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Cat Cafe Kraków

27.04.2024

A new cat cafe has opened in Krakow! They're getting more and more popular, which actually makes me happy because cats deserve all the attention in the world. I've been there twice now and I'm delighted with the place. There aren't a lot of people there at the moment, so the cats aren't so overtired and want to play. The place is organized so that the cats are comfortable: there are scratching posts and beds on the walls, poufs by the windows where the cats sleep, and toy racks in the corners. In the restaurant, you can order pizza, ice cream desserts, or cakes. They also have a huge selection of coffees and teas. Last time I took myself a lavender latte and a cheesecake with raspberry mousse. Even the dishes are aesthetically pleasing and cat-themed. I first met up with work friends Veronika, Kamila, and Vadims here. We were sitting around, talking, and the cats were hanging around us. Some of the rascals would push their way onto the table, and when someone walked away from it, they would pick at the drinks. The second time, I went there with Ola. This time we played with the cats, stroked them, threw them toys, and took pictures. The animals were so cute and adorable. Even though we sat until closing time, they were still playful. When paying the bill, we were given stickers by the waitress. The staff were friendly, looking after the pets, answering questions, and serving the guests efficiently.

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Cafe Manggha Kraków

13.04.2024

On a sunny day, my roommate and I went to the museum's Manggha café. Everything is in bloom in spring and I thought it would be a lovely view of the river and Wawel Castle from there. There are always queues for this establishment, but we got lucky and found a seat on the veranda. Asian-inspired dishes are a specialty at the café. We took a teishoku-style lunch - the set meal included miso soup with wakame and tofu, salmon in teriyaki sauce, rice, marinated daikon, and a salad of wakame algae, pickled cucumber, and edame. We got the set in small bowls and mixed the toppings however we wanted. We also ordered tea in teapots with a sweet baked flavor. The drink was so good that there was no need to add sugar. The food was delicious, one of the best salmon I've had. Moments later, we were in the mood for something sweet, so Ola took a raspberry cheesecake and I took a strawberry matcha. We finished our desserts almost before closing time, but the friendly waiter kindly told us we could finish off and finish our tea in peace. Ola has a habit of leaving a card with a drawing and a thank-you note if we get super service. This is what we did this time, plus we left a tip. Later, we heard the waiter bragging about the card to the other staff and laughing that it was a pity the number wasn't written. An atmospheric place, with delicious and reasonably priced dishes. Plus a great location with a view, I'm uploading a photo from where we sat.

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Efemeria Cafe Kraków

9.04.2024

My friend Weronica had a birthday, so the three of us went to a café with Kamila to celebrate. We came a little early because we had plotted to surprise the birthday girl. I asked the café staff to stick a candle in a cake and we then wished her well and gave her a present. We almost bought her a board game, which she already has, but in the end it all worked out and Weronica got emotional. As for the venue itself - its interior is very special. Everything looks like it's taken straight out of 'Alice in Wonderland'. The premises are full of greenery and magical elements. There are mirrors with quotes on the walls, cards with poems, and you can sit on floral sofas at tables with candles on them. Near the checkout, there is a staircase with fairy tale characters inscribed on it, and there are giant playing cards pasted next to a glass display. There is also a stage inside, as workshops, poetry evenings, or author meetings also take place there from time to time. On the menu, all the delicacies have non-standard names and you have to guess what magical drink you are ordering. I chose the monte tart and iced coffee. I didn't quite like my order, perhaps I was expecting something better. My friends, on the other hand, liked their baked goods. The café is a charming and quiet place, and there are plenty of books and games to enjoy. Even though it's not quite my thing, I really enjoyed the meeting.

