Thoughts, reports and insights connected to our life and relationships in the city where we live, Włocławek, Poland.
“I know what your bathroom looks like” is never an okay statement coming from someone who has never been in your flat. Seeing as our bathroom is windowless, we instantly started to wonder where the camera is hidden. It turns out that this person is friends with the man who checks our water meters (the… Read More Living in Facebook
Canadians try to out-polite one another. In the Middle East, people see who can offer the longest, most poetic greeting. In Poland, maintaining a certain level of discontentment seems to be a national past-time and there are some real experts out there. “Ale” is the worst and most over-used word in the Polish language. It… Read More You Can’t Pronounce it, but Włocławek is Apathetic About that Too
“I know where you live” is never a statement you want to hear while sitting in a stranger’s car, but we get it semi-regularly. In a flat country subject to the brisk Baltic blast where cab fare is more than affordable, taxis are a lovely alternative on cold Polish days. Not being on any tourist… Read More City Mouse / Medium-Sized Industrial Town Mouse
We have a theory that under communism expression was so limited that now people are making up for lost time. This manifests in many different ways and decorating is no exception. Take a look at some of the buildings around Włocławek and take note of a colour palette you may never have expected to see… Read More You Can’t Pronounce it, but Włocławek isn’t Afraid of Colour
Apple may have an app for that, but when it comes to understanding civic life, Włocławek has a square for that. Green: Stary Rynek [Old Square] Yellow: Strefa dla Pieszych [Pedestrian Zone / ulica Trzeciego Maja – Third of May Street] Red: Plac Wolności [Freedom Square] Orange: Zielony Rynek [Green Square] Blue: Wzorcownia – –… Read More You Can’t Pronounce it, but Włocławek is Playing a Game of “One Square, Two Square, Red Square, Blue Square”
Calling a place home is one thing, but feeling at home is something all together different. We’re learning to call Włocławek home and we want you to be a part of this process. We’re starting a little series entitled “You Can’t Pronounce It” that invites you to step into our new backyard. You never know… Read More You Can’t Pronounce it, but this is What Włocławek Looks like from a Train
It was just before 10am on a cold Sunday morning. In front of us a red sports car pulled over and a woman stepped out. She wore knee-high boots, a mini skirt and a halter top. The red sports car pulled away and repeated this same action several times continuing down the road. It took… Read More The Good Intentions Lullaby
Over the Christmas break, like any reasonable Canadian, we packed-up and headed south to spend time with friends in Slovakia and Slovenia. Being south of the Tatra Mountains gave us a very welcome increase in temperature…by about 25 degrees. We celebrated Slovak Christmas, Canadian Christmas, Matthew’s birthday and New Years with great friends. There was… Read More It Looks Like a Disaster, but we Like to Call it Home
Our observations, odd experiences and learning moments from our first few weeks in Poland. the road leading up to our apartment block was pretty rough and we were glad to see the paving crew come. Until they paved in behind where all of our cars were parked and trapped us in the night before a… Read More The Moving to Włocławek List
Włocławek, as we’ve said before, is an industrial town. The mornings are cold, complete with ice on the car and fog to rival London. The days are sunny and people love to be out and about (in fact we stumbled upon what we can only describe as a “gardening colony” behind our apartment block). The… Read More Morning Fog and Evening Smoke
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