Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Tag: snapshot

Ireland Snapshot

Last year, I started doing “snapshot” posts from our travels with a summary of superlatives and sidebars. It’s a fun way to me to reflect back on specific moments, so to continue that tradition here is my Ireland and Northern Ireland snapshot!

Best Moment

I’m not a huge fan of crowds. Is anyone, really? But I feel like I have an especially hard time with big groups of noisy people in certain places. So when we went to our first stop on the Ring of Kerry, the Torc Waterfall, and found it completely void of another human being, my heart swelled in that moment of absolute serenity. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not that I don’t like being with people or sharing an experience with others, but there is a time and a place, and too often a rowdy group of people has ruined the vibe for me. That didn’t happen here, and I loved absorbing every sound of the forest and watching the gentle flow of the waterfall. That, and the Ring of Kerry day in general was one of our favorites.

I also loved all of our interactions with locals. Everyone in Ireland was heart-warmingly welcoming and friendly, and I just soaked it up.

Worst Moment

Ireland didn’t have a standout worst moment, but there was an afternoon in Dublin when I got a little cranky (it happens). Chris and I were riding the hop-on-hop-off bus and we accidentally hopped off at an unplanned stop where we ended up wandering pretty far from the bus route. Normally that would have been completely fine and even fun, but it started to rain. A lot. And my feet started to hurt. A lot. And I lost my bus ticket and had to buy a new one. Then, when we went to the Guinness Storehouse, I lost Chris’s new Jameson umbrella. (He was perfectly nice about it and assured me it wasn’t a big deal, but I felt bad.) We ended up taking an overpriced carriage ride to our next stop because we left the Storehouse after the bus stopped running, and we didn’t notice that taxi cabs were around the corner from the expensive horse buggies. Ugh. So it was just the culmination of several little things that added up to one bad mood for a couple of hours. It doesn’t blemish my feelings about Dublin at all though; we still had an amazing time despite my crankypants attitude and an inclination to lose stuff that day.

Best Meal

Irish stew, brown soda bread, shepherd’s pie – I loved almost every single thing we ate in Ireland. As I expected, I discovered I’m not a fan of black pudding, but everything else was delicious. A millionaire bar from The Good Room Cafe in Adare and a scone from Skelligs Chocolate in County Kerry both earned the best food spot in a two-way tie. Neither one was a meal, but I couldn’t stop thinking about both of them so I think they belong in this category.

Something We Learned

Chris loves whisky (no ‘e’), and our tours at the Irish Whiskey Museum and the Old Jameson Distillery gave us a good introduction to the history and arduous process of making his favorite spirit.

We’re Thankful We Packed

Light. We each brought a carry-on suitcase and a backpack only, so we didn’t have to check any luggage. It was also helpful not to have a giant suitcase to lug up the many stairs at all of the B&Bs where we stayed each night. I’ll follow up with more details about what I packed for two weeks after I finish my Scotland posts (since it was the same trip).

We Didn’t Need To Bring

Our PacSafe came in handy on our last trip to Vieques, but we didn’t need it on this trip and didn’t end up using it once.

Trip Regrets

I regret that we couldn’t stay longer! And I regret losing Chris’s umbrella since it seems I can’t order a replacement for him – Jameson doesn’t ship to the U.S. so I’m not sure how to get my hands on one. Sigh! What I don’t regret is spreading our trip out over so much ground. Many resources recommended against it, but I love the combination of areas that we saw and we had a fabulous week.

Reasons To Go Back

My list of reasons to return to the Emerald Isle is constantly growing! There are so many parts of the country that we missed and would love to see on a future trip: Cork, Dingle, Skellig Michael, The Burren, the Arran Islands, Wicklow Mountains National Park, and on and on and on. We saw so much, but would love to see a whole lot more.

Favorite Photos

Chris’s favorite photo is of Hore Abbey in County Tipperary, as seen from a walking path behind the Rock of Cashel.

And my favorite image is this simple one of a brightly colored building adorned with flower baskets. The cheery color and the flowers remind me of so many small towns we visited in Ireland.

I had a hard time deciding on a favorite image though, because there were so many great photo opportunities throughout the country. I had a blast (a quiet blast) taking pictures in the Long Room at Trinity College, and of course it was fun capturing images of the iconic Cliffs of Moher and the Giant’s Causeway. So can we consider these images very close runners-up?!

