Blogs from West Pomeranian, Poland, Europe

It would be wrong to write that Krakow is the best and most beautiful city in the world. Sydney or Hong Kong as a port city may, for some, seem much nicer. However, there is nothing better than an evening in Krakow, and I want to write "The quiet Ukrainian sky is transparent; the stars glitter the sky." And imagine that I am in Krakow on the days when the festival of musical films takes place. And you in the evening with a cup of coffee, I drank coffee while listening to "Don Giovani", and so with a glass of fine beer "Zhivech" on "Salome", when it is already slightly cold in a t-shirt, but quite comfortable in a long-sleeved shirt, you sit in 7 row and heed the sounds coming from the screen. You are ... read more

Szczecin in NW Poland 16 September 2014 After leaving the Drowski National Park and lakes area, we headed west towards the Odra Valley. The Odra River forms an extensive network of waterways and lagoons before flowing into the Baltic Sea north of Poland and Germany. Szczecin is 14 kms east of the Germany border. It is a big city in the West Pomeranian River region. This area was awarded the European Tourist award in 2010 for a developing tourist region with environmental values. We could certainly see this as we drove around the region. There are plenty of opportunities for water activities as well as horse and bike riding through beautiful forests and along waterways. The main features of the city were the Castle of Pomeranian Dukes, the Embankment built in the early 20th century, Basilica ... read more

Friday Our last full day, and we were to spend some of it looking around Szczecin and doing a little shopping. We had to wait until 11:30 before Casia was free to show us around, but as we were all getting tired by this time, it wasn't much of a problem to be relaxing a bit. We walked into the center, and first to the cathedral, which we all took the lift up to the top. There we had great views around the city. After that to the castle, which didn't look much like an English castle. Then we walked towards the shopping centre. On the way we stop at a memorial to some of those killed in the Solidarity coup. Then to shopping place for lunch. We all went for McDonalds which proved tricky getting ... read more

Wednesday Breakfast today included some scary looking fish. Even Julian couldn't eat it so the rest of us steered clear... (a first in 18 years of married life that Mr O has turned down food!!) Bus and tram ride to the school for International Childrens Day where the whole school did a great event based on the Olympics. We took part in the opening ceremony parade with Simon leading us behind the UK sign and David and Joe carrying a massive flag. The rest of us had tiny flags but Stuart out shone us all in his fabulous London shirt. Other students at the school represented Poland, Czech republic, Jamaica, Slovak and France amongst others. We each then had to show a national sport. After a little discussion we decided on cricket, with Simon bowling to ... read more

Breakfast at 8:30, followed by piano recitals, basketball and frisbee. Then a tram and bus ride to the school, where we had lunch. Potato soup, chicken in sauce and rice with cabbage of some sort! After that a guide showed us around some German WWII bunkers, with lots of underground passage, some of them occupied by bats. Then to a meeting with the headmistress and a presentation about the school accompanied by apple cake, strawberries and special gluten free cheesecake. This was followed by a barbecue where we roasted sausages on long sticks over an open fire. Quite a lot of sausages lost to the flames. The children sang some songs, and then we returned the favour. We finished by special request with oakie koakie. This was extra tricky because of the steep ground some of ... read more