The Ogród Botaniczny of Kraków has a long scientific heritage that dates back to 1783. They are the oldest scientific gardens in Poland and were established by Professor Józef Bogumił Rogaliński.
Throughout this time many inquisitive and curious minds have peered into the depths of floral wonders and the garden was pivotal during the Enlightenment period in Poland, as a centre for botanical research and the dissemination of botanical knowledge across Europe.
With a few exceptions that are Latin, the Polish month names of the year take more from the Pagan world of seasonal changes, rather than from the Latin calendar that we all know and use in English.
When I was in Poland in 2019, I didn’t hesitate to visit the Kolejcowo in Świebodzki Station in Wrocław. This is the largest model railway in Poland, but also a rather amazing depiction of how life in Poland actually looks. Everything, right down to the petrol stations, graffiti, and the shops actually exists in real life in the city of Wrocław and its surrounding towns and villages. I just love Poland and seeing this all in miniature was so charming I decided to make a video about it.
PB and I were thinking about what we would name our pets. Once we get a place where we can have a backyard so that animals can run around, we will be getting a rescue dog and cat or perhaps a whole menagerie. What we discovered was an astonishing number of cute words in Polish,Continue reading “Ancient Words: Cute words in Polish and how to say them”
“There are countries out there where people speak English. But not like us – we have our own languages hidden in our carry-on luggage, in our cosmetics bags, only ever using English when we travel, and then only in foreign countries, to foreign people. It’s hard to imagine, but English is the real language! OftentimesContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Polish is a secret language”
Roll-up, roll-up for another big top edition of 10 Interesting Things I Found, edition number 67, it’s a strange world we live in filled with strange, half-human half-creature beings that inhabit positions of power. Needless to say all we can do is escape into a world of our own making, so here it is… ElegantContinue reading “10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #67”
Anna Świrszczyńska, also known as Anna Swir wrote poems in direct, evocative language that spoke passionately and directly to the heart. She wrote affectionately about the female body, love, pain, loneliness, terror, war, childbirth, child-rearing and the passing of time. She focused a lot on the flesh – its elasticity and potential while young, alongContinue reading “The Sensual World of Polish Poet Anna Świrszczyńska”
Around ten years ago now I tasked myself with learning Polish. Not for shits and giggles or just to challenge myself but for the very practical reason of being able to communicate with my partner’s family who live in Poland. It was a hard slog and some even consider Polish to be the hardest ofContinue reading “Eight words in Polish that have no English equivalent”
*I visited Poland in 2016 and saw the Chapel of Skulls, this story is from this time. For a completely off the beaten path look at the more macabre and dark past of Poland, then you should visit the Chapel of Skulls located just outside of the popular spa town of Kudowa Zdroj in LowerContinue reading “Travel: Poland’s Creepy Chapel of Skulls”
Genre: Fiction, essay, creative non-fiction, travel. Publisher: Text Publishing Rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk won the Man Booker International Prize for this novel in 2018 along with a Nike Award, Poland’s highest literary honour. Tokarczuk is a thrilling and exhilarating writer who effortlessly criss-crosses genres and conventions, Flight is partContinue reading “Book Review: Flights by Olga Tokarczuk”
Content Catnip