AfflictedTraveler

August 19, 2017October 14, 2019

Olomouc

This is the 5th destination on our Western Slavic Countries itinerary as described in that Travel Planning post.

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We set off from Wroclaw To Olomouc along a scenic route I found via Google maps. After a stretch on the A4 toll road, we were on tree-lined, twisting and turning two lane roads as we drove through the hillsides, with farmland peering through the trees. And as time went by, we saw the landscape become hillier and trending toward mountainous. But all along the way we had two lane roads where we couldn’t drive more than 50 miles an hour or so. And at many points we had the road completely to ourselves, with not a soul in front, nor behind. There was some occasional congestion, as it was a main artery for traffic along the north-south corridor between Poland and the Czech Republic. It was a wonderful drive, interesting, appealing to the eye, and relaxing.

Głuchołazy Stopover

It was the last chance to spend our Zloty before leaving Poland for the Czech Republic. We chose Głuchołazy as it was larger than most of the towns we passed through, somewhat midway to Olomouc, and were hopeful to find a cafe for a quick bite to eat. As we pulled into town, we found the main square, parked the car, and walked around for a bit. We eventually stumbled onto a little café for an early lunch. We had a cappuccino, a cup of tea, and a couple of sandwiches, all for $7 US. Poland was inexpensive, and we would learn soon enough that the Czech Republic was even less expensive.

Arrival

The first thing we did as we entered the Czech Republic was to find a gas station to buy a vignette for the vehicle – essentially a road tax sticker – which allowed us to legally drive on Czech roads. This was not an especially easy thing to do as the lovely young lady at the gas station spoke zero words of English, and I only know two words in Czech, neither of them would’ve helped in that particular situation. However, with the help of Google translate, I was able to figure it out, and off we went.

Arrival in Olomouc was easy. It was an uncongested smaller city with a population of 100,000. Navigating to the center of town and parking close to the apartment was delightfully straightforward after a long, but enjoyable day on the road.

Our hostess showed us the apartment, and it turned out to be lovelier than it was depicted on Booking.com. The apartment in Kraków was grand and luxurious but this one was better. It had better lighting, with nice views from its large windows. It had a balcony overlooking a quiet courtyard. Centrally located, immaculately clean, and it felt comfortable.

The apartment had high ceilings and crystal chandeliers in all the rooms, including the bathroom. The bedroom had French doors. All of the doors in the apartment had etched glass and ornate hardware. The floors were a herringbone parquet throughout. There was a lovely level of detail throughout the apartment. This was the kind of place I would choose as base of operation were I to move to Europe.

Settling In

The town was so pleasantly uncrowded, and to say it was lightly touristed is an understatement. I think we were among the very few non-locals in town. Walking around, even in the town’s main squares, was easy and very relaxing. The town was laid back, and unhurried – a contrast to the larger cities of Krakow and Wroclaw that we had visited earlier in the week.

I hesitate to use the term “mini-Prague”, but it is appropriate. Prague was beautiful when I last visited in 2012, but it was definitely discovered and densely touristed. Strolling along the Charles Bridge in Prague’s old town – simply stretching out each arm to its full length would have touched three tourists with each hand. Not so in Olomouc, with similar architecture and design as Prague, but with no crowds, and aside from myself and my wife, apparently very few tourists as well.

Discovery Trek

And so we arrived in Olomouc, the historical capital of ancient Moravia, a kingdom that existed for hundreds of years before joining with Bohemia to form what is now the modern day Czech Republic. Moravia forms the Eastern third of the Czech Republic, with Olomouc at its center. Olomouc is also the ancient seat of the Bishops of Moravia, with references to the bishopric in literature dating to the 10th century. Olomouc is steeped in the cultural and religious history of the people of Moravia, which easily discovered with a stroll through town.

Some of the highlights of Olomouc have to be the number of beautiful and historic churches in town, with the most prominent being St. Wenceslas Cathedral, founded in the early 12th century. But there are a half dozen others, including Saint Maurice, Saint Michael, John Sarkander Chapel, and The Orthodox Church – scattered throughout the town.

The old part of town had construction and restoration projects in progress during our stay, including roadwork on the characteristic cobblestone roads found throughout town. Even the construction projects were interesting because they exposed the history of the city through the process.

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Olomoucké Tvarůžky

I love food, and I travel in particular to try new, local fare. And so, I was on the hunt for the famous stinky cheese that is sourced in this destination. Olomoucké tvarůžky is the stinky, ripened soft cheese that bears the city’s name. I’ve read about, I’ve seen travelogs describing it, and I wanted to try it. But finding it proved to be elusive, even with advice from from our lovely hostess. As it turns out, we were too early in the season – the cheese needs to age for several months, and only attains it stinky goodness towards the end of the year.

Food Scene

Hanacka hospoda

Pork knee, goulash, grilled veggies, fresh veggies, and Olomouc cheese spread to start. Apparently there was a bit of translation issue, and the cheese turned out to be a pork fat spread, which wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what we were looking for. After further advice from my landlady via sms, we ordered what we thought was the right cheese. But alas we failed to get the right pungent stuff. It took an hour to cook the pork knuckle, so we have a second round of appetizers which, was a really bad idea. I didn’t know the difference between a pork knuckle, and a pork knee – but when it arrived, it was as big as my head. Very crispy skin, fatty, but with lots of meat. It was an enormous amount of food. It was every bit as good as it looks, if you like pork. The vegetables helped. There were lots of spicy vinegary peppers, raw horseradish, mustard, and raw vegetables. The meal could have easily served 4 people, and was very inexpensive at under $40 including a generous tip.

Cafe New One

This enormous cafe has incredible 90 Mbps up/down free wifi. And the food with drinks were very reasonable. Egg with ham scramble, croissant, cappuccino, and black tea.

Restaraucja Maravska

Platter with smoked meats, sausage and Olomoucké tvar?žky cheese (the famous stinky variety, I hoped), trout filet over risotto, perch fillet in garlic butter, grilled veggies – on the table starter: baked phyllo strips, lightly salted with dill seed. The platter came with an apple horseradish sauce which went well in particular with the sausage, and the ham. The apple mellowed the strong horseradish flavor. The tvaruzki was surprisingly mild, I was bracing myself. The goose pate was rich and smooth, and the pine nuts added an interesting texture. The serving of trout was generous, the risotto had a sweet paprika and zesty tomato influence. The perch was very mild, as were the patties of garlic butter. The food was very good, they have 2 items on the table on arrival which will go on your bill if you touch them.

Svatovaclavsky Pivovar

St. Wenceslaus Specialty

Typical Pivovar we’ve seen in Slovakia which brew their own beer and serve hearty fare at reasonable prices.

Beef flank steak, pork tenderloin, chicken breast, smoked boneless pork knee, chicken wings, green salad. It was every bit as good as it looks in the photo, with the smoked pork knee, and wings as the tastiest. The wings were fall off the bone tender, baked with zesty paprika flavor – not spicy. And there just was enough of the smoked pork knee, it was that good. The rest was good, but paled by comparison to the wings and pork knee. More lumberjack food.

Epilogue

Olomouc was by far the most immersive travel experience on our Western Slavic Country circuit. Among the contributing factors were the relatively smaller population, the long history of the city in the millennium of Moravian culture, and of course the lovely local folks. Adding to the allure is the affordability factor – I had a conversation with our lovely hostess trying to understand the cost of living in Olomouc. The beautiful apartment we had as our residence in the city would rent for 600 euros on a monthly basis. I would be tempted, but not based on affordability alone, although it’s always a factor. Olomouc would be a lovely base of operations to explore Europe for an extended period of time.

Related Travel Planning

Travel Planning – Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic

Related Destinations

August 13, 2017September 26, 2019

Wrocław

This is the 4th destination in the Western Slavic Countries circuit as described in that Travel Planning post.

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We drove through green, rolling countryside on tree lined roads with a backdrop of beautiful blue skies, on a sunny day. It was mostly two lane roads but they were very well-maintained and traffic was not particularly dense as it was Sunday morning. We drove through little town after little town, all of them very well-maintained and they looked upscale as compared to what we’d seen in Slovakia. Poland was definitely a rung up on the economic ladder as compared to the Slovak Republic.

Wadowice Day Trip

En route to Wroclaw, we made a stop in Wadowice to visit the museum and family home of Pope John Paul II, and to explore the town around its main square. Wadowice is a relatively small town with a Central Square that, like a magnet, held all of the interesting parts of town hovering near it – the rest of the town was unremarkable. The museum to Pope John Paul II was next to the main church in the central square. Wadowice looked like all the little towns we passed through on the way. It looked clean, orderly and well-maintained , resembling Austrian or German villages in that regard.

Arrival

As we left Wadowice, the countryside turned from rolling and hilly – reminiscent of West Virginia or southeastern Ohio, and eventually blended into a more flat landscape, with a steady array of farms. Beautiful, pastoral, green countryside rolled out in front of us, mile after mile, adding to the pleasure of the drive. The sight-seeing eye candy on our 2 lane road was interrupted every 10 minutes or so, as we passed through the next quaint little town. Southern Poland was lovely.

Settling in

As we arrived into Wroclaw, I noticed that the the city was different than Kraków. Kraków was spotlessly clean, not only in the old part of town but everywhere we wandered through. Wroclaw as a bit scruffy as compared to Krakow, which is more of a commentary on how spotlessly clean Krakow was, rather than anything negative about Wroclaw.

We found a secure parking lot within a five minute walk of the apartment and dropped off our rental car there. On arrival to the apartment, it wasn’t exactly as represented on Booking.com. The apartment looked like it clearly needed some maintenance, and there were things that didn’t function properly. I was willing to tolerate this inconvenience because of the unbelievable location of the apartment, and it’s proximity to the old town.

We dropped off our luggage and went about some initial exploration with the idea of finding a place to eat, and stretching our legs after a long day driving. As it turned out, it started to rain, and we ducked into a restaurant within walking distance before we got too wet. The restaurant – Karczma Lwowska – turned out to be really good, an excellent introduction to Wroclaw. It rained very hard for the next two hours as we enjoyed one of the finer meals we had in Poland. Details in the Food Scene section.

The following morning, as we were preparing for our main day of exploration in Wroclaw, the electricity went out at the apartment, and I notified our host immediately of the issue. We were advised that it would take a couple of hours to repair, so we went about our discovery trek. The electrical problem turned out to be an all day affair, and they were never able to restore power. We had to relocate to a different apartment. The secondary apartment was not in the old part of town, and required a 20 minute walk to get back to it. We were very disappointed; it goes to show that no matter how well planned the trip, things go wrong, and you’ve got to roll with the punches.

Discovery trek

Unlike Krakow’s unscathed survival of the wars of the 20th century, Wroclaw (while it was still the German city of Breslau) as devastated at the end of WWII. Half of its medieval old town was in ruins, which fared better than the outskirts of the city which were leveled to the ground. The city was among the last to fall during WWII in a bloody siege where tens of thousands lost their lives in defense of the city. Breslau became Wroclaw as the Germans ceded the territory to Poland as part of the post war agreements at the Potsdam Conference. The Poles flowed in following the German exodus.