October 21, 2015
Vieques Snapshot

Last year, I started a new tradition of creating a “snapshot” post from our travels with a summary of superlatives and sidebars. It’s a fun way to me to reflect back on specific moments, so to continue that tradition here is my Vieques snapshot!

Best Moment

Once again, one of my most favorite moments was water-related, a true testament to how comfortable I’m getting in the ocean. I loved snorkeling at Mosquito Pier! I’ve never swam around a structure underwater like that, and it was fun to explore. And I certainly welcomed the opportunity to swim with sea turtles again.

This trip was also the first time I’ve been away for a whole week with my sister and brother-in-law, and it was a special trip for that reason. I really enjoyed the time we all spent with each other: the adventurous outings, our chats, meals together, and even the quiet moments. So if I can wrap that all up into one Best Moment, I think that counts.

Worst Moment

My apologies for the graphic description, but it’s simply one of those things about traveling: when you drink or eat something your body isn’t used to or even meant to digest, your insides feel like they’re attempting to evacuate your body. I suspect I ingested some sea water while snorkeling, and if you’ve ever looked at a magnification of a single ocean water drop, you know I gulped down all kinds of critters. Thursday evening and much of Friday I simultaneously battled a stomach bug and pouted that I would miss out on the last opportunities for local cuisine.

I also had the displeasure of seeing one of the biggest spiders I’ve ever seen (outside, thankfully), but the stomach bug was slightly more unpleasant so it wins the Worst Moment title.

Best Meal

I loved the food on this trip. Probably my most favorite meal, and Chris’s as well, was from Sol Food. Chris and I shared a Cuban sandwich and an empanada and both were keep-talking-about-it-all-week excellent. If you’re on Vieques, make sure you stop by on the weekend since they’re not open during the week. Our dinner at Coqui Fire Cafe, the number one restaurant on Vieques according to TripAdvisor, was also incredible. My enormous smothered burrito for dinner made a perfect lunch the next day as well.

Something We Learned

We learned lots of Spanish words! Chris and I both took French in high school and college, so neither of us are fluent at all in Spanish. Learning some words here and there inspired me to get going soon on one of my bucket list items to learn the language.

We’re Thankful We Packed

Our new PacSafe came in handy to secure a few belongings while at the beach. Vieques has a minor petty theft issue, and we were instructed by the car rental agency and fellow travelers to keep our cars unlocked with nothing inside. The PacSafe allows you to stow small valuables and secure the safe to an immovable object (tree, fence, post, etc.).

We Didn’t Need To Bring

A safety whistle. I brought one specifically for use on the bioluminescent kayak tour. If I was drifting off to sea in the darkness, I wanted everyone and their dog to know about it. Our life vests included a built-in whistle though, so I didn’t need to pack mine. That, and we were perfectly safe. Our tour guide kept a close eye on us and we checked in periodically with a group count.

Trip Regrets

I regret my failure to take a photo of the four of us together! I also didn’t do any video filming, but I’m kind of okay with that. The vibe on this trip really didn’t call for a lot of documentation. We spent a lot of quality time chatting and relaxing, and it was nice not to have a camera in my hands as often as usual. At least I do have one photo of everyone at some point.

Reasons To Go Back

I feel like my “Reasons To Go Back” category is often related to food and this time is no exception. Sol Food was out of ham & cheese empanadas and we really wanted to try one! I think we’d also like to see the island another time when it’s completely clear of seaweed.

Favorite Photos

Chris’s favorite photo of Punta Arenas/Green Beach, on the left below, was taken with the iPhone. I love having it handy for quick snapshot like this!

And my favorite image is the one Chris took of my sister and me. We don’t have a lot of pictures together as adults, and I’ll cherish this one.

July 6, 2015
Belize Snapshot

Last year, I started a new tradition of creating a “snapshot” post from our travels with a handful of superlatives and anecdotes to sum up our bigger trips. It’s a fun way to me to reflect back on specific moments, so to continue that tradition here is my Belize snapshot!

