Tag: Travel

Moszna, Poland

How to feel like a king without spending like one?
Moszna Castle

History has not been kind to Moszna Castle… It was build (as it is right now) between late XIX and early XX century. After World War II it was occupied by the Red Army. Especially then a lot was damaged and even more was stolen. The Soviets decided to use a tiny chapel as a horse stable just to show their hate for the religion. Which can be seen even now on the stairs from the chapel. Later the Castle was a mental hospital for over 40 years up till 2013. Now finally it is a museum, restaurant and a hotel.

It was always my dream to sleep in a castle. I guess it’s a dream every little girl has and well maybe I still am one. Not to mention Moszna is supposed to be one of the most beautiful castles in Poland. It’s a bit of a weird place when you look at it closely. Every wing represents a different style but somehow they go really well together.  I thought sleeping there would be a budget breaker for us but I always check things like that just in case… And it turns out a night there starts from 150 zl per room… too cheap to be true?

We just couldn’t resist the chance and we decided to take the cheapest room and check it out. It was supposed to be just a double room with a bathroom on the corridor. We hope the corridor wouldn’t be too long. Arriving we are shocked. So not only the bathroom is private and just next to our room but tickets to the sightseeing of the castle are included in the 150 zl for the room. In disbelief we walk to our room and when we open the door we are amazed… We thought we would get the servants room somewhere on the roof or in the basement. Nothing like that. The room is enormous. We could play hide and seek in here. And it’s beautiful, all kept in style. Not to mention we have a view on the huge garden with a fountain and on the entrance to the castle. As I look outside of the window I see 4 newlywed couples on their wedding session. It looks hilarious as they all try to have the most amazing pictures with the castle but without the other couples in the frame. On our way to see the castle I comment that to the receptionist who tells me that’s nothing. One time they had 17 couples. That must have been entertaining.

As we go through the castle on sightseeing we kind of imagine how it was a mental hospital. Those long, endless corridors and tiles in some places are a bit creepy. And it’s not popular so the emptiness gives it the extra spookiness. But on the other hand it looks a bit like a fairytale castle with its 99 towers, 365 rooms and charming café and restaurant. Both serving good and not too expensive food.

Moszna castle is like another dream coming true for us. It’s relaxing, soothing and peaceful. The garden is amazing as well, perfect to picnic, read a book, walk around, stare at couples taking their wedding pictures.

For the receptionist I assume we are more of a nightmare really. Especially when we ask her to open the door before the sunrise because we absolutely have to take a picture of the castle…

How to get there from Wrocław?

First you need to take a train from Wrocław Główny to Opole and then from over there a bus to Moszna. The whole route with timetable you can check on e-podroznik.pl. I know it sounds very polish but it is in English.

How much does it cost?

Cheapest room is 150 zl per night. And that includes a huge breakfast consisting of absolutely everything: lots of fruit, granola, yogurt, sausage, eggs, ham, cheese, bread of all kind and much much more. Except for the breakfast it also includes visiting the castle. You only need to pay if you want to see the towers but you have a discount even for that so it’s 6 zl per person. On weekends Moszna Castle organizes other kinds of sightseeing or parties. To check it out and to check out all the other rooms and the restaurant menu go to http://www.moszna-zamek.pl/ . May google translate be with you 🙂 You have to call them or write them an email to reserve.

Zalipie, Poland

The Painted Village- Zalipie

The journey to Zalipie starts easily, just by a bus trip from Kraków to Tarnów. And that’s where easy stops. Getting out from the bus I ask the driver if he could tell me which buses could take me to the Painted Village. He repeats the name a few times in disbelief and tells me he doesn’t know where it is. “Why would you go there, is there something to see?” he asks intrigued. I tell him about the folklore painted houses and he doesn’t seem impressed. From him I go to the next bus driver and to the next one. I guess the fame of the village is worldwide except for the closest city… Finally, one of the drivers calls his company and finds out how I could get there. So from Tarnów I go on a mini bus to Dąbrowa and then on another one to Zalipie. From the road to the actual museum and village it’s still about a 1 km walk.

