torte for the first time. Verdict: amazing.

Stay tuned for a barrage of posts as I cover our foray into Slovakia, more of Austria, then Germany, and finally Czech Republic!

October 16, 2016
The Great Beer-Off of 2016: Round 1 Belgium

Somewhat unintentionally, Chris and I ended up making the bulk of our 2016 travel plans with a bit of a theme: beer. We scheduled a trip to Belgium after Chris read a magazine article about touring Belgium’s breweries and bars on a bicycle. Chris has also always wanted to go to Oktoberfest, so Germany was added to the itinerary for this year. And since Prague isn’t far at all from Munich, I tacked it onto our Oktoberfest trip, giving us a well-rounded sample of Europe’s very best beers: Belgian, German, and Czech.

And that gave me the idea of pitting the countries against each other in The Great Beer-Off of 2016: Belgium vs. Germany vs. Czech Republic. (Insert dramatic music here.) So I present to you Round 1 of the Great Beer-Off: Belgium! (More dramatic music? Or perhaps a drumroll was needed.)

Chris and I kicked off our Belgian beer experience learning about Henri Maes and the last working brewery in Bruges, De Halve Maan Brouwerij. We took the 90-minute XL tour at 2pm, where our impressive guide led us through the brewery and a private beer tasting in three languages. We tasted three different beers (four, actually, since our last taste was a choice and we each picked a different beer) during a leisurely guided tasting for 19 euros per person.

The tour was the perfect length to be informative and captivating, and our guide injected plenty of wit into the history and facts. As a bonus, the brewery has a fantastic rooftop view of Bruges. We both loved the Brugse Zot as our favorite from the tasting.

In addition to taking the brewery tour and drinking several beers at various restaurants, Chris and I also visited The Bottle Shop on Wollestraat to choose a few bottles from their incredibly extensive collection. A friendly local helped us pick out a selection of four different Belgian beers which we brought back to the hotel to sample throughout our stay. Chris especially enjoyed Delirium Tremens which thankfully we can purchase back home.

I’m just recently beginning my foray into the world of beer so I may still be developing my palate, but I found most Belgian beers a little difficult to drink other than the Brugse Zot. I think it was the combination of new and different spices that I’m not used to, but I did have fun trying them all.

Up next, Germany and a little festival called Oktoberfest (you may have heard of it?) will throw down in Round 2 of the Great Beer-Off of 2016!

September 27, 2016
Moving Pictures: Belgium & The Netherlands

I finally finished putting this video together from our trip to Belgium & The Netherlands in April! Highlights include: Chris wearing what looks like a Burger King birthday party hat, secrets of how those little wooden clogs are really made, and I make a cameo amongst a tulip garden.

September 1, 2016
Netherlands Snapshot

It’s (finally!) time for my superlatives round-up for The Netherlands! As usual in my Snapshot posts, I’m including a few never-seen photos and stories from our trip this past April.

Best Moment

I absolutely loved our visit to Keukenhof Gardens. I set off for Holland with a longtime dream of photographing tulips, and it was at the gardens that I officially checked off that bucket list item. Being the worrier that I am, I fretted before we left that the tulips wouldn’t be in bloom during our visit, but (obviously) it worked out perfectly and I practically skipped around the park snapping away with my camera.

I loved that while Keukenhof is mostly a huge, well-manicured park, there were also some secluded areas that felt like we were in the middle of rural Holland. It was all beautiful along each path and around every corner.

Worst Moment

Alternate category title: Museum Misfortunes. Our time in The Netherlands was actually pretty smooth, so the two worst moments weren’t even that bad, but they were both museum-related. First, the day that I was able to purchase advanced tickets online for the Anne Frank House also happened to be King’s Day, and getting from Point A to Point B through the thick crowds proved to be more difficult than we anticipated. We nearly missed our scheduled time to tour the museum because we had to wade our way through mobs like this one. We even got a bit separated from each other and I couldn’t see Chris for a few minutes, inducing a lost-child-in-a-department-store kind of panic.

Adding to the stress, we were using my iPhone to navigate and it ran out of juice before we located the museum. We did find it just in time and I’m so glad we had the opportunity to tour this historically important exhibit.

And then on the last day, we walked over to the Van Gogh Museum for their Vincent on Friday event only to realize I had not purchased tickets in advance like I thought I did. Oops! I’m usually incredibly organized when it comes to travel planning, but I goofed this time. We opted not to stand in the super long queue in favor of packing for our flight the next morning, so sadly we missed the museum. Next time, as I always say!

Best Meal

As much as I loved trying local favorites like bitterballen and poffertjes, my favorite meal was actually a burger and fries! It was the smokey flavor of local cheese that made the burger amazing, though. That, and we sat at this cool table with our own self-serve Heineken tap! Fun fact: I tried my very first Heineken while in Amsterdam.

Something We Learned

The fascinating process of how Dutch clogs are made is no longer a mystery to us thanks to the Wooden Shoe Workshop in Zaanse Schans. The machinery mesmerized us as simple blocks of wood rapidly transformed into the familiar wooden shoe shape. I was shocked at how quick it happened!

We’re Thankful We Packed

Orange accessories to wear on King’s Day! My orange t-shirt ended up beneath layers of hoodie and jacket, but it’s in there. I found the sunglasses on Amazon for $7, and I purchased the lei in one of the many shops in Amsterdam selling everything orange for the occasion. (Side note: I’m not sure what happened in the King’s Day photo below. I think my point-and-shoot might have accidentally applied some kind of filter/effect? But I think it’s kind of fun.)

We Didn’t Need To Bring

Short-sleeve tops. It was so cold for our visit in late April that we needed to wear multiple layers all day every day. Brrr! (This one is a direct cut-and-paste from my Belgium Snapshot because the same exact thing was true of both places.)

Trip Regrets

Not a thing! I would have loved to stay longer, as is true of most places, but I loved our itinerary and I don’t have any regrets.

Reasons To Go Back

We didn’t get to go to the Van Gogh Museum (see above) so this is on our list for next time! We also didn’t “get” to try pickled herring, so um…I guess I can put that on the when-we-go-back list.

Favorite Photos

Hands-down, this is my favorite photo! It’s the exact image I wanted to make on this trip.

I also love this shot Chris took of some love locks along a canal bridge.

June 27, 2016