Tag Archives: Eastern Europe

New Year’s eve in Minsk – unexpected fireworks!

Originally, New Year’s Eve 2018/2019 was supposed to be nothing special. I’ve never actually put pressure on New Year’s Eve celebration, but this time I decided that I’d look for a nice trip option for a change. Unfortunately, I showed a chess player’s reflex, being under an illusion that at the end of November, I would find some accommodation in Poland at a reasonable price. Looking for possible options, I took a map. I glanced at the eastern part, I thought that after all, Brest is not that far from Warsaw… I checked the

Tiraspol, Transnistria – practical info, Girl off the Trail

Transport: Tiraspol is located only 70 km from Chişinău and a little more than 100 km from Odessa. The easiest way to get there is from Moldova. Local coaches called marszrutkas shuttle from Central Bus Station, which is located next to the central market in Chişinău, near Stefan Cel mare street. Buses to Tiraspol runs from early morning to late evening, almost every 15-20 minutes. The ticket costs less than 2 €. You’ll find them at the stop no. 13. It takes about 2 hours to get to the capital of Transnistria – Tiraspol.

Tiraspol, Transnistria – alternative reality

Transnistria, self-appointed country with the capital in Tiraspol was my next direction after a visit to the Nogorno Karabakh. The perspective of seeing another so-called self-appointed country has been fascinating me for a long time. On the Internet you can find a lot of information about this place and, above all, warnings due to the unclear status of this area and possible threats to the tourist. The reason of my visit there wasn’t the desire to raise the adrenaline, but to see with my own eyes how it’s there. Transnistria, actually, the Transnistrian Moldovan

Belarusian cuisine – homely food!

Belarusian cuisine is based mainly on products available in Belarus like: potatoes, cereals, pork, mushrooms and forest fruit. Dishes are prepared with simple ingredients and easy to cook. Due to the long and harsh winters and the nature of the work of the majority of the population, the traditional cuisine in Belarus consists of nutritious meals. However, the most characteristic is the preparation process. Dishes are mainly roasted, cooked and stewed and very rarely fried. Belarusian cuisine uses a small amount of spices while the mandatory element of almost every dish is cream. Restaurants

Belarus – 10 reasons why you should visit this country!

I’d been planning to visit Belarus for a very long time. Even though this country is located very close to Warsaw, it always seemed to me very distant. Before visiting it I heard many warnings about corruption, negative attitude to Poles or problems with crossing the border. How did it really look like? Check out 10 reasons why it’s worth visiting Belarus! 1. The Stalin Line Just 35 km from Minsk, there’s s a place where time has stopped. Bunkers, underground tunnels, trenches, weapons warehouses, command stations and large exhibition of military equipment, literally

Lviv – love not from the first sight

I’m arriving at the bus station, what’s the time actually, it’s hard to say, because I haven’t woken up yet. I’m getting off the bus, it’s pouring out, I can see only the gray and gloomy, neglected bus station. I look around, and it doesn’t look any better, damaged buildings and bus stops. A quick glance at the tram tracks, crunched on the four sides of the world. Although I’m still unconscious after a night trip, my gut instinct tells me it’s better to get on the bus. While I’m watching the monotonous landscape

Lviv restaurants

Restaurants and cafes in Lviv are famous for their unique atmosphere. Some of them are hidden in narrow nooks of the old streets. They surprise by their diverse decorations which match perfectly with surrounding buildings. There’re also thematic restaurants such as „Gas Lamp”, where its inventor – Ignacy Lukasiewicz sits at the table. A few steps farther, Leopold von Sacher Masoch welcomes and invites to his restaurant where we can be spanked with a quirt. Restaurants in Lviv are not only creative places there you can also eat delicious food. In order to feel

Bulgaria

When I think about Bulgaria and I see a heavy loaded Fiat 126p with four/five – person family inside and a lot of stuff like camping equipment and goods for sale. It doesn’t matter whether Bulgarians like it or not, even nowadays their country is recognized as the Mecca of the Eastern Block. Places like Varna with nearby Golden Sands or Sunny Beach known also as Las Vegas of the Eastern Europe were the main holiday destination. So how does Bulgaria look like nowadays? Is it worth visiting this country? Besides the fact

Sweet Lviv and the best coffee on sand!

During organizing a trip to Lviv, it didn’t run through my mind that it’s the land of milk and coffee. We used to connect Ukraine mainly with cheap alcohol, cigarettes and halva made of sunflower seeds. By the way, it wasn’t only our image. We saw it on our way back to Poland. When we heard one big noise of bottles at the bus station, we knew that this journey would be very hard. In a fact, the reality turned out to be worse. During more than 6-hour customs inspection which was ended in

Lychakiv and Cemetery of Eaglets – difficult History lesson

On the Lviv hills is a place which is the best History and Art lesson. It’s Lychakiv Cemetery. It was built at the end of 18th century and it’s one of the oldest burial grounds in Europe. The whole necropolis is somewhat a metaphor of the death embodied in sculptures which look like real figures which present grieved angels and sounded in eternal asleep or fossilized in mourning people. Beautifully decorated gravestones, tombs and shrines seem to struggle not only with passing time but also they fight a losing battle with overgrowing vegetation. But

Only in Lviv!

We’ve been waiting for a trip to L’viv for a long time. This city is a part of long Polish – Ukrainian history. We hadn’t known what to expect there but our visit turned out to be a journey to the past. Having got off at local bus station at 8 o’clock, we saw another reality. This city brought us back to the old, pre-war Warsaw times and resembled Polish conditions around 30 years ago. It was a very important cultural center. Many famous Polish writers, scholars or artists lived here. A lot of