Prague Blog Part 3

After our 4+ hour tour the day before, we were all ready for a day that was a bit less structured. After having a light breakfast at the apartment and some clothes shopping on Wenceslas Square, a wide pedestrian street with many stores and restaurants (reminding me of Calle Corrida, the street we lived on in Gijón); after we parted ways with the Dianas. They went on to continue shopping, and Phil, Utkarsh, and I went to check out the Spanish Synagogue.

Phil and I had never been in a synagogue before. In all of our travels we have seen many, many, many churches and a handful of mosques, but no synagogues (with the exception of the remnants of the oldest Synagogue in Budapest). One certainly does not have to travel the world to see a Synagogue, I realize. However, like most Americans, we are suckers for the old, grand, and ornate and most houses of worship in the US don’t check those boxes, architecturally speaking.

Built in 1868 (hey! that’s not that old. Oh, shush), it is called the Spanish Synagogue because the synagogue’s interior design is inspired by the art of Arabic Spain during its period of Spanish history, and is similar to the Alhambra. It is beautiful.

After we left the Synagouge, we met back up with the Dianas for a lunch of tasty cheeseburgers, then stopped by the municipal library to see their famous tower of books. We waited in the long line for about 15 minutes before Phil popped into the side entrance (so library visitors don’t have to wait in the long, tourist line) and reported that the tower was right inside and one could get quite close without waiting. Phil and Diana made their way in to check out the tower and the library. After waiting 10 more minutes, Utkarsh and I did the same.

After leaving the library, we walked Utkarsh back to his place to pick up his luggage. He had a plane to catch. We said our goodbyes and talked about future travel. We would love to meet up with him in India at some point.

The next day was a rainy one. We put on our rain jackets and headed to Café Savoy, a French cafe from the early 20th century. We weren’t able to secure reservations for their breakfast, but the lunch menu was pretty solid. I had the escargot, Diana a French omelet, and Phil and younger Diana both had the ham and cheese croissant.

We couldn’t help grabbing a couple of treats from the pastry counter as we were leaving. A pistachio croissant and another amazing something. I have no idea what is was called. It was like a cream puff with duce de leche on top. It was amazing! Soft and creamy, sweet but not too sweet. One of those pastries that tastes as light as air while you’re eating it but after you gobble it down, feels substantial on the stomach.

Next, we were off to Petrin park, home to Petrin Tower. We opted not to make our way up the tower and instead decided to check out the mirror maze built for the 1891 Prague Exposition. We had a laughing good time and afterward ducked into the park cafe to escape the near constant drizzle of the day and enjoy some of our treats from Cafe Savory.

The Dianas headed back to the apartment and Phil and I visited to Vojanovy Gardens. A small green area home to a couple of peacocks, several bee hives, and a cute little hobbit looking building.

We stopped in a pub for a quick beer and a snack afterward. While I didn’t get a photo of the sausages we shared, I did snap a pic of the very cool wallpaper.

We walked on, refueled, passing an architectural sculpture of what appeared to be a man proposing marriage to a deer, and the famous urinating sculptures by Prague’s bad boy artist, David Černý. The two male figures containing electronic mechanisms within that allow their hips to swivel and penises rise and lower to disperse streams of water, appear to be, quite literally, having a pissing contest.

Near the sculpture, we happened upon a gingerbread shop that was so darn cute and smelled absolutely amazing. We couldn’t help but purchase a few sweet treats to take back to the apartment and share with the Dianas.

After another quick get out of the rain/beer break, we started to make our way back to the apartment. We walked down, toward the shore of the Vltava River to take in the Charles Bridge from that vantage point. There was a lot of water foul milling around, so it took a minute to register the giant rodents waddling around the water’s edge. They appeared to be beavers with rat tails. We gave them a wide berth and did out best to avoid the giant rodents as we made our way closer to the shore to snap a few photos of the bridge. There was another couple near the shore who were petting and feeding the animals which to me seemed both gross and dumb.

I looked it up and apparently the rodents are nutria. A species native to South America, they were brought to the UK in 1929 for their fur and meat and from the 1930’s-50’s made their way across Europe. Considered an invasive species with no natural predators in Europe, they can be aggressive and bite humans who try to feed them. They also often live among rats, therefore carrying many of the same diseases. So, yes, that couple was being both gross and dumb.

We rested a bit at the apartment and then all went out for a dusk walk along the river with the Dianas.

Next up: Pilsen and all the final days of our trip!

Prague Blog Part 2

Refreshed with 12 hours of sleep, we were ready to enjoy our first full day in Prague with our friends. After breakfast at the apartment with los dos Dianas we were off to meet up with our local tour guide.

Phil and I have learned from our travels that we tend to enjoy group tours that aren’t too big. We also have enjoyed tours with locals about the location we are visiting; walking tours and food tours (or a combo of both!) tend to be our favorite. We like to book these types of tours early in our trip so we have a chance to pick their brains about must see/do spots in the city and hidden gems that might not be so well known to tourists.

Apparently there had been a marathon in the city that morning. Diana had been out for a morning run and seen the runners and folks cheering them on. When we set out it seemed to be winding down, but we still had to traverse barricades and extra large crowds around the Charles Bridge to make it to our meetup point of a little local coffee spot called Starbucks, on time to meet with our guide, Jolana.

