Finally, it’s this time of the year, my favourite without any doubt. I am happy we could spend Christmas with family and friends this year. We celebrated Christmas Eve with all our family sitting at one table (17 people children not counted). Before that we had done lots of Christmas preparations like decorating a tree, cooking pierogi or setting up winter decorations. First day of Christmas meant more family visits to us. On the second day of Christmas we organised a meeting to all our closest friends – a traditions that was started 10 years ago and has been cherished ever since. I am grateful that I have so many dear people around me and that I can share those moments with them.
Our visit passed quickly and we never had a moment for ourselves to rest. We had lots of visits, did some walks in the city greenery, went shopping a couple of times, did even more visits… Despite having such a busy time we managed to rest a bit and charge the batteries for the New Year.
On our way back home (by home I mean France now) we experienced a little setback… I mean, it’s winter so it was nothing very unexpected but recent high temperatures dulled our vigilance. And here’s what we encountered…
Fortunately we made it safely to Saint Genis and we are back to our everyday life ready for new challenges. Next on: ski course in the Alps!
I spent two weeks in Szczecin – my home city. I like my place, really. Although for various reasons my stay in Poland was a bit overwhelming, I really enjoyed those peaceful moments in parks where I grew up, where I would play as a child and later would go to school every day. Now, that I am an expat living abroad, I try to cherish those rare moments of me dealing with my patrimony.
It’s been really long time since we had a chance to immerse into polish countryside which, by the way, I have always found delightful.But this summer we were invited to a get away wedding of our best friends who decided to organise the reception at Brzezieński Młyn – a very small village in Kaszuby. We stayed there for two days which was enough to have an insight into peace and quiet of the place.
We started our little excursion by walking around the village. It’s actually amazing how the image of a polish countryside changed within the years. It developed a lot but didn’t change entirely. I guess you need to be polish to understand the rustic/rural character of a shop selling dotted aprons… Anyway, I liked this place a lot.
Here is the quaint image of the contryside:
And here is what the countryside has the best to offer:
This is going to be a long post…
We set out for a walk in dendrological garden in Przelewice, very close to Szczecin. I always wanted to go there but never have had a chance so far – it’s a shame not to see places like that when they are only a few kilometers away from your city. Since I’m having some back aches and need to recover after surgery, walks are expedient and so – off we went.
What can I say about the place? 45 ha of terrain with a prominent garden and a newly restored residence, surrounded by ~1200 species of plants.
We started our stroll from a less populated route by turning into polish trees alley which led us to Three Ponds area. The walk was very relaxing since we were walking in a soothing shade of the trees and we were the only visitors on that path. The view was not spectacular (in the end – we are all used to the image of the polish trees) until we reached the ponds.
The ponds were lovely, with all the shades of green one could imagine. I particularly liked a zigzag footbridge that wobbled riskily under our steps. Well, no risk, no fun – if it hadn’t been for the footbridge Radek wouldn’t have made a fantastic frog shot (yet more shades of green to experience). After spending a while next to the water we moved along and followed the path that led us to a central meadow and pond. And that was really awesome. I don’t know if the garden is designed in such a way that the flowers are in full bloom all the time, but they all were that day. Lovely.
We remembered not to feed the swan although it acted like it hadn’t known the rule, leaning out towards us, counting for a piece of bread. When I thought it would be the end of a representative part of the garden, we went round the pond and it turned out it was even prettier at the other side of the water.
By that time we ran out of water and got pretty tired, so we went by the residence to have some juice and ice cream. I enjoyed the time, resting after a longer walk, so in the end they needed to rush me a bit to get up. As I did, we moved to an orangery but we hurried up a bit when inside… The temperature that day was somewhere around 33 dg. Celsius and it was way hotter and stuffier than that in the greenhouse. Imagine yourself… We finished our tour passing by the remnants of a former folwark (agricultural enterprise) with an old creamery, barns, distillery, granary and a couple of more – now shabby but still showing a spark of its former magnitude – buildings.
I dedicate this poem to Radek, it pictures our today’s activity pretty accurately, as we went to see a rose garden very close to our apartment in Szczecin. The weather was perfect and the sun falling on the petals made the colours vivid and beautiful. It feels like first days of summer in Poland.
The garden seemed not yet in its full bloom, nevertheless, it was very pretty. Roses are indeed royal species, it’s no wonder that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry chose this particular flower to be the love of le Petit Prince. We strolled around the garden (it’s not particularly big), sat down on the bench, enjoyed the sun, smell and colours and had a look on a small posters’ display arranged in the park. There will be a French music concert here later this week, perhaps we will come again if time permits.
Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity is by no means the most heart warming festivity in Poland. Every year huge amount of charity money (this year around 10 000 000 EUR) is collected all over the world. All of that thanks to one person – Jurek Owsiak.
I really like that day of the year – it was particularly important for me when I was a child. I remember how all the fuss about the event made my spirit elevated, I really could see the cause for all of that. Now it’s the same, maybe without this unlimited, childlike trust in everything.
Anyway, each year Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity is accompanied by events all over the world. We had one in Szczecin as well.
