Week in review: 8 - 14 April
- Hung out, cafe worked and ate in Warsaw.
- Failed to get a cholera vaccine, or a new laptop cable.
- Nightbussed to Bratislava and holed up in a nice apartment for a few days.
- Watched all of Cowboy Beebop.
poland (13 out of 13)
- Ate and cafe worked around Krakow.
- Visited the museum at Auschwitz.
- Remotely attended a ODS Co-op OGM.
- Bussed to Warsaw to see friends.
- Ate and touristed around Warsaw. Visited for the second time the Warsaw Rising Museum, and the Palace of Culture and Science.
- Made plans for the rest of April, and half of May. Surprising plans. But leaving space for this to take shape explains why I was blocked on figuring out what to do after Warsaw for so long.
- Hung out in Budapest. Ate lots.
- Bussed to Krakow.
- Finished Expanse S3.
- Chilled and ate and wandered and cafe worked with Felicity and Maelle.
- Feeling kind of behind on everything.
- I love being back in Poland though.
- Finished nanowrimo with 43,996 words.
- Took a nightbus from Riga to Warsaw.
- Had an amazing time eating and touristing my way around Warsaw for a week.
- Took a train to Kalisz, then a bus to Turek, then a car to Dhamma Palava... See you in 10 days.
- Caught up on travel blog posts since March, whew.
- Data loading and crawling stuff.
- Went to a beach almost every day (Gdynia, Sopot). May have got sunstroke.
- Finished new Lost In Space, finally watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2, started Abaddon's Gate (the third book in the Expanse series) and am gagging to watch the Expanse on netflix again.
- Went for a hike in the hills around Gdynia.
- Spent a day in Krakow.
- Took the train to Gdynia, where I'm staying for a month.
- Data loading and crawling stuff.
- Spent a day in Gdansk, which is beautiful.
- Ran once.
- Went twice to beaches.
So I found a clinic I can walk into without an appointment and wait in line for an unspecified time for a cholera vaccine, this very afternoon.
All the google reviews for this hospital say it's better to die at home with dignity than go here under any circumstances, but the lady on the phone was nice.
Worst of all I can't eat for 3 hours before the vaccine and an hour after, so obviously now all I can think about is the really great seitan salad baguette in my bag that I didn't finish at breakfast and will not get to eat for at least a few hours from now ;_;
Wish me luck in these trying times.
Week in review: 1 - 7 April
Week in review: 25 - 31 March
Week and a half in review: 29 Oct - 7 Nov
Vegan in Trójmiasto (Gdynia / Sopot / Gdansk)
I stayed a month in the Trójmiasto (Tri-City) area on the north coast of Poland. The three cities, Gdynia, Sopot and Gdansk, are connected by a handy fast train, or stunning walks along beaches or through the woods. There were plenty of veg*n places to eat, and I didn't get to try everything on HappyCow. But here's what I did try:
Gdynia
i Krowa Kala
A vegan burger bar right outside the SKM exit of the main Gdynia train station. I went there a few times due to convenience on my way back from the city center. It's open late, and has a lot of varied options. No English menu, however, and staff didn't seem keen on translating anything for me. Since it was all vegan, I picked at random.
There's wifi, but no power that I could see (I didn't look very hard) and not much seating. (I never saw it full though.)
I tried a seitan burger one time, and a tofu grill another time. Both pretty decent. Full of salad and sauces, and hard to eat. The bread is toasted, which doesn't help. They also offer pita though (and gluten-free bread). The fries were particularly good, seasoned with something a little spicy. On another occasion I got 'pierogi samosa', because I had to know... and they were neither pierogi nor samosa. More like mini deep fried cornish pasties stuffed with samosa vegetables? A big portion though, and they travelled well.
They have different desserts here every day, too. One time I got a really great jam-filled doughnut.
If I ever get back there, I want to try the pita with deep fried oyster mushrooms. They were out when I asked for it. I got a falafel pita instead, with distinctly non-traditional falafel, but still good (the next day, in Amsterdam).
Bio-Pierkarnia
A chain of eco-bakeries, with multiple branches in all three cities (though not all of the branches listed on HappyCow actually seem to exist). I mostly went to the one next door to i Krowa Kala, for obvious reasons. It's not all vegan, but about one third of their cakes, pastries and desserts are. The one by Gdynia station also has a wide range of vegan grocieries, and takeaway sandwiches and salads, some of which are vegan. Good prices.
