Posts Tagged With: Historical Site

Our Time in Bucharest, Romania

Posted on June 20, 2026 by 2btravel

Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Flight Review: LOT Polish Airlines 797-9 Business Class, ORD-WAW
Lodging Review: Hampton by Hilton Krakow
Our Time in Krakow, Poland
Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest
Lodging Review: Corinthia Budapest Hotel
Our Time in Budapest, Hungary
Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary
Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia
Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia
Our Time in Golubac, Serbia
Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria
Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Flight Review: SWISS Airlines 777-300 ZRH-ORD

With Bulgaria and Romania being separated by the Danube, our ship didn’t have far to reposition during our last evening on board. We simply crossed the river and docked at the town of Giurgiu, Romania. The following morning we packed up our suitcases and the Viking crew took care of all of our bags while we boarded motor coaches for the drive inland to Bucharest, our final stop. Depending on traffic, it’s roughly a 70 to 90-minute drive to the country’s capital.

Romanian National Opera House

Our first stop was the home of both the Romanian National Opera and Ballet companies. The Romanian National Opera was founded in 1877 and in 1953 this building was created as their permanent home. The first opera to be performed was Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. On the next night, the first ballet performance of the company, Coppélia, took place at the same theater.

Photo credit: opera-online.com

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Categories: Cruises, Europe, Historical Site, River Cruise, Romania, Tours, Trip Report, Viking | Tags: Bucaresti, Bucharest, City Tour, Europe, Historical Site, River Cruise, Romania, Tours, Trip Report, Viking | Leave a comment

Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria

Posted on June 19, 2026 by 2btravel

While the ship docked in Ruse, Bulgaria (pronounced like ROO-say by our Bulgarian tour director), we did not spend any time in the immediate area. Instead we boarded motor coaches and, after a rest stop, our first real cultural site was the Konstantsalieva house in the town of Arbanasi (ar-bahn-AH-see). After that we stopped by the amazing Church of the Nativity, followed by a lunch stop and ended our tour at the Tsarevets Fortress.

Arbansi was considered a “privileged settlement” during the Ottoman rule that began in 1396. That meant it had certain tax exemptions and bit of autonomy because its residents provided certain military-related services. This status attracted wealthy merchants, craftsmen, and clergy and they, in turn, built fortified homes and ornate churches.

Konstantsalieva House

This house dates to the late 1600s, right in the middle of the Ottoman rule which lasted for five centuries. It’s a home typical of a wealthy Christian: the thick stone walls and small windows provide a defensive front, it has an inner courtyard for privacy, it’s fairly unassuming from the street view, yet inside it’s rather lavishly decorated with a Turkish flair.

Photo: museumvt.com

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Categories: Bulgaria, Europe, Historical Site, River Cruise, Tours, Trip Report | Tags: Bulgaria, Europe, Historical Site, River Cruise, Tour, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Travel Tuesday Photo: Temple of Hadrian in Ephesus, Türkiye

Posted on June 9, 2026 by 2btravel

The ancient city of Ephesus is an active archaeological dig site and a fascinating visit to see an entire ancient city. The main street is called Curates Street and this is the entrance to the Temple of Hadrian.

Categories: Europe, Historical Site, Picture of the Week, Turkey | Tags: Ephesus, Europe, Historical Site, Picture of the Week, Türkiye, Travel Tuesday Photo, Turkey | Leave a comment

Our Time in Krakow, Poland

Posted on June 9, 2026 by 2btravel

I feel like I let myself down during our time in Krakow. We did hit some bumps that I couldn’t have foreseen but I definitely could have planned our time better. But here’s an overview of the things we saw and did on our visit.

First, the bumps:
– While our original flights had us landing in Krakow at 4:20 PM, due to the air traffic control issues in Chicago we missed our original connection and didn’t land until just after 5 PM. While that’s not much of a delay, in itself, the sheer fatigue we were feeling after not departing from Chicago until nearly 11 PM really knocked us out.
– My traveling companion had a bit of a sinus bug which left her feeling worn out for about the first week of our trip. Thus we didn’t stay out and experience the city as we otherwise might have. That lead to us dining at the hotel more and experiencing local restaurants less.
– I asked ChatGPT for things to do during our stay. I had it exclude Auschwitz since we’d already visited Dachau a few years ago. Since I don’t drink alcohol I also had it exclude wineries and breweries. While it gave us a good plan, I left it at that and didn’t follow up to see if we needed to buy tickets online ahead of time. That caused us to miss one attraction we’d have like to have seen, Oskar Schindler’s Factory.

We didn’t have great weather in Krakow. It rained off and on our whole first day, a Friday, and eased off on the weekend. But it was overcast almost the whole time and quite humid. In early-to-mid-October the temperature was in the upper-50sF which meant a jacket felt nice.

