Blogs from Lower Silesian, Poland, Europe

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 and 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, ... 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 area. 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 dwarves in the squares. They are usually performing ... read more

It was a quiet day today and my biggest task for the day was to sort out a few BandB problems. In no particular order they were toilet paper, soft soap and more power on the web. The internet was the most pressing issue, as we needed to communicate with people arriving from Australia today. Anne and Michael, John and Andrea, Lynne and Ross, Craig and Jan, Suzanne, with Ingrid turning up later in the evening. An email to the host of the Airbnb drew a quick response and everything was stocked up and improved within the hour. People slowly arrived from different parts of Europe; some by bus, others by trains, and a couple by air. Whatsapp ended up very confusing ; contact could only be made if both parties had wifi at the same ... read more