Best Moment

On the last day while snorkeling at Mexico Rocks, a super sweet loggerhead turtle played with us in the water for a good ten minutes or so. Every time he came right up to my face or pushed off of me with his flippers, I dissolved into giggles through my snorkel. As someone who has associated the ocean with nightmarish things for so long, it was an awesome feeling to find such joy and positive associations in the water.

Also? (I’m obviously not good at sticking to only one superlative!) Conquering my fear of scuba diving was pretty awesome. I’m so glad I didn’t chicken out even though I came close. I would have really regretted not going through with it, and it actually turned out to be a lot of fun. It doesn’t look like I’m enjoying myself in this photo (or that I’m even alive), but I am.

Worst Moment

The second runner-up for worst moment was when our taxi cab didn’t show up on Day 1 to take us to IAD for our departure flight. We had to jump in my car and drive to the airport (thankfully only 15 minutes away), find parking, catch the shuttle, and get to the terminal.

Oddly enough, the actual worst moment was also flight-related when we were leaving Belize City. We arrived at BZE an hour late thanks to Tropic Air running an hour behind schedule from San Pedro, we were told that our flight had closed, and there were no other flights out that day. I’m usually pretty chill about travel snafus, but this one caused a minor breakdown in the form of tears. At that point I was itchy from bug bites and sore from too much sun and I just longed for a trip to CVS in the States. Thankfully they were able to expedite us through security and customs and we did get on our plane, but it was a stressful moment.

And speaking of bug bites, candidates for the Worst Moment category continued once we were back home. Mid-way through the week on Ambergris Caye, I accumulated a couple of angry-looking bites on my hand after I slacked off with my bug spray regimen. They continued to stay red and painful two weeks later, so I decided they required a trip to the dermatologist. He did a cryotherapy treatment on the site, and I’m in healing mode now. There are some crazy creepy bugs in Central America, so I highly recommend that you pack and diligently use bug spray, people! But just so we’re clear, despite the flight troubles and the ugly red marks on my fingers that still linger as I write this post, I have incredibly fond memories of this trip.

Best Meal

I know I said I was going to get better about taking pictures of my favorite meals, but I failed again. The problem is that I’m not generally one to take a photo of every meal, but then I eat it and I’m like…wow! That was my favorite meal! And all that’s left to photograph is my sad empty plate. Or the paper wrapper and crumbs from my breakfast at Ruby’s Cafe, for example.

I did take a photo of my second favorite meal though. Our dinner at Temple Run Tavern one evening closely followed the two meals I would consider my favorites: an oven-baked snapper at Portofino (resort pictured on the left below) and a wonderfully fresh meal cooked at home by Ernesto’s wife, Samantha, after a day of fishing.

Something We Learned

We learned a lot on this trip: Belize culture, Maya history, how to scuba dive, and the fact that iguanas like tomatoes but not limes.

We’re Thankful We Packed

Chris and I both bought new fins since the (cheap) ones we were using on previous trips hurt our feet after snorkeling for a while in them. Before we left for Belize, we hit up our local dive shop for some properly fitted fins and it made a huge difference in comfort especially since we did a few longish swims. We used the fins daily, so it was a good purchase even though they took up a huge amount of space in our luggage. If someone could invent lightweight, foldable, packable fins while keeping the comfort and function of regular fins, they’d make a pretty penny for sure.

Oh and I’m always happy to have my rash guards with me on beach trips. I specifically love the Pacifica UPF line from Athleta.

We Didn’t Need To Bring

We probably could have packed less clothing since most days we lived in our swimsuits. Despite many beach-y trips under our belts, sometimes I forget that the vibe of island-life is always incredibly simple, and I end up overpacking. No one cares if I repeat a t-shirt during the week, or which pair of flip-flops I wear with dresses vs. shorts. At least this time I decided not to pack a dressy pair of sandals in addition to flip-flops. Most places didn’t even require shoes.

I also brought a few GoPro accessories that I didn’t end up using. Before we left for Belize, I had pretty serious ambitions for getting all Spielberg with some creative videography techniques, but I didn’t end up using any of the tools I packed other than the Bobber to hold my GoPro steady (or at least steadier) underwater. I’m pretty pleased with the resulting video even sans gadgets.

Trip Regrets

I really (really really) wish we had stopped by Caye Caulker. I hear so many wonderful things about how laid-back and colorful it is, and I think we would have enjoyed spending a day there. Our schedule ended up being fairly packed though, and the idea of one more excursion felt too busy to both of us. So we’ll just have to go back!

