Robin, Joe and Sam come to Warsaw!

We had 3 visitors from the UK this weekend. Our friend Robin came to stay, along with his two eldest boys Joe (nearly 7) and Sam (aged 5). We gave them all a bite-sized tour of Warsaw.

Most of the attractions we took them to got the 'thumbs up' as opposed to the 'thumbs down' - a simple but effective scoring mechanism developed by the children (and I guess by Roman Emperors!). On a couple of occasions it was a bit nerve jangling as the little thumbs hovered between ups and downs, but on the whole I think we scored more

thumbs up than thumbs downs!

On Friday we went to Warsaw Zoo - highlights including the elephants, penguins, leopards and a hippo (who we encouraged to chase a duck) and then afterwards onto the Wedel hot chocolate shop for yummy hot chocolate.

On Saturday we took the boys around the old town (Q. What is the name of the mermaid in the old town square?) and then to Zoliborz playground where Sam showed off his incredible climbing skills!


The next day was really hot, and so we got going fairly early to Wodny Park swimming pool, for swimming and slides and then to our Kiwi friends Penny and Mike for a lovely barbecue on Sunday evening.

It was so great to catch up with them all. Joe told me that he was the first boy in his school to visit Poland - he took a handful of postcards home to show his class. Also I hope they'll all be practicing the Polish words they learnt during their visit!

Sam on the slide in Plac Wilsona

Amy and Robin

Check up

We went for a check up at the doctors this morning (a lovely lady called Dr. Ossowska). She is always pleased to see us as I think she enjoys seeing someone in the family way rather than miserable sick people.

Everything was fine, and Amy seems to be in good health - here's a picture of her and her expanding waistline taken on our balcony this morning

Tour de France in London

Our baby is now just over a month away(!!), so I took a short break from Warsaw to go back to Newbury and check over the house, and do various bits and pieces of DIY. I also got a chance to catch up with a few people while I was there, and went to watch the Tour de France on Saturday.

The weekend was full of sporting occasions for the UK with the Wimbledon finals, the British Grand Prix and the Tour de France all happening over the two days.

It's rare for the Tour de France to come through the UK (it last did so in 1994), and so there was a mass gathering of lycra in London and the South East - estimates thought that there were 1 million spectators on Saturday, and a further 2 million watching on Sunday!

A group of us went to Green Park in London on Saturday to watch the Tour - there were huge crowds, but we managed to secure both a good view of the race and deck-chairs as well!

The weather in London had been poor all week, but the sun really shone through on Saturday and it was a great day. Even though I'm not a cycling aficionado, it was incredible to watch the speeds that the cyclists reached and know that they had another 22 days (and 3,500km) cycling ahead of them.

Tim-looking different somehow?

Amusing conversation

Tim: "Who's winning?"
Ben: "Some guy in a yellow jersey"

Tim: "Didn't he win it last year?"
(btw it was all meant in jest)

On a none-cycling note Amy's got a check up at the doctors later this week, so perhaps more baby-related news next time - in the meantime here's a clip of the cycling from Saturday

Duże dziecko

Big child

Which is how the doctor described our baby last night. Poor Amy!

Q. Why did the mushroom go to the party?

A. Because he was a Funghi

I reckon one of Poland's finest vegetables is not as you might suspect the potato, but the mushroom.

I visit a market every Tuesday morning in a district of Warsaw called Koło, where for the last two or three weeks they've been selling Kurki mushrooms. They're absolutely delicious, and if you eat enough of them you start seeing purple elephants dancing around the room playing trombones (ok I made the last bit up).

I think they're actually just chanterelle mushrooms, but I prefer Kurki as it sounds a lot more Polish. They tend to be sold by wizened old men, who only ever seem to have a couple of boxes of them for sale at any one time. Apparently the old men pick them from the forests in the morning.

They're invariably rather grubby (the mushrooms AND the old men) but when washed, taste lovely in omelettes with a bit of chive (the mushrooms NOT the old men). Yum!

Kazimierz Dolny

We decided to go away this weekend, as it may be our last opportunity before the baby is born. Someone at our (final) baby class on Friday, suggested that you should go on a 'baby-moon' (kind of like a honey-moon) pre arrival!

We travelled down by train to Kazimierz Dolny in the South of Poland (about 2 hours by train). This picturesque village attracts many artists as well as cafes, market stalls and of course tourists!


We had a really relaxing time and it was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of Warsaw and see some of the lovely Polish countryside.

On Saturday we took a boat trip up the Wisła River and then spent Sunday exploring the ruins of the castle which overlooks the town and the many art galleries dotted around. We even bought a couple of paintings and then had to lug them home on the train.

All in all, it was a lovely weekend and we're glad we decided to take a 'baby-moon' - it will be a long time before we can travel so lightly again (with only a daypack between us)!

Amy in Kazimierz Dolny

Not, sure if this will work for everyone, but here's a (short) clip of Amy from last weekend...let us know if it worked! (or even if it didn't!)