But the city recovered. The photos will tell the story. The trauma of the 20th century yielded to reconstruction and a grand population inflow post WWII. Wroclaw flourished in spite of the constraints of the Communist era, and bloomed in the the 21st century. It was hard to imagine that the 20th century destruction ever occurred based on casual observation from walking around the city. Beautifully restored, with the old town along the river, flowing through a half dozen enchanting islands on the Oder River.

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Gnomes!

The Poles call them “Krasnoludek”, or dwarves – to me they’re gnomes. And there are hundreds of them scattered throughout the city. This all started with a single statue to honor a group called the Orange Alternative, a counter-Communism group from Poland’s struggle through the end of the Communist era. Since 2001 when that first statue was erected, tiny – about the size of a human hand – statues have appeared all over the city. They are cute, impish and mischievous looking little things that spring around any given corner. It added to the delight of this lovely city.

Food Scene

Karczma Lwowska

The restaurant is on the main square with great views to the cathedral and just of the square itself. The service is professional with the waiter making suggestions and adjustments to your order as necessary. We ordered herring with onion and beets in cream sauce, grilled Polish kielbasa, fried cabbage, grilled mushrooms. The kielbasa was grilled to perfection, served with zingy horseradish and a mild mustard. The fried cabbage turned out be more of a casserole with a creamy dill sauce. I liked it, it went well with the meal. The green salad was enormous and could have easily served 4, with fresh ingredients. For dessert, traditional wafers filled with chocolate and walnuts. It was very light, with more of a hint of chocolate instead of chocolate as the core. We were offered honey vodka with a touch of orange as a digestif.

Pod Fredra

Pate stuffed with mushrooms, chicken soup, duck, rabbit, fried mushrooms with garlic and green salad. The soup was served extremely hot and tasted as if it were a vegetable broth instead of chicken broth – it was very good. The pate was very dense, served with a cranberry sauce and bread. It was rich, but not creamy like what I’m used to from France, for example. The cranberry sauce added an interesting contrast. The duck was served as two legs and thighs, fall off the bone tender. The duck came with sliced fried potato and cranberry sauce. The grilled mushrooms were not actually grilled, kind of soft, as if stewed. Not bad, but not as advertised on the menu. The rabbit was very tender, and not in the least gamey – the tastes-like-chicken standard applies.

Epilogue

The immersive experience in Wroclaw was made difficult by the antics of our apartment rental team. This was a corporate rental, named Penguin Apartments, that likely specialized more in hostels than in apartments. But the city was truly remarkable, with a long history spanning to the 10th century when the first Slavic tribes settled into the city’s current location on the Oder River. The city developed character from all of the hands that it has passed between over the centuries – a long list that includes, Bohemians, Prussians, Poles, and Hapsburgs. Wroclaw was a beautiful discovery experience.

Related Travel Planning

Travel Planning – Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic

Related Destinations

August 12, 2017September 3, 2017

Kraków

This is the 3rd destination in the Western Slavic Countries circuit as described in that Travel Planning post.

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The route from Kosice to Kraków was mostly a 2-lane road with construction at many points along the way. As the main route, it handled all traffic including trucks, farm equipment, bicyclists and all vehicles imaginable. As such, it made for some interesting driving – the kind where keen attention is necessary as anything may come around the next curve in the road.

We broke up the four and a half hour trip with a stopover in a little ski village in the southernmost part of Poland called Krynica. It was so small that we walked its entire length in 15 minutes. We stopped for enough time to stretch our legs, and grab a little bite to eat – to satisfy ourselves for the remainder of the drive into Kraków.

I noticed that the countryside changed once we entered Poland – from a rolling meadow in Slovakia to more of a woodland landscape, and trending toward mountainous. And as as we entered Poland, I noticed that we had climbed to a higher rung on the economic ladder in Central Europe. Gone was any leftover communist era construction. Most of the houses looked very well-kept, larger, more ornate, and located in remote areas. I guessed that they could have been weekend, or vacation homes for well to do city dwellers.

On entering the city limits of Krakow, I knew right away that we were in a much larger city than Bratislava and Kosice. Traffic was thick and slow. I had the GPS in the BMW programmed to guide us to a plaza close to where our apartment was located in the old town. Finding parking was a panic. We ended up at an attended 24 hour parking garage that would cover us for three days of parking for a mere 105 Zloty, the equivalent of maybe $30. A bargain given that it was staff operated 24 hours around the clock, and I wouldn’t have to worry about the BMW at any point in time.

Arrival

It was a short five minute walk from the parking garage to the pedestrian center of the old town on Florianska Street. I gasped as we walked through the gate into the old town, having passed a McDonald’s in the process. I reflected on the lesson learned from my experience in Bordeaux, where our apartment there on Saint Catherine Street was within walking distance to a McDonald’s, and the location turned out to be too touristy.

Florianska street was definitely well touristed because it was part of the “Royal Route”, which starts at the Florianska Gate and works its way to Wawel Castle through the Market Square – passing right by our apartment. The route was taken by Polish kings as the preferred path to their coronations in the 14th through 16th centuries, and has many of the old town’s attractions along the way. So naturally, there were tourists. And a McDonald’s.

It was a good choice to have selected Bratislava and Kosice as the first and second stops on the Western Slavic Countries itineraries because they were good warm-ups for the grander, more visited Krakow.

Settling in

The apartment was fabulous. It was grand, spacious, and very accommodating for two people. While it had a single bedroom, it was capable of entertaining a dozen guests. It had ten foot ceilings, large doorways, and near floor to ceiling windows that faced on to Florianska Street. An unbelievable three night residence, priced competitively, centrally located, and less expensive than a hotel room within walking distance of the old town.

After settling into our new home for 3 nights, we were ready to stretch our legs and do some initial exploration in the vicinity of the apartment. The area is truly steeped in history, with consistent architecture from the 15th and 16th centuries throughout – with no damage from the wars that scarred so many beautiful European cities. I must have looked like country bumpkin on his first visit to New York City – wide-eyed as I walked around taking it all in.

We were famished after driving all day with a light meal for lunch. Fortunately, our lovely hostess left us several strong recommendations for restaurants focusing on local fare. She insisted we visit Ogniem I Mieczem (The Fire and Sword) first to set the expectation for food in Krakow, advising us to take a taxi, which we did. The meal was spectacular, and is detailed in the Food Scene section. The food was so good, and so filling that we did not take a taxi back to the apartment, electing instead to walk off some of the thousands of calories we just enjoyed. What a great introduction to the Krakow.

Walking tour

Normally I like to roll my own for this sort of thing, but there was an organized walking tour of the old town that met at 10:00 by the Barbican, which was very close to our apartment, so we joined them. I wanted to get the lay of land from a local. As it turned out, our guide was a graduate of the famous Uniwersytet Jagiello?ski (Pope John Paul II’s Alma Mater), with a degree in history. He was a tall, bearded man in his late 30s, called himself a BFG (big friendly giant), although his name was Calen. He was very knowledgeable, and entertaining.

The tour hit some of the highlights of the old town – Main Market Square with St Mary’s church, Cloth Hall and Town Hall Tower, remains of Medieval city walls with Barbican and St Florian Gate, St Francis Church, Bishop’s Palace and “Papal window”, Wawel Hill with Cathedral and Wawel Castle, and the Wawel Dragon.

Discovery Trek

We did the “Royal Route”, which starts at the Florianska Gate and works its way to Wawel Castle – as mentioned previously, this was the route taken by Polish kings as the preferred path to their coronations in the 14th through 16th centuries. But we also criss-crossed the old town, and headed to the Jewish quarter – called Kazimierz. We then walked a good stretch of the Vistula River as we circled our way back to the old town.

The photo gallery tells the story. But the feeling I had as I walked the old town and the surrounding sights was that of a deeply historic city, untouched by the horrific bombings and battles of the wars of the 19th century. The city was in impeccable order, clean, and well preserved. The crowds were there, but they too were orderly, and generally lacked the tourist density everywhere I walked. Krakow was the Poland of old, the ancient seat of the Polish Monarchy, the pride of the country, and having heard Calen describe it over a period of several hours, the most beautiful and important city in Poland. I could not have argued. Krakow was one of the most beautiful immersive traveling experiences I’ve ever had. I hope the photos do it some justice.

Featured Video

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The scene is the central square, which is busy with both tourists and locals. Some of the nicer restaurants are on this square, so it draws a lot of attention. Beyond the people congestion – there are horses. Now with that in mind, notice how neat and tidy the area is. Remember, there are horses here.

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Food Scene

Ogniem I Mieczem

“Fire and sword.” Boneless pork knuckle, baby back ribs, fire roasted potato, and cabbage. Wow. What a meal. The ribs were fall off the bone tender, seasoned with garlic. No American style rib sauce. Finger licking good. The boneless pork knuckle was the center of attraction. Crisp on the outside, gooey, fatty, meaty on the inside. Best I’ve ever had. In addition to the high quality of the food, the service was superior. A great intro to the Krakow food scene. I would highly recommend this fine place.

Pod Nosem

This restaurant changes their menu monthly to keep their offerings fresh. Slow cooked bacon over radish slices. Baltic salmon, Zander (Baltic perch-pike caught regionally) with white and green asparagus, and a pesto style foundation. The salmon was beautifully presented, arranged as a rose, with very mild radish garnish, crispy, crunchy with no bite at all. That was very flavorful, and sliced rather thick to deliver more flavor per bite. The stuff that looked like black caviar was a garnish mix of black olives, browned bread, almonds, and olive oil. It added an unexpected dimension of flavor to the plate. The Zander main course was also well presented, with a combination of ingredients that worked together very well. Someone knows what they’re doing in this kitchen. Service was a bit slow, but impeccable . This was memorable.

W Starej Kuchni

Beef and pork Pierogi, Polish cuisine sampler, with white and dark sausage, cabbage roll, 3 types of pierogi, potato pancake with goulash, and cabbage. The dark sausage had a bland grain filling – not a highlight. The potato pancake was very crisp, with the spicy goulash was a contrast. The white sausage had a bit of thyme to add some flavor, but was not a standout. The beef and pork pierogi were crispy and meaty, but rather neutral otherwise. The entire meal was rather middle of the road.

Miodova – in the Jewish quarter

Pink Matias herring with beets caviar served with red onion, cherries, pan fried halibut with broad bean and pea purée, perch filet with young cabbage and sour cucumber foam. The herring was delightfully fishy and tangy. The cherries turned out to be beet hearts, and the caviar too were tiny beet jewels. The halibut was cooked well with crispy skin and flaky white meat. The pea and bean purée was not to my liking, the flavor combination wasn’t working. The perch was cooked well with crispy skin and flaky white fish. The young cabbage worked well in combination with the fish. The service was really slow which detracted from the experience.

Jarema

Steak tartare, roast wild boar, veal pirogi, mixed green salad. The tartare came with sardines, dill pickle relish, chopped onion, pickled mushroom, a dab of butter, and a tiny quail egg. Really good combination of flavors, and different than any steak tartare I’ve previously had anywhere. Great appetizer. The roasted wild boar came in a mushroom sauce, very mild. No hint of gamey flavor, to my disappointment – tasted more like roast beef. Good but unexpected. The veal pirogis were simple, just filled with ground veal, and the dumpling pastry rolled out very thin, a light affair with a drizzle of olive oil. Hot apple pie with ice cream and a chocolate mousse for dessert. The service was fabulous. This place is memorable.

