Like This

If anyone asks you
how the perfect satisfaction
of all our sexual wanting
will look, lift your face
and say,

Like This.

When someone mentions the gracefullness
of the nightshy, climb up on the roof
and dance, and say,

Like This.

If anyone wants to know what the „spirit” is,
or what „God’s fragrance” means,
lean your head towards him or her,
Keep your face there close.

Like This.

When someone quotes the old poetic image
about clouds gradually uncovering the moon,
slowly loosen knot by knot the strings
of your robe.

Like This.

If anyone wonders how Jesus raised the dead,
don’t try to explain the miracle.
Kiss me on the lips.

Like This. Like This.

When someone asks what it means
„to die for love”, point
here.

If someone asks how tall I am, frown
and measure with your fingers the space
between the creases on your forehead.

This tall.

The soul sometimes leaves the body, then returns.
When someone doesn’t believe that,
walk back into my house.

Like This.

When lovers moan,
they’re telling our story.

Like This.

I am a sky where spirits live.
Stare into this deepening blue,
while the breeze says a secret.

Like This.

When someone asks what there is to do,
light the candle in his hand.

Like This.

How did Joseph’s scent come to Jacob?
Hhhhhh
How did Jacob’s sight return?
Hhhhhh
A little wind cleans the eyes.

Like This.

When Shams comes back from Tabriz,
he’ll put just his head around the edge
of the door to surprise us

Like This.

/’Like This’ from 'The Essential Rumi’/

Foggy autumn

This year the autumn is one of the prettiest I have ever seen in Poland. It almost never rains, the sun is shining through the colourful leaves, people are happy when the weather is so fine. A perfect training for Radek’s new camera. That is why we went for a short walk to take some pictures of the nature.

We set off in the morning, when the afternight fog was still lurking close to the ground.


 

After a while we reached the bridge, a well known place by all lovers and marriages, but also the residence of the ducks, swans and many other species of birds that I’m unable to name. At some moment the birds were frightened away by some sudden noise and lifted from the (so far) undisturbed surface of the water.

After a while the view became clearer and the colours more vivid. Our park (named after Helena Majdaniec, „the twist quenn”) is a very nice place to stroll around in all seasons.

Wilkommen in Greifswald

I find it a bit baffling that many people (including me) tend to travel to far away places, without getting to know the obvious vicinity. I tried to figure out the reason why on earth I have never been to Mecklemburg-Vorpommern, a German region just right away the polish border (so let’s say 10-15 km from my place). Frankly speaking, I failed – there’s no reasonable explanation. Anyway, as long as we’re alive, it’s never too late to correct the mistakes. This is why I decided to travel to the nearby places in the upcoming year. Greifswald was the first choice and it just reassured me in my decision.

We went there on Sunday, maybe not the best choice of a day for travelling to Germany, but I have to say that the surrounding void in the city was somehow charming. And we were lucky anyway, because there was a pottery sale / exhibition at the marketplace, which definitely generated some life around.


The pottery sold was really quaint and (I would even say) old-school and artistic. That is why I wouldn’t call the venue a sale, for me it was more of an exhibition with the possibility to buy the exhibits.

When we were done watching the pottery, we went to explore the town. Since Greifswald is rather small, we just tramped along with no specific aim. I was really entranced with the surroundings (as I always am in Germany). Everything was so neat and nice, making me feel very peaceful.

Since Greifswald is situated at the bay, we took the chance to walk along the water. The weather was exceptionally good for September and I guess at the bay the mistery of abandoned Greifswald was solved. Everyone was at the promenade by the canal, many people were sailing. What a lovely way to spend sunny Sunday.


We finished the day with having a lunch in the restaurant. It was a very nice day and it really encouraged me to travel to germany more often. A perfect end of the summer.

Croatia Return: Graz

Although we have spent marvelous 2 weeks in Croatia, our desire to see new places was never satisfied. And so, on our way back home <boo hoo> we stopped off at Graz – the second biggest city of Austria. Having done that, we put a fourth country on our list of visited countries during that holidays.

What can I say about Graz? It stood up to my expectations of Austrian city. Perfectly neat and clean, full of bikes, with charming façades – that’s Graz. Unfortunately, we were a bit tired and didn’t immerse the city properly. We also didn’t take so many pictures, so I chose just a collection of them for you to have an idea of the place.

Croatia Day 12: Crikvenica

That’s it, our last day in Croatia. I felt a penetrating sadness that we must leave. I fell in love in Croatia – there’s no doubt about that.
As our farewell to Croatia, we went to Crikvenica (15 km from Senj) which was, to be honest, not very attractive to me.

In the evning we went for a walk round Senj, to have a final goodbye with the sea, warm breezes, holiday carefree attitudes and the charm of Croatia.

Croatia Day 11: Zadar and Nin

Our Croatia trip was getting to the end so this was almost the last chance to see more of the country’s beauty. This time we headed south, to Zadar (centre of Dalmatia) and Nin (the town with the smallest cathedral on Earth).

Zadar is an amazing place. Full of tourists and full of richmen on their spectacular, jaw-dropping yachts. The old part of the city is also magnificent, it looks really old, like from ancient Roman times.