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Kinki Ramen Kraków

8.04.2024

I love ramen and I think I've found my favorite place with this dish. There is an unassuming pub in the center of Krakow that serves brilliant Japanese cuisine. I've read that the owners and chefs regularly travel to Japan to train and by the quality of the dishes served there, you can sense a great passion. They create the noodles themselves on a special machine, their dishes are souvenirs from their travels. It was the first time I went there with my boyfriend, he recently liked the soup very much. I took myself the ramen with thin chashu bacon, nori leaf, and mackerel oil. It tasted brilliant. The day was hot, I ate delicious ramen and for a moment I felt like I was in Japan once again. Jarek took himself a miso tare with chicken, pickled egg, pak choi, and chili oil. He gave me a little taste and it was delicious too. To drink, I ordered a refreshing melon soda. I feel like going back there again and trying the kakigori, a light dessert made with crushed ice and topped with fruit sauce. I ate it years ago and didn't know where I could taste it again. As for the décor, it's lovely, there were lots of neon lights and elements relating to Japanese culture and traditions. The big surprise, however, was the inconspicuous toilet. Opposite the toilet bowl is a TV, next to it is audio equipment and a karaoke set. Sitting on the toilet, you can sing to yourself to songs from the anime intro. Plus there are colourful disco lights everywhere, a fun and creative addition. I'm already looking forward to going there again.

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Depeche Mode Concert Łódź

29.02.2024

Another concert by my favorite band behind me! My boyfriend and I went to a Depeche Mode concert in Lodz, Poland. They extended the tour and added two more concerts in Poland. The tickets were surprisingly expensive so much so that it was more worthwhile for us to take the VIP package. Such a package includes an earlier separate entrance, slightly better seats, and limited gifts. We had a rented flat about half an hour's walk from the Atlas Arena, so we didn't have to chug along on public transport and walked back alone in the dark. We went, of course, all in black, wearing our souvenir T-shirts from Berlin. What I love about the fans is that they always have special styling for the concert. At the entrance, we were given these gifts - a candle, a make-up bag, a blindfold, a lanyard, and a badge. I also bought myself a sweatshirt from the current tour in the merch shop, it had a brilliant design. But as for the show itself - the band Hummanist played as support, they had very good, atmospheric music. Once Dave Gahan recorded one song with them. The main star of the evening, Depeche Mode, they were phenomenal as always. Dave and Martin Gore looked great. During the concert Jarek and I were holding hands the whole time. The fans sitting next to us were friendly and we exchanged a few sentences. I really liked the acoustic versions of 'Stragelove' and 'Heaven', I was surprised that Martin chose a song from the album 'Delta Machine'. It's a good album, but a bit underrated in my opinion. I also heard 'Black Celebration' live for the first time, and it's one of the very important songs for me. Dave was dancing, even coming up to the fans at the barriers. Of course, there was an encore because the audience was screaming so loud. During the song 'Behind The Wheel', fans sitting in the stands organized a great action - it's Andy Fletcher's favorite song, so we formed a symbol from the single 'World In My Eyes' out of the torch lights. Quite a difficult task and it took commitment, but we did it. It looked amazing in the album photos. I'm looking forward to the next gig, as long as I can, I'll keep going as much as I can.

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Film Museum Łódź

01.03.2024

Lodz is famous for its brilliant film school. A large number of Polish films were also shot here and many famous directors and film people studied here. Lodz even became the capital of the Polish film industry after the end of the Second World War. It is quite fascinating that in this inconspicuous city the so-called "word factory" was established and that here people were most likely to go to the cinema. The museum has over 70,000 exhibits in a few categories: history of cinema, film technique, poster, set design, and animation. You can see old film equipment, archival documents, memorabilia related to the stars of Polish cinematography, and even a working photoplasticon. It was quite interesting to watch the pictures on it, they looked as if they were in 3D. There is also a cinema room in the museum, I kind of regretted not watching some more recent film there. Unfortunately, when I was there, part of the museum was closed. What I liked most was the map of the location where scenes from famous Polish films were shot and the room with the costumes. There were costumes from my favorite childhood fairy tale "Mr Kleks' Academy" and costumes from "Sexmission". The room with posters was also great, American films had Polish equivalent posters, which in my opinion in many cases were much better than the original.