Photo of the marathon Diana snapped on her morning run

We had another friend to add to our group who met us at the Starbucks as well. Our good friend, Utkarsh, who we’d met while living in Gijón! Utkarsh started the intercambio we attended in Oviedo, the capital of Aturias. He is a dynamic individual who has a knack for bringing people together. Utkarsh was in town to give a presentation at the University and it worked out wonderfully that we could all meet up for a little reunion tour!

Besides our group of five, there were two others; Czech friends of Jolana, our tour guide, who wanted to join. The tour was scheduled to take 3 hours. This might sound like a long time, but when you’re walking and talking, learning, and enjoying yourself, it flies by. Off we went, making our way through the Lesser Town (which Jolana explained literally meant downtown as it is nestled in the foothills of Prague Castle), up toward the Castle area.

We took the “back way” up to the Castle, which Jolana explained as a little less traveled, with a more gradual incline, which was appreciated. It gave us a chance to chat and catch up with the Dianas and Utkarsh as we walked. Once we reached the top, we were rewarded with lovely views of the city and got a photo of all of us together!

After checking out the castle area, we made our way down, toward the very edge of the old town and walled-in castle area called Golden Lane, where the servants (including goldsmiths) lived. It is a super cute area with charming little homes where a lot of artists now live and work.

The last big stop on the tour was the Astronomical Clock (also known as the Orloj). Built on the front side of the old town hall, the clock draws a huge crowd awaiting the hourly show of the Walk of the Apostles and a skeleton representing death. The clock has several dials, one representing the position of the sun, moon, and zodiac signs, another a calendar dial with the seasons, a traditional hourly clock face with Roman numerals and an hour and minute hand, and another dial dial shows Ancient Czech Time, Central European Time, and the smallest circle shows Unequal Time (Babylonian Hours, what’s that now?). Each dial uses a different set of numbers, including Gothic, Roman, and Arabic numerals, to display the time.

We lucked out as we found ourselves inside of the marathon barricade that had been placed around the clock for the early morning runners. As the huge crowd swelled on the other side, we were able to snap a few pics of just our group right in front of the clock, which Jolana explained is typically impossible because of almost constant crowds. Score!

After our clock pics, we ended the tour (which ended up being closer to 4.5 hours!) with a beverage at a hidden cafe near the clock. It is hidden in that it’s located inside of a building that houses other businesses. The cafe has a terrace area for seating that spans three stories, overlooking the building’s courtyard. We sat and enjoyed our drinks, talking with Jolana and her friends. We knew that the people of Prague must have a great love of fine arts given their opera houses and symphony orchestra (in addition to art museums), which Jolana confirmed. We discovered that she and her two friends met each other because they are all dancers. Additionally we learned that all Czech children learn ballroom dancing in high school, a tradition dating back to the early 20th century.

While we enjoyed the tour immensely, by the time it was over, we were ready to EAT! Luckily, we asked Jolana (who graciously had already stated she would send us a list of recommended must sees around the city), where the closest, recommended restaurant was. She pointed us toward  Lokál (the restaurant Phil and I had looked for the night before) and in ten short minutes, we were sitting down, perusing the menu.

I am not exaggerating when I say this was one of the best meals I have ever eaten. Not only because the food was delicious, but also because we were able to share it with our friends. Food is special in the way it connects people. This meal was shared by a group of people who come from different countries, enjoying food in yet another country that is foreign to all of them, but in that moment, felt like home.

We shared all of the food, family style, which is my favorite way to dine. I love trying a little bit of everything. My favorite dish of the meal, was the steak tartare. I have had tartare before, and enjoyed it to varying degrees, but this dish was spectacular. Czech rye is the best rye bread I have ever had, and I really like rye bread. This tartare was served with delicious rye that had been pan-fried in lard and garlic clove. Holy moly and yes all day long!

After our meal, we walked back to the apartment and after talking a while with Diana, Phil and I walked Utkarsh back to where he was saying. We stopped at little champagneria on the way. I love champagne and most things sparkling while, so c’mon, of course we stopped at a champagneria. It was great to spend a little one-on-one time with Utkarsh and catch up over some bubbly.

Stay tuned for part 3: our day trip to Pilsen, more Pragueing around, and of course, more food!

Prague Blog Part 1

Prague is a city, like Bruges in Belgium, that I have really wanted to visit for a long time, but things just haven’t lined up to get us there (I will get to Bruges one day, by God!). When Phil and I left Spain (check out the archives to read all about our 500 day adventure of living abroad) in May of 2022 for a summer of travel around Europe, we had to be very selective in the destinations we chose. Summer in Europe is notoriously the worst time to travel in terms of large crowds of tourists and increased prices to meet the demand of those tourists. After a year of not working, we had to be very mindful of expenses, so with a couple of exceptions, we chose lesser visited countries, primarily in eastern Europe. While Prague is not expensive, it’s also not cheap, and well, it just didn’t make the cut at the time.

Now that we’ve been back in the States and working for the past year and a half (boooo!), we were ready to get away and had the funds to do it. Because of the limited vacation time most US companies provide (boooo!), we wanted to be strategic in our plan to return to Europe. We would only have one week to spend and we didn’t want to spread ourselves too thin with trying to fit in multiple locations. After debating several possible destinations, we landed on Prague and several months later, landed IN Prague.

After a sleepless overnight flight and a layover in Munich, we arrived in Prague around 1pm. We have found the trick to avoiding jet lag is to stay up. By the time we arrived at our accommodations, we had been awake for 24 hours. It is very tempting to eat something, take a shower, and hop into bed after arriving at your destination. Don’t do it (sleep I mean, the eating and showering is fine). Try to make it until at least 8pm local time before going to sleep.