Wieliczka Salt Mine

Getting There and Back

While this had been on our agenda for a later day, since it was raining we thought this would be a good place to stay dry. While it’s possible to reach the salt mine from the hotel using public transit, it would take quite a long time, so we opted for an Uber. It was only about $11.25 going to the Salt Mine at 9:30 AM on a Friday but it was about $22 on the way back around 1:30 PM. I guess because the salt mine is a tourist attraction? It just seemed odd. I was fortunate that the salt mine has a couple of areas with strong WiFi: the cafe and the gift shop. I was having issues with my data-only eSIM card but was able to use the WiFi to pick up an Uber for the return trip. Continue reading →

Categories: Award Travel, Europe, Historical Site, Poland, Trip Report | Tags: Europe, Historical Site, Krakow, Poland, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Travel Tuesday Photo: Church of the Nativity in Arbanasi, Bulgaria

Posted on June 2, 2026 by 2btravel

The incredible Church of the Nativity in Arbanasi, Bulgaria has frescoes of over 3500 saints and Biblical scenes. It’s quite a small place and off the beaten track but well worth the effort to visit.

Categories: Bulgaria, Europe, Historical Site, Picture of the Week | Tags: Arabanasi, Bulgaria, Church of the Nativity, Europe, fresco, frescoes, Historical Site, Picture of the Week, Travel Tuesday Photo | Leave a comment

Our Time in Kotor, Montenegro

Posted on January 2, 2024 by 2btravel

Trip Report: Athens and a Mediterranean Cruise
Lounge Reviews: The Club CLT and Centurion Lounge Charlotte Airport
Flight Review: Lufthansa A340-600 Charlotte-Munich
Lodging Review: Academias Hotel, Autograph Collection, Athens
Our Time in Athens, Part I (Acropolis and Museum)
Our Time in Athens, Part II (Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Ancient Agora)
Our Time in Athens, Part III (Kerameikos, Temple of Zeus, Panathenaic Stadium)
Our Time in Athens, Part IV (Restaurants and Observations)
Ship Review: Viking Neptune
Our Time in Ancient Olympia (Katakalon, Greece)
Our Time in Corfu, Greece
Our Time in Kotor, Montenegro
Our Time in Dubrovnik, Croatia
Our Time in Zadar, Croatia
Our Time in Venice, Italy
Flight Review: Iberia A330-300 Madrid-Chicago

On the Tuesday of our cruise we checked off a new country, Montenegro. The country’s name comes from the Venetians mangling the Serbian words “Crna Gora” for “black mountain”. The mountain in question is Mount Lovćen which was covered in dense evergreen forests. Over the centuries this area has been controlled by the Illyrians, the Slavs, the Serbs, the Venetians, the Ottomans, an independent country, occupied by Austria-Hungary during WWI, part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia then after WWII one of the republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, then the smaller Federal Republic of Yugoslavia along with Serbia and finally regaining its independence in 2006. Continue reading →

Categories: Europe, Historical Site, Montenegro, Tours, Trip Report | Tags: Europe, Historical Site, Montenegro, Tours, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Our Time in Corfu, Greece

Posted on December 30, 2023 by 2btravel

An Unexpected Twist

After we returned from our shore excursion in Ancient Olympia we were informed that one of our shore excursions for the following day had been canceled. Our excursion was to take us about an hour away to hike Mt. Pantokrator and then to visit Old Peritheia, Corfu’s oldest village that was once a hideaway from pirates. We had been proactively booked on the afternoon included tour, which was Panoramic Corfu & Old Town Walking Tour. While we hated to miss seeing cool sites, our feet were actually not all that upset. We heard it had rained in the area the day before we arrived and can only speculate that it made the conditions unsafe for the hike. As someone who was injured last year when an excursion took place in the rain instead of being canceled, I was fine with the way it was handled.

But that meant we now had a significant amount of shipboard credit to spend. We decided to make the best of it by getting massages in the Nordic Spa. We were able to schedule them for first thing in the morning, giving ourselves plenty of time before our afternoon tour. It was a very welcome treat after all the walking we’d done in Athens over the prior few days. The tour was scheduled to last 5.5 hours so our credit was enough to cover a one-hour massage and a little bit of the tip.

Exploring on our own

It was about a 200-yard walk from our ship to the Cruise Terminal. We didn’t notice it at the time but there are actually buses that run between the cruise terminal and the ships, so if that’s too far for you to walk, just wait for one of these free shuttles. Once you reach the cruise terminal you’ll exit through the building and then you can catch one of Viking’s shuttles into downtown. Unfortunately we didn’t pay attention that these shuttles were available so we just set out walking. There is not much in the immediate area of the cruise terminal other than a small row of shops across the street. But we just followed the trickle of people both from our ship and the giant one docked next to us and headed east along the coast road.