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Pasaż Róży Łódź

01. 03. 2024

Rose Passage is a lovely place, I envy a bit the people who live there. All the walls in the courtyard of this building are covered with pieces of mirrors. The author of this project is Joanna Rajkowska. This project has a very personal story, as it refers to the author's daughter named Rose. That's why all the walls at 3 Piotrkowska Street are full of flower-shaped mosaics. On sunny days, when the light comes in, the courtyard is shimmering and the dark neighborhood has become something transparent. The pieces of glass that tightly cover the facade of the buildings reflect the retina of the eye. The idea behind building the walkway was to draw attention to the wonder of vision and how the image changes depending on the movement of the eye. The author's daughter developed retinal cancer and this mosaic reflects her journey to seeing again. The site is free and frequented by tourists. I love shiny and glowing things, so it was obvious that I had to go there and I was not disappointed.

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She Past Away Concert Kraków

I managed to buy a ticket for a concert in Kraków! They're an interesting band and I'm curious to see how they'll sound live. Their music is gothic, dark and mysterious, plus they have a unique style. They sing in Turkish and I don't understand anything, but I'm sure I'll enjoy myself.

15.12.2023

It was an amazing evening! Together with my roommate Ola and her friend Klaudia, we bought tickets to She Past Away and went together. We dressed up in black, made up and took a cab. It took us so long to get there that we missed the support. The concert was held in a club that looked like an old wooden garage, with neon lights beaming from it. Crowds came to the concert, I didn't expect there to be so many people. Of course, everyone dressed in dark colors, some had beautiful, elaborate gothic outfits and extreme makeup. Before the concert itself, the three of us still bought T-shirts from the official merch to avoid the queues. We stood in a pretty good spot, we were not very close to the stage, but we could see quite well. The performance itself was great. It's amazing that only two people are able to make such good music. Everyone was dancing and you could see that they were having a good time. The band played their greatest hits, of course, but also new songs yet to be released. They also played as many as two encore performances. Krakow is the last point of their world tour, maybe they will come here again someday. I didn't take a lot of pictures and didn't record, I only have a few pictures in poor quality as a souvenir. Just in this photo they were playing my favorite song of theirs. Rather, the neon lights were red, blue or white, only here the stage was in all colors.

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Cimentiere du Pere - Lachaise Paris

15.11.2023

Not far from my uncle's apartment is the famous Paris cemetery. It is the first garden and communal cemetery in the city. It is also the site of three World War I memorials and contains more than 70,000 grave quarters. The Pere Lachaise cemetery takes its name from the confessor of King Louis XIV. The cemetery is a combination of an English park and a temple. Here you can admire all styles of funerary art - Gothic tombs, ancient mausoleums, various burial chambers. Every now and then I stopped there to admire and take pictures. Just when I went there, it was a lovely autumn, the leaves of the trees were orange and brown colors, rooks were flying everywhere. On the paths you can pass the burial places of celebrities such as Frederic Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf and many, many others.

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Cafe des 2 Moulins Paris

15.11.2023

This is a café in the Montmarte district, at the intersection of Rue Lepic and Rue Cauchois. The name comes from the fact that there are just two windmills nearby - the Moulin Rouge and the Moulin de la Galette. Veronica and I went there because she is a fan of the movie "Amelie," and it was this movie that made this café even more famous. Amelie, the main character, works here as a waitress. The film is an idealized representation of life in Paris, where everything is wonderful and flows very differently. You can have lunch there and drink something warm. The food is good, but you mainly come here for the atmosphere. The service was very nice to us, the waiter curiously asked where we were from and suggested what to order. I took coffee and crème brûlée. I ate this dessert for the first time and it was brilliant, a sweet cream with crisp sugar on top. The decor has been the same for many years, and inside there are pictures and posters relating to the movie.

