Starting This Week: Spotlight on Poland

Bon lundi!

Last spring I went on a trip I had wanted to go on for so long when at last Michael and I finally made it happen. It was a 16-day trip all around Poland. We had an incredible adventure which ranked as one of the highlights of 2014, yet I haven't said much about the trip other than my initial thoughts in my 10 Most Memorable Experiences in Poland post.

That's going to change this week. You see, when we told people that we were going on our big trip of the year to Poland, one of a few possible reactions followed. Surprise. "16 days?"  Shock. "Poland??" And more clarifying questions ensued, usually boiling down to: 1. Why Poland? and 2. What's in Poland?

Today I can cover the why. I have Polish ancestry on both sides of my family, and I've always been interested to visit the country for personal reasons as a way to connect on some level with family roots. (And Michael is questionably Polish - he keeps telling me he is, but no one can tell me who in the family was from Poland. But I'll share Poland with him, regardless.) That and I've always had an interest in history, especially surrounding WWII. I felt the need to see Auschwitz just once in my lifetime, initially  for its historical significance and later on more so once I found out a portion of my family died in similar camps. All of this made me want to set foot in and explore Poland, but it took awhile to sit down and figure out how to best spend our time in such a large country. 

These next few weeks I hope to answer the second question on what there is to see and experience in Poland. I think this country is massively underrated as a travel destination, but has so much to offer curious tourists. So stay tuned for more on this wonderful country but be warned...you just might be inspired to consider it as a travel destination before the secret really gets out to the masses! 

Coming this week - some of my favorite spots in the city I fell absolutely in love with - Krakow! I especially enjoyed its cool Kazimierz district filled with fun evening spots like this one called Singer.

Have you ever been to Poland? What attracted you to travel there?

2014 Recap: The Gift Year

I know that by this time, we've all stopped rehashing 2014 and have started looking ahead to 2015. But I can't just summarize last year with pretty photos of Paris and Europe - I need to pause and share my reflections of a special year.

21 Trains
19 Flights
5 Buses
5 Rental cars
14 Countries
21 houseguests
131 blog posts
2 camels 
And countless sheep

2014. I think of this year as my “gift year.” That’s not to say that every day we get on this earth isn't a gift, because it is. I mean it in the sense that when I think about 2014, I think “we shouldn't still be here.” Michael had a contract to work on an assignment in Paris for almost two years, ending in December 2013. Except by the end of that year, we had realized that Paris wasn't merely the home base for our travels throughout Europe. We had somehow built a life here, entered into community, and fell in love with life in the city. Things were looking bleak for a while and it seemed that we did in fact have to move back to the US as planned. Until things turned around and we were able to stay. We weren't supposed to still be hanging around the City of Light this year, but somehow in the end we were gifted with more time.

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Canvas-Worthy Europe, 2014 edition

Last Wednesday I shared my round-up of my favorite photos taken in Paris in 2014. Now it’s time to see the year in review through a collection of my canvas-worthy contenders from our European travels outside of Paris. Here’s where I traveled to during the year!

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The 10 Most Memorable Experiences in Poland

I just got back from a two-week trip traveling throughout Poland. Yup, you read that correctly. Poland. I've gotten many quizzical looks, and even questioning natives asking why I chose Poland for a long vacation. The short answer is I have always wanted to go due to my largely Polish ancestry. That, coupled with my mounting desire to explore more of Eastern Europe after I fell in love with Prague (my only prior experience in the general area), led Michael and I to book a 16-night adventure in this country. These ten moments/places/things left an impact on me and convinced me that Poland is such an underrated destination for tourists. So when are you planning to visit Poland?!

Here are the top ten things (in no particular order) that stood out to me on my trip:

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Happy Again

Bon lundi!

I'm just back from a two week trip through Poland that I can't wait to share with you. This street art I spotted in Krakow's Jewish neighborhood of Kazimierz resonated with me as I started to explore this country. I've been touched learning more about Poland's dark and tumultuous past, primarily the horrible tragedies experienced during World War II and the bleak times that followed with communism. Yet Poland has emerged with resilience, hope, and determination to move forward.

I look forward to sharing some of my experiences in this underrated tourist destination!