Reasons To Go Back

See Trip Regrets above! I’d love to see Caye Caulker, and I also didn’t get to eat a fry jack. Chris had one for breakfast on our way to Lamanai, but I chose the smaller portioned johnny cakes so as not to fill my belly too much before two boat trips and a 45-minute van ride. I passed at the opportunity to even try a bite of the fry jack, and then the day we went back into San Pedro to get them again they were all out! Bummer.

Favorite Photos

Chris and I both love this first one, and then Chris’s other favorite is the spotted eagle ray below. My absolute favorite photo from the trip is the last image of our sweet turtle friend getting chummy with me while Chris is in the background.

May 4, 2015
Iceland Snapshot

Not too long ago, I started a new tradition of creating a “snapshot” post from our travels with a list of superlatives to sum up our bigger trips. It’s a fun way to me to reflect back on specific moments, so to continue that tradition here is my Iceland snapshot!

Best Moment

Ah, right off the bat this is the toughest choice to make, but I think I was the most elated when we received the phone call from the hotel front desk at 1:30am to see the Northern Lights in Borgarnes. It’s just not something I expected to get to see and it was a wonderful surprise.

Worst Moment

The trip started off on the wrong foot when our original flight was canceled and we lost an entire day of our itinerary. We sat at the gate for hours past our departure time before Icelandair announced that they needed to cancel due to mechanical issues. This might also be a candidate for the “Best Moment” category though because not getting on a broken plane is a very very good thing indeed. I’m grateful.

Funniest Moment

This might get filed under “you had to be there,” but one of the funniest moments of the week was a cocktail sauce incident on our third night. We stopped into a random restaurant on the way to Höfn where we decided to order a couple of burgers. The server/owner didn’t speak much English, and we had a bit of a funny miscommunication. I asked if the burger came with mayonnaise on it and his answer was no, to which I replied, “great! That is perfect since I don’t want any mayonnaise.” (Mayo is the One Thing that I just can’t eat, not even if you paid me. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.) After he dropped off our food and left us to enjoy the meal, we discovered that the burgers were completely covered on both sides with a copious amount of pink sauce oozing from the edges. Upon his return to the table, I asked what was on the burger and he explained that it was a house cocktail sauce made from…ketchup mixed with mayonnaise. He left, and Chris and I just dissolved into quiet hysterics. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings so I didn’t return the burger, but I couldn’t stop giggling for the rest of the meal (that I didn’t eat).

Best Meal

Chris and I both agree that our best meal was, oddly, a pizza that we split at Hotel Höfn. We popped into the hotel restaurant right after we checked in. We had just finished a long, active day and it was 9:30pm so it may just be that we were starving, but man it was delicious and so satisfying. And interestingly enough, it didn’t make me feel terrible like pizza does here at home. I wonder if they use different (better?) ingredients in Iceland. I didn’t get to take a picture of the pie on account of how fast we inhaled it, but I do have pictures of my second and third runner-up favorite meals. Oh, and on the left? That’s fish and chips…served with “cocktail sauce!” When I didn’t touch it, our server asked if I didn’t like cocktail sauce. I politely explained that the rest of the meal was so wonderful but that cocktail sauce isn’t my favorite, and then spent the rest of the afternoon giggling some more.

Something We Learned

Our Iceland trip taught us a bevy of new facts! (But not the word bevy – I already knew that one.) I’m most proud of learning how to correctly pronounce Eyjafjallajökull, but we also learned a lot about Icelandic history and about geology including volcanoes, geysers, and fumaroles.

We’re Thankful We Packed

The first several days would have been miserable without our waterproof layers. I wore my waterproof jacket and shoes every single day actually. For more details, see my post on packing for Iceland in the summer.

We Didn’t Need To Bring

I didn’t end up needing a heavier coat – I was worried about whether or not a waterproof jacket was going to be enough even in August, but it was perfect. Any other time of year I think you’d do well to bring a warmer coat.

Trip Regrets

I’m writing this post over a month later and I honestly can’t remember anything I regret about our trip. We loved every minute of it. Of course, I would have liked to spend more time in Iceland – I think another week would have been perfect to take our time on the Ring Road and to include some sights along the western coast.