We had something special to look forward to which helped us stay awake. Our friend from Spain, Diana, who we met while living in Gijón, and her daughter, Diana (aka los dos Dianas), would be meeting us in Prague! We rented a two bedroom apartment so we could all stay together during our time in the city. We had just enough time to unpack and shower before they arrived.

After exchanging hugs and chatting a bit, we were off. Phil and I needed to keep moving so we could stay awake and we were eager to check out the city. We walked along the Vltava River, taking in views of the Charles Bridge and made our way to The Dancing House, a building designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić in cooperation with Frank Gehry. Gehry nicknamed the building Fred and Ginger (after Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire) as the building resembles two dancers. The building is comprised of office space, apartments, a luxury hotel, The Fred and Ginger Restaurant located on the 7th floor, and a rooftop bar, Glass Bar.

We rode the elevator to the rooftop to enjoy a drink and take in the views of the city. The outdoor portion of the bar has fairly limited space, but it wasn’t too crowded for us to find a place to stand and visit and snap a few photos. They did charge a fee if one took their drinks on the open air rooftop, which I wasn’t a big fan of but whattayagonna do? It was a lovely spot and at that point, I was ready to enjoy a drink.

After our prosecco cheers and photo sesh, we headed to the grocery store to pick up a few supplies for the apartment. Awake for 30-something hours, we were tempted to go to bed when we returned, but we were also very hungry, so Phil and I set out to find a close restaurant with traditional Czech food. Los dos Dianas stayed at the apartment, tired from their own day of travel, to have a late, light dinner, as the Spanish do.

We set out looking for a restaurant (a highly rated local place with multiple locations) that I’d recognized from my research when we’d passed it earlier. We knew it was close, but gave up on finding it fairly quickly due to exhaustion. We passed a pub that looked pretty legit and only had a few folks in it and decided to stop there for our dinner. We ordered tasty plates of chicken schnitzel, pork belly with chili and yogurt sauce, French fries, and spicy cabbage salad and, of course, paired it with a couple of beers. It’s the Czech Republic, dammit, the land of beer. Did you know that the Czech Republic drinks more beer each year per capita (around 324 pints) than any other country in the world? I can’t help but think that, contrary to what my parents’ DNA tests revealed, somewhere in my genealogical history, there are some Czech-German ancestors. A land of tall, beer guzzling pork lovers? That’s me to a T.

Fully satiated, we returned to the apartment at 10pm, and promptly fell asleep…for 12 hours!

When we awoke, it was time for our walking tour of Prague, so keep an eye out for the next blog post; added bonus, another friend from our days in Spain meets up with us!

Check out Phil’s post about our trip to Prague here

Iceland and the Final Days of Our Grand Adventure, Part 2

Welp. Here we are. The end of this particular story. It has only taken me a little over six months to finish writing about it. Telling the last of the story means the story is over and damn, it was such a good story.

There are many more stories to come, I have no doubt. As I type, I am in the midst of a fresh, new one (enough with the story metaphor, Jess, Geez) but this one was a real page turner, a wild adventure, from start to finish. I’m sure you can understand how it could be tough to part with. Without further ado, it’s time to put a bow on it.

In my last post, we visited Reykjavík and saw many waterfalls as we drove south. When we arrived at Onundarhorn, the name of the property we would be staying at for the next two nights, I was skeptical. The outside looked a little dumpy and I wondered if we were even at the right place. Our host, an eccentric Icelander named Snaebjorn, rents rooms in his home to travelers. He doesn’t particularly care for these travelers being in his home (more on that later), it seems, but the money is good.

As mentioned in my last post, lodging (and food and drink) in Iceland is quite expensive. Even in a standard hotel, it is very common to share a bathroom. We stayed in modest accommodations throughout our travels (overnight on a sweltering, communist era train with no toilet paper for chrissake!) but staying at Onundarhorn with Snaebjorn would be our first (non-train) lodging in which we would be sharing a small space (and one bathroom) with several other travelers.

When we arrived at Onundarhorn, we met a friendly Australian couple who were driving the Golden Circle (which is a famous, 11-day minimum, route that goes around all the island). They were in Iceland on a three week holiday that had been postponed since 2020 and were very excited to be there. They told us that the previous night the Northern Lights had been visible from where they were staying near Reykjavík. We were very surprised to hear this.

It hadn’t occurred to me that seeing the Northern Lights would be a possibility during our time in Iceland as I thought the earliest one could view them was October. I was wrong. The couple had an app to track the lights and special camera equipment to try and capture them in the night sky. They said that chances of seeing the lights that night were slim as clouds were supposed to roll in but perhaps the following night they might be visible from Onundarhorn. Heck yeah!

We asked them about the path to the black sand beach near Onundarhorn that we’d read about in the listing. They did not know about the path and Snaebjorn was out visiting with a neighbor, they informed us.

So, we ate another dinner of sandwiches and apples and decided to go look for the path as we still had a bit of time before sunset. About a quarter mile down the road from Onundarhorn is a posh, 4-star hotel and restaurant where we could have stayed for a mere $500 a night. We strolled past the hotel and the parking lot full of luxury SUV’s and found the path.

We walked down the grassy trail, toward the beach, passing no one and watched the sun sink lower and lower toward the horizon. It was beautiful.

We found a bridge leading to the beach but decided to wait until the following evening to explore it as it would be quite dark soon and was getting pretty cold.

