We tried quite a few different places in Krakow, including cafes, restaurants, bars, bakeries, and street vendors. Our only regret is that we couldn't try even more spots! Thursday Koliba Góralskie Przysmaki was our very first stop in the city as we had to try their grilled and smoked Oscypek cheese. Much like cheese curds, the cheese squeaks as you chew. The smoke is fairly intense, and I got mine with cranberry which balanced out the saltiness of the cheese. Delicious, and not the only time ... continue reading...
Poland 2022: Wieliczka Salt Mine
The bus to the Salt Mine looked a bit complicated so we opted for the train. Got up early and grabbed a coffee in the train station, then waited for the on-time and completely uncrowded train. It took about 25 minutes and we saw a lot of construction for new rail lines along the way. The train only runs once an hour so we had some time to walk around town before our 10am entrance for the English Tour. I stood in line and watched as more and more people joined the queue for the ... continue reading...
Poland 2022: Auschwitz & Birkenau
A week before our trip we booked transport through Prime Tours Krakow to drive us to/from Auschwitz - Birkenau. Rafal picked us up on time, showed us a (very) sobering documentary on the hour-long ride, and walked us through the security line. Entry tickets are free but you have to pre-book your time slot and show ID after passing through a security checkpoint. Our arrival around 3:45pm meant we were not required to do a guided tour, so that left us about 90 minutes to see as much as we could ... continue reading...
Poland 2022: Krakow sights
Rynek Główny The main square of Old Town Krakow is split into two sections, separated by the Cloth Hall - now an covered market for tourist items. There were daily protests in support for the Ukraine and approximately a thousand pigeons. It was also a two minute walk from our apartment, so we had many opportunities to photograph this area at different times of day (and weather). pigeons keeping warm by the vents! Including from above when we climbed to the top of St. Mary's ... continue reading...
Poland 2022: Warsaw food & drink
Monday On our first evening in Poland we headed over to The Taps, a craft beer bar. Eric had #15, Funky Fluid Funky Fruit, with nectarine & yellow kiwi, and then a passionfruit and pineapple sour from Ziemia Obiecana (one of our favorites of the trip). Bartenders were chatty and convinced Leandra to get an IPA. The weather was cool but sunny so we sat outside. For dinner we went to The Alchemist (Grzybowska), known for their cocktails. We split their cocktail for two, a rum punch that ... continue reading...
Poland 2022: daytrip to Łódź
We chose Łódź (pronounced Woodge) to visit as it was said to have good street art and interesting architecture, all of which could be done as a day trip from Warsaw. Our pre-booked bus tickets on FlixBus worked great and two hours of uneventful bus ride later we exited into a large modern bus/train station, quite close to downtown. And a few minutes later we found ourselves on Piotrkowska street, the 4km heart of the city. There was a lot of construction going on, including the main ... continue reading...
Poland 2022: Warsaw sights + transportation
Leaving the airport Since we weren't in any hurry after we landed, and since our apartment was near the Central train station, we had planned to take the train into town. However, after wandering through the airport looking at a bunch of signs, we never found the S3 trains to Central Station (only S2 which required a transfer at outer stations) so we took an Uber instead. Knowing this, we also called an Uber back to the airport for our early morning flight. Both were about $10. Monday After ... continue reading...
Poland 2022: introduction
We've wanted to go to Poland for a while, and being mindful of the weather, were primarily interested in late spring or early fall. This year we finally found a good deal on Finnair via Chicago-Helsinki-Warsaw for late September, so we booked the tickets and started planning where we would go in country. Eventually we decided on three nights in Warsaw, five in Krakow, and a final night in Warsaw, with our itinerary allowing us several daytrips. Some of our observations: Poland is a ... continue reading...
Manny’s Memorial Weekend
We traveled to Florida (my fourth trip in less than three months) in mid-September for my Dad's Memorial service. I am not going to get into too much detail here but we made it through the experience with the help of my siblings, their families, my aunt and uncle, good friends and their pets. Oh, and friends willing to lend us a very roomy minivan! Restaurants + Breweries Before dinner with my aunt and uncle, we stopped in to Oak & Stone in downtown Bradenton for several ... continue reading...
NY Summer 2022: food
During our time on Long Island we got to try a number of places, including some old favorites, and some new-to-us. Black Sheep Bagels, Jamesport - I'd heard good things about this re-branded bagel place and made sure to try it out. On our first trip I got a bacon, egg, and cheese on a slim sesame bagel (regulars were out of stock), and on a different morning got the same on a full-size sesame. Both had crispy bacon and were quite good. Leandra tried the cheddar and jalepeño bagel and it was ... continue reading...
NY Summer 2022: sunsets and kayaking
As we do every year, we made multiple trips to the beach for sunset. Unlike 2021, we had quite a few good sunsets this summer! We found lots of jingle shells to add to our collection and managed to coax Pasha on a short walk once. This year I also had the opportunity to borrow my uncle's kayak, which I took out on Mattituck Inlet one morning. It was a beautiful, peaceful morning, with no other humans out on the water. I did see lots of birds, including a dozen osprey, herons, ... continue reading...
NY Summer 2022: wine and beer tasting
Much like previous summers, we sampled several wines and beers across the month of July. Lenz Winery, Peconic We've been members for years now, and Lenz always has some interesting wines available. The barn interior was open this summer, but we opted for a shaded outdoor spot on each of our visits. On our first visit our focus was tasting, and they were very busy on a holiday Sunday. It took a long while for us to get started, but once we did we had an enjoyable time. so we each ... continue reading...
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