Spring in Poland

Although we live only a 1000 km North from my home town, I am quite stunned by the turns the weather makes around here. Until the mid of March I was kind of desperate for some sun and signs of spring - without any hope. It was rainy with a constant overcast sky, and cold. When finally the sun entertained us with some of its rays, I said now it is coming! The warm days with breakfast on the veranda are not so far. And the following morning we woke up to enjoy a winter scenery quite like the ones in the Alps - with about 40 cm snow covering everything with white fur sitting on the trees. Not that it was not stunningly beautiful, it just crashed my hopes. But not for so long - this week it was over 20 C plus! With sunshine, birds singing, flowers blooming in our garden, so heaven on earth :)

But before one could think that I have no better business than observing the weather I have to say our lives also took unexpected turns... We are again on the move, in a way it was almost becoming boring - staying in the same place for 3 months is not so typical of us anyway :) As of April the 1st Tomek is back to working life for an 18 months project - and it is not a joke, as it ought to be on this day. We are organizing our new, temporary home in a place called Szczecin, about 600 km to the NE from Warsaw; one can say the possible furthest point in Poland from the capital.... Not that we would have looked forward to this move, but since we anyway planned to spend a year or two in this country, it does not particularly matter where. It is in a way a good location - right next to the see, 150 km from Berlin with a highway and boat connections to Scandinavia. You can even fly in and out with Ryanair!

Thanks to this change we already had the opportunity to see more of this country: on Monday we went first time in our lives to Szczecin, Tuesday and Wednesday we spent in Wroclaw, Thursday and Friday again in Szczecin, and now we are back to Warsaw again. To be specific, all these destinations are in the far most corners of this country, each of them on average 600 km from each other in a triangle. Considering the laxed days of the past few weeks suddenly it became fairly eventful - and the near future does not look much different either... But all these places are like if they were in a different country. Wroclaw, as Tomek puts it is like if you were abroad; I really recommend it for those who like Krakow or Prague - without their touristy feel it is a pretty town with a very lively cultural life, particularly interesting for those fond of the experimental kind of theatre - see more about Grotowski. Szczecin on the other hand looks more stuck in the previous era - though with a great potential. It has impressive historical buildings and an underutilized old town over the delta of the Odra (Oder) river, but if I wanted to be rather naughty I would assume what is pretty in the town is mostly thanks to its German history, which is unfair, but the Soviet "art noveau" surely did not contribute to its grandness :) And Warsaw - I know most locals despise it - due to the same reason above, but I find something fascinating about its vibe. It is not the rebuilt old town you should look for - though pretty. It is the 21st century skyscrapers next to Stalin's sister, the Palace of Culture, the absolutely interactive museum of the Warsaw Uprising, the crazy-decadent parties and Park Lazienki with its friendly squirrels, posing peacocks and the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted thanks to the Wedel Cukiernia.

And we will have almost white nights - at least compared to the Hungarian standards; now the sun sets around 8 pm, but it will go as far as 10-10.30 pm!