Epilogue

Reflections on Kraków. I was sad to leave Kraków, even though I knew I had half the Western Slavic Countries itinerary in front of me. I wanted to stay and linger longer. I concluded that I could live in Kraków for a season, if not a year. Beautiful people, extremely gracious hosts, wonderfully good food, and drink. Architecture and history that spans the centuries, in the heart of Poland. This was a very immersive experience, and a memorable destination.

Related Travel Planning

Travel Planning – Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic

Related Destinations

July 30, 2017November 22, 2017

Immersive Travel Motivation

Immersive Travel Motivation

As if I needed a reason – I travel because the voyage fulfills so many needs for me personally. I want to share with you some of the themes that come to mind when I think about what motivates me to travel, and why I want to have an immersive traveling experience.

Leisure

This is the primary reason for me, and it’s fairly self explanatory. We all do those things that are necessary in our lives, and we travel to relax, and escape our work-a-day worlds. I need the kind of relaxation that happens as a new historical destination unfolds before me, as I meander my way through it.

Discovery

Discovery comes in many forms and dimensions, and is a primary driver for travel for most people. Exploration yields the pure joy of discovering new places, meeting new people, tasting new foods, sampling new wines, and becoming one with the locals for a few days.

Culture

The ways people live, and go about their lives, eat, entertain, and work. It varies greatly between countries, and even cities within countries. Different aspects of life are emphasized, for example – the balance between work and home, depending on the destination explored. The incredible cultural contrast among the destinations visited – from the fastidious and punctual, to laissez faire hedonism, and La Dolce Vita, I am both delighted and respectful as I take part in the local ways of life.

History

There is no better way to experience history than being in a destination that is steeped in it. The world is dotted with historic destinations, cities, and locations, waiting to be discovered and explored through an immersive travel experience. I could spend a lifetime exploring Europe alone.

Architecture

Historic, from antiquity, spanning the centuries and sometimes the millennia – architecture does something to the soul that observes it. The appreciation of interesting architecture fills the imagination with the stories that might be retold – if only the marble, and brick had a voice.

Cuisine

Everyone loves food, following their own proclivities, and inclinations. But the person with an open mind, a broad palate, and just the right amount of adventurousness and curiosity will discover food and drink worthy of kings and royalty. All over the world, cuisine discovered there often is reason alone for the voyage.

Enlightenment

Immersive travel is broadening, personally enriching, and changes your perspective on the world without making any kind of overt effort to do so. It just happens, and it is amazing. I find myself reflecting on trips and destinations, knowing that I’m both a different, and better person from having made the journey.

Wanderlust

Of this sin, I am so guilty. It is my affliction. I am not alone. And no amount of travel as a tonic quenches this thirst. I hope it never will.

Bucket List

Our youth don’t understand the importance of the Bucket List as a concept. It’s the sort of thing that emerges as you grow older, and reflect on your life, and the things that really matter. What do I really want. What do I really need. And why don’t I do those things that really matter to me, when it’s all said and done. It’s the sort of thing that happens when “maturity” gets old. Travel scratches a lot of itches for many, many people – especially those afflicted with the torment.

Related Topics

July 23, 2017September 3, 2017

Košice

This is the second destination of 6 on the Western Slavic Countries itinerary as described in that post.

We got a late start out of Bratislava because of two reasons: It was apparently our Uber driver’s first time picking up a customer. He drove by us several times and after the third time I had to actually chase him down on foot leaving the luggage with my wife. Had it not been for that, we might still be waiting there. The second reason was that we were picking up our vehicle at a Sixt satellite office in the city. They were expecting us at noon but we showed up just before 10:30. This location was used by appointment only, and was not otherwise staffed, so we had to wait. There was a happy ending, as they upgraded me to a BMW 5 series with the M package.

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We had a fabulous drive to Ruzomberok, our stop-over point en route to Košice. We stopped for lunch at at Salas Krajinka, a working sheep farm that had a restaurant on the property. Very interesting combination. However, the food was pretty good and the scenery was unexpected. The place was packed with people, as it turns out this is a restaurant that is sought out by people driving from Bratislava eastward as a stop-over, and it was well patronized. Lots of details on the experience at the restaurant in the food scene section.

Arrival

We had driven some beautiful undulating landscape with the Tatra mountains as a backdrop. On the road we could see the remnants of the post communist era construction visible as we approached villages and towns of any size. These old communist era construction apartment blocks – gray, unadorned, very basic, were modern-day eyesores. I thought that as I drove further east and away from Bratislava that I would see less and less of them, but this didn’t turn out to be the case. As we approached Košice, we noticed the eyesores again. Apparently, they are ubiquitous in the Slovak Republic. So, as we entered the city and worked our way towards our apartment, we traveled into the center of town and the landscape changed dramatically. We found a beautiful old part of town with interesting and well preserved architecture, where the pace and the scenery were different than the outskirts.

Settling in

Our apartment was in exceptional condition. Everything was new, well decorated, and in the very central part of this very small old town. The old town looked like it could have been walked completely end to end, and probably hit every every cross street, in under an hour.

This particular apartment rental was done through Airbnb which is not typical for me. For reasons discussed previously, in a blog that I’ll eventually post separately, I don’t often book through Airbnb. However this was the best option and I knew exactly what I was getting, which is the main issue with Airbnb. They don’t allow you to do a Street View. They don’t allow you to see the physical location of the apartment. The lack of transparency on location is unacceptable, because location is such a significant ingredient in the formula for having an immersive experience. Our hostess met us and showed us around the apartment, gave restaurant, and sightseeing recommendations, and helped us to get settled in. We had a stroll around town just stretching our legs after the long drive. We eventually found an interesting place to have a non-lumberjack meal. The Slovak cuisine is highly focused on meat and very hearty at that. So our second seafood meal of the trip was very welcome. Way more detail on this fabulous restaurant can be found in the Food Scene section below

Discovery trek

Košice Stare Mesto should be properly called the pastel old town. The buildings were varied pastel colors throughout the old town, by design, and with a consistent architectural approach. It appealed to the eye. It was a lovely little town to stroll around at a relaxed pace. There was a delightful park that was placed down the center of town. It was filled with flowers, grass, trees, monuments, fountains where children splashed, and an abundance of park benches where mothers sat watching their children play while others enjoyed their ice cream in the warm sunshine. It was an idyllic scene and epitomized the slower pace of life there. The city was mostly locals with a light tourist presence, which made it seem custom ordered for an off the beaten path immersive experience. I had a great couple of days in Košice, with the car remaining parked the entire time, and all exploration accomplished on foot.

Food Scene

Salas Krajinka

Chicken noodle soup with meat and veggies (just like mom’s), sauerkraut soup with pork sausage, potato Perogies with bacon and sheep cheese on the side, sheepshank with grilled onion and green beans, potato dumplings with cabbage. The lamb shank was fall off the bone tender, served in a light brown gravy – neutral tasting. The potato dumplings were well spiced with sweet paprika, so much that it looked like a light tomato sauce, and they snuck in another round little pepper, red this time, that laid waste to my taste buds. The pirogies were tender with a mild flavor, surprisingly, and the sheep cheese not as strong and salty like what we tried in Bratislava. The bacon, however was on the salty side, and very smokey – complementary combination of flavors. All very filling, like lumberjack food.

Pan Ryba

Carpaccio of Octopus with aioli and sepia mayo, grilled sea bream, grilled calamari, spinach mashed potatoes and spicy tomato sauce. The bream was grilled to perfection with crispy skin, and moist, flaky flesh. The carpaccio had a delicate flavor, and the sepia infused mayonnaise gave it just a little kick. The grilled calamari was tender, over a fresh tangy tomato sauce – but not spicy as advertised. Everything was very fresh and well prepared. Service was excellent. And what great value at 26 euro all in.

Golem Pub

Peasant’s Dream – pork, chicken, sausage, bacon, mustard, horseradish, and chilis, French fries, cucumber salad. Classic traditional Slovak fare, and nobody speaks English. Can’t get any more local. We popped in to escape the sudden downpour and decided to give it a try for lunch. We were encouraged by the lack of English.

Pan Ryba – Part Deux

Seafood soup, grilled sea bass, fillet of cod baked in paper, green salad. We really wanted to eat light, and also wanted seafood. There are few choices in town, and we knew the quality here was great from our earlier experience. The cod was tender and flaky. Not a large portion, but a good combination of ingredients, and very tasty. The sea bass was just a tad over-grilled, very crispy on the outside, but because it’s less oily than most fish, it can dry out easier as well. Still good, though – and I’m a tough grader.

Epilogue

Reflections on Košice. A beautiful, charming, and very compact old town – much less touristed than most parts of Europe I’ve visited. I spent a very enjoyable 2 days relaxing, and being a local. This was a very immersive experience, and a memorable destination.

Related Trips

Travel Planning – Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic

Related Destinations

July 17, 2017September 3, 2017

Bratislava

This is the first of six destinations as laid out in the Central Europe Trip post. The big picture difference between a Trip and Destination post is that the former is about conception and planning, while the latter is about execution and being there.

It is in the nature of things for plans to not work out as laid out in the schemer’s mind. From an adage like Murphy’s Law, to the “Best laid plans of mice and men,” I am reminded that random events deviate us from our best intentions. And out of the swirling chaos that is Heathrow Airport, British Airways experienced multiple failures in their computer systems effectively shutting down their global operations while we were waiting to connect to Vienna from London. Brilliant. And so we had a 6 hour delay inserted into the schedule getting us off to a late start. This news story highlights the catastrophe, and to be honest, we were lucky as we were only delayed by six hours. Most flights were delayed twice that, or rescheduled for the following day.

I have no more control over airline operations than I have over the weather. The difference is that for the weather I can bring an umbrella and have some sense of recourse, while for airline issues I can only bring a good attitude and hope for the best.

Arrival

The 2 hour flight from London to Vienna was uneventful after the long wait due to BA’s computer snafu. The English flight staff were more apologetic than usual for the delay-imposed inconvenience. And passport control was a breeze in Vienna, with well organized short queues which moved quickly.

I was glad to have bypassed any further public transportation to get to central Bratislava, as I’d had enough delays for 1 day. It was a quick 40 minute Uber ride to get to the center of town from the Vienna airport. Our Uber driver was sitting proudly behind the wheel of a new Mercedes E class. He shared with me during our German-efficient introductory conversation that his new Benz had only 3,000 KMs on the odometer. It actually was a nice ride, as the vehicle handled the road competently. But the driver never really tested the vehicle’s capabilities, keeping to the speed limit the entire way. What’s the German word for “pussy?”

I was relaxing and taking in the scenery on our drive to the city center. There was an interesting contrast between the countryside in Austria and Slovakia. The Austrians had wind turbines everywhere, scattered across the farmland – spinning slowly, producing that good green electricity. And in The Slovak Republic, the countryside was left onto itself, rolling, pastoral, and green. Did the Slovaks lack the economic means to stand up the wind turbines like the Austrians? Whatever the explanation, the contrast at the border was noticeable.

