Trains, family and friends – Five days through Poland

Five days in Poland

Continuing my month-long contract break in March, and in an attempt to squeeze as many people I love as possible into that slot, I went for a five day tour around Poland. Grandparents, daddy and a quick dinner with my favourite person in Warsaw. It was short, but it was nice, and I absolutely love going by train in Poland. Thanks to that long and relaxing gliding through Polish forests and villages, I finished reading Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – and I highly recommend it. Visiting Warsaw again was nice, and I was struck by how fast it seems to be growing. So many new cool restaurants and bars, fresh buildings, roads.. the entire atmosphere was buzzing with energy and I felt that I really wanted to be in the midst of it all and live in Warsaw once again, a place where I have good friends and where I can feel at home. Ay, the nostalgia!

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in PolandFive days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

wawawawa

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Five days in Poland

Warsaw Halla

Polish film maker and rollerblader Maciej Tomków has produced a visually stunning short film about six rollerbladers hanging out and doing their thing. It’s a one-day story, shot on killer-equipment this summer in the beautiful capital city of Poland. Just another sign of how immensely the vibe of Warsaw has improved the past years. Big props to these guys for the stunts, and to the filmmaker for the art!


Maciej Tomków – Warsaw Halla
Shot July 2013 – Released November 2013
Music – Mr. Little Jeans -The Suburbs (Arcade Fire Cover)

Featuring rollerbladers: Piotrek Combrzyński, Przemysław Górczyk, Radek Kojtych, Krystian Zarzeczny, Michał Żankowski and Maciej Tomków

Ready? Last day in Warsaw.

We survived.

Woke up, booked a table in a restaurant, got into a cab.. and got a phonecall “Come here, we made lasagna!”. So the cab changed the course to Kris and Piotr’s place, where we had lasagna and hung out, before going for a small shopping spree where Avina got her hat. Kris dropped us off back at home, we visited the pool and spent the rest of the evening watching rental movies and enjoying the little luxuries and laziness that room service provides.

Well, at least until 10pm.

Because we did go out dancing, of course. Prosecco and snacks in Aïoli first where we realized that half of the group had been too tired to join us for another night of insanity, so we went for “Bubble Boom” shots with candyliqueur and sprinkles at Sketch by Night. The night was blue, pink and intense.

Next morning Piotr and Kris drove us to the airport. I seriously think they belong to the category of some of best people on earth. So much love! By 8pm, after a busride from the airport, we had arrived home in Stockholm. Avina, her hat, and I. Exhausted. Happy. Done.

Blood, shots and kisses. This is Warsaw by night.

On our second night in Warsaw we had the entire group with us. We first met for dinner in Der Elefant and did it the way it’s done in Warsaw – a lot of love, a lot of different clubs, and breakfast in Lemon, of course.

Somebody dropped a broken glass on my arm from the second floor in one of the clubs, so I got bandage on the cut and looked like Lara Croft (Oh, I wish!) for the rest of the night. Anyway, after Der Elefant, we went to a really nice bar that I don’t know the name of (guys, help!), then we visited a really nice club called Syreni Spiew, which is kind of like a house in a park with live music and a great athmosphere – and then we danced for a while in de lite, where the whole glass incident happened, and then we ended in Klubokawiarnia, which unfortunately has changed a lot since I used to go there. At least there were dancing poles so one of our friends had a lot of fun as she does pole dancing for sports – we were more than entertained. After finally having breakfast at Lemon in the morning hours, we got back to the hotel and took the elevator up to our room on the 30th floor. There, we found ourselves completely embedded in white – and that’s where we went to sleep. Among the clouds.

Warszawa – the first 24 hours

So we arrived in Warsaw by 9pm on Thursday night last week, and took the 5 minute walk from the Central Station to the hotel, where our friends Piotr and Kris were waiting for us. We checked in, opened the bottle of wine that welcomed us in the room, went for a swim in the hotel pool and went out dancing. The night ended in Lemon, the 24hour bar where all Warsaw nights tend to end and I was reminiscing the nights in 2006 when I used to go there with Bumbi, Sofie and other friends. The next morning we went out to meet Piotr and his colleagues for lunch (breakfast!) and wine, and then walked around Warszawa all day – looking at beautiful things, trying on wigs, drinking champagne, enjoying the wonderful weather, and riding the tramway. Just like any normal day in Warsaw. No, seriously – it was one of those memorable perfect days, where things are just smooth and easy. Warsaw is good at delivering that. Dziekuje!

Wroclaw in Pictures

After Berlin, Avina and I took a bus across the border to my grandmother’s city in Poland, Wroclaw. Wroclaw is an old German city that became Polish after the second world war and has a really beautiful old town. Being in Poland felt like home, my grandmother had cooked us things we both love, we chattered away in Polish, went for shopping, met a new friend, and Avina was delighted with the selection of sausages. And the best thing about it all was the fact that it was suddenly summer again.