Firstly, I decide to go and visit the museum of the lady who brought the wall painting of the houses to the next level- Felicja Curyło. She loved the floral ornaments and was a brilliant painter and propagator of the art. Thanks to her and the effort of the generations now, some of the houses are real pieces of art, including her house which is a museum now. It’s run by her granddaughter who is just the most cheerful and charming woman ever. She herself started painting when she was 4. “It’s in my blood, I wouldn’t be able not to paint” she smiled even talking about it. The house although small is really busy with all of the charming folklore art. It turns out that Zalipie is not only about the painted outside. Everything is painted starting from the whole interior, ending on clothes and except for the floral patterns there are also incredible paper curtains and paper spiders which are also very famous here. In the museum even the ceiling is impressive and each pattern is unique. The granddaughter now has an idea of moving a few more houses on the land and creating kind of a folklore antique building museum from them. In the garden I can see the first one which is white and has stunning floral patterns on the walls.

Unfortunately, Zalipie is not a village built around one street but rather big patches of land and houses scattered there. Thankfully the museum has a map where houses with something or everything painted are indicated. And there are 45 of them. Walking in between fields I admire the polish countryside. It seems like time has stopped here. Fiat 126p passes me, then a drunk man and then another one on a bicycle. I guess here you still can’t get things done without any booze. Obviously not all the houses are painted so I pass a lot of normal, modern houses.  But when it’s painted it’s usually all the way.  The painters don’t limit themselves to just their houses, the school, fire station and church are also painted and even some of the abandoned houses. I guess the colors improve the mood in the village, everyone is cheerful and happily wants to talk to me. One lady even drags me into her house to show me how beautiful it is. She won the yearly competition for the most beautiful painted house. Unfortunately, except for oh and ah she wanted a bit of money. I give her 10 zl and she seems happy enough. She even gives me some grapes from her garden. And she is also interested in just one thing: if I am married and why he is not here with me. To every single one of the ladies, I have to explain how he, Jandirk didn’t feel it was something for him. I also try to explain and hide my hands because I know what the next question will be- where is the ring…

How to get to Zalipie?

Firstly, from Krakow to Tarnów. It’s really easy, the buses go from the central station and they cost 15 zl one way. Once in Tarnów you have to take either a direct bus (3 a day at 12.48, 15.10 and 18.40) with destination: Gręboszów/Bieniaszowice or a bus to Dąbrowa. Bus to Dąbrowa costs 2 zl and from Dąbrowa to Zalipie it’s 2.5 zl. All the buses stop exactly in the same spot so you don’t need to search for them. But the problem is the timetable from Dąbrowa to Zalipie. You can check the schedule here.

What to see in Zalipie?

  • House-museum of Felicja Curyło opened daily except for Monday from 10am to 4pm. It will give you a lot of insight into the history and how it all started. And you will be able to see an amazing house which is a piece of art really.
  • Dom Malarek- The Painters’ house is a place where you can admire even more of the folklore art and also see it being done. They also do workshops and they are the only place where you can get a cup of coffee 🙂 you can check when they are open on here
  • The church in the village- it has an incredibly painted tiny chapel that you absolutely have to see!
  • The nice old lady that will show you her house! She is one of the very few who doesn’t mind showing all her work and talking about it. Her house is indicated on our map.
  • Just walk around and explore! 🙂

Wrocław, Poland

Our favorite dwarfs in Wrocław

Even though little dwarfs’ statues are quite a new tradition in Wrocław they already are quite a prominent sign of the city. It all started in the 80’ when painted dwarfs were appearing on the city walls as a response to the communist oppression. With those gnomes painted on the walls Orange Alternatives (the main protest movement) was humiliating the government that was trying to cover all the anti-communism writings and limiting the freedom of speech. The statues came much later. The first one called Papa Krasnal (Dad Gnome) was created in 2001 as a monument for the memory of what the Orange Alternative did. On 2005 the first 5 little dwarfs came and since then they have been growing in numbers. Now there are more than 300 gnomes and they are everywhere in the city. There is one eating pierogi (polish dumpling), another one drinking like crazy, even a hippo cleaner and a butcher. They are small enough not to be spotted easily. You have to search for them! And that’s when the fun starts!:) Our favorites below. If you need a little help to find them, we created a map below the post:)

