Riding Along….Singing a Song….

18 Tuesday Aug 2015

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There are lots of ways to get around when you live in the city.  Walking is the most obvious (and what we do ALOT!).  But when you don’t feel like walking or you walked to the mall, and all around the mall and now you’re tired and your feet hurt and you don’t want to carry the two bags of groceries slung over your shoulder for that 30 minute walk home, there are other options.  Like taking a tram ( I like to call them trolleys, because they remind me of the trolleys in the movie Meet Me in St. Louis)  Clang, clang, clang went the trolley…. Ding, ding, ding went the bell… (sorry, got carried away there for a minute).

Trams Continue reading →

We Saw Warsaw.

11 Tuesday Aug 2015

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Ok…say that three times fast!  Warsaw was the first Polish city I saw…and that was by air when I was coming in for a landing at the airport.  Looks like a typical big city. Warsaw by Air In May when I came to surprise my husband for his 60th birthday, I only got a view from the train…riding from the airport on a train and then taking a train out of the city.  On the way home because our flight left so early in the morning (6:30a.m.) and because it’s an almost 4 hour train ride from Bydgoszcz, David drove us to Warsaw and we spent the night.  But we got in a little bit of sightseeing as our hotel was about a 20 minute walk from the Old Towne in Warsaw.  It was a few months ago (which is why you’ll see people wearing coats), but I’d like to go back sometime and explore some more.  Continue reading →

Locks of Love

09 Sunday Aug 2015

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No, this post is not about the non-profit organization where you can donate hair.  It’s about bridges.  Bridges with locks….”love locks” to be precise.  I’m sure many of you have seem or heard about bridges like these.  There was one in Paris – the Pont des Arts –Paris Locks Bridge

which is reported to have over 700,000 locks on it— padlocks engraved with a couple’s initials.  However, all the locks on this Paris bridge were removed in June 2015.  Or for everyone back home –have you seen this footbridge that crosses over The Hague in Norfolk….it only has about 350 locks according to a Virginian-Pilot newspaper article almost a year ago.  Obviously people in Norfolk don’t buy into the “Virginia is for Lovers” as well as those people visiting or living in Paris, the “City of Love”. Continue reading →

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

04 Tuesday Aug 2015

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imageFor all the beautiful architectural buildings in Bydgoszcz, there are also an equal number of buildings that need repair or are undergoing renovation.  Just walking down the street you’ll see new buildings or buildings that are being remodelled right next to buildings that have missing or broken windows, crumbling brick or covered in scaffolding.  From what we’ve been told, what we see in Bydgoszcz today is a huge turn around from 5-10 years ago.  In the U.S. we marvel at buildings that might be 100 years old try to preserve them as is for future generations to look at.  Here in Poland a 100 year old building could be like new construction!  They are preserving their history by renovating and repurposing.  Take into consideration that the buildings here could be serveral hundreds of years old.  And here’s a fun little history fact for you  (ok David this may really be for you) – Poland has been invaded or fought for freedom 43 times between 1600-1945….just maybe just a little war-torn the years.

The same holds true for places to shop.  There are several beautiful shopping malls that are all within walking distance of our flat. Continue reading →

Dirt and Soap

02 Sunday Aug 2015

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Soap MuseumThere are lots of museums in Bydgoszcz.  And lots of history.  But perhaps the most unusual is the Museum of Soap and History of Dirt.  The museum is the only one of its kind in Europe and is located in Old Town. From the outside it looks like a charming little shop….but inside is a whole world of soap and dirt.  A few Saturdays ago, David and I made the rounds of a few of the museums in town.  We tried to go to the Museum of Soap and Dirt.  It is listed as one of the “things to do”, but they didn’t have an English speaking tour guide on duty, so we scheduled a tour for the following day.  So on Sunday after church we headed over to see what we could learn about Soap and Dirt.  It was a nice little surprise to find out that we had our own private tour – probably because we were the only ones that didn’t speak Polish.  Continue reading →

Let’s Take a Walk (Part 2)

27 Monday Jul 2015

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Hope I didn’t leave you sitting too long!  You should be all rested up and ready to continue our walk.  If you had looked the other way up the street, you saw this. IMG_3915

Did you stop in at the café for a cool drink while you were waiting?  Hope you didn’t go to the Kantor….that’s a modern day “money changer”.  They will take your US dollars (or whatever kind of money you have) and exchange it for Polish zlotys. The exchange rates are usually higher, so hold on to your cash and look for an ATM machine.

But for now turn around, we are going to walk the other direction.  Up the street and just around the corner, we come to this: Continue reading →

Let’s Take a Walk (Part 1)

26 Sunday Jul 2015

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Walking is good exercise.  It’s also a good way to get to know where you live especially when you live “downtown” and right in the midst of everything. David and I do a lot of walking because who needs a car when you can walk or take one of the convenient trams.   Friday was a beautiful day here…the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the temperatures were in the 80’s with hardly any humidity….a perfect day.  I thought it would be nice to take you on a walk with me (through pictures) and see the sights near our flat.

IMG_3888 Continue reading →

Is the Sun Out? Must be Laundry Day

22 Wednesday Jul 2015

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Even the most mundane of household chores is an adventure in Poland.  Dryers are not the norm in a large part of Europe and our flat is no exception.  We have a washing machine and a drying rack — nature’s clothes dryer.

imageOur washing machine is located in the bathroom, right next to the bathtub.  Strange place if you ask me, but I guess that’s where there was already a lot of plumbing.  And how do you fit a big washing machine in a bathroom you ask?  Continue reading →

Time for Church

20 Monday Jul 2015

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Church4YouEvery Sunday, David and I walk to church –translated in English as Church4You. (OK, I’ve only been twice so far because I’ve only been here a few weeks, but David has been going since February)…..it’s just a few blocks from our flat and has the friendliest people!  The service is in Polish, but they have headsets and translators so that we can understand the songs and the message.  They put the words to the songs up on a screen, which even though I don’t understand all the words, I am beginning to figure out what some of the letter combinations should sound like…and believe me it’s nothing like you think!  The church building doesn’t look like much from the outside…it’s a very old building, but the inside is very modern looking.

IMG_3707Much different from this church that David and I visited last week-end when we were walking around Old Town. Continue reading →