Majowka

1st and 3rd May are national holidays in Poland so it often happens that the celebrations extend for almost a week. This year I got almost 10 days off (with some minor exceptions which did not spoil the pleasure of enjoying the freedom of my long weekend)

let the greenness explode

We spent most of our time travelling, within one week we managed to visit all destinations where we want to spend our time in during our summer holiday. First we went to our summer house in L. where we were supposed to do some work but we spent the day idling around in the heat, lying in the hammock. It felt like July or August but the greenness was so sparse and fresh. We could still see the lake which will later disappear behind the bushes.

"I'm digging for fire"

if there's one thing I'm really good at, it's sleeping. and I'm proud of it!

wild flowers in full bloom

On Monday we drove the boys to their grandmas (each grandma manages to control only one kid at a time) and we went to A&A's gardening plot in K.Uncle Zmariusz was also there. It felt so good to be there with them as they are our elective family, the best family we've ever had except out parents. Actually all of us but Adam are single children so we are to one another  like siblings we never had. The night there was magical. Sitting by the fire, talking nonsense, watching the stars, drinking beer, eating baked potatoes and fireburnt sausages. In the morning we went back to Gdansk to pick our kids and we returned to K. with them and spent the whole day there but it was definitely much less relaxing as we had to chase out kids trying to prevent them from trampling down the carrots and the anemones in their mad stampede.


On Wednesday we were invited to Mikolaj's best friend's birthday party. It was fun for my boys, though they consistently refused to join in any games or activities and delved into the world of  the host's toys. Seeing the growing exhaustion of the host's parents, who outdid themselves entertaining the brats, we retreated to our flat and started packing for our trip to Warsaw.

picnic on the motorway

Warsaw was a cherry on top of the cake. I can't even gather my thoughts to write anything proper. It seems like we've returned from another world and everything that happened a couple of days earlier seems to fade into very distant past. And today was such a busy day that even the emotions connected with the last two days in Warsaw aren't as strong as they were there. Next time I'll take the laptop with me to make notes and prevent whatever fades from fading.

this is us in Sochaczew

blowing dandelions

all three in one frame? hardly possible

We were woken up by the boys madly excited about our trip and saw this amazing summer sun sending its rays through the blinds. Couldn't have been better! So we took this leasurly drive to the capital on the motorway, which is not the most common way of getting there. Most drivers are emotionally attached to the race of sales reps and holiday makers hurrying hither and thither on A7. One of reasons, apart from the evident comfort, of taking that road was that we wanted to satisfy our boys who are railway fanatics and take them to the Museum of Narrow-gauge Railway in Sochaczew. We disembarked in the blazing early afternoon sun, so much hotter than our northern one and lead our children to their first attraction. They went berserk. Both of them were running in different directions, getting on and off the trains, running along the platforms, analysing all mechanisms of those lovely tiny vehicles. The sun made our bodies melt and the sight of our boys melted our hearts.

now this is an old beauty

and these were even more gorgeous

could this pack make decent steam engine drivers? 

little man, little trains...

Off we went to Warsaw, paying visits to all Mc Donalds on our way in order to expand their collection of Happy Meal Hot Wheels and to stuff Mikolaj with hamburgers and Adam with chips.
The strandard of Novotel Hotel exceeded all our expectations. Although we'd always believed in small, family run pensions the level of professional service and the personal touch we received made us reconsider our idea of large hotels. We were given a room on the 18th floor with a view on Palac Kultury and a magnificent panorama of the city. The lift was room card operated and a bunch of idiots like ourselves had tough time trying to make it work, but the room was worth the effort. It wasn't large but perfectly comfortable for a couple travelling with two kids. It was also impeccably clean, the bathroom lured us inside and we took our time refreshing ourselves before we were ready to set off again.

this is what I call a room  with a view

Since 3rd May is a patriotic holiday in Poland we decided to join the crowd and enjoy a stroll to Plac Zamkowy. This was a truly magical evening. Nowy Swiat looked like a more posh and cleaner version of Camden. It was flooded with a colourful, laid back, multi racial international crowd, we saw gay couples (coming out is still a rare thing in Poland), black people (equally rare), Muslims (again very rare), Indian waiters (no restaurants with Indian waiters here in Gdansk). All smells mingled together, the sickening stench of smells from the kitchens, the smell of alcohol on everyone's breath and the sweetness of lilac and pansies. This smell, however foul it was, made me dizzy in a very pleasant way, all my London memories rushed to my head, increasing heartbeat and planting butterflies in my stomach. I guess that night I fell in love with Warsaw a little bit. The kind of love you have for someone that reminds you of your ex-partner with whom you can no longer be.