  1. Krasnale Zraszacze- the Sparkling Water gnomes

There are two of them and they are by far our favorite ones. Not only are they cute but they bring a lot of joy to the kids and adults, locals and tourists. They sparkle water on hot summer days. They are actually new to the collection because the appeared on the Market Square just in june this year.

  1. Pomagajek- the Helpy Dwarf

Situated in front of a gift shop on the Market Square. He is encouraging people to buy gifts with him on them. By buying it you can help kids with incurable diseases. The Helpy dwarf looks really friendly and is supposed to remind us how important it is to help each other.

  1. Więzień- The Prisoner

Locked on the Wiezienna Street he has been sentenced with uncontrollable apatite. First he was stealing food from the tourists which was not so bad according to other gnomes but then he dared to steal pierogi even from his own kind. Sentenced for social work he was still unable to control his appetite so he ended up as a Prisoner.

 

  1. Krasnale Filharmonii Wrocławskiej- the Filharmony Dwarfs

There is a whole orchestra of dwarfs practicing outside of the Filharmony. They were unfortunately denied rehearsals inside the building. When we were there they were also imprisoned for a festival. I guess for their own good.

  1. WrocLovek- WrocLover

That gnome is in love with Wrocław and its people. He loves tourists as well and he wants to spread his love everywhere. He’s situated just on one of the corners of the Market Square.

  1. Chrapek- the Snorer

He sleeps in front of the Patio Hotel. Probably he got kicked out for snoring and disturbing other guests. But he is still a cute dwarf so at least they gave him a bed.

  1. Ottuś- the Otto Dwarf

Otto is a work agency and Ottuś is there every day running to bring his CV. He is very enthusiastic and sure this time he will get a job. Tale says he already got a job abroad. He has only one shoe, probably from all this rush. We also heard that touching his CV brings luck, financially and at work.

  1. Wypłatnik- the Withdrawer

By some he is called the Spender because sometimes he disappears to spend all the money that he managed to withdraw. In Wrocław there are a few banking dwarfs but this one is quite special. He doesn’t only have his cash machine but also his own little bank. He can be found in front of BZ WBK bank at the Market Square.

  1. The Modern dwarfs

We couldn’t find their names so we gave them our own names:) They are the Modern dwarfs and they don’t care about the tourists or locals they are too busy with their social media, phones, computers and tvs. There are quite a few of those but we chose our favorite two. Both can be spotted in the city center.

How to find them all?

It’s very hard because everyone can buy a dwarf so they grow in numbers quite rapidly. Also when a bank or restaurant moves and they own a gnome, they take him with them. Some of the gnomes also get stolen or they are a victim of vandalism. There is a database, it’s not complete but it’s the best there is. Go to krasnale.pl and you will find a map and some info on the particular dwarfs.

Casapueblo, Uruguay

Our favorite highlights of south america All created by man

Ok, we- humans destroy a lot, we kill animals and our environment. But sometimes we create. And when we do, it can be pretty incredible. Here is a list of the most impressive human creations in South America

  1. Casa Pueblo in Uruguay

It reminds me a bit of architecture that I saw on Lanzarote from Cesar Manrique: big, white and fascinatingly futuristic. Casa Pueblo was constructed by Carlos Paez Vilaro as a summer house and workshop. It took him 36 years to finish it. The artist passed away already but his family still lives in a part of the house, the rest is a museum and a hotel! It’s truly magical and it’s situated just by the water which makes it even more enchanted. Every evening at sunset they have a nice peaceful tradition of playing one of the poems written by Vilaro and some music. We enjoyed that moment a lot because it was just so relaxing and full of pure, silent joy. It also felt like the white walls were a canvas for the colors of the setting sun. Incredible!