My favourite cake was an amaranth chocolate slice, which I will continue to fantasise about for years. It's nothing special generally I think, I just have a special taste for that particular kind of cake. On other occasions, I had a fruit tart, chocolate orange muffin, ...
Bioway
A canteen-y sort of place in town, all vegetarian and the staff were able to tell me what was vegan. Pretty hearty and healthy stew-type options which were all pre-prepared. More stuff on the menu, but I was lazy to find out what it was. Not overly exciting, but good for want of anything else.
Veganica
I spotted this place in Gdynia; it wasn't on HappyCow. Felt pretty new, staff still seemed to be finding their feet. I'd just eaten, so I had a random smoothie. It was.. pretty bad. I saw her putting water in, which was an obvious red flag. So yeah, needs work. Maybe the food is better. (All veggie, not all vegan).
Tlok
A nice cafe for working, which always has one vegan cake on offer, and takes coffee very seriously. I spent a morning there.
Sopot
There's a GreenWay here right off the pier. A convenient location, but I never ended up in Sopot over a mealtime, so I didn't go there.
Kulki Anulki
An organic icecream shop with a few vegan options, not far from the beach. I asked for a recommendation and was told to try the banana and dark chocolate together. I never eat two scoops of ice cream of any kind, and I wouldn't normally go for banana. But I did as suggested, and it was incredible. The banana by itself was way better than I expected, and coupling with the bitter chocolate brought out some kind of amazing tang.
Gdansk
Vege Port
This was hands down my favourite place. I went there a bunch of times. On some occasions, I took the train all the way to the suburbu of Wrzeszcz just to eat here, then left again. Or I looked for excuses to pass through Wrzeszcz on my way to or from an adventure.
It's all vegan, and they have an exceptional pizza menu. There are also other dishes, a combination (not fusion) of Polish and Italian. The homemade lemonades are good too; one time there was rhubarb. They also have cake and ice cream.
My favourite pizza was one with not-chicken, pickled cucumber, and crispy onions. Pickles on a pizza! Revolutionary. The cheese was delicious and melty always, and the more ordinary pizza toppings were perfectly cooked. They have a range from very simple to fairly unusual options. I also tried gnocchi bolognese and 'rollo', a not-chicken wrap.
Atmosphere is nice (wifi, power), it was rarely busy, and the staff are super friendly (maybe because they saw me so frequently). Once I stopped by just before closing and they were cashing up, but they still made me a pizza and let me stick around another 20 minutes to eat it.
I took a non-vegan local on one occasion, who subsequently return without me, with other non-vegans, who were similarly impressed.
I think this may be a tie for my favourite ever vegan pizza, with Vegazzi in Budapest.
Avocado
There are two branches of Avocado that I went to, and whilst definitely the same mini-chain, they had quite different menus. I went to one at dinner time and one at lunchtime though, so maybe that was a factor. Both good.
Within walking distance of Brezno beach is a large space, with a really big and varied dinner-type menu. I ate creamy coconut tofu and fresh spinach curry, and a really fantastic cake. I picked the cake for it's fluffy coconut exterior, and to my surprise and delight the inside revealed itself to be layers of chocolate and sour cherry. I could be convinced that this was a magic cake that adapts to the desires of the eater.
The other Avocado is in Wrzeszcz. It's on the same street as the vegan supermarket, and Fukafe, and the other side of the station from Vege Port. Location is top, but the space is much much smaller. I ate deep fried pancakes, stuffed with lentils and spinach, with a really good side salad. The cakes looked good too, but Fukafe next door has a wider range of fancier ones, and was calling me.
Fukafe
A wide range of fancy cakes and coffees. Not cheap, but quite spectacular and unusual selection, so worth it. A nice atomosphere (wifi, power) to hang around for a while, too. I tried an iced latte, and a spinach cake. On another occasion I went in for a cookie but they had none, so I took a coconut energy ball to go instead. It was the only thing that would travel well, though I wouldn't normally go for that as they are so often disappointing. This one however, even after a day of sitting in my backpack on buses, was really great; moist and rich.
Spozyvczak
An all-vegan supermarket in Wrzeszcz. It has all the usual stuff, at all the usual (highish) prices. I stocked up on Vego, and they also have a freezer full of great looking ice creams, though I never got one (having always passed by after stuffing myself at Fukafe or Vege Port).
Atelier Smaku
A gormet vegan gluten-free foodtruck. I finally got vegan pierogi from there; they weren't great, but they were cheap and filling. You can also buy them from the vegan supermarket to cook at home. No English menu, but it is on the website.
