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…

My 2018 – A Google Photos Review

I’m a big fan of Google Photos. Even though I should probably be an Apple Photos person, given my Apple hardware usage, somehow Google Photos was first to the punch for me with cloud-based photo storage and it just stuck. I especially love how all my photos from my phone, computer, camera, and even sent…

My Cousin Piotrek, In Memoriam.

Yesterday I learned that my cousin Piotrek had died in a car accident. A devastating news to my entire family, and especially so to his wife and his four-year-old son. Growing up in Poland, we were the three musketeers: Piotrek, Krzysiek, and myself. Three sons of three sisters, each of us born a year apart:…

End of Carnival

Today’s Ash Wednesday, meaning the end of carnival has come upon us. The next 40 days are about fasting and deep soul searching within ourselves in preparation for Easter. But while getting some ash sprinkled on my head today I realized that I did not share any of my carnival photos on here. Ania and I…

Christmas Post Season

I didn’t post anything at all in December, not a single entry to follow up a really good seven-post month of November. So here’s a short update as to what was going on in December. Ania’s favorite season is indeed the Christmas season, and our home takes on a whole different decor during that time….

The Godfather

Yesterday I officially became a godfather to my niece Emma. It didn’t exactly catch me by surprise as this has been three years in the making. After Emma’s birth my sister Kasia asked me to be the godfather, but due to us living on two different continents the scheduling itself turned out to be a…

Frankie Says Relax

When I was just a kid, my dad had a pretty extensive record collection. Or at least it seemed extensive in my child eyes. There were tapes, too. Lots of them. But there was this one album I was always afraid to listen to alone. Hey, I was just a kid, remember? Anyway, the album was…

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…

Emma

San Francisco is the closest I’ve been to my sister since I left Los Angeles five years ago. So as soon as I learned of my trip I started thinking of possibly paying my sister and her family a visit, especially since I’ve never met my niece Emma who will be two years old soon….

Grilled Meat and Pale Ale

I’ve been on pretty strict diet for the past couple of months, eating only what the dietitian allows with a specific list of what to, but more precisely, what not to eat. A feat that would have been impossible had it not been for my wife keeping me in check. And while it wasn’t an…

Just Married

It was a warm, sunny and gold October Saturday in Wrocław when we said our “I do’s”. Actually it wasn’t “I do” at all. In the Roman Catholic Church, which most of Poland subscribes to, we have to repeat full on phrases in the manner of “I, Sławomir, take you Anna, to be my lawfully…

Weekend Fun

After a week long trip to Milan a three-day long weekend was just what the doc had ordered and I managed to spend it with my beautiful girlfriend Ania. In case you’re actually a fan of this blog and have been following the events of my life for some time, you might have noticed that…

Oktoberfesting

Oktoberfest is the world’s largest fair held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1810. It runs 16 days from late September and ends on the first weekend of October during which millions of people visit, and millions of liters of beer is consumed. Growing up in the States I know that Oktoberfest is usually identified…

The Annual Family Boules Tournament

My aunt Bożena and her husband Andrzej are not only born in the same month of the same year, but were born only hours apart on the same day! It’s one thing to find someone in the world born the same day as you, but to have that person be your significant other is something…