Blogs from Lower Silesian, Poland, Europe

Zgorzelec is an interesting town on the bank of the river which forms the border between Poland and Germany. Prior to World War II it was actually a suburb of its German neighbour Görlitz, but when the borders were redrawn it found itself part of Poland! In all honesty, there's not an awful lot to see and do there, but it is definitely cheaper to base yourself there and walk over to Görlitz, which is what the next entry will be about! We stayed in the comfortable url=https://www.booking.com/hotel/pl/banapart-loft.en-gb.html?aid=1769628&sid=d4b4e7446b3417d12e795b84674ca42d;label=postbooking_confpageBanApart apartment, but if three floors of stairs is too much for you, you might want to look elsewhere! We actually liked Zgorzelec though. The weather wasn't brilliant but that meant it wasn't too hot to wander around. The riverside path is lovely and gives great views over to ... read more

Poland's most visited cities have a lot to offer. However, it's worth trying to go off the beaten path and discover its less popular destinations. How to do it and where to go? When going on a city break, we usually spend most of the time within its borders. However, when the pandemic has started, the rules of the game have started to change. First, the world has stopped turning - and all the travels, even the most essential ones, have been cancelled. After a while, we have started coming back to normality, but the travels had to change its form. Closed museums and tourist attractions, safety rules - travelling in the times of Covid-19 isn't the most spontaneous activity. Moreover, most people try to reduce the usage of public transport - the fundamental element of ... read more

With lights turned out at 2.30 this morning, waking at 6am with the bright sunlight streaming in was too early. I had a dull headache from lack of sleep; 3.5 hours of sleep just didn’t cut it. We showered, read a paper or two, and wandered out to the breakfast room at 9am. The early birds had already eaten one course and returned for more, while the hard core , vodka infused stopouts missed breakfast entirely; it finished at 11am. The food was similar to the night before. A large range of meats , salads, eggs, sausages complimented the standard mueslI, yoghurt, bread and honey or jam that most Australians recognise as a full breakfast. It was all tempting but I held back, conscious of the garden party in a few hours that is lunch, and ... read more

Hi, well it’s 11.02, the night is young, so I’m taking a break from the wedding to tap out a few thoughts. 1: How much stress is involved in preparing for a wedding. 2 Does it get worse as the day nears. 3: Why does it take people so long to leave, to go somewhere, after you ask, Are we ready to go? , and the reply is, Yes. 4: Is it possible to have a bad time at a Polish Wedding. These have no question marks because, basically, they are comments. This morning I had an early coffee at the bar downstairs, before chewing and crunching my way through croissants and crispy bread lathered with berry jam and spreadable white chocolate; but not on the same bit of bread. Pretty decadent but an apt start ... read more

Today I’ll drive you mad with dwarves. It’s another hot day, the clothes are in the wash, and breakfast is at Charlottes, a popular, hidden eatery across the main road, in the Jewish Quarter. I think you could forget gluten free here. There’s a mountain of breads, croissants, and sweet sticky buns piled up in cane baskets on the counter, and most breakfasts centre around these as a base. Sue and Anne were being met by Tim for a nail appointment- apparently most important- so Michael and I went for a wander through the squares and streets on the edge of town. I challenged Michael to a game of Spot The Dwarves which, while very inappropriate in most parts of the world, entails spotting the many small brass dwarf statues in the squares. They are usually ... read more