Auschwitz-Birkenau is a dark and gloomy place of remembrance on the most beautiful of days but on an overcast cold November day you get the extra layer of chills and goosebumps thinking of the atrocities that have taken place there some 80 years ago. Phil and I traveled there early in the morning to catch…
Category: Poland
Snow Hiking
The Big Owl mountain is only 1,015m above sea level (3,330feet) but it is fairly nearby and it has a cool lighthouse looking observation tower built in 1906 atop of it. Whenever we feel like getting out of the house to do some moderate snow hiking, the Big Owl is our go-to destination. The views…
The Long Way Back – Przemyśl, Łańcut, and Sandomierz
While our Transalp test ride was mainly geared towards the Bieszczady area of south-east Poland, we had scheduled our return path a little differently to cover more of the unknown. Having never been to the cities of Przemyśl, Łancut, or Sandomierz, we decided to do a quick drive by, even if for a minute. First…
Transalping Around – Bieszczady Edition
The idea behind getting back into riding the Transalp was to do at least one epic run a season. Now the jury is still out on what exactly would deem a ride ‘epic’, but right away my imagination started running wild. Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, no, screw that, Albania! It’s all just a few thousand kilometers…
A Day in Cracow
Back in March, we took a quick day trip to Cracow or Kraków in Polish. It’s only a 275km (168miles) ride, and it’s all highway all the way there. Without a specific plan or city tour in mind, we simply started walking all around admiring this great city. Ohh, and of course Fado came along,…
Snow Hike
Even though we’re about halfway through January as of this writing, winter has been pretty modest for us in Wroclaw thus far. The temperatures have hardly dipped below freezing, snow is almost none existent, and I even rode my scooter to work a couple of times. In January! So today, on a tip from Ania’s…
PMO Kayaking
Also in June, my boss floated the idea of a PMO team kayaking trip. We have a pretty solid Project Management Office gang over at GOVECS. We all get along, help each other out, pump each other up, and at times push each other’s buttons. The team itself is a mix of O.G. guys together with…
Weekend by the Sea
At the beginning of June Ania and I took our annual pilgrimage to the small town of Chłopy to spend some time by the sea. We reserved the same house, the same room even, as we did a year ago and the beach was only a two-minute walk away. While early June is still fairly…
Mini Vacation Recap
As you were able to pick up by the last three posts, we spent a few days at the Polish sea side about a week ago now. I don’t really have much to add to the previous posts other than I wanted to post a few remaining photos and a quick video from that trip….
Baltic Sea
Here are a few photos from our current mini vacation by the sea. It’s actually much colder here than we had anticipated, but still a good get away from the daily work routine.
Thanksgiving in Poland
Thanksgiving doesn’t really exist in Poland, which made our first Polish Thanksgiving all the more special. We did after all spend nearly two decades in the U.S., and are plenty thankful for the opportunities that time spent in America had provided us. So here’s to Thanksgiving, in Poland, circa 2 days ago of course. Thanks…
Flower Festival – Redux
I wrote about the Flower Festival a year ago, but this being an annual tradition for Ania and her mom, here are a few photos from this year’s edition. It has to be said that the flower festival is definitely losing its appeal. I don’t mean to be the negative Nancy, but if you’re gonna…
Stalag Luft III – The Great Escape
After a short 23km ride from the German munitions factory we parked our motorcycles in front of Stalag Luft III in the city of Żagań, where a WWII prisoner of war camp and now a museum is located. The camp is known for two remarkable prisoner escapes, the most famous one depicted by Hollywood in the…
Motorcycle Trippin’
The goal of trading in my Supermoto for the Transalp was to ride further, pack more, and stay longer. This past weekend I did just that. I packed up for two nights and rode some 220kms for a rally organized in a small town of Zwierzyniec organized by the Zwierzyniec Motorcycle Club. This was their…
Supermoto Sunday
This having no window shades in my new apartment does have its advantages… a blinding sun 6am wake up call! Wait, why is this an advantage you ask? SUN, a commodity so high in demand yet not so much in-stock lately on the Polish side the globe. Once the WTF?? thought had passed, I jumped…
Giant Wrocław
I was walking through Wrocław the other evening when I came across this giant lawn chair. I’ve seen it before, it just never occurred to me how big it was until I saw an illegally parked car directly underneath it. The chair is 9 meters tall and is made of smooth concrete. It was designed by Tadeusz…
Sobótka Bungee
Located just a half hour ride from Wrocław is an old granite mine near the town of Sobótka. I remember going there when I was a kid as my cousin Piotrek, a very skilled swimmer, cliff dived into the now water filled mine. Last Sunday our buddy Cichy asked us to come by and hang…
Wrocław’s Oldtimer Swap Meet
Click PLAY to view my short film from this event. [vimeo vimeo.com/50503420 w=500&h=280] Yesterday we stopped by Wrocław’s edition of the Oldtimer Swap Meet. I didn’t know what to expect as I’ve never been to this kind of event in Poland, but I quickly find out that this oldtimer swap meet was anything but. The name suggest an…
Giant Mountains Hiking – Day 2 & 3
Day 2 – Samotnia to Szrenica We had a long day ahead of us and we knew it. This was the only day we were due to get some real hiking behind our belt. After a quick breakfast at the shelter we packed our packs and off we went. BUT… a short rant is in…
Giant Mountains Hiking – Day 1
We began the day rather late leaving Wroclaw just before noon. Karpacz is only 127 kilometers away (80miles), but on Polish crappy single-lane roads it still takes a better part of two hours to get there. Once in Karpacz, finding parking for two nights wasn’t easy. Simply put, I did not find a place at…
The Polish Magician 