When we reached the house, Snaebjorn had returned and was chatting up the Australian couple as basketball played on a TV in the background. A wiry fellow of 62 years, he was a combo of curmudgeon, braggart, and gossip. He dominated the conversation which volleyed between tales of him being a champion horse trainer, him being a physiological anomaly following a serious car wreck from which he recovered in record time while having a romantic relationship with his sexy nurse, and him telling disparaging stories of the travelers who stayed with him. It was a wild ride. At one point while talking smack about his neighbor’s alcoholic girlfriend, he said he rarely drank. I doubted this as he took frequent swigs from a tall insulated mug and regaled us with stories of his super healing powers and sexual prowess.

We were finally able to say good night, blaming an early waking time. Snaebjorn asked us if, should he see the northern lights (it seemed he stayed up all night and slept during the day), would we want him to wake us in the wee hours. We enthusiastically said yes and thanked him.

Unfortunately, Snaebjorn did not wake us in the wee hours as there were no lights to be seen. We woke up early to use the bathroom before the majority of other guests woke up and were ready to hit the road after breakfast. We knew from the listing, Snaebjorn would make us breakfast, waffles specifically. It could be that he seemed so curmudgeonly because he poured all of his love into his waffles. They were divine. We both had three waffles and several cups of coffee before heading out. We weren’t buying food out and being quite sick of sandwiches, we decided to load up on breakfast.

Full of waffles, we hit the road for our three-hour drive to see a glacier. Jokulsarlon Glacial Lake has small icebergs, calm waters, and a beach full of smooth stones. There are nice viewing points, bathrooms on site, a couple food stands, free parking (score!), boat tours and even kayak rentals. There was a full parking lot and some tour buses, which led us to walk down the beach to avoid the crowds. It was a short walk down and up some small rolling hills with a path until we reached the lake’s shore.

Across the street from the Lake is the Atlantic Ocean, and a beach they call the Diamond Beach, named as such due to the small to very small iceberg pieces (that shine in the sun) that float up to shore. We ate another meal of sandwiches, apples, and chips as we faced the beach. After that we were on our way back, a three hour journey westward on highway One. We saw a variety of landscapes; mostly either green or yellow grass, pales moss on massive amounts of rocks, hills, and mountains with a few small towns here and there.

Our last stop before heading back was the nearby Dyrhólaey Lighthouse, close to the town of Vik. There is a bit of a winding road to reach the popular lighthouse and it was very windy and cold from up there. We did get a great view of the black sand beach and cool rock formations.

We got back to the b&b for our last sandwich meal before heading down, over the bridge, to the black sand beach. We had it all to ourselves. We took our time, breathing in the fresh, cool air, and reflecting on how amazing our travels had been, how lucky we were to have been able to undertake such a grand adventure, and how we couldn’t believe it was coming to a close. We were even greeted by a seal, who gave us a warm “bon voyage” before she dove back into the cold Atlantic waters.

When we got back to Onundarhorn we packed our things. The sky was supposed to clear up around 10:30 which meant we had a chance of seeing the Northern Lights. Shortly thereafter, the Australian couple went outside to set up their camera equipment, ready to catch the Northern Lights. We went out, hoping to see something as they indicated they should be right overhead. We saw some glorious stars in the black night sky but no Northern Lights. We headed back inside and Snaebjorn told us that if the Northern Lights became clearer, we would likely see them outside of our room’s window. He renewed his offer to wake us in the night should he see them. We fell asleep with the window shade open.

Around 2 am, Snaebjorn kept his promise and knocked on our door letting us know the lights were viewable. He made sure to let us know that they weren’t so good that night, no color (sometimes they appear purple and green) but we might be interested. As quickly as we could in our groggy state, we bundled up and went out to look up.

It was amazing. They are hard to describe but it looked like grey-white ghostly shapes dancing, quickly, all across the sky. Phil described it as like a symphony without music. That’s pretty accurate. Freezing cold, with aching necks, we shuffled back inside after about 20 minutes. I tried to capture the lights with photo and video, to no avail. Only days later, when playing around with the photo exposure was I able to make out some of the lights.

The next morning, we awoke groggy, loaded up on more waffles, and made the two-and-a-half hour drive from Onundarhorn to the airport, but we had one final stop to make first. We made an appointment at the Blue Lagoon, the famous geothermal spa within a lava field, that is a must visit while in Iceland. The water is milky blue and warm, and even quite hot in some places.

A very popular tourist destination, the full parking lot and tour buses made us think the place would be packed. While the locker room was indeed a little cozy, they have their system down and once out in the actual pools, there was plenty of space to spread out and chill.

We enjoyed a complimentary sparkling wine and mud masks. Everyone was given a free, white mask with the woman at the mask bar offering various other colored masks with miraculous skin benefits, for an additional fee. We took the glop of mud she plopped into our hands (folks are provided mirrors in which to self apply the masks), spread it around as best we could and found a ledge to rest upon.

After our two hours in the pool, we showered, dressed, and headed to the airport.

After 500 amazing days of living abroad, our grand adventure was coming to a close. As bittersweet as it was, we were ready for the next adventure; boarded the plane, and headed home to the good ol’ US of A. Until next time, Europe, we will miss you!

The End (for now)

Postscript travel commentary coming soon(ish).