Guga Spicy
Guga Spicy sits beside Guga Sweet, by the river in Gdansk. Guga Sweet is a bakery, and was closed when I stopped by, but on request they ran across to fetch desserts from there in Spicy. It was really expensive, and clearly in a generally expensive area of the city. I passed by chance on the Long Night of Museums, surprised to find them open after 10pm. I ate summer rolls (on the menu as spring rolls, which is misleading... I love spring rolls, I only like summer rolls). They were good anyway. I followed with a giant bowl of udon packed full of vegetables, seaweed, and tofu. I took a coconut 'bounty' cake to go, which was fantastic for breakfast the next morning.
Manna68
A nice fairly formal restaurant, close to the touristy area of Gdansk, I was randomly wandering different streets on my way to the train station (to go to Wrzeszcz for Vege Port) when I passed this place by chance. I'd seen it on HappyCow, but not felt inspired to seek it out. But since I was there, I stayed. It's not cheap, but not unreasonable. I ate mole chilli, which was not spicy, but quite chocolatey. They have a brownie on the menu which can get you a free coffee if you guess six ingrediants.. I was tempted, but went with a chocolate mousse instead. It was disappointing! It had good toppings - almonds and pomegranate - but should have been darker and richer. The espresso was ridiculously tiny.
Oh also for some reason in the the bathrooms the audio playing was a Spanish language learning tape (phrases repeated in English then Spanish) but with really bizarre sentences. Couldn't tell if real.
If you want to know what I did in Poland when not eating, try my posts from May.
To Hel and back
The Hel Peninusula is a narrow strip of land poking out over the north of Poland, in the Baltic Sea. Yesterday I took a one hour ferry there from Gdynia, walked 20 miles along it, then took a one hour train back. It was exhausting, and beautiful.
The ferry from Gdynia runs from May to September, and is 40PLN (~10EUR). There's one guaranteed to run in each direction, and two which run if there are enough people demanding it. I went at 10am, and it takes about an hour. The port is about a 15 minute walk from Gdynia main station, in a straight line. I bought my ticket from the office on the port (they're also available online) about half an hour before departure. There were only a handful of other people on board.
Hel itself is the biggest town, on the end of the strip. It is surrounded on all sides by beaches, and backed by woods with many remnants of the World Wars, like bunkers and shelters. I didn't stick around in the town for very long after disembarking the ferry, but plunged into the woods to cross to the less inhabited beaches on the northern side.
For a while I followed the beach. It was windy, mini sandstorms peppered my ankles; the waves crashed to my right and there was no-one. Miles and miles of soft white sand, stretching out in both directions. It really felt like paradise.
The beach is separated from the woods by banks of sand dunes of various sizes. It was much more sheltered and warm to walk through here, but the dunes were deep and soft; ploughing through took more energy. I wandered between beach, dunes and woods. The trees were far enough apart that an absence of well defined trails didn't matter. Pale green-blue moss on the ground was deliciously crunchy underfoot. Sometimes the woods would open into wide patches of dunes, pure and white and sweeping, completely undisturbed by other footprints. Periodically I came across a bunker or a rusty watch tower, half-buried in the sand or overgrown by trees.
I had planned to walk from Hel to Chałupy, and take the train from there back to Gdynia. OpenStreetMap calculated the walk to take about 6 and a half hours, so I had 1.5 hours of bufffer before the second-to-last train and 3 hours before the last one. Plenty of wiggle room. Except I managed to consume almost all of the buffer before I was even half way. I was zigzagging through the woods and dunes, stopping for photos and lunch, and of course walking on sand dunes is considerably slower than OSM accounted for. When I realised there was a very real risk of missing the last train, I stepped up my pace.
I passed through the villages of Jurata and Jastarnia without really stopping to take them in, but I was keen to get to the narrowest part of the peninsula, hoping to see sea and beaches on both sides. I did stop long enough at Jurata to walk down the pier, and read about how the peninsula was used as a torpedo testing ground by the Germans in WWII.
There's a little peak called Libek an hour out of Jastarnia, which I think is the narrowest part of the split. Making it here felt like an achievemnet, and was a turning point in my energy levels. I could see the sea from both sides, but the trees are thick and the photo doesn't really capture it.
