Today’s destination is Poland. I’ve been to Poland twice, and both times fell in love with the country. However, before even visiting Poland I was a huge fan of Polish food. When we lived in Cambridge, I used to love going to a Polish community centre and restaurant called Klub Polonia Club. The food was excellent, the service was warm and friendly and it was the perfect place for a cosy meal with friends. I really hope the Polish community in Cambridge continues to strengthen despite the catastrophe of Brexit. Importing food from Poland got infinitely more difficult this January.
Gdansk Shipyard
Gdansk waterfront
The first time we visited Poland, we went to Gdańsk. In some ways, Gdańsk reminds me of Copenhagen. An old Northern European city defined by the Baltic Sea. We enjoyed delicious, warming food, but also felt like we were immersed in the cities incredible story. From visiting the eery Gdańsk shipyard, where the beginnings of the solidarity movement started that eventually lead to the end of Polish Communism. Gdańsk is also home to the impressive European Solidarity Centre, a wonderful museum that tells the story of the solidarity movement and how it relates to modern-day Europe.
Kraków Bagels
Krakow’s historic Jewish quarter
We also visited Kraków back in December 2019. It was actually one of the last weekend trips we took before the pandemic. Kraków is a wonderful small city with a huge, dramatic-looking, Disney-like castle. Unsurprisingly it’s also a city full of delicious food from The Kraków Bagel to delicious roast pork knuckles.
The most moving thing about visiting Kraków though was visiting the old, mostly abandoned Jewish neighbourhood and Galicia Jewish Museum. It was genuinely haunting and opened my eyes to the horrors of World War II in a new way.
Enjoying the winter sun in Gdańsk
I’ll leave you with a few facts. Poland is home to the second oldest University in Europe, The Jagiellonian University. Poland used to be home to the World’s tallest structure, the Warsaw Radio Mast. Unlike most tall structures, the Warsaw Radio Mast did not lose its record to a new taller structure, but instead dramatically collapsed due to negligent maintenance.
Right, time for a Żywiec. Twoje zdrowie!
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