Iceland and the Final Days of Our Grand Adventure: Part 1

After a four hour flight from Munich, we arrived in Iceland. Iceland was the icing on the cake of our travels (see what I did there?) When discussing when and where we would fly home from, we discovered that flight prices dramatically drop from August to September and that if we took Icelandic Air, we could choose to have a multi-day layover (we chose three days) at no additional cost. Icing, baby, Iceland.

During our travels, we met several people who had traveled to Iceland. Everyone loved it and expounded on both the beauty as well as how expensive the food and drink are. We hit up the duty-free shop before leaving the airport and bought some wine and prosecco (por supuesto) along with some chocolate.

When we picked up our rental car (the agent was from Spain, which I took as a good sign), the agent informed us that we needed to be careful when we opened the car doors as they could be ripped off by the wind. Holy moly! It was pretty windy as we set out toward Reykjavík, not door ripper windy, but windy. It was also much colder (Jess, it’s called Iceland) than we had grown accustomed to during our hot and sweaty summer travels on the mainland

Phil consulted the map and saw a light house a few minutes from the airport so we decided to make a stop and take the first of MANY photo opportunities. Iceland is beautiful (and windy).

 

We made another stop along the way at a grocery store called Bonus that has a wonky pig for a logo. I guess it’s actually a piggy bank which I only realized when searching for the logo online just now. A piggy bank makes sense but I will say I much preferred when I thought it was simply a wonky pig with an unknown origin story.

We grabbed sandwich ingredients, chips, and some fresh fruit as this would be our menu for our three days in Iceland because, as promised, restaurant food was quite expensive. After 500 days of living abroad, expensive was not in the budget.

After dropping our stuff at the hotel and enjoying the first of many sandwiches, we headed out to explore, stopping first at the souvenir shop near our hotel for some stocking caps as we only had light jackets. We intended to make our jackets suffice in the 40-50F temperatures. Living out of a suitcase for 6 months, traveling to places mostly in the 90’s+ all summer, we’d made some informed cuts to the wardrobe. It did not make sense to hang on to coats we would only need for three days. So, these supplemental beanies would have to do.

We walked along the water and then into town, finding ourselves on a rainbow road which led to the impressive Hallgrimskikja church that has a statue of Leif Eriksson out front.

Unfortunately, the church was closed for renovations. That was a real bummer but we got some pics in front of the cool front doors.

We walked around town a bit longer before retiring to the hotel and sharing a bit of wine and calling it an early night. We were determined to make the most of our short time on that beautiful island and planned to set out early (early for us, anyway) the next day.

We drove south in the morning, and just being on the road and driving was so beautiful. The contrast of black rock and soil and bright green mountains was lovely not to mentioned all of the waterfalls. We saw so many waterfalls! They’re like catholic churches in Spain or Italy; each beautiful, some a grander spectacle than others, and it seems like there’s another every time you turn the corner.

Our first up-close waterfall was the Oxararfoss Waterfall which has a lovely path from the parking lot, flanked by large basalt rock formations.

Our next stop was for lunch. We made sandwiches (duh) and ate at the Hrafnagja Observation Deck which has a lovely view of Lake Thingvellir.

There are many gravel roads leading off the few main highways in Iceland; some lead to waterfalls, others lead to hiking trails, many lead to people’s homes and farms. We took one of the latter when driving next to the lake. There were a few homes near the lake, but no one was stirring there, so we stopped, got out, and enjoyed the close-up views all by ourselves. It was unforgettable.

Something to note about Iceland is that there are a lot of fellow tourists, driving on the same route, stopping at the same places. We saw the same people a few times on our journey at different stops. Taking some of those unmarked roads is a great idea if you’re just a wee bit adventurous and have the time, if you’re looking to get away. Our next stop southward was the Kerid Crater, which is a turquoise lake located in a volcanic crater.

We continued south to large Seljandsfoss waterfall and it’s smaller neighbor waterfall, Gljufrabui. There was an almost packed paid parking lot (we’re not fans of paid parking) near the larger fall. Closer to the smaller fall, there was a short, dead end gravel road with a couple of cars parked along it’s sides. We opted to park there and enjoy the walk between the two falls.

One could choose to get in line and walk behind Seljandsfoss falls. We did not want to stand in line nor add wet to our cold, so we opted to take in its beauty from the front only.

Our next and final stop of the day was Skogafoss waterfall. Huge and atop a long staircase of 200 feet (60 meters), the fall was gorgeous and made us realize how long it had been since we’ve done a proper hike. The staircase was a doozy. Before ascending, we stopped in the hotel restaurant at the base of the falls for a much appreciated and very expensive beer (our only restaurant purchase during our time on the island).

We took our time, enjoying the view from atop the fall. Along with the hotel at the base, there were also many RV’s and tents set up in the parking lot. In addition to food being quite expensive, lodging is also. We didn’t stick around the base because we wanted to get to our own unique lodging situation for the night. More about that in the next post.

Stay tuned for my final European post from the black sand beaches of Iceland! 

Burghausen Castle

Jess, you’ve been back in the states for months now, why has it taken you so long to finish up your European adventure posts (you may be asking)? Well, it’s the darnedest thing. After having been able to live in another world with just myself and my favorite person, far away from the normal stressors of daily life, jumping back into polite society is taking some getting used to and has preoccupied my time. I also think maybe I have been delaying writing about our final European destinations because it will hammer home the fact that the adventure is indeed over, for now anyway. While not living out of a suitcase and being able to somewhat settle is nice, it is an adjustment.