As we entered the outskirts of the city, I couldn’t help but notice row after row of large, gray Soviet era big block apartment buildings. Function without aesthetic appeal, the legacy of the socialist hive-mind thinking all over former communist Europe. It contrasts so well with the beautiful old architecture of the pedestrian-only center of the city,

Settling in

Our apartment was located on Biella street just 50 paces or so from Michael’s gate. It was situated in the northernmost part of the old town in a 500 year old building, very conveniently located to access the compact, scenic old town of Bratislava. The apartment was spacious with 10 foot ceilings and large windows which let in a good breeze when opened. It was comfortable with a spartan decor, a theme that would play out for most of our apartment rentals on this trip. There was minimal street noise considering the central location, and pedestrian traffic. On the downside, the apartment did not have AC, a necessary compromise when renting in a 500 year old building, and another repeating theme on this trip. The apartment was well ventilated, and a fan was available, so no hardship was endured without the AC. I would both recommend and re-book this property.

Discovery trek

We essentially did two discovery treks, the first was in the historic, pedestrian-only old town.

The capital of The Slovak Republic is pleasantly under-touristed, and less densely populated than most European capitals I’ve had the pleasure to visit. It is situated on the Danube river, at a crossroads of Central Europe, within driving distance of Vienna, and Budapest – both of which have much more international recognition than Bratislava. Most of the highlights of this Central European treasure are within or near its compact old town, or “Stare Mesto.” There is no grand scheme necessary to see all there is in Bratislava, Google Maps are unneeded as well. I used the tried and true technique of wandering around on foot from one interesting thing to the next, finding good food and drink as I went. Best discovery technique ever, and fun too.

On a recommendation from a couple we met on the Bratislava Food Tour, we did a discovery trek to Lake Drazdiak the following day – a local spot for urban water recreation, surrounded by the old Soviet-era apartment blocks. It was a meandering 6 kilometer walk to the lake, crossing the Danube from the old town, and a vast array of monolithic, communist-era block apartments as we went. The Soviet housing was a somber contrast to the elegant, historic architecture of the old town. The locals did what they could to make the communist relics more appealing. They were painted with color schemes that appeared to disguise, or soften the hard angles of the basic, functional Russian designs. There was a completely different vibe walking through this part of town. I didn’t feel unsafe in any way, I just didn’t feel comfortable, and I didn’t want to linger.

We followed a path along a canal to the lake, which was well used by many locals for exercise and strolling on the Monday morning in late May when we were there. Once we arrived at the lake, we continued our long walk by circumnavigating it. We stopped for lunch at a lovely, rustic restaurant on the lake shore, as described in the Food Scene section. The lake experience truly was immersive, as we were among only locals. We were the only English speakers within earshot at any given point, which is my measure of success.

Food Scene

I found the food and drink in in Bratislava to be hearty, and the cuisine simple and basic. With the focus on pork, dumplings, sausages, and soup, I would hesitate to recommend this destination to vegans, or folks on a restricted diet, if variety of food were a primary focus. Personally, I found the food to be delightful, but I knew what to expect on this trip. Hearty, lumberjack food, with some breaks here and there. They do have foul and fish, but would add that those are more of a specialty, and not offered at a typical local place.

Bratislavský Meštiansky Pivovar.

A Pivovar is essentially a pub with its own micro brewery, which serves food. This place had an extensive local menu and was recommended to us at check in time. It looked like we could eat all of our meals here and have something different every time. I chose the roasted pork knuckle and my wife selected the roasted pork belly. The beer was a lager, and I tried a juniper brandy called Borovicka, which didn’t agree with me. The food was very good, and we considered returning here to try the other tempting menu items. I would highly recommend this place, and as it turned out, it was a stop on our Bratislava Food Tour!

Restauracia Drazdiak

This restaurant was on the shore of a little urban lake with the same name. I’ve never felt more like a local in a restaurant. Fire grilled mackerel, and trout, mixed salad, grilled veggies. The grilled mackerel was cooked to perfection, with the crisped skin retaining the juicy, savory, fishy goodness. I like mackerel and look for it out when available, and this place did it right. My wife liked the grilled trout as well, a much milder fish.

Slovak Pub

Roast pork with red cabbage and dumplings. Garlic soup in a bread bowl, roast pork ribs with pickled veggies, horseradish (on the milder side), and mustard, also rather mild. The little round, green peppers were very spicy. One bite and my mouth was on fire, nothing else registered on the taste buds after that. The quality of the food, along with the service was rather middle of the road. It was not up to the Pivovar Pub standard.

Moods

English Breakfast, a modest sized cappuccino, a generous mug of black tea. It was a Slovak interpretation on the classic dish. The sausage was a spicy hot dog like variant, the bacon local, one egg sunny side up, half of a tomato, baked beans, plus a small mixed salad on the side. I don’t believe the English would approve.

Bratislava Food Tour

This was one of the highlights of discovering Bratislava. The food was great, our guide was friendly, energetic, and knowledgeable, and we met some nice folks as we indulged in the local goodies. I would highly recommend this as a way of getting to know the city and food culture. Below are the locations, along with the fare sampled there.

BRATISLAVA CASTLE

C?uc?oriedkovica (blueberry brandy

KAPUCINSKA

Oravský korbác?ik (little whip cheese)

Oravské udené uzlíky (smoked knot sheep cheese)

Bravc?ová klobása (pork sausage)

BRATISLAVSKÝ MEŠTIANSKY PIVOVAR

Oškvarková nátierka (cracklings paté with bread)

Bryndzová nátierka (bryndza spread with bread)

Vianoc?ná kapustnica (Christmas sauerkraut soup)

BUCHTÁREN?

Buchta s c?erešn?ovým džemom (steamed dumpling with cherry jam)

Buchta s nutelou (steamed dumpling with nutella)

Buchta s bryndzovou nápln?ou (steamed dumpling with bryndza filling)

ZYLINDER

Špenátové pirohy (spinach pierogi with bryndza sauce) ?

Kac?ací konfit (roasted duck breast with stewed cabbage, potato pancakes and bread dumplings)

Prešporský schnitzel (Bratislava veal schnitzel with potato salad) ?

Red wine André

LUCULUS

Zmrzlina (ice cream)

MOODS – DOBRÁ NÁLADA NA KORZE

Bratislavské rožky (Bratislava rolls with poppy seed/nut filling)

Epilogue

Reflections on Bratislava. A charming and historic old town, less crowded and touristy, contrasted harshly with the remainder of the outlying city with its sprawl of Soviet-engineered apartment complexes. I had the distinct feeling that Slovakia was on a lower economic rung as compared to its western-slavic neighbors in Poland and the Czech Republic – and most certainly as compared with Austria. The locals were lovely and friendly. The food and drink were basic and hearty, with pork, dumplings, cabbage, soups highlighting the local menu; and beer, Slivovica (plum brandy) and Borovicka (juniper brandy) as beverage staples. I would do a return visit to Bratislava in a heartbeat. This was a memorable destination, and the photos do not do it justice.

Related Trips

Travel Planning – Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic

Related Destinations

July 16, 2017November 22, 2017

Travel Planning – Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic

Travel Planning – Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic

Motivation

This is about trip planning, but more than anything, it’s about an exercise of imagination, the expression of curiosity, and the definition of a theme. Imagine approaching an elegant buffet with a great variety of food and drink, ranging from haute cuisine to more basic, but tempting dishes from far flung parts of the world. You’re hungry. How do you decide what to eat with so much variety? The problem comes down to choice, with an endless array at our fingertips.

Such is the challenge in trip planning. The explorable world is before us like an elegant, well organized buffet. We merely need to decide what’s next on our plate. It sounds easy, and it would be if we had hard constraints. Using the buffet analogy, if we were shellfish lovers for example, we could immediately eliminate a large portion of the menu and concentrate on what we like most. And so it is with trip planning. We need to know what we like, or at least what interests us next, either due to curiosity or the ongoing execution of a theme.

And that’s what I like to do – work on a broad theme, in this case it’s Europe. This particular theme has been unfolding for over a decade, with sometimes focused exploration of one country, and other times far flung meandering across a region. This trip leans towards the meandering, but with a connecting thread that binds the destinations together – mostly.

Slovakia, southern Poland, and the Czech Republic, a collection of Western Slavic speaking Central European countries, geographically contiguous, and explorable by automobile over a couple of weeks. All three share the same branch of the European language tree, and have culture and history binding them together as well. The food is hearty and the drink is strong, with the latter useful for warding off the chills of the long winter nights.

Itinerary

In short, the selection is as follows, to be navigated in a grand counterclockwise circuit by automobile over 14 days:

Bratislava, Slovakia – 3 nights

Kosice, Slovakia – 2 nights

Krakow, Poland – 3 nights

Wroclaw, Poland – 2 nights

Olomouc, Czech Republic – 2 nights

Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic – 2 nights

I wanted to visit Bratislava and Kosice in Slovakia because they are its main cities. I wanted to visit Krakow because it’s simply a must see in Poland, more so than any other city based on its history, culture, and architecture – and Wroclaw not only due to geographic proximity to Krakow, but because in addition, it’s worthy of a visit. I wanted to finish the circuit with the exploration of smaller towns in the Czech Republic, since I’d already been to Prague on a previous trip. Olomouc stood out a great opportunity for exploration with its history dating back to the 11th century, and as a lesser known, off the tourist path type of destination. I selected Cesky Krumlov as the final destination for very similar historic reasons, although it is as firmly part of the beaten down tourist path as possible.

I elected to start the itinerary in Bratislava and work my way east to Kosice, covering most of Slovakia over a 5 day period. Then head north to Krakow, Poland for a 3 day exploration of the ancient seat of Polish Kings – which saw no damage to speak of in the major wars of the 20th century, and should be in pristine architectural shape. Continuing the counterclockwise circuit, I next selected Wroclaw for 2 nights as a compliment to Krakow in Poland. Also steeped in history, but did not escape the specter of war unscathed. And the circuit is completed in the Czech Republic with stops in Olomouc, and Cesky Krumlov, each for 2 nights, covering both the former kingdoms of Moravia, and Bohemia. I thought the two cities would represent the Czech Republic well, although Cesky Krumlov is densely touristed, I had hoped I was early enough in the season to avoid the main surge. I reserved a 1 night stay in Vienna to await the early return flight to Heathrow, connecting back to Atlanta. Without this tactical accommodation, I would have had to drive from Cesky Krumlov to Vienna in the very early hours of a Sunday morning, like departing at 2:30 AM, to arrive at the Vienna airport at 6:00 AM. I shudder at the thought.

Logistics

There are no direct commercial flights from the US to Bratislava. It’s easy to check this with Google Flights using the Explore feature while filtering on direct flights only. Given that I had to make a layover, I selected London Heathrow because of the broad selection of connecting flights, which gave me a reasonable connection time, as well as good prices due to competition among carriers. I chose a direct flight to Vienna from Heathrow to complete the outbound air transportation part of the trip. The Vienna airport is serviced by many more carriers than Bratislava’s airport, which drives up competition and reduces prices. And the Vienna airport is an easy 45 minute Uber ride to central Bratislava.