Except for stage attractions (hard music concerts and charity auctions) there was a snow park (I perceive the name a bit over the top as it comprised only of one snowboard ramp – and even that was not really splendid as such) and an ice skating rink. There were also ice sculptures, an exhibition of army vehicles and first aid stands prepared by emergency rescuers.
We also took the occasion to shoot a few Szczecin-at-night photos. Our cathedral looked very pretty at night, with the lanterns put at its entrance. Maybe we don’t have the most spectacular old town in the world, but at least what we have is pretty.
We decided to spend the last Sunday of 2012 at Miedwie Lake. Since we made the decision pretty late, we were just in time for a sunset.
Miedwie is situated at the suburbs of Szczecin, yet we have never been there. Some time ago it was perfectly renovated and it shows. I mean, the subject of renovation was not the lake itself, rather everything around. As a result, there is a really nice promenade around, a lot of piers and an outdoor amphitheatre.
I found the walk pretty soothing. There were few people, water was waving tranquilly, it was calm around. We strolled on a wooden platform (we had to be cautious not to slip down to the bog aside) admiring the nature.
When we reached the amphitheatre the sun was already gone and it was getting dark. On top of that, not so far on the horizon we saw storm clouds which was not a very good prediction for us. So we just had a short glance on the birds flying over the lake and headed back to the car. After a while we got caught by the rain, hopefully we won’t get sick again.
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.
Our family and friends know the story how Radek went to a pilgrimage just for one day (to visit me on the route) and stayed till the end with only one pair of spare socks and briefs. Ach… good ol’ days!
Anyhow, it’s been 7 years since that memorable event and we decided to make a small tribute to that this year. We have no time and motivation to go on a full pilgrimage to Częstochowa, so we joined the group just for one day: Szczecin – Stargard (which is 27 km). A lot has changed in this time, but the pilgrimage spirit is definitely the same!
This year we were lucky or unlucky with the weather… It rained and it rained pretty heavily. OK, let’s face it – it rained cats and dogs! This is unlucky, because there is no worse thing than rain when you have to march. One gets soaked, demotivated, cold… But then you think: „I’m doing it for a reason, so it’s even better if it’s tough”. And in this sense it’s a positive thing.
Here are some photos from the day… We started as always at 7.00 o’clock with the mass in the sanctuary of Mother from Fatima. Then two groups formed and set out to Stargard -first through the housing estates, then through the forest. The first stop was after 10 km and this is when it started to rain.
Then we marched another ~10 km in the rain. Gosh, that was extreme. It took us twice as long to get to the lunch stop which was in Kobylanka. Fortunately, when we reached the village, it stopped raining. That was really good news because there is no sense in having pauses when it rains. In Kobylanka we had some time to change clothes to the dry ones and use the hospitality of the parishioners who prepared food and drinks.
Last leg of the route was Kobylanka – Stargard and came rather quick. All in all we did the distance of 27.02 km in a 6-hour-march (pauses excluded). Here is the route tracked by Endomondo application.
This year we are biking considerably more often than in the previous years and the biking marathon is a sign of this fact. I came across an advertisement of the venue on the local bike trip and decided to give it a try almost immediately. We encouraged our close friends to join us and so, the fun began.
Przyjezierze is a small town 80 km from Szczecin. We set off early, with four bikes on our indefatigable Fiat Punto (this car has gone through so much with us). It was our first time in a race so everyone was a bit nervous. Especially guys, who like to compete.
We were one of the firsts at the registration desk so we had quite some time for us to prepare to the race. We were lucky, because the weather that day was perfect for a bike ride. Not too hot, no sign of rain. At first we made a short tour around the venue place. There was surprisngly a lot to see! The organizers made a good job.
At first we had a look at home made food by the farmer’s wives association. In the end… a biker needs some calories before the start (but not too much, so we all agreed that we will come back to the stalls after the race for a proper treat).
Then we had a look at the exhibition of cars – with Ferrari being the most popular. Wow, that really is a super looking car!
Then we moved on to see the show given by the bike jumpers (I don’t even know how they are profesionally called, but the animator said they were one of the best in Poland). This looked really cool and a bit dangerous. Respect!
When we finished the tour we still had some time before the start (which was planned at 15.00), so we decided to have a warm-up ride around the area. We followed the official trail of the contest for a while and then took an opposite turn to visit the Moryń lake. Poland is really beautiful.
We didn’t want to be too tired before the start so we came back quite fast, full of excitement while waiting at the „zero hour”. There were really a lot of pro bikers around us, so we felt a bit overwhelmed, yet full of hope and desire to have fun.
Some photos from the start…
From the route…
And from the finish…
That’s correct – my „finish” happened to occur in the middle of nowhere when my bike broke after an ominously looking (but fortunately victimless) accident. I was a bit disappointed not to finish the race but that’s OK, I had some lovely time walking my bike to the finishing line. Poland is really beautiful and I wouldn’t have taken these pictures if it hadn’t been for the accident. So in the end, there is always the good side of the coin. I’ll beat them the next year!
Radek came at a very good 35th place. He was the best from us and I think he was very proud of the result. All in all the race was very exhausting but real fun! We stayed for the award ceremony and got the medals ourselves. Nice souvenir. We will definitely come next year.
To give you a better understanding of how the event looked like here’s the video summary done by the organizers.