After that I realised my legs were tired and to make it to Chałupy on time I had no more opportunities to linger. The next village was Kuznica, which had beaches on both sides it would be nice to enjoy, so I decided to cop out one stop early and take the train from here instead. This bought me an hour, so I slowed my pace a little. I sat on the beach in Kuznica on the bay side, where the sea was much calmer, shallower and warmer than the Baltic Sea side.
There was of course no ticket machine at the train station. I watched the sunset over the tracks, and the train arrived just before 9.
I bought the ticket from the conductor, half asleep, struggling to get out the name of my departure station (which I had only managed to implant in my brain beforehand because it ends in 'nica' meaning I associate it with Bosnia pies) and where I was going to, by the time she came around (13.50PLN, ~3EUR).
Week in review: 7 - 13 May
Week in review: 30 April - 6 May
Bouncing around Europe
The plan was to visit every country in the EU (before March 2019 for reasons). The plan was to spend at least a month in each one, ideally in one place, and just kind of absorb the surroundings. I alternate remote laptop work with city wandering, rural hiking, chilling out with the kindle in parks, coffeeshops, and vegan cafes.
Things haven't gone quite to plan so far though. I've been pulled around by people and events, in no logical order. Not complaining, but I really need to slow down for a while.
My stay in Budapest was cut short on both ends, as at the beginning of March I had the opportunity to stay with Elizabeth and her family in Ljubljana for a long weekend. On the 21st of March, began a Vipassana meditation course in Mariazelle, Austria. I'd applied to sit, then agreed to serve when they emailed to say they were short-handed.
Dreading the complicated and lengthy public transport options to the Austrian mountains, at the last minute I managed to catch a ride with another meditation student from Budapest. I made no onward travel plans, guessing I could wing it at the end of the course; I wanted to be in Bratislava, but was confident I'd get a lift at least to Vienna.
I did. I slept almost the whole way and was surprised to find myself deposited in a random suburb around 11am. I metro'd to Erdberg bus station, which is not particularly well located. Oh also it was Easter Sunday. Nothing was functioning. No coffee, no food. The bus station was open, but their internet was down. Which meant... they couldn't sell any tickets. I was told to hang about half an hour, then buy a ticket from the driver on the next bus to Bratislava. The bus was full. Next bus in an hour. I went back into the station and it seemed that the internet was back on, and they were frantically selling tickets to frantic people. I joined a line. By the time I got to the front of the line, the internet was broken again. I asked after the nearest wifi hotspot, and was told to go to MacDonald's two subway stops away. That seemed like a hassle, so I wandered into the main bus pickup area, and hopped onto a FlixBus network for just long enough to buy a ticket for the next Bratislava bus with the Flix app, which I'd had the great foresight to download and hook up to my paypal right before I left the meditation center. Onwards.
Bratislava was a stop-gap. My next 'pull' was to meet my sister in Vienna. We hadn't seen each other for about three years, and she was over from the US for a conference. Her AirBnB was covered, so she agreed to let me sleep on the couch. Vienna is expensive, and spending a full two weeks there wasn't hugely appealing; hence Bratislava.
Good choice! I loved that city.
Vienna airport is about half way between Vienna and Bratislava in fact, so my sister caught a late bus after her flight landed and stayed in my AirBnBs for two nights in Bratislava. I packed a majority of my touristing in during the last two days of her visit.
We took a dead cheap and great quality Regiojet bus back to Vienna. We left our luggage in the FREE!!! lockers in the main Bratislava bus station for the first half of the day. I spent the week in Vienna working, indispersed with a little wandering and my first ~ ever ~ visit to a hair salon. There are plenty of vegan food options, including a bakery right in Stefansplatz metro station, though I mostly cooked in the flat. On my sister's free day, we hiked through vinyards to the eastern most foothill of the Alps (or something).
I caught an exceptionally good value Regiojet train to Brno, next. On the Vipassana retreat in Mariazelle I shared a room with P, who subsequently invited me to visit her in South Moravia any time. Since my next 'pull', a week after Vienna, was to Lyon for TheWebConf, and there are good Prague-Lyon bus connections, this is where I went next.
I spent a delightful week staying with P, her sister and parents in Hustopece. We synchronised our work hours, and when we were both free she took me to visit attractions in local villages, and for long walks in nature. We meditated together mornings and evenings almost every day. P is a yoga teacher; I joined her classes when there was space.
It so happened that P also needed to be in Prague on the 21st of April. We took the bus from Brno the night before, and stayed with her friend. In the evening we took a touristy river cruise, and went to Loving Hut. The next morning we walked from the suburbs to Prague Castle, and ate a good breakfast together.