Reasons To Go Back

Puffins! We didn’t get to see a puffin and I’d love to see/photograph those cute little guys.

Favorite Photos

Chris’s favorite photo from the trip is one that I took (the waterfall photo below), and my favorite photo other than the Northern Lights is one of his (the chunk of ice from Jökulsárlón).

And with that, my Iceland trip series is complete! Until we go back someday, of course. 🙂 I hope the information has been interesting, entertaining, and/or helpful to anyone planning a future trip to the land of fire and ice! (Definitely let me know if you have any questions – I’m happy to help!)

October 27, 2014
Grand Cayman Snapshot

I thought it would be fun and maybe informative to do a recap of a few things from our travels, sort of a summary with superlatives and other details and photos that didn’t make it into the original blog post(s). I’ll try to go back and do similar “snapshot” posts for a few past trips, but for now I’ll start with Grand Cayman, and then I’ll write this type of post for future travels as well.

Best Moment

With all of the amazing adventures we had on Grand Cayman this is a tough decision, but the best moment was our tour with Fat Fish Adventures where we rode jet skis to the Stingray City sandbar and interacted with giant stingrays, and then snorkeled at Coral Gardens in Rum Point. If you’re on the island for even a half-day and can work this tour into your schedule, I highly (highly highly) recommend them! I’ll post a separate detailed review soon.

See that big shadow in the water? That’s a Southern Stingray! They were a lot bigger than I expected, but just as friendly as everyone says they are – I’ll never forget the feeling of them brushing up against my legs under water, begging for food.

Worst Moment

Chris woke up on Tuesday with a bad case of food poisoning, which wins the title for worst moment on this trip and maybe even for all of our trips. He was sick on the hour every hour, and he spent the day convalescing while I hung out poolside feeling guilty! Of course I checked on him every half hour or so, but there wasn’t much I could do – he knew for sure it was food-related and it just needed to run its course. Thankfully by Thursday he was feeling better, but in the meantime we had to cancel our scuba diving adventure for that day. I’m grateful he didn’t discover the illness while diving though!

Funniest Moment

While researching the area where we were staying, I read about a beach with good snorkeling called Barefoot Beach less than a mile away from our villa. I read that the entrance from the road was fairly hidden, so when Chris and I drove to where I thought the entrance should be, we came across this dilapidated gate with a person-sized opening between the bars and I immediately thought ah-ha, this must be it! We parked our car, climbed carefully over broken tile and through the bars with all of our snorkeling gear in hand, and started to wander down a gravel road. We quickly realized that not only was this not an entrance to a public beach, but there were residences back there and we were probably trespassing. Oops! We scurried back out through the gate and drove away laughing. It turns out the path to the beach was just a few yards down the road. Every time we passed the broken gate while driving to and from our villa we laughed some more. And when we went back to grab this photo, we saw three confused people with beach towels tucked under their arms, also searching for the entrance to Barefoot Beach! I saved them the trouble of crawling through the gate and pointed them in the direction of the real entrance, but I was glad to know we weren’t the only ones to make that mistake.

Best Meal

We both agreed that our favorite meal was at Tukka, where we ordered two courses recommended by Chef Ron Hargrave. We enjoyed the Tukka Brochette – mixed grill skewers with beef filet, lobster medallions, chicken, and king prawns served with whipped potato, green beans & twin sauces – followed by the Warm Walnut & Date Pudding, which I normally wouldn’t be drawn to, but it was the chef’s special so I decided to give it a try and oh-em-gee, I’m glad I did, despite knowing that I’d get a bit of a bellyache from the ice cream. (Being lactose intolerant I try to avoid dairy about 95% of the time, but every once in a while I take a chance if it seems worth it, and this time definitely was!) If no one had been watching, I’m pretty sure I would have licked the dish clean to get every last bit of the decadent sauce.

Note: I rarely take photos of my meals, and I need to get better about this! Usually I’m too hungry to pause and snap a photo, but this time I just happened to take a quick iPhone snapshot because the brochette was so unique and impressive. It’s a little blurry and crooked because I was trying to be quick and discrete – several other patrons were staring at us and ooo-ing/ahh-ing over our the presentation of meals, so I was trying not to be even more of a spectacle!

