-
A Bit of Wroclaw & Bus Madness
and now, for the continuing saga of cynthia’s polish odyssey. after pulling ourselves away from the wonderful tatras region, it was time to move on to bigger and busier places. and the best way to do this: polski bus. i’d heard a bit about the quality of poland’s roads and was eager to find out for myself first hand. polish rail is pretty affordable, but polski bus tickets are half the price of the train, sometimes lower. with comfortable seats, a toilet and free wifi on board, the decision was made. what i didn’t expect was the mad rush that occurred when the bus pulled up to the station in…
-
Sunday Cookin’: Borscht Soup
this week was full of downtime compared to the weeks that are to come, so i wanted to make sure to cook a lot of healthy and delicious meals. and man, did i ever. i picked up a couple of beets at the farmers’ market last weekend specifically with the intention of making a huge pot of borscht for the coming week. you know, that funny pink eastern european soup that nobody really seems to like. well, after eating my way through poland last month, i vowed that i would make my own after i got home. i found polish barszcz to be a bit sweeter and more brothy than i…
-
How to Treat Yourself in Warsaw
a friend yesterday told me, “i looked through your poland photos. every other one was of food, though!” yeah……so…… (shifty look) where my foodies at? i was really looking forward to warsaw for many reasons, but in particular, for the opportunity to treat myself with all of the hard to find food and dishes that i haven’t had a chance to enjoy since i moved to the czech republic almost two years ago. i knew because of the cosmopolitan nature of the city that it was time to really go for it. (disclaimer: this post was written in september 2014 – please double-check to confirm the locations and existence of the…
-
The Day When (Almost) Nothing Went Right in Warsaw
a few days ago i shared my perfect monday in berlin, so it seems only right to balance that out with a travel day that was quite the opposite. i had such high hopes for my last day in warsaw. you know how last days are– a final chance to fit in all the things that you’ve learned about in the first couple days. unfortunately, the day turned into an almost laughable example of a travel day gone awry. sure, we weren’t actually travelling this day and the weather was quite good so i admit it could’ve been much worse. i really enjoyed parts of this day but even then it…
-
First Day in Warsaw
i’ve been jonesing to go to warsaw for years now. there’s so many preconceived ideas of what it’s like there and i couldn’t wait to see it for myself. to best appreciate warsaw, you have to take into account it’s strange history. it looks so new in many areas because almost the entire city had to be rebuilt from the ground up. this is why to me, it seems so much of a modern mish-mash. i still don’t quite know what warsaw wants to communicate to the world; what it wants its grand message to be. (below, the famous palm tree) it’s not necessarily the grey dreary city you’d always…
-
Notes From the Road: Poland
twenty two days is a heck of a length of time to take a trip. woo, boy! certainly our most ambitious to date, save for the time that we were actually vagabonds in late 2012. but this is a different story: fitting in a big summer trip before the school year starts up. the transport: we’ve been mostly taking buses and booking on the road a couple days before. i didn’t anticipate this much bus-riding, as buses tend to make me a bit nauseous. i look forward to train trips when they happen so i can read books and walk around in a generally unrestricted fashion. also, trains are unimpeded…
-
Weekend in the Tatras
i love to break up cities on a trip with a bit of nature, so after some recommendations from friends, i decided to steer us towards zakopane, a polish town south of kraków very near the border of slovakia. zakopane is the most popular winter resort town in the entire country because it lies at the beginning of the tatras, the highest mountain range within the mighty carpathian mountains. i (and thousands of other poles) have found that it also makes a very pleasant summer holiday as well! zakopane did surprise me a little. i was expecting a tiny mountain town with a couple grocery stores maximum. little did i…
-
Restaurants I Love: U Babci Maliny, Kraków
u babci maliny was my favorite restaurant when i visited kraków eight years ago, and i was determined to go back and show alex how amazing it was. let me paint you a little picture: eight years ago: tired, hungry, and having just checked into my pension on my first night in poland, i was determined to walk as little as possible but still eat delicious polish food. i saw that the building right next door was a restaurant, and wandered in and descended down a long staircase to what seemed like another world. the dining room was furnished with world war I era wallpaper, candelabras, picture frames, tables, cushioned chairs,…
-
The Beginning of a Massive Poland Trip: Krakow
kraków was the first stop on my polish odyssey, just a mere hour or two over the czech border. i visited eight years ago, but it feels like an eternity. back then, i remember thinking at the time how polish was the most incomprehensible language i’ve ever seen or heard and that it was nearly impossible to pronounce or decipher any of it. but after living in the czech republic for almost two years, i was pleased to see that many words and phrases are similar and communicating hasn’t been a problem. it feels good to have this slavic language knowledge, although i am still an amateur… a learned…
-
A Broad, Abroad: Secrets for Traveling Europe on a Budget
since i embarked on my very first trip to europe in 2004, fresh out of high school, i have learned an enormous amount about how to travel on the cheap. i am the self-professed queen of frugality (as well as a euro budget travel vet) and i cringe at paying full-price for anything. so here’s a list of excellent tips that i use all the time that will allow you to travel even in western europe for dollars a day. and even if you no longer like to travel on such a budget, these tips are just plain smart and will help you save money for the part of your…
