Archive | July, 2013
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Thank you

We are setting off to go back to Nuremberg.  We are saying good bye to our great hosts the Karnath family in Pruszcz Gdanski.  Not only were they gracious enough to offer us a roof over our heads and feed us 10 meals a day  but Kasia’s mom also helped me get the paper work […]

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Quintessentially Polish

Storks are quite ubiquitous in Poland, they are revered and loved in Poland – unlike the post Soviet area bureaucracy which still lingers around like a nasty smell.  Today I had to take another stab at it and try and file some papers, to get the papers I actually need.  To do this however, I […]

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Malbork Castle

There are a lot of impressive sights in the world and a great number of wonderful buildings.  To me there are very few as impressive and as memorable as the Malbork Castle.  The sheer size of it, the scale of buildings and the magnificent decor and layout are simply stunning.  Malbork is 3 castles in […]

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Kasia’s Birthday

Today, Kasia is turning 29 again. There was a small gathering of family and friends to celebrate this momentous occasion.  We were quite exhausted after a full day of walking around so it was nice to just sit down and relax for a bit, listen to some crazy travel stories, eat a great dinner and […]

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Sopot

A short drive from Gdansk, is the seaside city of Sopot with its grand pier that stretches into the Baltic Sea.  At 511.5m, the pier is the longest wooden pier in Europe.  A lot has changed here, there are a lot more stores and restaurants, but don’t come here looking for traditional polish food.  We […]

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Going Back

So after almost 30 years I am back in the city I grew up in. While a lot has changed it here, not much really did. In the end it is really all a matter of perspective.  What seemed bright, huge and wonderful as I remembered it, is now aged, dull and all plastered in […]

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TIR-owka

TIR stands for Transports Internationaux Routiers” or “International Road Transports.  TIR-owka then is  a lady that works in a service industry, that stands in a forrest, on the side of the highway, usually dressed in a very revealing and easy to spot from the distance  neon clothing ready to help the big truck drivers relax for […]

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Copernicus

We went to explore the house where Copernicus was born, where he lived, studied and in the end turned the world of astronomy on its head.  His house was comprised of two buildings.  Even by modern standards this was a huge house.  It is also worth noting that Copernicus was a distinguished guest at the […]

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Torun

Since we are not in a great rush today to get to our destination, we are taking a few stops on the way to explore  some things worth seeing.  First on the list today is Torun, a city where Copernicus was born.  A leisurely stroll through the old town, and around the old Teutonic ruins, […]

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Elk-cesorizing

Meanwhile somewhere in Poland, on the side of the road is this guy with a wide array of forest goods for sale – all nicely displayed on the hood of his car. I think it is time to give our Alfa some personallity. We are going for that off road rugged country style look. It […]

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Time To Rest

  After a long drive we stopped  for the night at this little place.  What can be said about it – it was clean, cheap and very pleasant.  I think the rooms were €30.00 per night and the breakfast was about €2.50 each.  We promptly ordered 5 breakfasts for the 4 of us in the […]

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Chariot

This then is the official European Vacation Wala Family Chariot.  It is a bit shorter and less powerful than the Volvo we have been driving but I think we are going to like it very much.  It is an Alfa Romeo 159 Stoprtwagon Ti Turismo. It’s black and it ‘s pretty, and it converts diesel […]

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Gniezno

Since we are not in a great rush today to get anywhere in particular today,  we made a quick stop in Gniezno as we were driving by.  This then, according to legend is the birth city of Poland  – officially in 966.    It is quite beautiful here.

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Delivery

Remember how proud I was about getting those awkward IKEA chairs home? Well, that was nothing compared to these two women getting 5 years’ supply of Coke into their tiny car. I wish I could’ve stuck around to see it happen and document it for you all!

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Parking lot

This is the “parking lot” at Evelina’s school. The school is grades 1 through 4 and there are VERY few kids that are dropped off and picked up by parents. Evelina rides her scooter every day and parks it here too. Without locks. She told me she wouldn’t enjoy going to school in Germany if […]

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ICE Train

It’s official.  We are finally going to go and pick up our car.  We booked the train to Nordhausen for this coming Thursday.  We are taking the ICE train which is the German equivalent of the bullet train.  We are looking forward this experience. After all, its been at least 15 years since I took […]

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Plates

Today we got our plates for the car.  Running like a proper well oiled german machine should the process of registration, vanity plate making and road tax paying took about 30 min to accomplish.  With driving and parking 45 min for the round trip.  Now we can finally go and pick up our car.  Bonus […]

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