Other than Legoland I think Pottenstein is the kids second favourite place in Europe. Although Boris has mentioned that it is time we visited some bigger cities, like Paris, London so he can promptly get the equivalent Lego architecture set to assemble. As per usual we still like photographing all the great food we eat. […]
We are back in Pottenstein to explore the town a bit more. We are still moving, we still have guests over and we are traveling. Our schedule is rather insane at the moment. We stopped in this little restaurant in town to have lunch. SO far the best currywurst I ever had. I am no […]
The little Dane is turning 13 today. We went out to one of out favourite sausage restaurants today and followed it with a cake at home. It is true that we have moved in to our new apartment but for now we still have more furniture in boxes that we have furniture that is assembled. […]
We finally have a fridge! It is now the only thing in out kitchen that works and is assembled. Also we have the first customer checking it out. Of course we brought this in the Alfa, its a car that keeps on giving.
It is true, we do finally have a fridge which we transported today in out Alfa. The car is slowly earning its keep with all the hauling we do. We have a fridge and lots and lots of boxes of stuff to assemble, and of course a whole kitchen all in pieces.
It is unbelievably hot. At 11:30 last night it was 27°C and no wind in sight. This morning at 9:30 it was 32°C and at 11:30 it climbed to 41.5°C and stayed there until about 4:30 pm. We spent most of the day at the apartment moving things, assembling the furniture, shifting boxes and packing […]
This will be our home for the next little while. Right now its full of boxes which need to be unpacked and assembled into furniture – a no small task when its 41°C outside for the next few days.
The great Danes are here. We are heading out for a quiet dinner at our favourite go to pizza place in town. Food is always great, service is excellent and the atmosphere is amazing. What more could you ask for?
Today we took delivery of an apartment full of furniture. The furniture showed up at 7:15, I was rushing to get there, I got lost! I thought I knew my way to the house but it turns out I did not. Finally I got there and opened the door and the crew of 3 started […]
So we have had a chance to drive our new old car back from Poland. We put just a bit over 2,000 km on the car and so far we absolutely love it. I don’t think this car will go faster than 250km/h or even 240km/h for that matter. In fact loaded up to the […]
We finally got home from Poland today. This is what we have managed to fit into the car – including the four of us. Got to love those station wagons. You can put pretty much everything in them, including the kitchen sink.
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 […]
We headed out to do some shopping for the apartment today and then went to the beach. Once again the sea was angry today, but the water was so nice and warm. Great way to waste an afternoon.
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 […]
As if Malbork wasn’t impressive enough on its own – there was one more surprise in store for us. Malbork Castle and its grounds are serving as a stage for a sculpture exhibit by a number of famous Polish artists. Feast your eyes.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
On the other side of the great old town buildings is a narrow little street called ul. Mariacka. The street is lined on both sides with artisan shoppes where you can find all sorts of amber and silver jewellery and pretty much everything else made out of amber which in Gdansk is king. In one […]
A stroll down ul. Dluga. It still is as beautiful as I remember it – less the 50,000 Zywiec umbrellas littering the street on both sides. We could not ask for better weather, with sun and a bit of breeze this was a beautiful day to explore the old town of Gdansk.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
Obviously we are not very with it when it comes to train travel. First we almost missed our first stop where we were supposed to get off and switch trains. We pulled up to the platform and suddenly we realized that we are not packed. Anna and Boris run off while I was waiting for […]
We are traveling in style First Class on the bullet train with coffee service to boot. Life is good and this journey should be nice, pleasant and short with service like this.
We are setting off to Nordhausen to pick up our car. We are taking a train there and once we pick up the car we are setting off on a bit of a holiday/business adventure. Essentially we are pushing more paper into the bureaucratic back hole.
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!
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 […]
I cannot tell you all how excited we are to be seeing our good friends Henrik et al next week. We haven’t seen them in … well …. about a year I guess but we have so many years to make up for at this point! All I have to tell you is get ready […]
File this under: what was I thinking? Just to make sure that the first time I managed to eat the entire pizza at L’Osteria, was not a fluke, I challenged myself to do it again. Once you eat half of this pizza, it then starts fitting onto the plate. The pizza is about 42 cm […]
We spent three and a half hours at IKEA today – buying everything for the apartment. From beds and mattresses, to chairs, tables and desks, a dining room, wardrobes and dressers and shelves, and coffee and end tables. It is interesting how much you can really buy at IKEA for a price of one Restoration […]
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 […]
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 […]
Sunday is a perfect day for brunch. Today we went to the downtown apartment and had lunch with Volker’s mom and two great Danes, who have been our neighbours for the last two months. This is a proper way to laze around 6 hours – sitting around and drinking and eating.
It’s 8:00 pm and it’s 28°C outside – a perfect evening to explore the city in a convertible. We are unleashing the fury of Volker’s Audi S5 on the town. This car is beautiful and seeing the city with the top down gives you different perspective. In Nuremberg you are never more than a 5 […]
Recent Comments