“What do you write about on a day like today when we did nothing mum?” asked Kboy12
Krakow, Poland
Well, my dear boy, speak for yourself! YOU may have done nothing, but someone went to the market this morning to buy our food for the day.
So I could write about the things I saw, the conversations I had (people are so friendly and now that we’ve been here a week, and do our shopping on a daily basis, some of them are starting to recognise me and stop for a chat), I could write that I saw pineapples (last week I was saying there is nothing exotic like pineapple here), I could write about the secondhand clothes shops I pass along the way (the interesting factor to me is that they sell the clothes by weight).
But I’ll skip all that and just leave two photos of things I bought at the market before I write about what I had planned to.
fruity sernik on a chocolate base ~ m.mmmmmm
and smoked mountain cheese, an incredibly dense flavour-packed experience
Being a day spent mostly indoors at our hostel planning the Turkey leg (which, by the way, was far more satisfying than organising the Romania transport – possibly because we are ending up in what looks like a reasonable hostel in a great location in Istanbul, and partly because we have decided to hire a car and trip around for a few days and so now we have the excitement of choosing what to purge from a possible itinerary – Gallipoli, Troy, Assos, Pergamon, Ephesus, Helikarnossos, Aphrodisias, Hierapolis, The Lake District, Konya, Cappadoccia, Ankara…..)…..as I was saying, having spent the day at the hostel, it seemed an appropriate day to take you on a hostel tour.
Here’s the view if you’re standing at the front door:
Here’s the front door itself underneath the yellow sign – and yes, the building does curve around that corner:
But we’re not staying in that exact building. We walk through that one, past a fancy staircase and the letterboxes, through a courtyard, and then into our building:
We’re up on the first floor in a very spacious room. The couch pulls out into a double bed, but it’s so short that we take down two mattresses each night for the adults and leave a small child on the couch.
There is plenty of storage – as well as this cabinet filled with our food and toiletries and shoes and books and wok, there’s another wardrobe (unphotographed) and the “laundry” you can see hanging on the heater. An altogether comfortable set-up.
Right next door is a kitchen and dining area with computer as well. Yes, it is that sickly shade of green. A contrast to the yellow walls and pink ceiling in our bedroom!
There’s bathroom, too, and toilet as well. Sharing with half a dozen other people, we’d have thought there might be queues, but we have been surprised to find it is perfectly adequate and only rarely does anyone need to wait. No picture!
So that’s where we are. It’s fantastic to be so close to the centre of town, and just a couple of minutes away from the market, tramstop on the doorstep, parks nearby.
What’s not so fantastic, something we had forgotten about, is that it is dark by 4:30. Yes, pitch black well before dinner. After eating later and later through the summer, we now find ourselves finished and tidied up and kids ready for bed far too long before seven to consider tucking them in for the night!
But it gives them time to do our homemade puzzles, draw their own maps, design houses and furniture, play games they’ve made up, write letters to me and even decorate paper for me to reply on. It also gave Kgirl10 time to hatch a cunning plan. It came in the form of a voucher, valid in any country in the world, for special food. However, it only works if she is given some of the bounty, and just in case I might be short on ideas of what to buy, she suggested sernik, kremowka or lollies would all make her very happy!
What did YOU do today Kboy12?
What did you find to write about?
Tags: 2008/09, children, craft, food, housing, learning, postcard: Poland, postcard: Turkey, recreation, toilet
rayres
Kboy12 sounds like a real ordinary boy. Enjoy the relaxation. Turkey will be exciting whereever you decide. Ephesus is special though. Hot air ballooning in Cappadoccia is a must do.
Hi all, I’m catching up on your blog after a long absence. It’s fascinating to read about Poland, a country I’ve never visited. I have been to Turkey though and would recommend Pergamon. It’s less popular than Ephesus, which appealed to us, and we managed to have virtually the whole site to ourselves all day. The tour buses take you straight to the temple at the top, then straight back down again, but it’s possible to walk up the hill from the new town at the bottom to reach the top yourselves. It was just us and the goats and we had a lovely day exploring. We also had a nice Turkish bath. It’s a sweet little town, with a few quiet restaurants and cafes, and not much else, but the site of old Pergamon is great. No audio guides though 😉