  1. Mechanic flower – Floralis Generica in Buenos Aires, Argentina

It’s an unusual gift from an architect, Eduardo Catalano, for Buenos Aires. The steel flower opens its petals every morning to close them in the evening just like a natural flower would. It looks very fragile and gentle but at the same time it’s actually massive- 23 m high and 18 ton. Since building it in 2002 there were many issues with the mechanism and when we were there the pool underneath it was covered and under maintenance, but even so it was worth seeing it.

  1. Incan Empire- almost everywhere

We didn’t like standing in line to Machu Picchu and the crowds there manage to kill any magic in the place but… it’s not the only one. Incas ruled areas from North Argentina to South Colombia and they created really many cities, left many incredible artifacts and even mummies. All of their constructions were one of a kind and the majority was situated on a slope of a mountain which automatically assures you there is going to be a nice view from each one of them, and a good work out to get there.

  1. Street art- whole South America

Street art was very present in our whole travel really. It all started in Argentina when we arrived in Buenos Aires and we saw murals everywhere. It was just incredible for us that there artists get payed to paint on the buildings and that they get recognition for it. Each of the masterpieces was signed and some even with a web page. The art was not only beautiful but also made us think about so many issues in South America. It was political, cultural and funny, it was everything. The passion in the street art didn’t change all over South America. We saw some incredible masterpieces everywhere, especially in big cities. The bigger the city, the brighter and more daring were the murals.

  1. Wine- Argentina, Uruguay

Both Argentina and Uruguay produce amazing wines. Argentina is already very famous for it. Unfortunately Uruguayan pride- Tannat is not so popular. It’s a shame because it’s definitely one of the most delicious red wines we have ever had, very deep and dry. When it comes to Argentina we were very positively surprised with fresh, white, fruity Torrontes.

 

  1. Textiles- Bolivia, Peru

Especially in Bolivia and Peru we saw a variety of incredible textiles of all kind- ponchos, capes, blankets, carpets and all you could think about. They were all incredibly colorful and they told us a lot about local culture. Many of them were showing funerals, chicha production (corn beer) and other community events. The form and colors were all changing depending on the region and subject.

 

  1. Christmas lights-Colombia

Colombians say it’s a pity that Christmas lasts only one month- December. It really does! On the first of December EVERYONE has to have lights everywhere. The bigger, flashier, brighter the better. In big cities like Bogota, Cali, Medellin they create tiny villages of light. They are truly incredible and surprisingly they don’t have that much to do with Christmas anymore. But it still has the atmosphere of Christmas maybe because of the booze & food stands and the crowds surrounding it. Obviously the weather is far from winter snow and cold.

 

Białowieża, Poland

7 Must Do’s In Białowieża

Most of the people come to Białowieża just for one or two days. See the forest and go further. Big mistake, there is plenty to see and do in there. It’s a part of Poland that doesn’t feel like Poland anymore. It’s wilder and the catholic churches are replaced by the orthodox ones and time has stopped. So can youJ

  1. Search for bison!

Except for in the Reserve it’s quite easy to spot them in nature. We had really bad luck (that’s what everyone said) and we didn’t see any bison and we devoted many sleepless mornings to search for them. Anyway… The best times to see them is around sunrise and sunset then they are easily spotted close to the border with the Strict Reserve so the restricted part of the forest. If you want to know the exact places that people recommended to us, look on the map below 🙂

If you can choose the season then go in the winter because that’s when the bison get fed so it’s easier to spot them. Good luck! And remember, even if you don’t see a bison, the views will be spectacular.

  1. Go to the Strict Reserve, it is different!

Strict Reserve is a small part of the Białowieża forest which is extremely protected and nothing can be altered there so when something dies or falls it’s left as it is. We thought forest is forest, but the strict reserve is not just a forest. It’s a different world! It’s just greener, thicker and way more interesting, it even smells different. Not to mention all the weird mushrooms and plants we saw there.

