On the southern tip of Croatia’s Istria, you will find a lion missing his feet. The lion continues to watch over Pula’s Roman Amphitheater. And like that lion, I entered this part of Croatia without my feet. A bad hospitality experience left me immobile and yet courageous at the same time. I wanted to leave, however the lion within this redhead knew I couldn’t fault a place just because of one person. To let them ruin it for me would be more cowardly than courageous. Pula is home to some of the best Roman ruins in Europe. As the wind whipped me into a dizzying dance, I entered the town’s Continue Reading
In Search of Schnitzel in Vienna
It is so quiet you could hear my fork drop on the plate ever so lightly, that is, if I ever put it down. My waiter makes certain to place my Erdäpfel-Vogerlsalat, a vinegary potato salad with lamb’s lettuce, down in such a manner that I wouldn’t ever have to give my fork a rest. My dining companion tells me this is customary in Germany and Austria to place your fork in your left hand and your knife in your right at all times. Almost like dinner gloves, you wear these tools until the plate is clean. My plate tonight is a golden dream, a Viennese specialty, Wiener Schnitzel. The traditional Continue Reading
Suzy Stumbles Over Travel: Week of February 6, 2012
As I consume more coffee, cake and schnitzel in Vienna, I bring you this week’s Suzy Stumbles Over Travel. In case you are new to this site, each week I ask writers and readers to submit their favorite travel posts of the week. I read each submission, comment, tweet the article on Twitter, stumble the piece using Stumbleupon and post a link to the article on my Facebook page. The following week I select my five favorites to be featured here and the stumbling begins again into the next week. Just a few things to keep in mind, please only submit one post per person each week. Your submission Continue Reading
Szeged, Hungary Wishes You Were Here
A distant dyke collapsed and flooded the city of Szeged back on March 12, 1879, a town set up in southeastern Hungary. Ruining much of the city, Szeged received the help of its neighboring European countries to rebuild, redesign and resolve after such devastation. And like Szeged’s great flood, I was forced to resolve to change my plans to explore Romania. It just so happens Eastern Europe decided to freeze over for my visit. Szeged is mostly known for being a university town peppered with paprika and salami. The two edibles are praised in Szeged. And like most of my Eastern European trip Continue Reading
The Tale of Two Accommodations in Croatia
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…” –Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities It was the best of times, and yet the worst of times so far on my European trip. I faced the simple spring of hospitality from a hotel and the winter coldness of another. My intuition tends to cry out to me Continue Reading
Suzy Stumbles Over Travel: Week of January 30, 2012
From a freezing Munich, I bring you this week’s Suzy Stumbles Over Travel. Each week, I ask writers and readers to submit their favorite travel posts of the week. I read each submission, comment, post the article to my Twitter, stumble the piece using Stumbleupon and place a link to the article on my Facebook page. The following week, I select my five favorite submissions to be featured here and the stumbling begins again into the next week. Just a few things to keep in mind, please only submit one post per person each week. Your submission must be travel related. Leave your submission in Continue Reading
Trim, Ireland Wishes You Were Here
When I reach the last few days of a trip, I tend to look at these remaining destinations with finality. On my way to the Dublin Airport, I decided to spend that finality in Trim, a place where many spent their own end. The small town just west of Ireland’s capital used to be a major player in the middle ages. Elizabeth I even considered placing Trinity College here. Home to the county jail, ironically Trim was where you could say the herds were also trimmed and thinned. I check into my hotel just across from the Trim Castle, obviously the showpiece to this now snoozing town. The Castle Continue Reading