Poland
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Polish Adventure Part 3 – Warsaw
Wednesday is bin day in the Polish city of Lodz. I know this because I am woken at 5am by a noisy dumpster being wheeled down the alley outside the Stare Kino hotel. But breakfast is tasty enough and today’s travel time to Warsaw is just 90 minutes. Lodz Fabryczna station is eerily quiet during…
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Polish Adventure Part 2 – Lodz
One thing you quickly learn in Poland is the importance of accents on words. You can happily shout very slowly like a Brit at a confused local and get absolutely nowhere unless you write the word down. Thankfully, this potentially embarrassing situation had been sorted out before I travelled, when I told a friend I…
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Polish Adventure Part 1 – Wroclaw
Ask a typical UK traveller where they’d choose to go to in Europe and they’re likely to name one of the classically great locations : Paris, Venice or Barcelona. Yet in the height of the summer season such destinations can be enormously expensive. I’m fortunate enough to not have to travel on a budget, but…
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Warsaw or bust
I don’t quite know why, but there had been one thing in my bones telling me that getting to Warsaw would be a problem. After 13 hours on a train yesterday, it was a wise choice to stay overnight in Poznan. And yes, a late booked hotel cost ove 90 Euro, but it was worth…
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Baltics and Scandinavia – Part 2
It’s an early start for a Monday morning, but the sun is shining in Cologne. The air is chilly – 5 Celsius – but already there is an air of urgency around the railway station, as morning commuters make their way to work. A small army of workmen run pressure washers and street cleaning machines…
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Monumental Krakow
It’s my final day in Poland, so just enough time to head beyond the Old Town and check out another market. The Stary Kleparz is Krakow’s oldest continuously operating market, having existed since the mid fourteenth century. On a chilly Monday morning, it’s mainly a local crowd seeking out the best bargains for fresh meat,…
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Overground and Underground
Once you start looking into a city’s history, it’s pretty hard to stop, especially in Krakow where just about every building begs you to explored its past. The district of Kazimierz was once its own town, founded by – of course – Kzimierz the Great in 1335. Its importance became more defined when it became…
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The Castle On The Hill
It’s a sunny Saturday morning in Krakow, and with the weather forecast decidedly variable for the coming days it seems like a good time to get plenty of fresh air. This is entirely unconnected to the small hangover as a result of last night’s shenanigans at the Bull Dog Pub. Lots of cities have ancient…
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Here for the craic(ow)
The first thing that strikes me about Krakow – apart from it’s size – is the varied numbe of languages being spoken. If Wroclaw was understated as a tourist destination, Krakow has gone into full visitor overdrive. On my walk from the tram into the Old Town there are instantly five or six people walking…
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Stations, trains and silence
I’ve always enjoyed travelling by train, especially when the journey virtually takes you door to door. Wroclaw Glowny – the main station – is a short tram ride from my hotel. Whilst the exterior is certainly striking, it’s only once you get inside that you see the grandeur of the place. In most place where…
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