To go to the Strict Reserve you need to have a guide and you can go on tour with a group (144 zl per group so you share the cost, up to 12 people). You can also take a private tour that starts from 280 zl (for polish speaking guide) and you go pretty deep for total of 6 hours walk.

We took the regular group one and we were pretty happy, the guide was really in love with the forest so she would tell us all about the history of it and interesting plants we saw and animals we heard.

 

  1. Sleep or at least see The Carska Hotel

The hotel used to be an old train station. Now it’s simply stunning. It’s like you travel in time when you’re there. Everything is maintained so well in the Tsar XXth century era. You can either sleep in your own train wagon furnished Tsar style or you can choose in one of the apartments in a nearby tower. I’m sure the views are breathtaking. You will also have the best restaurant in town just next to you, in an old train station building.

  1. Enjoy a tasty cup of coffee or beer surrounded by suitcases

During our stay in Bialowieza we discovered a magical café. It’s called “Walizka” café and it’s filled with suitcases, interesting books, nice pictures of bison and an amazing atmosphere. It’s quite small, just few tables so if it’s busy it’s really worth waiting for your turn. Homemade cakes and delicious coffee will reward it.

  1. Visit their Saint Nicolas Orthodox church

It might not be the most spectacular of them all and if you’re going by car you can visit more spectacular ones in other towns but if you never saw an orthodox church and you don’t have a car it’s definitely worth a visit. It’s just such a different experience than the one you would have in a catholic church.

  1. Walk around the town

Białowieża is just such a charming, little town and it definetly doesn’t get the attention that it deserves! We really enjoyed just walking around the town, admiring the wooden houses and beautiful forest surrounding.

  1. Just bike around

There are plenty of biking paths around Białowieża that will take you through the forest. I think it’s the best way to explore the surroundings as you are not too fast so you still see a lot but you’re fast enough so that the mosquitos don’t get you. I wouldn’t recommend any route in particular as they are all pretty much the same. Even though some say you need to see “The Trail of Royal Oaks” as it has really huge, old oaks, I would say that one is all about the journey, not so much about destinations. And so are most of the routes.

Sacsayhuaman, Cusco, Peru

The 7 other Inca wonders around Cusco

After the decision to leave everything and go travelling comes the most difficult part: what should you take with you? You start reading and buying all this fancy, new stuff but is it really worth it?

We had the same problem, we also didn’t know what to take and we had no idea if what we decided to bring would be handy or not. But now we know… let’s go through our list of handy, useless, and missed stuff

 

Top handy:

  1. Powerbank

We got it as a gift actually and didn’t know that it is such a life saver! We use it all the time. Our powerbank can charge a mobile phone four times and it has a light. It’s also not too scared of water which helps. Check out our powerbank the Sandberg IP54. Powerbank

  1. Backpacks

Without it there is no backpacking. The most important thing is that it’s not too big because when it is you will pack it full before you notice and then you will have to drag way more kilos than necessary! Another feature that is really handy for your big backpack is that it opens like a suitcase as well as from above.

Initially we took two 38 L BACH backpacks and a tiny itsy bitsy BACH. All three of them are still with us and serve us very well. Later on we bought two additional backpacks but about those you will read futher below:)

  1. Washing kit (line, universal sink plug and soap)

Another great gift we got! We didn’t even realize that we wouldn’t be able to just leave our dirty clothes by some laundry place or that in so many places it would be so expensive. It saved us from stinking so many times!Washing/Drying Kit

  1. Shoes

It’s very important to have good ones just because they should be your only ones if you want to travel light. We both trusted Scarpa and never regretted it. They are perfect for hiking, walking around cities and surviving rain. They are also not too ugly. They are our only footwear on the road except for flip-flops.

  1. Headlamp

You would think a torch or just a lamp in your phone would fix the problem but nope. Sometimes you really need your hands and that's when a headlamp is perfect.

  1. Sowing kit

When your clothes break (and they will!) you will need it. We used it soooo many times.Sowing Kit

  1. Earplugs

Without those be prepared for many sleepless nights. There is always at least one snorer or drunk in the dorm!