to commemorate the fact that we went somewhere other than  a shopping mall or a restaurant

in the distance: the new stadium ready in wait for Euro 2012 

We went to Blikle for ice creams and coffe cause Blikle for my hubby had always been a symbol of something Varsovian but we were quite disappointed. Not that there was anything wrong with the dessert or the service, although the place is too pompous for my liking, but I guess we've moved elsewhere with our culinary tastes and the taste of pre-war Poland no longer satisfies us, and we've never feel this nostalgia for the years bygone.
But what did make us very happy was lamb kebab from bar Egypt just opposite our hotel which cost less than $3 and was served by an Egyptian looking guy and bought by other Egyptian-looking guys (which was for us a guarantee of genuine quality of food served there). The kebab was absolutely delicious and the place is open 24h a day so next time when we're starving in Warsaw at night we know where to go.

this is where I like to eat

Putting the kids to sleep after out return to our nice hotel room was a difficult task. They deemed it appropriate to watch TV, jump on beds, race their cars, sing Wheels on the Bus (Adam is an excellent performer) and do anything but go to sleep. Finally, they started tumbling on one another, Adam somehow irritated Mikolaj who bit him on the cheek. Poor baby went howling to our bed, Mikolaj got severely reprimanded but after this katharsis they fell asleep immediately.

before going to sleep

And we could enjoy watching TV (rare thing again as we don't have the TV in our bedroom) and drink gin and orange.
In the morning I was kindly given an hour for myself so I sneaked away to Zlote Tarasy shopping mall to do MAC shopping. There's no MAC counter in Gdansk so going to MAC is one of my thrills connected with going to Warsaw. My solitary walk was such an event for me. I love spending time on my own and I seldom have the pleasure. I watched the homeless sleep on the benches behind the Central Station, stylishly dressed people on their way to work, funky earplugged youngsters. And MAC shopping was fruitful. I got all I wanted and more.    
We had breakfast in Arkadia, we promised ourselves to get something light to eat but we ended up getting a Greek lamb kebab (different than the Egyptian one but equally delicious) and Happy Meals for the boys. Having stuffed ourselves with junk food we discovered a French boulangerie Vincent which sold French pastries and many other delicious things and we went for spinach and bacon pastries and raspberry croisants.

trains again

and more trains

Having finished eating I painted my lips Russian Red and was ready for the next attraction which was.... the Railway Museum again! This time the museum was located in the centre of Warsaw and presented regular engines and trains and also models of different sizes and kinds. The boys were equally excited as the day before but I found it difficult to walk cause my new ballerinas were giving my feet hell. I kept thinking about going back to the car and taking them off but I had to chase Adam and see that he doesn't hurt himself.

sweetness incarnate

Finally we were ready to go back. Initially we intended to go to the ethnographic museum in Sierpc but it was too late and we took the A7 to Gdansk, which was the last time we did for a couple of reasons. First of all we don't really enjoy car racing and we felt bothered by those who do. And secondly, one of the pleasures of going that way had always been a large number of good quality, cottage-like roadside restaurants offering traditional local food. However, a new, fast road is being built and these restaurants are going to be left aside on a forgotten country road. Even if they move towards the new road they will never be as beautiful as Mariaszkowy Mlyn located in and old water mill. So we went to Mariaszkowy Mlyn for the last time and got delicious pierogi with wild mushroom sauce, probably the best pierogi I've eaten. Even Adam liked them. So we were eating and Mikolaj was enjoying jumping on a trampoline and Adam was running around, going down a slide and joining Mikolaj in his jumping from time to time.
The boys showed no symptoms of tiredness and entertained us with singing and other things which in normal families could be perceived as signs of madness (non-verbal things, therefore cannot be described in words).  When we turned into our street Adam started screaming don't go homeeeeee! He always does this when we're nearing home but who could have thought of that after two days of constant travelling!
The boys went do sleep quickly and slept as logs, so did we. Unfortunately I had to be at work at 8 on Saturday so my sleep was good but short.
There's also one good side effect of our journey to Warsaw: Adam stopped using his dummy. We couldn't find his old one anywhere in the flat so we got him a new one, which was a different shape and size. He didn't accept the new dummy but he was so tired he didn't protest much. And that was it. No more dummies! Yay!

I went to work on Saturday morning but then after a futile attempt to feed the kidswe set off to R. to help my parents put up a garden tent. We left Mikolaj there cause he refused to return with us and managed to persuade the grandma to let him stay overnight.

Seeing the heavy rainfall on Sunday morning and noticing the temperature below 5 degrees I understood my holiday was over. I dragged myself to work with no enthusiasm or will to work. Well, at least there's nothing to regret, I wouldn't go to the beach anyway.

All May weekend was soooo intense and soooo eventful that it felt like our 2 month summer holiday got somehow compressed to a couple of days. Luckily the weather changed and it's 5 degrees only today, otherwise it would be really hard to go back to reality.