Something We Learned

Fish and coral identification! I’ve mostly been using Florent’s Guide To The Tropical Reefs in order to ID the fish and coral we’ve spotted, but we also picked up a handy waterproof guidebook while snorkeling with Tortuga Divers. On this trip we saw brain coral, star coral, so many sponges, stingrays, eagle rays, angel fish, butterflyfish, tangs, sergeant majors, surgeonfish, several types of parrot fish, trumpet fish, spotted trunk fish, bar jacks, a teeny tiny jellyfish, and this little guy, who I think is some kind of drum fish, maybe a high hat (screenshots taken from video):

We’re Thankful We Packed

Our rash guards. The sun is strong in Grand Cayman! For the amount of time we were outdoors, sunscreen just doesn’t cut it for our fair skin. We each brought long-sleeved rash guards and used them frequently. Sure, we miss out on most of that post-beach-vacation tan, but we also (hopefully) miss out on sun damage, painful burns, and potential skin cancer.

We Didn’t Need To Bring

Swim tights. I thought if I wear a rash guard for my back and arms, why not also protect my legs? So I purchased and brought a pair of full-length tights that are made for swimming. It’s a nice idea for sun protection and maybe even for skin protection against something like jellyfish stings, but I didn’t end up using them. (Just to clarify, I brought swim tights; Chris did not. I think he would want me to make that known.)

Trip Regrets

As I mentioned, we didn’t get to scuba dive, but we thoroughly enjoyed our snorkeling adventures. And of course we regret eating the meal that rendered Chris ill with food poisoning. It’s not something that could have been avoided though. We’re 99.9% sure he got sick at a nice restaurant & bar in George Town – it was clean with lovely decor and a beautiful view, so we just never suspected that it would result in an illness.

Also? I hate to bum anyone out, but I regret giving any money to the Cayman Turtle Farm ($18 each for the basic access). I found the whole experience disappointing. I can see why families with kids enjoy it though, for the opportunity to interact closely with these beautiful creatures. As adults visiting without kids, we were just too aware that the turtles, an endangered species, are bred here for the purpose of consumption and it just made our visit sad. Yes, there is a conservation and research effort as well, and if it was conservation and research ONLY I might have been happier to visit and give them our money. Either way, some of the turtles are kept in dirty, crowded, boring conditions and it just broke my heart.

We didn’t even get to see any baby turtles – it wasn’t hatching season apparently, which they didn’t mention when we paid for our tickets. Chris and I also got kicked out of the snorkeling area because we hadn’t paid for snorkeling access. We were just standing near the outside of the pond people-watching, clearly not trying to snorkel. Meanwhile, the same staff who were standing around making sure people like us didn’t stand anywhere near the areas we didn’t pay for, did nothing to keep other people from breaking safety rules and holding turtles out of their tanks over the concrete walkways (if you pick the turtles up, you’re supposed to hold them over the water). So obviously they are more concerned about making money than for the well-being of the turtles. I think we stayed for a total of ten minutes and that was ten minutes too long.

Reasons To Go Back

We definitely need to go back to Grand Cayman to dive! It’s frequently recognized as one of the top diving destinations in the world, so if we do get into scuba as a hobby, I’d certainly love to go back and explore more of the island’s underwater world, which is a total 180 from how I usually feel about the ocean! The crystal-clear waters made us feel like we were in a giant aquarium, and all of the fish we encountered seemed friendly (or scared of us) so I’m totally feeling more at-ease in the water. That’s even despite a sting I felt on my ankle at Starfish Point – I’m pretty sure it was a jellyfish and the sting lasted a few hours, but it really wasn’t that bad, so I might even be able to get over my fear of jellyfish. Well no, I won’t get over it completely, but I feel slightly less terrified of them now.

Favorite Photos

My favorite photo from the whole trip is one that I think Chris might have taken – we both shot with the underwater camera at Stingray City, but Chris took more photos than I did. I was mostly just trying to stand still and not accidentally step on a giant stingray. The waves were bigger than I expected and made it challenging to keep my balance!

And Chris’s favorite photo is also an underwater shot – he took this one of a huge angelfish while snorkeling at Sunset Reef. We chased this guy (gal?) all over the place so I’m glad he ended up with a great image.

May 19, 2014