With so many cities to connect to, I definitely wanted to drive over taking trains and public transportation. It’s the connection time that elongates travel using public transportation. And nothing beats the convenience of going on your own schedule to wherever you need to on any given day. Can’t do that with public transportation. Driving is more expensive to be sure, but I’m optimizing for time, not budget. And there will be plenty of driving, to be sure. I estimate about 2,000 kilometers of driving with 3 to 4 ½ hours between the destinations planned, which is a golden opportunity for discovering the countryside, and stopping in little out of the way places in between.

With so many interesting, steeped in history, smaller cities to explore, I definitely wanted apartments over hotels on this trip. And I was focusing on apartments that were centrally located, within the confines of the pedestrian-only parts of the old town. This allows for convenient exploration with no transit time to get to the historic and interesting parts of town. And there’s nothing more immersive than stepping out of your own door and being in the heart of the historic part of town.

Resources

Google Flights is my standard tool for research, and planning airfare. There are plenty of others, and I’ve tried most, but find that I really don’t need to save the very last nickel at the cost of spending more time chasing that nickel.

Booking.com, TripAdvisor, and Airbnb were used to book all of the apartments for this trip. My preference is to avoid Airbnb because they’re not transparent with property locations, and do not promote the size of their properties in their standard description. But I do use them if I can circumvent their deficiencies. It’s interesting that I booked no properties with Homeaway on this trip, especially considering that I explore for apartments there first.

Google Maps is absolutely indispensable for planning purposes. I shudder to think what trip planning would be without it. I download the maps for the countries I travel, to avoid being out of cell range (highly unlikely in Europe), and to navigate should I exceed my daily data allowance.

Google Translate is installed on my phone with all of the languages I need on this trip already downloaded. This way I can translate on the spur of the moment even if I have no data left for the day, or if I’m out of cell range (a huge improbability in Europe).

In Your Pocket guides were useful for getting a background, and some history of Krakow and Wroclaw in particular, but also good for an overview of Olomouc. The quality is very good, and I hope they do more cities.

Sixt is my first choice for car rental in Europe. They are a competent company, typically delivering road worthy German cars. On this particular occasion, I reserved a BMW 520d. An excellent automobile for the exhilarating driving possible on European roads.

Uber is what I planned to use to get to central Bratislava from the Vienna airport, as well as return to Vienna from Bratislava after dropping off the rental car to spend the night before the return flight to Heathrow. It also comes in handy for getting around from point A to B once I’ve had enough walking for one day (which sometimes, but rarely, happens).

Epilogue

Reflections on this trip. The itinerary in general was very good, but I am disappointed as to how densely touristed Cesky Krumlov was even in early June, the time we were at this particular destination. CK was interesting, and I liked the destination, but found it impossible to blend in, and have an immersive experience. There is no such thing – it was like trying to be immersive at Disney World. In retrospect, I would have chosen Telc as the second city in the Czech Republic, and bypass CK, because it doesn’t fit my criteria for Immersive Travel. Otherwise, I would consider this trip epic, with many fond memories of the destinations visited.

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=1Fwk6GkN5lYRR_Lb3hU-qrw1bUAM&w=640&h=480]

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May 13, 2017February 18, 2018

Immersive Travel Bordeaux

We set off for Bordeaux from Lyon early in the morning, and prepared ourselves for a 5-hour road trip. We grabbed a couple of sandwiches for the trip from Boulangerie Saint Vincent just around the corner from the apartment. These neighborhood bakeries not only sell fresh breads and pastries, but also make wonderful to-go sandwiches on baguette with your choice of meats and cheeses. As I drove toward the highway, exiting Lyon for the last time, the traffic was again heavy, and congested. But once on the open road, I was able to drive at whatever speed I was comfortable. I had the Waze application running to help identify “safety camera” zones en route to Bordeaux.

We spent the next 5 hours westbound on Route A89. With no major cities in between, and traffic very sparse, I had this in front of me for the majority of the time. It was an enjoyable one-stop for gas, long-haul drive through picturesque Massif Central countryside.

Arrival

On arrival to Bordeaux, we entered the city by car and worked our way towards the center of the old town. I crossed the Garonne River via Pont François Mitterrand, then turned north. In the next few kilometers, the cityscape transformed from typical European town to something requiring an extent of talent to describe. But in the absence of such rare stuff, this URL will help. Visually, it felt like I just time warped back to the nineteenth century. The architecture was consistent, and visually stunning – It wasn’t just a few buildings. It was the entire old town, and this was the facade of buildings facing the Garonne River – the rest of the old town was yet to be explored.

Rue Sainte Catherine

I had secured a centrally located apartment on Rue Sainte Catherine, in the heart of the old town on a pedestrian-only street. Parking was available within an easy 5-minute walk to the apartment, as we arrived in central Bordeaux just before 2 o’clock in the afternoon. We were a little early to our rendezvous with the person presenting the apartment. So, we sat down at a café and passed a few minutes over an afternoon drink, admiring our new home for the next 4 nights.

I couldn’t help but notice the number of people on Rue Sainte Catherine. We were near the northern end of the street, which was slightly elevated so that I could see downward into the distance. The pedestrian-only street looked like a river of people flowing downhill and away from me – it was quite the visual. And the interesting thing – it was Wednesday afternoon just after 2 o’clock. It was a beautifully sunny day in early April, and maybe it was some sort of holiday for high school kids – I was grasping to rationalize the level of activity for the middle of the week in the middle of the afternoon. I guessed it must be good to be French.

Settling in

An elevator ride and a flight of stairs later and we were inside of our well-appointed vieille ville apartment. I chose the apartment for its location, the interior design, and its amenities. It’s amazing how well-renovated a 200-year-old building can be. I felt like we had every convenience we would need. The central area of the apartment was a single room that had the kitchen, dining area, and living area – an open space concept. There were two major design elements – a wall of glass looking onto the glass rooftop of the Gallerie LaFayette building down below, and opposite the glass was the curved stone exterior wall of the building. The exterior stone wall really added character and contrast to the interior design.

We dropped off our luggage, and eagerly set off to explore the area surrounding our apartment, keeping an eye out for a nice restaurant – always in the back of my mind: food. We found ourselves at some wonderful landmarks just wandering about: Place de la Bourse, Place du Parlement, Hôtel de Ville, and Eglise St. Michel – each less than a five minute walk from our apartment. Just stretching our legs after driving all day.

Initial Exploration

The sense of wonder at how visually stunning the old town was on arrival, was followed by the anticipation of seeing more of it. There was no organization really at this point, no list of what things to see first and next. It was more like kids wandering around a candy store. One interesting landmark led to the next one.

This section has complimentary Google Maps photos. To see the “Arrival” photos on Google Maps, go to the map at the bottom of this post and click on fullscreen mode. Then select the “Photos – Arrival” layer from the menu on the left side of the map.

Discovery Trek

This section has a complimentary Google Maps route and photos. To follow the Discovery Trek on Google Maps, go to the map at the bottom of this post and click on fullscreen mode. Then select both “Route – Discovery Trek”, and “Photos – Discovery Trek” layers from the menu on the left side of the map.

Bordeaux is an architectural treasure. As we walked through the old town on our discovery trek, it felt like we found something interesting with the turn of every corner. It was by far the best-kept vieille ville of any city of we’ve previously visited in France. Bordeaux has the kind of architectural heritage that drives an urge to take a photo of every building.

Place des Quinconces

We set off from the apartment and made our way towards La Place des Quinconces early in the morning with beautiful blue sky, without-a-single-cloud walking weather. The air was brisk and cool which contrasted the warmth of the sunshine nicely. The walk was a pleasure and the scenery was memorable.

From La Place des Quinconces we turned north and walked along the river, and bumped into a open air market selling a variety of seafood. We continued along the river until we arrived at Le Miroir d’Eau, which had a variety of water displays – sometimes like a mist, sometimes like a fountain, and other times a thin layer of water which was the mirror image suggested in its name.

We crossed the road away from the river and made our way back into the old town, walking by Place Bir Hakeim, and once again a variety of beautiful architecture was on parade before us.

From there we made our way past the Ecole des Beaux Artes to the Eglise Saint-Croix where we toured the interior.

Place de la Victoire

We continued our walk through the old part of town towards Place de la Victoire, which was busy with outdoor cafés and people going about their day. It seemed a cross-road of pedestrian traffic, a little busier than other parts of town.

Leaving Place de la Victoire, we headed for the first of the beautiful green spaces situated inside the old town. The garden was surrounded by period architecture buildings, which were as decorative as the wisteria hanging from their walls. The public garden should have been full of people enjoying the sunshine on a beautiful spring day. But it was lightly used, and we practically had it to ourselves.

Leaving the Botanical Garden behind us, we headed back towards Place du Parlement for a bite to eat. All that walking did work up an appetite. We stopped at Chez Jean for an epic French meal. It was memorably good, and I rant about it in the Food Scene section.

The old town of Bordeaux, situated on the west side of the Garonne River, was much more expansive than Lyon’s old town. General impressions of the old town were that it had its share of narrow medieval lanes, but it also opened up to broad avenues with modern trams running down the center. It opened up to lovely small squares hosting shops and cafés, and grand squares with cathedrals and churches as their anchors. There were monuments, statuary, and water fountains interspersed throughout the old town. There were several green spaces as well. Some were on the grounds of its institutions, like the Musée des Beaux Artes, for example, while others were stand-alone public parks.

Food scene

I didn’t know what to expect from Bordeaux with regards to quality of food. All I knew was that it was France and, it will be good. I didn’t have any idea how good. I found the cuisine in Bordeaux to approach the quality in Lyon. And Lyon was very, very good. It seemed to me that we had more variety in Bordeaux. In particular, I found that we had more seafood available to us than we had in Lyon.

In Bordeaux, restaurants typically don’t open until after 7:00 PM for dinner. And it’s not just restaurants, it’s everything, cafés included – wherever we could sit down, no matter what they call themselves, the hours were similar. Usually in larger cities, cafés stay open and offer smaller portions, and snacks throughout the day. The restricted hours I think speaks to Bordeaux’s smaller size, with reduced customer traffic and demand.

L’Embarcadère

We both had a seafood bisque as an appetizer, we tried the sea bass, and mussels for our main dishes. The seafood was fresh, and well prepared. This place specializes in seafood. We would revisit L’Embarcadère for the last meal of our last evening in Bordeaux.

Boite A Huitres

The name translates to the Oyster Box. We walked by this restaurant and noticed a guy standing outside by the entrance, shucking oysters all through the lunch hour. What a way to advertise that a restaurant serves oysters (aside from the name). We had Jambon de Bayonne, and sausage for appetizers. A bit of variety with warmed brie on toast, fresh oysters, and finally Fromage Blanc with strawberry preserves. It was very good. The oysters in particular were very fresh.

Chez Jean

A classic French restaurant just around the corner from our apartment, highly recommended by a local. Beef bone marrow, and smoked trout for appetizer. I love bone marrow, and this was very good – I considered ordering a second helping (a very bad idea in France). I don’t snob on about the wine, but for this meal a hearty local red was recommended for me. We both had Cochon Noir – 10 hour slow cooked Basque Pork. No knife was necessary, it was that tender. Followed by a medley of sweets for dessert. The wine went well with all of it, especially the marrow and the pork. I became quite the fan of Eau de Vie de Poire, what a wonderful digestif.