So now, let me tell you a bit about Burghausen. Another magical town in the unexpectedly magical Germany. What a fairy tale. I mean, we visited a castle for goodness sake! And you know I’m a pretty princess at heart.

We left Munich and took the two hour train ride to Burghausen (which sits on the German-Austrian border). We walked from the train station through the newer part of town, stopping for lunch in a small restaurant inside of the civic center. The food was tasty and the waitress very nice. I tried the Flammkuchen which is a sort of German pizza/flat bread, so how could it be bad? Phil had some kind of pork sandwich covered in curry sauce with fries (again, how could it be bad?) that I failed to get the name of. Both were tasty and provided the necessary fuel for the day of walking we had ahead of us.

While at the civic center, we picked up a map and guide of the town and castle. I was very excited to visit the castle. During our time in Albania, we visited a few castle ruins but Burghausen feels like a “real”castle, a castle-y castle. It is intact and exudes that fairy tale quality the pretty princess in me really appreciated.

Burghausen isn’t a tall castle, though it seemed pretty tall to me. It is, however, the longest castle, quite literally. It is the longest castle in the world, in fact. There are seven courtyards to reach the actual main castle that sits on a cliff; on one side it overlooks the Old Town below and the other side is a lake. In the first courtyard, there is a clock tower. Phil and I are people who appreciate a good clock tower. Nearish to the clock tower is a biergarten. Phil and I are people who appreciate a good beer.

After enjoying the beautiful day from the biergarten, we carried on, through more of the castle walls.

From over the castle walls, we had impressive views of old town Burghausen which sits on the Salzach River, as well as views of the lake on the other side.

After walking through the courtyards, we entered the main castle walls. It was SO cool. A castle fit for a princess indeed.

There were a couple of museums housed in the old castle with reasonably priced admission. No castle trip would be complete without going into the actual castle, right? We paid the admission and walked through. They had some interesting old paintings and tapestries,

but the views from atop the castle were well worth the price of admission.

We stayed on that rooftop for a long time. Taking in the views from every angle, reflecting on our grand adventure; our amazing year and a half journey that had brought us to that point. I wanted to hold on tight to that moment so badly. Instead, I observed as it passed. I experienced it in the fleeting nature of moments. The thing is, you can’t hold on; the human experience isn’t tangible.

We took one last look around and headed back down the creaky wooden stairs. Our last stop was the little chapel.

We then made our way down the steep, winding steps at the back of the castle.

We walked along the lakeside path as the castle became smaller in the distance. We talked and walked and made our way back to the train station, after stopping for gelato and picking up a bottle of wine, of course.

We shared our bottle of wine in the hotel that night. Recalling stories from our adventure and preparing for the final stop on our journey. The next day we would leave mainland Europe.

Última Parada: Iceland!

Regensburg Part 2: Walhalla

On our last day in Regensburg we decided to take the hour bus ride to Walhalla. A replica of the ancient Greek Parthanon (we saw the original a few months earlier in Athens…and another replica in Nashville some years back). Set upon the banks of the Danube, Walhalla serves as a hall of fame for notable and distinguished Germans throughout history. Built in the 1800’s before the formation of the modern German state, “German” was initially understood as “Germanic”, and included ancient Germanic peoples (Gothic, Vandal, Lombardic, Anglo-Saxon) as well as medieval Dutch, Swedish and Russian figures.” (thanks wikipedia).

We got off the bus in the town of Donaustauf and would need to do a bit of climbing to reach Walhalla, perched high on a hill. As we walked, we saw the Sanctuary of St. Salvator, also situated rather high up, and decided take a look.

Unfortunately, the doors of the church were locked. We spied a path heading up the hill behind it and I suggested we take it. It was heading in the right direction and I figured if we could take a little uphill nature hike instead of climbing a million steps, it would be preferable. Phil consulted the map and agreed.

The path ahead and the town below

On our way up the hill, we passed a very familiar sign; la concha del peregrino or the scallop shell of the camino de Santiago. We saw the golden shell symbol throughout Spain, marking the way to Santiago de Compostela, the destination of the famous Pilgrimage ending at the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela, the burial place of St. James. The original camino (road, path, or way) begins just across the French border from Spain in St. Jean Pied-du-Port, high in the Pyrenees mountains. We learned during our time in Spain that there were many routes one could take, beginning in Italy or the south of Spain. We didn’t know there was a route through Germany! What a cool surprise and a nice hello from our years long adopted homeland.

Our path popped us out just beside Walhalla, conveniently at the refreshment stand. We each quenched our thirst with a raddler before walking on to take in the lovely building high on the riverbank.

We took in the building from all angles and popped inside to see the busts of the notable Germans featured there before taking the many stairs down toward the river.

We took a different route back toward the bus stop, through a lovely park, Englischer Garten, where we saw the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower). It seemed an odd place to see a Chinese Tower which was originally built in 1800, and rebuilt later, in 1952. Now it was fenced off to the public which was a real bummer because I was dying to take the little steps to the top floor and peek inside.

We had some time to enjoy the little town before the bus arrived so we grabbed a couple of coffees and pastries from a local bakery. The bakery had no seating so we found a bench to sit and enjoy the sun while we waited. After finishing our treats, we noticed we were sitting directly across from yet another bakery and well, decided to go for round two, ¿por qué no? (why not?).