As most of Croatian towns, Zadar also had a tower to climb. I consider tower-climbing as a must on a tourist’s checklist.

Except for the view of red roofs, what was special in the city was the see organ. I’ve never seen or heard anything like that and I found it mesmerising! The waves press the water into the organ holes playing a tune of magical tone. It sounds strange, like a cacophony a bit, yet it made me want to stay there for hours (Radek needed to  hurry me because I didn’t want to leave the place). I wonder if it’s possible to get hypnotised by that sound. If you are interessted by my description, check out the YT video that shows the place.

In the end, I bowed to Radek and left the enchanting see organ and we drove to Nin. Nin is very small and not so swarmed by tourists. I liked that! We spent there lovely 3 hours, walking around and having a lunch.

Croatia Day 10: Ljubljana

We headed north from Senj to see Ljubljana – the capital city of Slovenia. We were lucky because we arrived in a perfect time to have a guided tour organised by the tourists office. Seeing places with a guide gives always a very different perspective than seeing them alone. One must devote more time to analyse everything, also the stories that are told enrich the memories of the places. That was also the case of Ljubljana.

The guided tour comprised of visiting the town hall, degustation of Slovenian national dishes in one of the posh restaurants in the city centre, a tour around the city with a guide and a cruise with a ship on the Ljubljanica river that cuts the city in two halves.




I really liked the ship ride on the river. The boat passed slowly, the reflexes from the water were everywhere and the angle made everything look different. We swam under all the bridges (there are so many of them and each has it’s unique story and artefacts – example: shoemakers bridge has the shoes hanged over). 



After this lovely boat ride we went to a lovers bridge we had seen from the water. Many lovers come there to honour the tradition and close the padlock on the bridge barriers. Well, we limited ourselves just to a kiss.








Yes, I found the sculptures a la HR Giger art a bit distracting. Anyway, we continued our walk over the city and set off to the castle. On our way we passed by many bridges, monuments and buildings. The old part of Ljubljana is well kept so we took a lot of pretty pictures and enjoyed the walk.

 We passed by a colourful street installation – I found it ingenious and very cheerful.

The castle was pretty charming. There were ongoing preparations to some concert, we climbed the tower (the view was really nice – Alps on the one side, Ljubljana on the other), visited a museum, drank a coffee and headed to the centre for a glimpse of Ljubljana’s night life.



Ljubljana at night surprised me in plus. It was amazing to see how many people went outside and chatted on the streets. All the bars, restaurants and cafes were full (we actually had problems to find a place to sit by the water). I’m not used to such situation and I like it every time I go abroad.  The city becomes vibrant, full of this specific character. It’s a pity we had to get going to reach Senj at a proper hour and to get some sleep.


Croatia Day 9: Krk Island

Krk is one of the biggest Adriatic islands and we had been recommended to go and see it on our previous Croatia trip in 2009. Krk is also well known for its vineyard – something untypical for the region we stayed in.

We visited 4 places on the island: Vrbnik, Krk, Baška, Čižići mud beach.

What Radek grabs in hand is olive oil, made locally on the island. In general, before we even reached the centre of Vrbnik, we visited a vineyard called Katunar where we supplied ourselves with Croatian wine of many sorts.

Then we continued our wine cellars trip in the town of Vrbnik. In principle, wine was sold every 2 meters, so it took us really long time to move along the streets. I particularly liked one elderly man who was very very friendly with us and made us taste everything he had in stock. He also told some stories about how wine is made and what is important in wine production. Lovely.

Our next destination was Krk – the biggest city on the island. We strolled around the place, but it was relatively deserted due to the siesta hours. Krk has a very nice marina, as well as the old part of the city, so we just strolled around, having a cup of iced cofee every now and then.

Spot number three on Krk’s map was Baška. It’s a very small town, yet very very crowded with tourists. The central point in Baškais undoubtedly beach and it’s adjacent promenade. We sunbathed and bathed in the sea. The main attraction for us was a floating wheel carried after a motorboat. Unfortunately, I didn’t take part in the ride (I didn’t have any bathing suit), but all the guys were delighted. Such a pity that no one fell down to the water…

And at last we arrived at Čižići mud beach. The sun was already low over the horizon and there were not so many people around. Maybe it’s good that few saw what guys did on that beach 🙂

Ps – If you ever wonder how the mud smells… The answer is – putrid.

Croatia Day 8: Senj Summer Festival

Once a year Senj hosts lots of people from all over Croatia (and all over the world as tourists) for the summer festival. What happens at that day is a huge costume parade. Additions to the parade comprise of: rivers of alcohol, … and I cannot think of anything more.

This year’s parade was also accompanied by a Bura winter. It’s a local wind that can be really bothersome (especially for tourists who hope for a perfect weather on their holidays). It made the street decorations fly unrulily.

When the parade started we were unprepared for the amount of participants. It was a real crowd and multitude of fancy dressed people. There was no leading theme (except for alcohol) and it was a real pleasure to have a look at all those disguise ideas. on top of that, people had real fun taking part in the parade (again – alcohol could have something to do with that) and it was fun watching it.

We didn’t stay till the end, the wind was getting really nasty and I was cold. We finished the day by having a look at a beautiful sunset over Senj.