Le Moderne

This was our lunch stop in Villeréal on our Village Road Trip. This was a regular café fare, with what you see is what you get. This tiny restaurant was a farm-to-table associated with a local farm for high quality beef. Some of the tables around us were sharing enormous servings of what looked like ribeye. Would have loved to have tried it, but we were not interested in anything that heavy.

Brasserie des Douanes

This should be titled “The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men.” We stopped at this little café in the morning to get some coffee and tea. Meanwhile, fifteen minutes later – 2 types of eggs, bread with butter and apricot preserves, jambon, and fresh orange juice. It was very fresh and good. And considering that tax and tip are included in the price, not expensive either.

Via Luna

This was a little café we stopped in for lunch in the middle of the Discovery Trek Part Deux. It was very simple café food, Charcuterie, fromage, and two types of salmon, along with some salad. Good café chow, and very reasonably priced.

L’Embarcadère – Part Deux

So this is the reason we had to stop at this place a second time, and it should be titled “Seafood Porn.” We saw a table of 4 order something like this during our first visit. This is not a tourist place. That is not a stack of bad seafood sold to people that don’t know what they’re ordering. A big variety of mostly raw shellfish, along with a compatible local white wine. It was a labor of love getting to all of that seafood with the variety of little utensils provided. The chocolate dessert seems out of place, but it was awesome.

Village Road Trip

This section has a complimentary Google Maps route and photos. To follow the Village Road Trip on Google Maps, go to the map at the bottom of this post and click on fullscreen mode. Then select both “Route – Village Road Trip”, and “Photos – Village Road Trip” layers from the menu on the left side of the map.

We hit the road for the Village Road Trip early just after 8 o’clock in the morning. We drove through pastoral two lane country roads, winding our way through the hills of Aquitaine west of the city. The weather was beautiful with blue skies and sunshine. I couldn’t have asked for better spring weather to be outdoors. The Volvo S60 was very well behaved on the backroads, with all the power and agility I needed to maneuver around the twists and turns.

Les Bastides

All of the villages we visited were Bastides, built from the 13th to the 14th centuries, and laid out in a grid pattern with a central market square. Many of them had medieval walls as fortifications, some built much later than the village itself. Usually the church takes the most central and prominent location in most towns and villages. But here, the church is relegated to a corner, and the focus is on the market square – on commerce.

Eymet

We arrived in Eymet, the first village of the day, and worked our way to the main square looking for a bite to eat. We found ourselves a little working café off to the corner of the square. It looked like other tourists had the same idea, as several tables were occupied on arrival. Interestingly, this little village is favored by British expats, accounting for one third of the locals – total population just above 2000 people. I won’t hold that against the locals.

Villeréal

This was one of the smaller villages visited this day. But it was big enough to have a good café – turned out to be a farm-to-table partner with a local beef producer. There were a number of tables that ordered what looked like enormous servings of beef, perhaps ribeye. I thought I was back in the States judging by the portion size. We met a very interesting Brit expat, sitting at the table next to us. She painted a colorful picture of retired life among the French folks in the area.

Monpazier

This was our favorite village. it was very picturesque, and authentic. It was also among the largest, with many artisanal shoppes throughout the main square in particular. While this was April, and the volume of visitors was light, I fully expect heavy tourism here in the heart of summer. The locals are prepared for, and expect them. It was a pleasure exploring here.

Villefranche-du-Périgord

This village was our second favorite behind Monpazier. It was perched on a hilltop overlooking a valley. The village looked to be more residential village as opposed to a tourist draw like Monpazier, with fewer shoppes, fewer attractions for visitors, and more homes. It was very quiet and scenic, with the valley overlook.

Tournon-d’Agenais

Another hill-top perch overlooking a valley below. This was the smallest village visited, not deeper than 3 residential streets. It’s main square was under repair during our visit, so we didn’t get the full impact of its charm. Very quiet, with hardly a soul in town.

Villeneuve-sur-Lot

This was the largest of the villages visited, and it had the least charm. I would remove this stop from the village itinerary as it didn’t fit in with the rest. It was more of a small city than a village, with things like kebab shops full of loud teenagers. We stopped in to have an early dinner, but no restaurants were open. So we settled for a boulangerie prepared sandwich and some patisserie for dessert.

While all of the villages had some Bastide design elements in common, they were all unique in their own way. Some were very small requiring no more than a few minutes to walk through its entirety. The per-village photo count speaks to how visually appealing each village was to us.

Discovery Trek Part Deux

We contemplated the idea of going on a second road trip from Bordeaux, but after a brief conversation we simply discounted the idea. We wanted to continue to explore the vieille ville, and whatever parts of town we hadn’t yet discovered. For example, we had not been across the river, although we knew it wasn’t part of the old town. I thought it still merited exploration. We opted to do that versus additional village tours, or trying a winery junket with some unruly future drunks.

Comprehensive Map

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=10tdtnEYcaW2sRkukl17FTdJAVAA&w=640&h=480]

The map shows all of the places discovered and photos taken along the way for Destination Bordeaux. To use the map to its potential, click the rectangle in the top right corner of the map to open it in a new tab. Set your browser to fullscreen mode so that you can see as much of the map as possible. Browse the map layers by selecting or deselecting the check boxes on the left side of the map.

A good example in selectively exploring the map would be to check only “Photos – Village Road Trip” and “Route – Village Road Trip” on the side of the map. This would display just the Village Road Trip elements on the map. Then zoom in as tight as you like to view parts of the route of interest, along with the photos taken there. I’d love to hear feedback on this use of Google Maps to enable interaction with travel content. Enjoy!

Epilogue

Final words on Bordeaux. I find Bordeaux to be at the largest end of the cities I would consider for an extended residence, like for a year or more. The quality of the city in terms of its architecture, history, food culture, and even the climate, makes it very appealing to me. But I would have to live in the old town. No exceptions, and it wouldn’t be on Sainte Catherine Street. it would have to be on a more cozy and intimate residential square, like some we wandered by on our walks through town. I envision easy access to a café, charcuterie, and boulangerie/patisserie – the essentials for French living.

Related Trips

France Travel Planning – Lyon to Bordeaux

Related Destinations

Lyon

May 13, 2017February 17, 2018

Lyon

Arrival

Due to good planning, if I do say so myself, we had a short layover at Charles de Gaulle terminal 2. We took a 55 minute flight – what felt like a commuter – to Lyon Saint Exupery airport. Passport control and customs were a breeze at this smaller, provincial airport. We made our way to the ground transportation area just outside of the main terminal, and were able to “hail” an Uber directly from the airport. Very convenient, and no local currency needed to be exchanged, meaning no need to hunt for an ATM machine at the airport. There would be plenty in the city.

The Uber ride from Saint Exupery airport to the Presqu’ile neighborhood in central Lyon was almost as long as the flight from Charles de Gaulle to Saint Exupery! Our Uber driver – a young man – was sporting a BMW 5 series. I eventually engaged him in conversation, testing my French for the first time on the trip. I complimented him on his vehicle being so well maintained, and I asked how many kilometers it had on the odometer. I was surprised to hear that the 5 Series had 300,000 kms given that it was in such fabulous shape. Then the conversation turned to the challenges of driving on French roads, with their so-called “safety cameras” used to enforce speed limits. I was curious because I had a traffic violation when I was last in France in 2015, issued via the automated safety camera network. When I shared this with the Uber guy, he curiously asked how much I was charged for the citation. When I replied €45, he reacted with “Ooooooo… superr speederr!” rolling his Rs in the way only a Frenchman could. When I asked him what happens if you have too many of those, he eventually replied that for tourists, nothing, but for citizens there’s a number beyond which they take you to prison, and he laughed. I actually thought €45 was quite affordable for a super speeder violation. At that price I may budget for a couple of them per trip to France going forward.

Settling in

Having arrived at our apartment at the appointed time, and after proper introductions, our host gave us the grand tour of what would be our home for the next four nights in Lyon. Among the more important parts of our tour was getting a basic tutorial on how to work the washing machine – a key element for us because we travel with carry-on only. We simply admired the brilliant views from the apartment for the first time – across the Saone River to the Notre Dame de Fourvière. I looked forward to the views later that evening after nightfall, and I wasn’t disappointed.

We set off looking for something to eat as it had been a long day with nothing but airline and airport food. We walked about for at least an hour investigating the surroundings in the vicinity of the apartment along the Saone River in the Presqu’ile neighborhood. We stretched our legs after the day-long transportation confinement as we evaluated the restaurant recommendations made by our host. With the first couple of options booked full for the evening, we eventually decided on Le Grand Café des Négociants for our first Lyonnaise meal, which was not disappointing – high quality French food paired with complimentary French wine.

Discovery Trek

The weather wasn’t exactly cooperative on the first full day in Lyon, and what was a drizzle in the air, with overcast skies looked to be an all day affair, per the weather forecast from Meteo France on my iPhone. But we came prepared both with clothing and equipment. And so we grabbed our umbrellas and set off for a day of discovery.

A short distance from the apartment, just as we set off, we stumbled upon a little café with indoor seating, thankfully. We stepped inside eager for a bite to eat to get ourselves prepared for walking around all day in the colder weather. I nearly caused an international incident by expressing a preference that my eggs should be cooked in any fashion different from that which the chef (yes in Lyon the dude that prepares your eggs is called a chef) had intended. More on that drama in the food scene section.

Next we walked to the Renaissance Quarter across the Saone River from the Presqu’ile neighborhood. There was an organized run of some sort in progress with a large number of participants as we made our way into the quarter. They didn’t pick the best weather for it, and neither did we – but the difference was we had umbrellas, and warm clothes on. This thought somehow made me feel better. We toured a small section of the Renaissance Quarter just north of the Cathedrale Saint Jean Baptiste, but were focused on finding our way to the top of the Notre Dame de Fourvière hill.

So we moved away from the Renaissance Quarter, climbing the Notre Dame hill. Due to the inclement weather, there wasn’t a lot of pedestrian traffic on the way. We did however have to contend with the runners from the organized event as they completed their circucuit, getting wetter as they went.

We departed the high Notre Dame hill and headed down toward the ruins of the 2000 year old Roman amphitheater. There was a complete Roman residential complex built around the amphitheater, and we took it all in void of any crowds, a weather-provided bonus.

We next found ourselves back in the Renaissance Quarter, at the Cathedrale Saint Jean Baptiste, which was situated on a square allowing for good photo opportunities. A little farther down river, we made our way through some classic narrow streets of that period. Turning on a narrow lane, we suddenly found ourselves facing Eglise Saint Georges. However, the streets are too narrow to accommodate good photography of the church front. But there’s always the close-up of the pediment above the entryway of Saint Georges slaying the ubiquitous dragon. Photos of the back of Saint Georges were possible from the Saone side of the Church.