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Museum d'Orsay Paris

16.11.2023

The Musem d'Orsay is located on the left bank of the Seine, holding mainly French art. There is painting, sculpture, photography and furniture. All the works shown there are younger than those in the Louvre. Interestingly, the museum is the second largest museum in Paris, and it is here that the largest Impressionist collection in the world is housed. The museum is located inside the former Gare d'Orsay, the train station. The ceiling of the building has a high ceiling, full of arches with windows, so a lot of sunlight comes in. I went there with my friend Veronica. I remember that it was a very rainy day, we were standing in line under an umbrella, and we had already walked all over Paris and our legs hurt mercilessly. The museum is free if you are under 26 years old. The place is gigantic and you could walk around and observe the paintings all day. Of the famous artists, I saw works by Claude Monet, Renoir, Gaugin and many others. However, I was most excited about the additional temporary exhibition of Vincent van Gogh. It's a completely different experience when you can observe the paintings with your own eyes, rather than printed in a book. I learned a lot about his style, technique and how he chose his colors. The entire exhibition contained most of his famous paintings, the blue walls were scattered with his quotes from his letters with his brother, and film excerpts inspired by the artist's biography were also displayed. This is probably the most beautiful exhibition in Paris I've seen.

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La Maison Rose Paris

15.11.2023

At the intersection of Rue de l'Abreuvoir and Rue des Saues on the Montmare Hill, a small pink house on the corner houses a restaurant. The restaurant is lovely, almost all overgrown with ivy. I read that the premises were painted this lovely color by Laure Gargallo and opened a café for artists here. La Maison is a local place serving family-style French cuisine, with a menu that changes with the seasons, all with an organic approach that favors local products. When Veronica and I went for a walk in the neighborhood one evening and were still walking uphill, we stopped at this restaurant. As I was taking photos of the locale, old vintage cars started driving past. It looked fantastic and blended in wonderfully with the surrounding houses. At the restaurant, we just bought ourselves something to drink - I tried linden tea for the first time. In the restaurant, there was also a couple who came for a candlelight date and a tourist in a beret who tried local alcohol.

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Shakespeare and Company Bookstore Paris

17.11.2023

First, something about the history of the place - Shakespeare and Company is an English-language bookstore right on the banks of the Seine, across from Notre Dame. It opened in 1951 and became a meeting place for writers and readers. I've read that it was once even visited by such celebrities as James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth, Owner George Whitman renamed it to its current name, which he described as "a novel in three words." You can read more about the history of the owners in numerous publications, which I must get to at some point. It's a very magical place and despite the crowds, I felt at home there. Inside, the premises look wonderful - on the second floor, thousands of books lie on old bookcases for purchase. They are sorted and just begging to be reached out for them. It's not quite possible to take photos there, but I managed to take a couple as souvenirs. On the upper floor, there are books to borrow. You can sit there on the numerous couches and take any reading you want and read in silence. The walls are full of paintings, quotes, and photographs of famous writers. On one is a giant mirror, on which you could stick a small greeting card. People from the remotest corners of the world flock here. There was also room for a piano and a typewriter. If I could, I would come here every day. On the premises you can also buy various accessories and souvenirs, I bought myself a tote bag with a red drawing and signature. There is also a cafe open next door, but I didn't stop there because it was full of people. It just so happened that it was raining and tourists hid there for coffee. If I visit Paris again someday, and I will do so for sure, I must prepare my pocketbook for a large shopping spree at this bookstore. Seriously, I went there on my birthday and it were the best birthday gift ever.

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Parc des Buttes Chaumont Paris

15.11.2023

Maybe it's a bit silly, but this park was mentioned in a certain game, so I thought since I'm already there, I'd go there. The park covers 24.7 hectares and has more than 5.5 kilometers of roads and 2.2 kilometers of paths. The park is home to Temple de la Sibylle, a dome that rises on top of a cliff above the water. The heart of the park is an artificial lake surrounding a rocky island with steep cliffs. The island is surrounded by paths and connected by two bridges to the rest of the park. I also saw a bridge, called the "suicide bridge," which provides access to the belvedere from the south side of the park. The bridge is fenced off with wire mesh for safety. The park itself was designed by Napoleon III and there are numerous plants grown here, apparently even oriental ones. There are, of course, benches between the trees and shrubs, where my friend and I took a break on our walk. One gets really tired walking up these hills, and people go running there! I was there in autumn, but I'm curious to see what the park looks like when everything is in bloom.

