Krakow

#ellhen!
Listening - Temperature by Sean Paul
Podcast - Guys We F*cked (11/01/19 - You'd Rather Give a Bl*wjob Than A Gift?)

My lovely mate Ellie got married in April, and of course what is a wedding without a hen party? She decided early on that Krakow would be our destination, and having never even visited the country of Poland I was well up for an adventure there. The troops were rallied (13 of us to be precise) and thanks to Ellie's masterful organising skills everything was planned to perfection, which was a welcome change as I am usually chief coordinator of all the travelling I do!



We rendevouz-d with the whole group at the airport, but a few of us had congregated at Ellie's beforehand for a couple of swift gin in tins pre- journey. The flight went smoothly and we had a mini bus waiting to take us to our air b&b when we landed. It was a fair distance away, so we bagsied beds and retired to sleep pretty much instantly.

In the morning a few of us volunteered to go to the local supermarket for some breakfast stuff, snacks, and booze for pre-drinks that evening. We got absolutely loads and I can't believe how cheap it all was! We had a monster buffet with pastries, fruit, eggs, cereal; and then left the house and wandered through pretty Market Square into the Jewish quarter of the city where we started a free walking tour. 

I say started because after about half an hour some of the group were too cold so went off for hot chocolate, followed by the rest of us soon after as we had grown a little bored with the none too charismatic guide. We gave the guy a small tip to make us feel less guilty, and then sacked it off in favour of traditional Polish open sandwiches called zapiekanka and salted caramel churros from a nearby market which were delicious!  

We met up with the rest of the group in a bar/cafe called 2 Okna where I had a mulled wine and thawed out before we headed back to get ready for our first night out. We did a cocktail making class at a cool bar called Scandale Garden, where we got to make a Bramble, a Strawberry Sour and a Dark 'n' Stormy (all definitely generous with the measures) and had a few shots before moving on to a club called Opium for the rest of the night. 

It was a classic uni style club with super cheap drinks, (12 shots for less than a fiver anyone?!) questionable clientele and all the dance classics pumping, so of course we couldn't resist asking for some Sean Paul bangers. Rather worse for wear and with aching feet, we set off for home in the early hours of the morning after demolishing a Polish spin on takeaway chips. A couple of us opted to walk rather than taxi, which obviously meant that we ended up getting completely lost and rolling in an hour later than everyone else! 

On the Sunday we had a spa day booked at Lesne Spa, so a minibus arrived to whisk us away for a day of pampering. We had a couple of glasses of fizz, and relaxed in the jacuzzi, sauna and steam room before each getting an individual massage which was exactly what was needed after a night on the tiles.

That evening we had a slightly more refined night, starting with a three course meal at a gorgeous restaurant in the main square called Wesele. It was very decadent inside with a mirrored ceiling, wood panelled walls and floral decorations everywhere, and the service was excellent. I had the trio of sheep cheese to start, followed by lentil pierogi (Polish dumplings) in mushroom sauce, and finally dessert was apple pie, all of which were well presented and very tasty. Afterwards a small group of us continued the celebrations with a drink in nearby bar Budda before we joined the early birds back at the apartment.

Our final morning dawned and we packed our bags ready to check out. Luckily the owner of the air b&b was happy to look after our cases until we had to leave at 3pm, so we dropped them off and went for breakfast at a very Instagrammable cafe called Zalipianki. I had a carrot, apple and orange fresh juice and a mushroom, cheese and spinach omelette, clearly trying desperately to get back on that health train!

We walked up the hill to the castle where there is a famous dragon sculpture and perfect views of the city and across the river. After multiple group photos we dispersed to go shopping or for coffee and cake; I tried on a few things in Zara before giving up, and bought a salted caramel doughnut dipped in white chocolate from a cute pattisserie. We went back to collect our bags later and the minibus returned to transfer us to the airport to fly home.

My first experience of Poland was a very positive one; friendly people, lots to see and do, and helped infinitely by how cheap everything was. I shall almost certainly be back!

Breakdown
Flights  - £92 (inc assigned seat & hand baggage)

Accommodation - £70 (3 nights based on 13 sharing)

 Spending Money - £105.50 (inc taxi one way between 5 & airport spending)

Misc - £89 (spa day, cocktail making & transport)

Total = £356.50

Weekly Musings

2018 - Week Twenty Five

'You have turned your heart into a museum of people you've loved to keep them alive inside you.'

(Nikita Gill)

I'm going to skip through the majority of this week as it was pretty uneventful with staying at Aum's. I got a poem up on Instagram, read it here, and I went to watch him in his school production of Mary Poppins on Thursday which was amazing, and that is no exaggeration! The school he is at really pull out all the stops when it comes to drama performances: hand painted backdrops, elaborate costumes and full makeup, a live band, mic attachments, the whole she-bang. Considering it is an all boys school and the lead (as well as multiple others) did the complet hour long play in heels and a wig, I was beyond impressed, this year was probably my favourite so far.

On Friday as soon as I had dropped Aum at cricket, I drove 'round to Tasha's and together with Hannah we road tripped up to Carlisle for Lydia's hen party. We didn't arrive until gone 10pm, by which time most were already there and in the hot tub! We hired a beautiful Georgian manor for the affair (there were 16 of us altogether and we all fit in very comfortably), and it was literally my dream house - fireplaces in all the rooms, roll top baths in the bathrooms, its own orchard, an Aga, a twisted staircase/ entrance hall fit for a queen and William Morris wallpaper galore. The rest of the bridesmaids and Emily had arrived early and decorated everywhere with banners, photos and balloons so it looked a treat!

As we turned up quite late we headed to bed after a couple of glasses of fizz, but were up bright and early yesterday ready for an action packed day. After a hearty breakfast we drove in convoy to Ullswater, where we took part in a canoe treasure hunt, which was beyond fun. Lydia's mum sat it out so we were in three teams of five, each in two canoes that had been strapped together. We had to follow clues and row to each next point in order to try and reach the booty first - four bottles of champagne!

 

I'm not going to lie, I am not cut out for rowing! Even with help from our guide who used his speedboat to push us along at times (shoutout to James at Glenridding Activity Centre) we were not exactly speedy. Unfortunately our team didn't win, but four bottles was more than enough bubbly to go around us all, and we needed the Dutch courage for the cliff jump that we did at the end, which was such an adrenaline rush, I did it twice!

Once we were home and had scrubbed up (after I had a quick dip in the hot tub to try it out) we all convened in the dining room for a three course dinner that we'd hired a chef to cook. I had the Thai fishcakes to start, followed by a vegetable tagine, and we all had the trio of desserts to finish - homemade pistachio yoghurt ice cream, triple chocolate mousse and a lemon meringue. The dessert and my main was delicious, but the starter had too much coriander in for my liking, and the meat-eaters main (chicken meatballs?) didn't go down too well. It took the hassle out of cooking or trying to find a restaurant to fit us all in though, especially in the middle of nowhere, so it was worth it.

After food I became a cocktail maker! I had devised a menu and me and a couple of others took orders and whipped up some alcoholic creations for everyone, which were very well received. Lots of silly games, drinking and dancing ensued, which you can thank for my choice of track of the week below, as it is mine and Lydia's 'song'! the last trio standing, Lydia, fellow bridesmaid Lizzie and I made it back into the hot tub with a bottle of prosecco at 2am, so you can imagine I was not feeling the freshest this morning!

Today we set off for home before midday, so I was sunbathing on the roof of the boat before 4pm, and Chris threw together a lovely tea for us ready in time for a Love Island catchup. Corker of a weekend!