I bussed to Lyon via Munich. The latter half of the journey was full of frustrated people, constant interruptions by the Swiss police, and general chaos. I didn't sleep much.
I have been to Lyon twice before, with my high school French exchange program. I've done the tourist things, though I don't remember them. I stayed with a friend, and mostly my time was filled with TheWebConf and trying to work. It was a hot and sunny week. I got to see a few people I haven't seen for a while and whom I was very happy indeed to spend time with. I almost didn't come to WebConf. France is the wrong direction. But I'm glad I did.
The week wound down quietly. With a late bus on Saturday night I spent the day between the library (wifi sucks, ports blocked), the river bank, YAAFA (no wifi, good falafel) and Perrache bus station (excellent wifi, seats, power).
I arrived to Munich bright and early, left my bag in a bus station locker, and explored.
Next stop Krakow, via another night bus. This time I was headed for a hostel, so I got to sleep in a bed. I explored the town center, and ate some good stuff. After brunch the next day I took a train to Gdynia. This was five hours, and much more expensive than Rome2Rio had led me to believe it would be, but such is life. I could've for half the price taken a 10 hour bus or a night train, but I kind of just wanted to be on my way.
In Gdynia my new landlady picked me up from the train station, I signed a one month lease for a room in a shared flat, and thus begins, at long last, the slowing down.
In reply to: https://rhiaro.co.uk/2018/05/started
On a related note, I managed to get to Gdynia and find myself a place to live for the next month.
Vegan in Krakow
I only spent a day and a half in Krakow. There are a few good vegan options around.
Krowarzywa
A burger and hotdog joint, with great salads and toppings, homemade lemonade and bottled sodas. I had seitan pastrami, plus vegan cheese as an extra, and lemonade for less than 5eur. The burger is big. There are also potatoes, and other drink options that look great. The 'meat' part of the burger is also covered by many options, from seasonal roasted vegetables to tofu. You can have it as a wrap or a salad bowl, too.
It was crazy busy when I was there between 2 and 3 pm, and I had to wait in line both to order and for the food. They give you a beeper. I'm really happy to see a fully vegan place like this so busy, including families with young kids, and old people.
There's enough space to sit, even when busy, a toilet, English menu, and staff are friendly. No wifi.
Sweet Life
A small bakery, with a few vegan cake options. Opens early. I went here before my train out, as it's so close to the station. They said they usually have more vegan cake, but on this occasion only two lemon and blueberry muffins were in the display. I bought one to eat with my coffee, and one to go. HappyCow said they had pies, so I'd been hoping to get lunch there to take on the train. This was one of the best muffins EVER. It was huge, super moist, lemony and fruity and just.. so good. Later two more vegans came in and there was no cake for them, but I had no regrets.
There are lots of seats, and wifi so I got my laptop out. A bit later I noticed a sign on the wall for 'life bowls', including one with tofu. I enquired; they usually have egg, but they were happy to make it without. I had to wait for the kitchen to open at 11. I ate half and took the rest to go. This was also great, lots of flavours and textures, all good. The chef came to ask me how I liked it.
Ice cream and juice
Loads of places sell vegan sorbets, including some interesting flavours. I didn't eat any, but I audited every ice cream place I passed.
There are also tons of fresh juice bars. I had a nice orange, elderflower and mint concoction from Frankie's. Watch out, some places put yoghurt in their smoothies.
The rest
There's another burger place, a vegan kebab place, and a couple of bistros, listed on HappyCow. Hopefully I'll pass through again and get to try them.
A day in Krakow
I arrived mid-morning from the night bus, and headed straight to the hostel. Dumped my bags, and wandered into town. The old town is surrounded by a park in the area that used to be occupied by city walls before they were torn down. To make space for the park, history be damned. Anyway, it's a nice park. I ended up at the castle, naturally, of course. The old town is all around super nice. After checking in to the hostel properly, and a quick lunch, I joined a walking tour.
I pretty much crashed after that. The next day I passed the couple of hours between hostel checkout and train departure at Sweet Life bakery, where I literally bought all of the vegan cake, and also discovered I could veganise one of their lunch bowls. See also, food info.
I took the train from the main station. It was fairly easy to find. I bought my ticket the day before from a machine. The train was spacious and after Warsaw I had most of a carridge to myself. It took 5h30 to Gdynia, for 199pln (~50eur).