The Renaissance Quarter wasn’t large. It was longer than wide, sometimes just a few streets deep along the Saone River. It was a lovely area with narrow medieval lanes, buildings very close together, and it didn’t take very long to work our way through the entire section. We ended up taking a lovely walk along the Saone, heading south to its confluence with the Rhone. We had a memorable luncheon at the appropriately named Le Petit Glouton – I rave about this place in the Food Scene section.

Food Scene

Le Grand Café des Negociants

This was our first meal in Lyon after a long day in transit. It wasn’t our first choice because we got a late start, but the café was quite impressive on the inside with formal French decor, and well dressed staff. We started with something simple, pâté de foie gras for starters, sea bass accompanied with black rice (which was unusual). The pâté was very rich and went well with the Côtes du Rhône wine recommended for me. The sea bass was also good, but not memorable like the pâté. It’s noteworthy that this was the only restaurant I felt was pricey on this trip.

Le Rocambole Café terrasse du Vieux-Lyon

As mentioned in the Discovery Trek portion of the post, I nearly caused an international incident. I ordered eggs over medium, and our lovely young waitress immediately put the palm of her right hand to her head, uttering “Mon Dieu.” It was serious. She invoked the name of the Lord. She indicated in English that she would try to explain my request to the chef. I immediately backed down on my unreasonable demands. But by this time she had already committed herself to do battle with the chef, with customer satisfaction and an American-sized tip in the balance. It turned out OK, although I think the eggs were a bit bien cuit.

Le Petit Glouton

We stopped here for lunch to fortify ourselves on the day of our grand discovery trek. I was very hungry from all of the walking in the cold, drizzly weather that day. We happened upon this restaurant – the name translates to “the little glutton.” I had ordered a pork knuckle – not something you’d find in Paris, but apparently it works in Lyon. It was absolutely fabulous – crispy skin, and all. And the mustard complimented the meat so well, a strong horseradish Dijon that opened the taste buds like no other mustard I’d tried.

Brasserie Léon de Lyon

This is the restaurant we were turned away from on our arrival day because they were booked and we didn’t have reservations. The food was very good. The foie gras in particular was very rich and noteworthy. Grilled, glazed cod over a bed of fresh spinach in a slightly mustardy, slightly sweet sauce, and grilled hake with carrot, beet, turnip on turnip sauce for the main courses.

L’Auberge du Lyonnais

What a delightful meal, and a great discovery in Annecy. The portions were generous by French standards, especially for lunch. We opted for a menu, which turned out be an excellent orchestration of entrée, main course, and dessert. This meal necessitated a long stroll around Lake Annecy to assist with digestion.

Brasserie Georges

Another meal where I felt more like I was dining in Germany, Czech Republic or elsewhere in Central Europe. The escargot were definitely French, and from Burgundy. I even had beer with the meal, making the meal feel even more Germanic. The boiled pork knuckle and sauerkraut were perfectly prepared. And the bacon steak was too good to describe. Eau de Vie de Poire was recommended and worked well as a digestif.

A l’Ecu d’Or

One of the best meals in France, and we found it in little Le Puy. We tried terrine of fish and shrimp – just a lovely appetizer. Grilled duck breast and beefsteak as the main courses. Followed by a cheese plate with 3 super selections. And finished with tiramisu, and creme brulee. The reason we walk, so we can eat like this.

Le Bistrot de Lyon

Starters of Lyonnaise salad with thick sliced bacon, and a terrine of duck pâté, sweet breads, pork fat, and gelatin. Insanely good, very rich, with big contrast between the ingredients. Main courses of pork sausage over a bed of lentils with a white wine sauce, and pike dumpling in a crayfish sauce. Both very good. Fromage blanc and rum biscuit with Chantilly and dried fruit.

Road Trip – Annecy and Chambéry

This section has a complimentary Google Maps route and photos. To follow the Road Trip – Annecy and Chambéry on Google Maps, go to the map at the bottom of this post and click on fullscreen mode. Then select both “Route – Annecy and Chambéry,” and “Photos – Annecy and Chambéry” layers from the menu on the left side of the map.

We walked to our Sixt Car Rental location not far from our apartment. It was an interesting walk because it was first thing in the morning, as I was shooting for an 8:00 AM arrival at the car rental location. Along the way we could see people going about their lives, heading to school or work, and just starting their day. We got in and out of the car rental location in about 15 minutes, as we were their first customers of the day. One of the reasons I like Sixt is because it’s a very well-run organization, and this is typical of previous engagements with them. Car rental isn’t the same in Europe as it is in the US. The Europeans are more bureaucratic than Americans, so it’s a pleasure getting through the process of car rental in short order.

Annecy was smaller than I had imagined based on my readings on and off the internet. There’s a lot of material out there on Annecy, as it’s been discovered by mainstream tourism. Most people that have traveled France to any extent likely have heard of it. For me, the only points of interest in Annecy were the riverwalk in the old part of town, and a couple of long walks possible around Lake Annecy itself. We had a wonderful lunch at the Auberge du Lyonnais restaurant along the river, and we spent about an hour there. Had it not been for that, we would’ve completed the Annecy tour in a couple of hours or less.

As we left Annecy, we had originally intended to visit Grenoble next. But based on the experience in Annecy, and my recollection that Grenoble was less interesting than Annecy, we decided to explore other options. Chambéry came to mind as a possible alternative, and it may be a bit off the beaten path – at least to me. Checking Google Maps revealed that Chambéry was closer to our location than Grenoble. And then we checked the top activities for Chambéry and Grenoble on Tripadvisor to get a big picture view of of interesting things to do in each destination. Grenoble’s top rated activity was a nearby national park, while Chambéry’s was its Ville Ancienne (old town). Based on that little research we decided we would go to Chambéry.

Chambéry was a lovely little town, and we very much enjoyed exploring its 19th century-feel Ville Ancienne architecture. The town was sparsely touristed, and less densely populated – less than half the size of Annecy, for example. But large enough to have all of the desired amenities, like cafés and restaurants. I probably say this too often, but the photos don’t do lovely little Chambéry justice. This is another place that only being there brings true appreciation.

Road Trip – Le Puy

This section has a complimentary Google Maps route and photos. To follow the Road Trip – Le Puy on Google Maps, go to the map at the bottom of this post and click on fullscreen mode. Then select both “Route – Le Puy,” and “Photos – Le Puy” layers from the menu on the left side of the map.

The drive to Le Puy was a bit longer than the trip to Annecy and Chambéry. Once we got out of Lyon and into the countryside, we started to gain some altitude as we were ascending the Massif Central, the grand plateau that occupies a good portion of south-central France. It was noticeably cooler because of the elevation as compared to Lyon.

On arrival to Le Puy we noticed immediately how much undulation and elevation change there was in town. Hundreds of steps, separated the lower part of town from its upper part. It was hard to imagine how one would get around Le Puy in winter time. This part of France does get winters with significant snowfall. Le Puy with its cobblestone lanes all over the town would be quite the challenge in winter. I couldn’t imagine walking on snow and ice laden cobblestone in the middle of winter while trying to descend from the upper part of town to the lower or vice versa.

Le Puy is the stuff of picture postcards. The Cathedral of Notre Dame du Puy is both historic and impressive, and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Le Puy is noted as being the departure point for the Way of Saint James pilgrimage route, also known as the Camino de Santiago. This super cool video gives an overview of the Camino originating in Lovely Le Puy.

We had a fantastic lunch in Le Puy at a restaurant on its main square, then headed for the most visibly impressive attraction in town. It’s a few hundred step climb up to the Notre Dame de France monument at the top of its hill – it looked like the hill was made for the monument, but most likely vice versa. This Grand Statue reminded me more of the Statue of Liberty than anything else. But wow, what amazing views from the very top of the monument. The statue was actually hollow and had a tight spiral staircase that allowed access to the top – covered by the admission charge. At the top of the monument, there’s a portal inside the head of the statue allowing access to a 360 degree panoramic view of the surrounding area.

Comprehensive Map

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1ev9DVHAtZrYW67rYpOTLQxVvz3E&w=640&h=480]

The map shows all of the places discovered and photos taken along the way for Destination Lyon. To use the map to its potential, click the rectangle in the top right corner of the map to open it in a new tab. Set your browser to fullscreen mode so that you can see as much of the map as possible. Browse the map layers by selecting or deselecting the check boxes on the left side of the map. A good example in selectively exploring the map would be to check only “Photos – Discovery Trek” and “Route – Discovery Trek” on the side of the map. This would display just the Discovery Trek elements on the map. Then zoom in as tight as you like to view parts of the route of interest, along with the photos taken there. I’d love to hear feedback on this use of Google Maps to enable interaction with travel content. Enjoy!

Epilogue

Reflections on Lyon. Big. It’s far larger than Annecy, Chambéry, or even Bordeaux. Busy. It has more traffic, and feels to me like a larger city than it actually is. While its population within the city limits is in the 400 thousands, the greater Lyon cosmopolitan area is well over 2 million – which what I think contributes to its larger city feel. Classical architecture. Architectural eye candy all over the parts of town we visited – from Roman, to medieval, to 19th century, reminiscent of Paris. Great food. To die for, unpretentious good food. I need to return for the food alone, to stopover for just one day and hit an untried Bouchon and indulge.

Related Trips

France Travel Planning – Lyon to Bordeaux

Related Destinations

Immersive Travel Bordeaux

May 4, 2017September 3, 2017

Puerto Natales – Chilean Patagonia

The flight from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas, the gateway to Chilean Patagonia, was without incident – my favorite kind of flight. LATAM airlines does a fabulous job in accommodating their customers. The in-flight entertainment was served up via an app that you could use on your phone or pad at no cost. It worked so well, some US air carriers might want to pay attention to the quality of service that little LATAM was able to provide. Even the attention to detail with respect to snacks was better than most carriers in the United States.

Getting the rental car in Punta Arenas was uneventful as well. I reserved a Subaru Forester with all-wheel drive. The vehicle offered to me had clearly made the run from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales many, many a time. And while it was still serviceable, I could tell that it had been through some rough driving miles. It felt pretty beat up for the miles showing on the odometer. I mentally prepared myself for rough roads in my future.

We began the drive from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales using Google Maps that I downloaded to my iPhone at home before departure. In offline mode, you can keep your cell phone in airplane mode with no need for cellular service, or Wi-Fi. You still have all the functionality of Google Maps save for the turn by turn directions feature, which is completely unneeded as you stay on Ruta 9 for 229 KMs – no turns. I downloaded the maps as a precaution, expecting to have poor cell service in the expanse of Antarctic tundra separating Punta Arenas from Puerto Natales, as well as the uninhabited regions between Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine National Park.

The signs were cute – The Road to the End of the World!

By this time we had driven 150 KMs and the landscape had already started to get some roll and character to il.

The expansive Antarctic tundra in all directions.

The scenery on the drive from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales was stark, flat, endless Antarctic tundra without a tree in sight to the horizon – with the occasional reassuring traffic sign reminding you that you’re on “Ruta del Fin del Mundo.” The land was suitable for grazing, because we spotted sheep and goats on the first leg of the drive. The farther north we drove, the more variation we saw in the landscape, eventually the Antarctic tundra evolved a little roll, and we could see off in the great distance some more hillier terrain. With such a flat road, and so few vehicles on it, I was able to make very good time on the drive, getting to the hotel in Puerto Natales in under 2 hours.

