Amalia and Matt's blog

We’re in Nowy Sącz for the night, parked beside ruins of a 14th century castle. Cool.

We attempted to do something different and bought tickets for a jazz show, unfortunately the show was a total flop and we spent the rest of the night club hopping and taking pictures.

It was really cold outside.

I changed into my winter clothes and bought vodka to keep us warm.

Ok, so I’m drunk at this point and about to show Matt my magic trick at McDonalds.

Take your empty fry container and flatten the bottom out.

Place a small piece of crispy fry at the bottom of the container.

Point the container towards your target, a.k.a. Matt.

Squeeze the sides and your fry will come flying out hitting said target.

Repeat as many as you can until the “target” tells you to get lost.

Częstochowa is probably the saddest city I’ve visited in Europe thus far, Kiev taking second place for similar reasons. Picture this; rundown roads with potholes as big as loveseats, decrepit boarded up buildings and unkempt apartment complexes with sad people living inside. In the middle of this battered town, perched on a hill top, looking “down” on the city, lays the famous Pauline monastery of Jasna Góra, which is the home of the Black Madonna painting. Behind the gates the buildings are palaces, dripping in gold leaf, frescoes, moldings upon molding, each more ornate than the next. Millions of dollars are invested in the monastery, mostly donated by church goers, a gesture to ensure them a ticket to a better afterlife. What about life right now? How can there be so much desperation just outside it’s gates and nothing is done about it? The whole experience was absolutely shocking to me, reminding me of medieval novels with rich Kings and queens dismaying the poor.          

Even though Halloween isn’t a thing in Poland we celebrated anyways. We parked our van at a camping park only a few minutes from downtown Gdansk and started our dance party. We were able to be as loud as we wanted because we were the only ones there PLUS, we got to stay for free! Either they thought we were crazy for still camping at this time of year or they just felt bad for us.

I was dressed as a lame ninja.

And Matt was an 80’s rocker dude.

I found out that one of my favorite holidays, Halloween, isn’t celebrated in Poland because it’s the day before Saints day. Thousands of people buy ridiculous amounts of flowers and candles and head to the cemetery to mourn for 3 days.

Like a good traditional Polish family, we bundled up Matt’s grandma and headed to the cemetery to say a few words to Grandpa. 

It took us about an hour of walking around in circles before we found his grave.

The grave must be cleaned and decorated or else somebody might judge you.

I loved spending time with Grandma but truthfully, the whole experience was a bit creepy and sad.

Halloween, cemetery, black cat…

We spent a night in this little town, famous for it’s saline graduation towers built in 19th century. Spas and wellness pools are a big thing here so we decided to spend an hour swimming in various temperature pools and testing several different saunas at a local spa. 

While visiting the city we had a look at some real estate. 15 minutes out of a large city, this little house has been partially renovated (roof repairs, new wood burning fireplace, new insulation, electrical updates, new chimney, etc.), the interior was left bare, just the way we want it. The house sits on a large piece of land across the street from a lovely church, near a pretty ravine with no backyard neighbors.

No joke, it can all be yours for only $19,500! Remember that labour is dirt cheap as are building supplies.  Property taxes are almost non existent in Poland, $150 a year or so.  However, we’re looking for something a bit nicer than this, a house made from brick with at least a loft or a second story.  Just doing some research.

Haven’t even made the decision whether we want to live in the mountains or near the sea.

 Have a look.

Interesting fact about this city; Krosno is the site of the first oil well (or “mine”) in the world.

Click me for more info.

You can find anything and everything from lawnmowers to g-strings at this wonderful flea market, it spans at least 2 km². Hours of operation are from 7 am to 2 pm sharp, 6 days a week.

We arrived at 2:15pm.

My “Saint” Matthew had a lovely time chatting up  the Polish nuns…don’t worry, he was very polite.

Click here for info on Sandomierz.