Port in Corfu

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Categories: Europe, Greece, Historical Site, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Tags: Corfu, Europe, Greece, Historical Site, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Leave a comment

Our Time in Ancient Olympia (Katakalon, Greece)

Posted on December 29, 2023 by 2btravel

Our ship departed Athens at 6 PM on Saturday evening and it took us the rest of the night and all of Sunday morning to reach our first port of call, Katakolon, Greece as we had to sail around the Greek peninsula.

The included tour at this port was called Ancient Olympia and there were optional tours that included not only Ancient Olympia but a visit to the Magna Grecia olive estate, another where you can learn Greek folk dancing and a Flavors of the Greek Countryside tour. We stuck with the included tour but because we were in the cheaper staterooms we had to settle for the last tour of the day, which didn’t leave until 2:15 PM.

Port of Katakolo(n)

That wasn’t all bad. In Katakolon, the dock is not far at all from a tourist area with several restaurants and loads of souvenir shops. So after our ship docked at 12:30 PM we had time to go into this area and get our souvenirs purchased before the tour. I find it interesting that Viking refers to the port as Katakolon when all the local signage (and even Wikipedia) refer to the port name without the final N. From what I can see online the names appear to refer to the same place, it just seems odd!

Town of Katakolon as viewed from our ship

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Categories: Europe, Greece, Historical Site, River Cruise, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Tags: Ancient Olympia, Europe, Greece, Historical Site, Olympics, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | 2 Comments

Our Time in Athens, Part II (Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Ancient Agora)

Posted on December 23, 2023 by 2btravel

After having lunch at the Acropolis Museum we spent the afternoon at three other sites that were close to the Acropolis.

Roman Agora

The Roman Agora, or marketplace, was built around 27-17 BC using funds donated by Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, known as Octavian, the founder of the Roman empire to fulfill a promise made by Julius Caesar in 51 BC. While the area has not been fully excavated it’s easy to see it followed a common basic layout of a large open plaza surrounded by colonnades on three sides.

Roman Agora

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Categories: Europe, Greece, Historical Site, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Tags: Agora, Ancient Agora, Athens, Europe, Greece, Hadrian, Hadrian's Library, Historical Site, Roman Agora, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Leave a comment

Our Time in Les Andelys and Le Pecq

Posted on March 28, 2023 by 2btravel

Return to International Travel – Introduction
Review: SWISS A340-300 ORD-ZRH and Marhaba Lounge ZRH
Lodging Review: Sina Villa Medici, Florence, Italy
Our Time In Florence, Part 1
Our Time In Florence, Part 2
Lodging Review: Park Hyatt Vendome, Paris, France
Our Time In Paris, Part 1 (Louvre, Sainte-Chappelle, Arc, Eiffel Tower)
Our Time In Paris, Part 2 (Versailles)
Our Time In Paris, Part 3 (Catacombs, Musee d’Orsay)
Viking Kari and an Afternoon in Montmartre
Our Time in La Roche-Guyon and Vernon/Giverny
Our Time on the Normandy Beaches
Our Time in Les Andelys and Le Pecq
Lodging Review: Renaissance Republique, Paris, France
Review: Air France A350 CDG-ORD

Les Andelys

Our next port of call was the town of Les Andelys. This quaint town was founded in the 6th century and its church has parts that date to the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. I recall touring it but apparently did not take photographs. I would have enjoyed touring the town more but with my knee situation I slowly walked with the group to the chateau.

Château Gaillard was the primary attraction for this stop. It was a medieval castle and its ruins now overlook the town.

Chateau from the town

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Categories: Attraction Review, Cruises, Europe, France, Historical Site, Tours, Trip Report, Viking | Tags: Attraction Review, France, Historical Site, Napoleon, River Cruise, Tours, Trip Report, Viking | Leave a comment

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Posts Tagged With: Historical Site

Our Time in Bucharest, Romania

Romanian National Opera House

Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria

Konstantsalieva House

Travel Tuesday Photo: Temple of Hadrian in Ephesus, Türkiye

Our Time in Krakow, Poland

Wieliczka Salt Mine

Getting There and Back

Travel Tuesday Photo: Church of the Nativity in Arbanasi, Bulgaria

Our Time in Kotor, Montenegro

Our Time in Corfu, Greece

An Unexpected Twist

Exploring on our own

Our Time in Ancient Olympia (Katakalon, Greece)

Our Time in Athens, Part II (Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Ancient Agora)

Roman Agora

Our Time in Les Andelys and Le Pecq

Les Andelys

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