Settling in

We arrived at the hotel just before 9 PM local time, hungry from the day’s travels. The hotel itself looked like it was made out of a shipping container. It looked like they spared all possible expenses, and targeted pure functionality. Based on my research, I selected Hotel Boutique El Muelle as it was rated well on all the sites I found it, and the amenities were good for the price. There are plenty of hotels to choose from, but this is not a resort area, nor a destination catering to those seeking high levels of accommodation. It’s the sort of place people use hostels and very inexpensive accommodations for the night or two that they spend on their way to Torres del Paine National Park.

At 9 PM on arrival, it was daylight with plenty of sun in the sky, and we needed a hearty meal as we ate lightly during the traveling part of our day. We got a recommendation for a restaurant at check-in time, and we headed there immediately after tossing our luggage into the room. The meal really hit the spot, and we probably rated the restaurant better than it deserved simply because of how hungry we were. It was well after 11 PM as we walked back to the hotel from the restaurant along the waterfront. There was still plenty of light even though sunset had long come and gone.

Torres Del Paine National Park – Mirador Las Torres

The following day we drove directly to hotel Las Torres, which is the closest parking to the Torres Del Paine trail head leading to the Mirador Las Torres. The drive was much more varied than the previous day’s. The Antarctic tundra had more variation with what passed for trees visible in the distance, and some mountains occasionally came into view. I’m not sure about the local fauna, but the livestock was more varied with alpacas, llamas, some cattle, and lots and lots of sheep.

We got a late start and we didn’t arrive at the parking lot until about noon. in retrospect, we should’ve saved this portion of our Patagonia venture for another day – essentially swapping the days for the leisurely Lago Grey catamaran trip with the Mirador Las Torres hike. As it turned out, this would be a very long day. Grabbing our equipment, we left the SUV at the parking lot, and followed the sparse crowd towards the trail head. The weather was cooperating spectacularly well for the hike, with temperatures in the low 60s, with a blustery wind against a backdrop of blue sky and sunshine.

The hike started as a meandering stroll through flatlands leading to a gravel path that undulated more as it progressed. At the beginning the scenery was interesting because it was all new, but not unique – with three flights, and 4 to 5 hours of driving behind me, I was expecting some pretty cool scenery. The vistas at the beginning of the hike were not inspiring, but we knew to expect a spectacular ending. The hike was advertised as being an 11.2-mile trek over 7-8 hours for the very fit, with 3,000 feet of elevation gain.

Undulating paths gave way to scree, boulder fields, and dry riverbeds. There were some rough parts of the trail. We came across multiple foot bridges to cross the creeks along the way. And we crossed some creeks by following boulder paths where the water levels permitted. The hike was demanding as we didn’t train specifically for this activity. Our typical travel adventures include plenty of discovery walking, where we log somewhere between 10 and 20 miles per day, depending on the day. But this was different for us, and we took rest stops along the way to acknowledge the rigor of the hike.

Finally, after 2 hours of hiking we hit the halfway point at Refugio Chileno. A refugio is like a hostel in the middle of the wilderness. Indoor, bunkbed style accommodations are available for a select few. Camping is possible, and they do sell some provisions. You can even grab a meal if you come at the right time of the day. We stopped at the refugio, had a bite to eat, quenched our thirst with the remainder of the water we were carrying, then refilled our bottles. The 30-minute break was heavenly. Chit-chatting with the folks working at the refugio, we got the sense that the second half of the trek starts pleasantly as a walk through the woods, and ends up at the toughest part of the hike with the ascent to the Mirador.

As we set off from the refugio, we did indeed have a stroll-through-the-woods start to the hike. And as we made our way farther from the refugio, closer to the vista, the trail – where there was one – did get much more rigorous and physically demanding, with more elevation gained. More scree, dry river beds, and boulder fields, but this time with much more elevation gain. At one point, we stopped, took a look at each other, needing to take stock of ourselves and decide whether we were going to do this thing. We decided that we needed to do it, simply because we had come so much of the way, we just had to see the Mirador at the end of the hike.

We could see glimpses of the towers as we made progress through the switchback, but because of the steepness of the climb towards the end, the Mirador was not visible at all. It wasn’t until we worked our way around an enormous boulder, making the switchback that we first saw the full view: The three towers standing majestically overlooking a turquoise, glacier fed lake. As we walked closer to the lake we could simultaneously see the towers and their reflection in the water at the same time. Wow! We ascended to the Mirador by 4:30 PM, and sat just breathless for a few minutes. The scene was inspirational, and so worth every step we took to get there. We arrived to the Mirador so late that the crowds were thin – even void for a few minutes. We had the Mirador practically to ourselves, and we took some very cool photos. We had a very pleasant 20 minutes bathing in the success of it all, and then started the trek back down.

Because the trail – where there was one – was so undulating, it wasn’t downhill all the way back to the parking lot. There was down, and back up, and down, and back up. We descended to the Refugio and realized that it was possible to take a horseback ride to the trailhead. Unfortunately, we had just missed the cut off by an hour or so because we had a late start to the hike. Had we arrived in time, I would have jumped on the opportunity to ride down – price would not have been a consideration.

We managed with some difficulty to climb all the way down to the trailhead, and find our way to the parking lot. We had our share of challenges because of the rigors of the hike, and the trail conditions, but we made it to the SUV by 9 PM – a total of 9 hours elapsed. 7 to 8 hours for the very fit, 9 hours for the rest of us. Not too bad considering we didn’t train for this sort of thing.

Sitting in the SUV as we prepared for the 2-hour drive back to Puerto Natales, we heard a knock on the window from a pair of wayward Connecticut hikers. They explained that they were staying just outside the park, which was 5 more miles of hiking from the parking area. The 2 young dudes were in dire need of a ride, and were happy to find that we spoke English. We agreed to give them a lift, but didn’t realize until halfway to the park entrance that they had a service dog with them, which somehow got into the vehicle without either myself or my wife taking note. We had a pleasant conversation with the Connecticut hikers. As it turned out, they jumped the gun on the W circuit, having set aside several days to do the whole thing. They wanted to get a feel for it and set off to hike it for a short stretch, and instead ended up covering more than half of it in a single day, exhausting themselves in the process. I related well to the exhaustion part.

By 11 PM, I was relaxing at the hotel, sipping on some Pisco, and unwinding from the rigors of the day. We were both surprised to find no fanfare at the midnight hour as New Year’s Day was welcomed relatively quietly in Puerto Natales – the locals were not party animals.

Discovery Trek

We had our discovery walk around Puerto Natales on New Year’s Day. We found a little place to get some coffee and breakfast to get us started as we walked along the waterfront. We hit all of the tourist attractions, and there weren’t many. There were some shops, restaurants, and a park. That aside, we just strolled where our feet led us. We explored all around town as we searched for a particular restaurant recommended to us by a local, through the course of our walk, but it was closed for the holiday. We had lunch instead at a restaurant found through the Tripadvisor app, where we had some very nice local seafood to highlight the day.

Notice all of the houses built out of corrugated aluminum – lightweight, easy to ship, compact because it’s stackable.

Food Scene

Restaurant El Bote

This was the place recommended to us by our hotel upon our late arrival after a full day of multi-modal travel. The food was basic, but good – although I think I was so hungry, anything would have been rated well.

La Burbuja

We happened by this restaurant via Tripadvisor on our New Year’s Day walkabout after we couldn’t find the highly recommended place by the rare English-speaking local we bumped into on our trek.

Provincia Ultima Esperanza

We were on a seafood theme throughout our stay in Puerto Natales. This place was a real find for seafood variety, including cuttlefish.

Torres Del Paine National Park – Lago Grey Catamaran

The second adventure we had in Chilean Patagonia in Torres del Paine National Park was the catamaran trip on Lago Grey. We drove a couple of hours on a slightly different track to get to hotel Lago Grey. It was necessary to park the car and walk a couple hundred yards to get to the hotel. We purchased our tickets, but were quite a bit early to the catamaran ride, so we ended up getting some coffee and enjoying the views from the glassed-in hotel observation lounge. Tree covered hills were visible from the hotel, the mountains and glaciers didn’t come into view until the catamaran was under way.

The most rigorous part of this day was a 1 mile hike across a spit of sand to get to the catamaran boarding area. The weather once again was very cooperative. While cool and a bit foggy early in the morning, the day eventually turned to blue sky and sunny. But it never really warmed up, and as the wind kicked in hard on the lake, it was necessary to put on the winter down jacket and a warm hat. Once the catamaran was underway, it was like a sightseeing tour. The catamaran made multiple stops and either dropped off hikers, picked them up, or both. Eventually we got to the top of the lake which was the purpose of the ride. This was where all they eye candy was on display, this is where most of the pictures were taken, and this is the spot where we saw the small icebergs adrift.

[wpvideo STpD19df]

We met an interesting couple of hikers that happened to be sitting at our table in the catamaran, Greg and Heather from Vancouver, British Columbia. They were picked up at one of the stops as we made our way to the top of the lake, as they finished their W circuit over a period of 4 days. They looked in pretty good shape for spending 4 days in the wilderness, completing hikes like the one we did to the Mirador. We offered Greg and Heather a lift back to Puerto Natales to avoid waiting a few hours on their bus ride. This time there was no surprise service dog, I checked. And we had a long chat about travel, future destinations, and the kinds of things that pass the time on a two-hour trip across mostly nondescript lunar landscape.

Comprehensive Map

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/2/embed?mid=1ZjGyBl1BKs1m6f-W86u3BT8NIfo&w=640&h=480]

The map shows all of the places we discovered and the photos taken along the way, there and back. To use the map to its potential, click the rectangle in the top right corner of the map to open it in a new tab. set your browser to full screen mode so that you can see as much of the map as possible. Browse the map sections by selecting or deselecting the check boxes on the left side of the map. A good example in exploring the map would be to select only “Lago Grey Catamaran Sights and Scenery” and “Route to Lago Grey”. Then zoom in as tight as you like to inspect very specific parts of the route, and the photos taken there. I’d love to hear feedback on this use of Google maps to provide the ability to interact with content in this way. Enjoy!

Epilogue

The return trip home consisted of a total of 16 hours of transit time – 14 by air, and 2 by road, with the customary layovers in between. This gave me plenty of time to reflect on the epic nature of our Puerto Natales adventure. The great outdoors of Chilean Patagonia took center stage, but it was not exclusively about that. The question is, should it be the next time. I would love a next time focused on completing the W circuit in Torres del Paine, including preparation and conditioning to a level where we would be confident in our capabilities, and better enjoy the hiking. And while I’m at it – the next time I would definitely schedule a flight from Punta Arenas to King George Island, Antarctica, knocking it off the bucket list. Definitely a next time.

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Arrival

Rue Sainte Catherine

Settling in

Initial Exploration

Discovery Trek

Place des Quinconces

Place de la Victoire

Food scene

Village Road Trip

Les Bastides

Eymet

Villeréal

Monpazier

Villefranche-du-Périgord

Tournon-d’Agenais

Villeneuve-sur-Lot

Discovery Trek Part Deux

Comprehensive Map

Epilogue

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