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Stohrer Paris

17.11.2023

Stohrer is the oldest pastry shop in Paris. It was founded in 1730 by Nicolas Stohrer, confectioner to King Louis XV. The confectioner also baked for Stanislas Leszczynski, Duke of Lorraine and former king of Poland. It's interesting that even in France there are some Polish accents. The interior of this cafe is beautiful, full of mirrors and frescoes. The cakes are laid out on blue and white counters and silver trays. The place is even listed as a historic landmark. The interior was decorated by Opera Garnier. For centuries, classic French pastries have been offered here, and if I could, I'd like to try them all. Stohrer himself was a visionary who loved to combine different techniques and skills. He brought confectionery, cake baking, waffle baking and spiced bread together under this roof. Now you can also buy nicely packaged chocolates for gifts. Veronica and I each took a croissant, however, we chose the classic. It was delicious, bread in France is crunchy, soft and sweet. That was a perfect way to start my Birthday - we just ate these treats in a street, walking around. The day was a little sunny and I was so excited that I recognised that I had walked in this area before.

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SKYND Concert Kraków

2.11.2023

SKYND is one of the most interesting bands I know. I've been rooting for them almost from the very beginning, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will be even more successful. SKYND is a group that plays industrial rock. They are unique in that their lyrics are based on true crime themes. Inspired by famous crimes, they write songs about them. The band is formed by two artists: Father, a multi-instrumentalist, and Skynd, a singer and songwriter. Both are disguised and are anonymous, not too much is known about them. The singer is always dressed as something like a clown, with colorful hair in a ponytail, lenses that cover the entire eye and black and white makeup.It looks scary and phenomenal at the same time, she plays the role of an entertainer, telling interesting and macabre stories. She also sings brilliantly, able to control her voice and playing with it, singing once low and caricatured and once high and melodious. I had a great time at their concert and am already eager to see them again. They played all their songs and I had a pretty good view of the stage. The singer danced, posed for photos and had fun with the audience. At the end of the concert they handed out and threw feathers to the guitar. I obligingly bought myself a T-shirt from the official merch after the performance.

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Camelot Cafe Kraków

15.10.2023

My roommate Ola found a brilliant café in the center of Krakow. Cafe Camelot is a one-of-a-kind place. It is housed in three rooms, one with a table in the window. The first time I went there, I had a chance to sit there and from the window, I could watch the street and the tourists walking by. The establishment has old antique furniture, and there are candles on each table. The walls are pink or red, with paintings or sculptures hanging on them, and there are numerous crystal chandeliers on the ceilings. Interestingly, at the beginning of the twentieth century, it housed a pleasure house, well-known to Krakow artists. When it fell into disrepair, it became a movie set. Today, the upper floors are used for performances and concerts. In addition to the atmospheric decor, they also have a great menu. They serve different kinds of pasta, tarts, desserts, hot drinks, and even their own liquors. I ate a cheesecake there with candied orange peel, served with fruit, and it was one of the best cheesecakes I've had. My companion tried the raspberry tart and there were plenty of raspberries, not just a few. My friends here ate penne with chicken and green asparagus and tagliatelle with eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes, and parsley pesto. They also highly praised these pastas. There I drank coffee with rose water and cardamom and green tea with Moroccan mint. The cafe has a smug and professional staff. Once a friend and I had such a situation that we sat in one place and sat there for quite a long time. The waitress told us that someone had a reservation there and showed us another place. We sat there, after which the lady, as an apology for this unnecessary inconvenience, offered us cake or coffee on the house. Nothing like this had ever happened to me and I was positively surprised. It's a perfect place to relax and eat something brilliant, and I will definitely go there more than once.