Our last evening in Regensburg, the sun was shining and we took in the beautiful stained glass of St. Peter’s Cathedral. When I think of Germany, catholic churches and cathedrals don’t come to mind. In fact, I didn’t know that so many Germans were catholic. They are and they have gorgeous churches. The stained glass at St. Peter’s Cathedral rivaled that which we had seen in León back in Spain.

As we wound down our time in Regensburg, the knowledge that we were also winding down the time on our grand adventure. It felt bittersweet to be certain but we weren’t going to let that stop us from experiencing these last few moments and places to their fullest.

Stay tuned for more on our last days in Germany and our final European destination, Iceland!

Adventures in Germany: Regensburg

After a jam packed day in Munich, we were off to Regensburg. Oh, the fabled Regensburg. Just a few months prior, we had never heard of Regensburg. While traveling through Italy with my mother-in-law, Marie, back in May, she struck up a conversation with a German fellow during a cable car ride in Rapallo. She asked the man what was the place to visit in Germany. His answer was Regensburg. Not being a particularly talkative guy, I believe his reasoning was something along the lines of “It’s a nice town with good beer.” I’m pretty sure the same could be said about many a German town but we made note of the recommendation. The next morning, as we came down to breakfast in our hotel, Marie was chatting up another fellow, a young German man in town filming a movie. He too recommended Regensburg.

At that point in our travels, we knew we would be visiting our friends near Frankfurt before heading back to the states but hadn’t planned on any additional German destinations. It’s funny how once a seed is planted it often finds a way to grow. And so, three months after first hearing the name Regensburg, we found ourselves there.

Old town Regensburg is a UNESCO World Heritage site due to it’s unique status as “the only authentically preserved large medieval city in Germany.” Phil and I jokingly throw around the word “magical” when describing cities to one another. This is because often the word is used to describe travel destinations that to our minds don’t quite fit. Cool, unique, beautiful, mesmerizing, one of a kind; these could be used to describe a number of places we have been lucky enough to visit but magical? When I hear magical, I think of something out of a fairy tale and well, Regensburg is in fact, magical.

After a relatively short, but absolutely packed, train ride (we were lucky to find seats), we found ourselves in Regensburg. It was lightly raining but luckily our hotel was only a short walk down a wide, pedestrian-only street. The hotel was cute and the woman at the desk gave us a welcome glass of prosecco so we were off to a good start.

We dropped our bags and left the hotel to wander about and to find hearty German food and beer, the colorful sometimes narrow streets of old town welcoming us.

We found the Brauerei Kneitinger brauhaus (or brew house), dating back to 1530. It was the perfect spot. The servers sported old-fashioned garb called dirndl (think St. Pauli girl) that one would expect from an old, German beer hall.

We shared a delicious meal of braised ox cheek with dumplings, red cabbage, and the most amazing spatzel. Spatzle is a type of egg noddle often served with gravy, butter, or cheese. Our friend Katie turned us on to cheese spatzle when we visited her and her family in Rodenbach a couple of months earlier. What’s not to like about grown up mac-n-cheese? This particular cheese spatzle we had at Brauerei Kneitinger was topped with bacon and caramelized onions. It was amazing. We had a couple of dunkles (dark beers) to accompany our meal.

After lunch, we walked on and eventually found ourselves across the Danube from old town Regensburg. We sat on a stone wall, enjoying the weather, the view, and each other’s company for an hour or more, content as could be.

The following day, we started at St. John’s church, a lovely little Baroque church.

Followed by an early lunch at a cute little spot beside the Danube called Wurst & Beer. We each ordered a beer sampler and a wurst sampler. It was all very tasty and the gal running the place was very warm and pleasant. I highly recommend starting the day with a belly full of sausage and beer if given the option.

After lunch, we happily wandered for a couple of hours; across bridges, through city and parks, and along the Danube. We came to another biergarten (they aren’t hard to find), the Spital brewery. We ordered two big beers and decided that given our lunch was early and rather small, we should split a little something. We ordered a plate of sausage and sauerkraut to share.

Afterward, we continued on with our pork and beer fueled saunter. Several times during our exploration that afternoon, we encountered [primarily] young adults in traditional garb; dirndl and lederhosen (see stock image below).

We wondered what the occasion was. Being late August, we knew Oktoberfest was still a couple of weeks away, September 17th to be exact (It’s true, Oktoberfest is in September), so we knew they weren’t dressed for the fest. As we continued on, we began seeing more people and even more folks (of all ages) in the traditional dress. We knew something was happening nearby, so on we went to investigate.

In the distance, we spied a Ferris Wheel and soon we were amidst a full blown carnival! There were carnival rides, food, biergartens (duh), game booths, and all kinds of vendors selling their wares. We wandered a bit and enjoyed another beer at the biergarten. I gazed longingly at some delicious looking fried fish and giant pretzels our fellow biergarteners were enjoying. Alas, I was too full of sausage to have a third lunch.

After our beers, we made a beeline for the Ferris wheel. We are firm believers in riding Ferris Wheel’s when presented with the opportunity.

After taking in the views atop the Ferris Wheel, we bought a bag of caramel corn and ate it sitting next to the Danube (second lunch was starting to wear off). We walked back toward the hotel, taking our time, enjoying the city. We stopped for a rest at yet another biergarten (they truly are everywhere). Though not feeling especially hungry, the currywurst caught Phil’s eye. When keeping a steady supply of German beer in your system, it is also important to keep a steady supply of German food in your system so we split the currywurst (hello, third lunch).

