2018 in a nutshell

2018 is slowly coming to an end. We have a little less than 8 hours left before we can welcome 2019. It's time for a short recap of this year, mostly travel-wise. That's not going to be much, but at least something.

1. At the end of January, we took our little bunch to Egypt for winter break. We spent two weeks in a lovely, family-friendly hotel in Hurghada, where we enjoyed ourselves, took in as much sunshine as we could and the kids had a blast swimming and playing in the pools. We hardly saw anything, but it was a great time to rest. We had our daily routine adjusted to the baby's needs incorporating fun-activities for the older two, like mini golf, tennis, swimming pool, the beach and mini club. In the evening there was also mini disco.

2. In July, me, my dad and the kids (my mom at times, too) spent a few days in Hel. The days were filled with walks in the forests and on the beach. When the weather was better, the kids were also playing in the sea. I showed them the places where I used to play when I was a kid. These were slow, family- and memory-filled days for me.We also went to Hel a few times for one-two days before that, plus the kids even more times with my parents. I can't blame them for wanting to spend all their free time there.

3. In July, we went to my cousin's wedding to Bydgoszcz. Before the wedding, we spent half a day enjoying ouselves and seeing the city (which I always treated as a pass through kind of town on the way to grandma). We had a lovely time, the weather was stunning (hot and sunny, as most of the summer this year). It was all great.

4. In August, we went to Sobieszewo (which technically, is a district of Gdańsk, yet an island quite separated from it as well) to meet with friends, climb up a tower (water tank, in fact) and enjoy the view of the surroundings. While we had to book the visit to the tower tank, it was still free of charge (and if I remember correctly, still will be the upcoming year). It was a guided tour, the guide was very open to kids and we learnt a lot. Very well organised.

5. In August, we went on a three-week Eurotrip 2018. We had our car full of stuff, like tent and camping gear, clothes, food, toys, all we could think of and a general plan in mind, but we had no idea how far we could get with the baby on board. We already knew that the older two were great travel companions after our Eurotrip2016. And you know what? The baby fits our family perfectly. We not only managed to see all the places we wanted, but even more! Just see these few pictures, each from a different country we set our feet in.

Czech Republic

 Austria

 Slovenia

 Croatia

Italy

Germany

And that's basically it for this year. If we're not counting numerous fantastic walks in our hometown.

 
Apart from the travels, we also had a few family occassions to meet up and celebrate, like our youngest kid's baptism, our oldest kid's first holy communion, our 10th wedding anniversary, my husband sister's wedding, my cousin's wedding, my dad's 60th birthday, granpa's 90th birthday, our daughter's 1st birthday... just to name a few.

2019 is looking slow. We don't have any travel plans in mind. Neither close nor far. We're open to any opportunities (most likely), but we don't have anything particular in mind. We'll see what the next year is going to bring us.

In the meantime, though, I wish you all a great year. May it be better or at least as good as the last one.

Winter break - part 2

As I have already written, during this year's winter break, we spent a week in a hotel doing almost nothing (yet doing a lot at the same time).

We wouldn't have been ourselves, though, if we hadn't taken at least one short trip away from the hotel. In fact, we took two. But both to the same town (just on two different sides of the river).

The hotel is situated about a fifteen minute drive from the open sea. Since we live by the sea, we obviously had to see it. But all jokes aside, I love beaches and the sea in the winter. It's so calm, so quiet, so peaceful. And I don't mean the sea as such (cause it's usually windy, so the sea is full of waves, bigger or smaller), but... people. Or, as compared to summer months, lack of people.

We can easily take a walk, not stepping on somebody lying on the beach. We can run around. We can admire the power of nature. And this time, we also got to admire the results of a storm that we had in January. The beach in Ustka (cause that's the name of the town we visited), at least in its central part, was full of things that the sea threw out. Mostly branches, bigger or smaller, but not only.

The first time we went there, it was cold and right before rain. The skies (and the sea) were grey, dark. And towards the end of our walk, it actually started raining a little.

The second time we went there (this time we visited both sides of the river, cause the kids wanted to play on the playground we saw during our first visit), it was possibly even colder, but the skies were blue and the sun was shining. Two different experiences, two different perceptions of the same place.

In the middle of a forest

Imagine a place that is just an hour, maybe an hour and a half away from the city. Away from the place where you live. Yet, it is so distant that getting a phone reception there is a nightmare. You have to stretch to your limits, turn upside down (however that might have), or do any other things that will make you look totally hilarious to get the faintest phone reception that would maybe allow you to send a message. Maybe. Or will disappear in the middle of the process. And you'll have to start all over. (Well, it used to be like that when I first visited the place. Now it's easier to make a call ;)).

Imagine that you are woken up in the morning by the sun shining right on your face. You get downstairs, open the doors as wide as possible and drink your morning tea/coffee (or whichever beverage you prefer) listening to the birds singing beautifully right next to you.

You're in the middle of a forest. Just a few other houses (holiday homes) are around you. There's a great chance you'll meet nobody else here. Maybe one or two neighbours. If you're really lucky. But most of the time, you'll just have birds and squirrels as your neighbours.

The forest is full of blueberries. And mushrooms (rumour has it). If you're a fan. And butterflies. Colourful, magical. Ones that fly right next to you, not scared at all.

If you're bored with sitting by the house, you can always go down to the lake. The path is steep. And could get slippery, either from rain or from dry sand. But it's the fastest path to the lake. You can take a longer route. Take the road (forest road, not really for cars all that much), which is much safer. Well, at least in the sense that it's not so steep. Actually it's rather flat, believe it or not. Oh, and just beacuse it is wider and flatter, doesn't necessarily mean you'll meet more people there. Cause you probably won't.

When you already get to the lake, don't count on a beach. Just find yourself some place on the grass, drop your towel, shoes, clothes or whatever you wish to drop and get into water. You might see some people on the other side of the lake, but they won't bother you. It's still quiet. The water is clean. And refreshing.

This place. Kniewko, as we call it. Cause there's no official name, as far as I know. Just a street name (yes, that forest road has an official name. Sounds hilarious, but that's what it is ;)). In the middle of a forest. Away from civilisation. But close enough that if you really want to, you can commute to Tricity.

That's where we're going to rest after the whole road trip. Cause I figure we're going to be all exhausted, one way or another ;)

We're going to spend our last days of this year's holidays there. And by us I mean me and the kids. Cause I have a month off work (lucky me, I know) and my husband only three weeks. So I'm going to spend all days in Kniewko with the kids and Krzysiek is going to commute. So that he could spend the evenings and nights with us.

 I hope the weather is going to enable us all that...