Tag: <span>poland</span>

Published June 25, 2020

This must never ever happen again

Auschwitz is one of those places that is difficult to describe. We visited both camps in 2015, but somehow I felt I needed to go back and visit Birkenau one more time. Appearances are deceiving; in some ways it looks so innocent, but everything about it tells a different story. From the cattle wagons on the train tracks, the thin walls of the barracks making it freezing cold in winter, and of course the remains of the ovens on the far side of the camp.

This is a place that needs to be remembered, it needs to be visited. We need to know what we are capable of, and we need to do everything we can to prevent this from ever happening again.

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Published February 25, 2020

Wroclaw food part 1

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The town of Wroclaw is wonderful in the evening. There are loads of restaurants where you get brilliant Polish food, and in old-town there is also a bustling market area with the most excellent food stalls, and tables all over where you can sit and eat. In my nest post I’ll share some of the food (hint – I had food from the steam train on the left).

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Published December 15, 2019

Ojcow

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The little village of Ojcow is a lovely place to visit. Its just a few km from our family’s house in Krakow, Poland, and I always try to pop past when I go running in the forest. It’s mostly restaurants and hotels. But its a lovely place to spend a relaxing hour or two in the country.

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Published November 30, 2019

From Germany to Poland

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I was standing in Gorlitz, the eastern-most town in Germany. Looking across the bridge you see the town of Zgorzelec, the western-most town in Poland. It was a simple matter to pop across to Poland for lunch. Well it would have been if the restaurant we wanted to visit wasn’t full.

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Published June 5, 2019

Museum of the History of Polish Jews

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This lively ceiling is in the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, one of the most interest and modern museum’s that I have ever visited. The ceiling is a replica of a synagogue ceiling. By a strange coincident we visited on 1 September, which was the anniversary of the invasion of Poland; 1 Sep 1939 – the beginning of the second world war.

Just around the corner is Mila 18 which played a significant role in the Warsaw Ghetto.

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Published March 1, 2019

Europa marathon

When we last travelled to Poland, I realised that we could take a (somewhat) small detour and visit the lovely town of Gorlitz. The reason being that the Europa Marathon was in Gorlitz, and of course I grabbed the opportunity of running it.

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Entering Poland

This is a somewhat unique race in that it crosses the border into Zgorzelec in Poland – just over the river, and then back to Germany – my first (quite literally) cross-country race.

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Supporters – one of them gave me a mid-race beer

It was a tiny marathon; only 110 people ran it, so it was small and intimate; it was great running past the supporters because they would sit around relaxing and then burst into cheering and applause as I ran past.

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It was also a beautiful route to race – a large part of the race was country roads and bicycle paths through woods and farms.
Mid-race

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At the finish

I loved running this tiny marathon, and I’m somewhat amazed that it is not bigger. It was super-well organised and a lovely route. There are also a few other events (half marathon, inline skate races, unicycle marathons etc). If you have the opportunity go and run a marathon in Gorlitz.

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A well-deserved brakwurst and beer at the finish

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Published July 15, 2018

The hills are alive with the sound of (Polish) music

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When we are exploring the hills around Zakopane in Poland we found this lovely meadow overlooking the Tatra mountains. Many years ago I was in Salzburg in Austria (Where the Sound of Music was filmed), and this hill looks exactly like the one used in the Sound of Music. I was almost expecting Maria von Trapp to be walking towards me singing “the hills are alive…”

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Published May 30, 2018

The sound of (Polish) music

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I took this picture at Zakopane in Poland, at the top of the funicular. But it so reminds me of Salzburg in Austria. It looks exactly like a set from the Sound of Music. I almost expect to see Maria von Trapp running up the hill singing…”the hills are alive, with the sound of music.

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Published May 25, 2018

Handcraft in Zakopane

Zakopane has the most amazing handcrafted wooden good for sale, and the prices are amazing. From kitchenware (breadboards, spoons, salad servers etc) to the most intricately carved wooden toys you can imagine. The toys look like the old wooden toys you would expect your grandfather to have played with.
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We bought ourself a chopping board (my sister got one as well for her birthday), and lots of spoons; yeah I know, spoons, but they are great spoons.

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Much as I was temped to, we didn’t buy any of the wooden toys. Partly because we don’t have any children (ok I admit that was hardly an issue), but because they were far too big to bring all the way back to Cape Town. The toys that is – I wasn’t going to bring back any children.

The big toys for does bring up another aspect of Zakopane. There are many tourists and holiday-makers that visit the town, but they are mostly Polish visitors. There are very few tourists from other countries. A refreshing change (and yeah I am completely aware that by visiting Zakopane I am changing that).

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Published May 25, 2018

Zakopane high street

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This is the high street in Zakopane – Krupówki Street – this is where all the restaurants, cafes, bars, shops and most important…cheese shops are in Zakopane. These covered wagons are where you buy the famous (and delicious) smoked cheese from Zakopane. And you if you walk in any direction for just 20m, you will find another cheese stall. I have no idea how much cheese I ate while we where there, but it is amazing, and nothing quite like any other cheese you will ever eat.

We also brought some of the cheese home with us, but when we opened our bags everything smelt like smoked cheese – a lovely smell on cheese…but not that great on your clothes!

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