After all of our walking, food, and beer, we decided a little rest was in order. Back to the hotel we went for a little nap before heading back out to see a bit of Regensburg at night. During our walkabout, we had seen several posters featuring artist Andre Maier. We were not familiar with him but liked the posters very much.

After turning down a narrow street, we happened upon his studio/gallery. What’s more, he was inside working! It was super cool.

After stopping a beat to watch the artist work, we walked on, across the Danube to take in the lights of old town at night. What a lovely ending to a magical day in Regensburg.

Stay tuned for part two of Regensburg and our day trip to Walhalla!

Return to Germany: Munich

During our time in Spain and throughout our subsequent travels, people usually thought I was German. I’m pale, I’m tall, I’m a big-boned gal who likes to drink beer, so, I get it. Upon our return to Germany (after we visited friends near Frankfurt in August), Phil kept jokingly telling me we were finally in the land of my people. For the record (who’s keeping a record Jess?), my ancestry is primarily English, Scottish, and a little Norwegian. Almost everywhere we traveled; Spain, Albania, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, people thought Phil was a native which he attributed to his Italian ancestry (oddly though, he was never mistaken for an Italian in Italy) and the fact that the Romans long ago inhabited many the lands we traveled.

All that notwithstanding, we arrived in the land of my people after a layover in Vienna. We were relieved when we saw our suitcase and backpacks roll out onto the luggage carousel in Munich. All summer we had heard horror stories of lost luggage in European airports. Up until our flight to Munich, we had managed to score direct flights to our destinations, which greatly reduces the risk of lost luggage. The losing part usually happens when your belongings have to go from one plane to another.

You can imagine our dismay when, at the airport in Sofia, Bulgaria, the woman at the desk informed us that we must check all of our items. Phil and I each had a carry-on sized backpack and shared one larger, rolling suitcase. When flying, we put all of our most important stuff in our backpacks so if for some reason our suitcase went missing, we would still have the necessities.

When told we had to check everything, the woman at the desk could see our displeasure and confusion (we had never had an issue with our backpacks before), and said multiple times, “It is free. It is free.” I replied “I don’t care if it’s free, I don’t want to lose my luggage.” Phil, reminding me it was silly and futile to argue with the woman (who was being watched very closely by a supervisor), quickly searched through our large suitcase and pulled out the smaller day-pack we’d purchased in Turkey; we quickly loaded our laptops, medication, ya know, the necessities, into the backpack.

Trying to ease our worries at the airport in Vienna

Luckily, we made it with all bags present and accounted for. We took a train from the airport to Central Station then took another a short ride to a stop right outside of our hotel. Our accommodations were modest but the gentleman working the desk was friendly and they had an honor system beer fridge packed with cold, big, beers in brown or green bottles. One simply took whatever they wanted from the fridge and recorded it with the pencil and paper provided to be charged upon check out. In all of our travels I have only seen this one other time, when we traveled to Costa Rica in 2014 but I feel surely it must be a more common offering than it seems. Let me know in the comments if you have seen the honor system beer fridge.

After relaxing in our room with a beer, we headed out for dinner at a nearby brauhaus (brew house or beer hall). We enjoyed some hearty German fare and a couple of dunkles (dark beers). We called it an early night as our next day was to be jam packed.

We had one full day in Munich before heading to Regansburg so we wanted to make the most of it. We had a couple of things on our list of must sees and left the rest up to fate. Some of my favorite stops of the day included:

Frauenkirche Church: a restored Gothic Church, with very tall ceilings and beautiful, intricate, and colorful stained glass windows.

New Town Hall: a huge, cool, Gothic building. We wandered up staircases and down long hallways, until we reached the top floor, looking down upon the square below.

Old Town
In front of city hall

Theatine Church: Built in the 1660s, the interior was unlike any we have seen. It is intricately sculpted, bright white with reliefs, altars, and columns. Truly a one of a kind.

I love the pyramid and eye above the painting

Munich Residence Palace: The huge palace served as the seat of government and residence of the Bavarian dukes, electors and kings from 1508 to 1918 and includes the residence, theater, and treasury. It is a must see when in Munich.

The treasury was really something:

The annunciation

After spending several hours at the Residence Palace, we had just enough time to head back to the hotel and freshen up before we were off again. We grabbed a quick bite at the  Hofbräuhaus and then onto see one of my favorite bands, Bright Eyes!

We had an unforgettable day in Munich (Phil writes more about it here). The next morning we were off to magical Regensburg. Stay tuned for more!

Bulgaria’s Love of Coffee Vending Machines. Who knew?

When we first arrived in Bulgaria, I began to notice coffee vending machines. I didn’t think too much of it initially as we have seen similar machines occasionally during our travels, typically in a train or bus station. As we traveled around, however, I began to see more and more coffee vending machines; sometimes right out front of businesses but other times, randomly on a seemingly rundown street corner with nothing else around it. What’s more, most of these machines sold good coffee, often Lavazza, an Italian coffee maker. Typically in the U.S., when you see this type of coffee machine, it’s in someplace like an old courthouse or community college with generic and terrible coffee.

I like Lavazza coffee but was curious as to the quality that was housed in the vending machines. Prior to leaving Veliko Tarnovo, I decided to try a cup at the train station. It did not disappoint. Throughout our travels, we saw more coffee vending machines in Ploviv and Sofia.

I assure you, this post isn’t an ad for Lavazza coffee. I found the coffee machines generously scattered around the country to be kind of quirky and unique. I hope you do too.

Stay tuned for posts about our travels in Germany!