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Moscow – Gallery of the Fallen Sculptures
It was about 5 years ago or more when for the first time in my life I saw Lenin’s monument somewhere on the streets of Hanoi. That hit the spot! I’ve always been interested in history and such monuments are the symbol of an ideology that has long changed the fate of the world. However, I have to admit that after visiting Belarus and Moscow this year, Lenin has ceased to impress me. In Moscow you can meet him mainly at metro stations. There’re numerous mosaics or paintings. What’s interesting, Lenin is presented there as a proud chief looking straight, or what is incomprehensible to me, to the right. In…
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Podlasie – fabulous Eastern Poland, Day 2 – Girl on a Trail
Heading from Bialowieza to northern Podlasie, it is worth visiting the ruins of the church of St. Anthony in the village of Jalowka. Arc vaults, high columns and huge windows, give the idea of the former glow of this place. The temple was ruined at the end of the war in 1944. At that time, the German army, for fear that this place was an excellent observation point, blew it up. In front of the ruins there’s a special altar where mass is celebrated every year on St. Anthony’s Day. Just 12 kilometers from the ruins of the church there’s a closed border crossing with Belarus, Zubki Bialystok – Brestowica.…
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Podlasie – fabulous Eastern Poland, Day 1 – Girl on a Trail
I have to admit, I made a cardinal mistake about my past travels. I had been planning a trip to Podlasie in Poland for a long time, but cheap flight steered me away from visiting this place. Only recently I managed to go there. What I can say, I am disappointed that Podlasie is such an underrated tourist region, although looking objectively I contributed a bit to it myself. This place surprised me with a homely atmosphere, rich history, culture and excellent cuisine. So far I’ve imagined Podlasie as a gray and gloomy place, somewhere on the border with Belarus, meanwhile I’m impressed with the amazing number of colours and…
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Brno and mysterious Olomouc – weekend break in Czech Republic
I visited Brno and Olomouc in one day. I have a special sentiment for these cities because I visited them during my first solo trip 😉 My sightseeing plan was quite intensive. On Friday after work I got on Lux Express bus, which on Saturday morning brought me to Brno. In Brno I had a quick coffee and switched to a bus going to Olomouc. For 230 CZK, in an hour I found myself in this tourist-forgotten city. When I got there and saw the Olomouc train station, I thought time actually stopped there. However, when you go a little further from the station you can see a completely different…
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Phong Nha-Ke Bang – amazing, underground Vietnamese world
Phong Nha-Ke Bang is one of the most amazing places in Vietnam. Located about 500 km south of Hanoi, right next to the Laos border and the former Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. It’s a huge complex which consists of around 300 caves. It’s estimated that underground corridors are 126 km long and a large part of them has not yet been discovered. Park was opened for visitors in 2010 and since then it has expanded its offer. I visited this place in 2014 when Phong Nha-Ke Bang was not as popular as it’s today. Can you imagine a cave that would house a 40-floor skyscraper inside? You don’t actually have to…
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Russian cuisine – what and where to eat in Moscow?
Russian cuisine consists of many different dishes. A large number of nationalities in the area of both the former Soviet Union and the current Russia have contributed to the culinary tradition of this country. Russian cuisine is influenced by European, Siberian, Caucasian or Asian traditions. Therefore, in the traditional set of recipes we can find simple potato pancakes or Uzbek pilav. Appetizers Appetizers are mainly composed of cold cuts, herrings, salads, caviar and pickled vegetables. Russians are well-known for pickling everything. I suspect that it’s no longer a surprise that they “pickle” even their former dissidents. But can you imagine, for example, a pickled tomato? That’s the idea! Soups Soups…
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Ostrava – Lower Vitkovice, an alternative way to explore
Just a short drive from the Polish border you can visit the third largest city in the Czech Republic – Ostrava. At first glance, Ostrava can even scare off tourists. Chimneys, mining shafts or large steel halls are certainly not a relaxing environment. However, the city authorities have turned all these disadvantages into an asset. The old mining and steel complex was turned into an interactive cultural and educational center. However, before we reached Ostrava, we decided to visit another place that also was closed some time ago. About 30 km from the border with the Czech Republic in Raciborz, you can visit an abandoned hospital. The hospital building is…
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Mea Shearim – far away from reality, Girl off the trail!
So far I’ve visited a few less tourist places, like self-proclaimed countries: Nagorno-Karabakh or the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. However, if anyone ever asked me about a place where I felt uncomfortable and insecure, just one comes to my mind – Mea Shearim. Mea Shearim is one of the districts in Jerusalem, literally a stronghold of ultra-orthodox Jews. It was founded at the end of the 19th century and time has stopped here ever since. It was Friday morning, Mea Shearim was our last point in Jerusalem. We had to hurry to visit it before Shabbat that starts in the afternoon. We didn’t want it to be our last point to…
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New Yorkers – What is it like to live in New York City?
It’s only my second post about New York, which I visited over six months ago. Actually, it’s hard for me to say why, because it was one of my best solo trips. This time I will not write about tourist hotspots that are widely described in countless guidebooks. I will write about it another time 😉 This post will be about New Yorkers. I was in NYC around a week and it’s way too short time to know the life in this city, that’s why I will present my subjective observations. I won’t hide that the impulse to write this post has been photos from the deserted streets of NYC…