  1. Microfiber towels

They are horrible, they give you this weird feeling that you don’t get dry. Everywhere we could, we tried to use a normal towel but it doesn’t change the fact that the microfiber ones dry way faster than the normal ones and they occupy way less space.

  1. Layered clothing

A key to pack clothes is to bring lots of layers so that you can still use seperate things depending on the weather. We each brought an underlayer, t-shirts, a fleece and a rain jacket. With all these layers we managed to survive in Patagonia in the beginning of the winter.Glaciers, El Calafate, Argentina

  1. Headphones

There is nothing more uncomfortable when the whole hostel hears your skype conversation. Headphones give you privacy and the right to listen to some music and watch a movie when everyone is sleeping

  1. E-reader

I personally love the smell of books, I like holding them, seeing how much I read but… they are heavy. When you want to have many books and some guide books it’s better to invest in an e-reader. P.S. E-books are also cheaper and you save a few trees- that’s what I tell myself to cheer myself up when missing a real book:)

  1. Hard drive

We take pictures almost every day and not every day we have internet to upload them. Besides uploading takes ages. So to have a backup we always have a hard drive.

  1. Universal plug adapter

Unless you are in the middle of a forest and you want to just enjoy the nature without any electronics...

  1. That little something for a special occasion

Every now and then it's amazing to put something on that doesn't have stains and holes. It doesn't have to be fancy but a shirt for a guy or a dress for a girl would be great. Believe me, there are times when you don't want to feel like a hobo!

 

Things we missed and bought along the way:

  1. Good camera

Before we were traveling with two pocket size cameras- one underwater as we love diving and one normal compact camera. After some time of taking pictures every single day we missed something better. We had more and more the feeling that we couldn't capture what we were seeing so we went for the real deal and bought our precious Canon... and some lenses:)

  1. Other backpacks

For our camera we needed a separate backpack so we bought an amazing Lowpro one. It's absolutely perfect, it fits not only the camera but also the lenses and it has quite a big space for some food, water and whatever you want. It's also very safe because the openning of the compartment where the camera is, is at the back so when you have it on you can't even see it's a camera backpack.

Except for the camera backpack we also bought just a standard north face day pack. Our itsy bitsy was just really uncomfortable when taking big weight.

Bastimentos, Bocas del Toro, Panama

  1. Laptop

We though we would manage only with our smartphones and an old tablet but no way! To mantain the blog and work on our pictures we bought a very simple and light laptop.Alto Bonito, Salamina, Colombia

Things we took and were useless:

  1. Merino wool socks

So we took two pairs of socks each because we were told that those wouldn’t stink and were unbelievable for hiking. We wore them at home for one week straight and they were great but during the trip they were a total miss, they stunk like normal socks do and they were not as special as you would expect from 20 euros a pair.

  1. Sheets

We read it would be super dirty in hostels and we would need to use our own sheets. That was not true except for the Amazon and The Lost City in Colombia. Except for that they were useless. Although we will give them another chance when going to Asia.

  1. Money belts

Absolutely useless really. We wore them maybe twice and they were extremely uncomfortable, not to mention that after two times they stunk like sweat. We never regretted not wearing them. We never had any unsafe situation and no one ever robbed us. Well maybe except for a dirty pair of panties that got mysteriously stolen from me.

  1. Medication

We were prepared for everything starting from bladder infection to malaria and guess what … we didn’t use most of it and we had to drag it around. We only used diarrhea related stuff and that’s what we’re gonna bring to Asia. If something happens there are pharmacies everywhere.

 

Stuff we missed and will buy:

  1. Speaker

When we finally had a private room and wanted to watch a movie we had to wear headphones cuz we couldn’t hear a thing. Going to Asia we will definitely take a speaker to enjoy our private cinema.

 

Hopefully the list helped you a bit. Don't get too frustrated packing! Keep the goal in your head:) Something for motivation below:)

Even more flamingos

 

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