Kraków

The last ten days have been quite something! I just got back to England yesterday after volunteering in Poland with Angloville, helping young people learn English. It was such a fun and crazy time which I will remember forever.

I will write a few posts about my time in Poland in order to cover everything. Today I will start by writing about the city of Kraków, where my Angloville experience started and ended. The day before the programme officially began, there was a free tour of the city and a meal in a restaurant for any volunteers who were able to attend. The tour was a great way to meet some of the other volunteers coming to the same venue as me and to see the main sites of the city.

I liked Kraków even more than I thought I would. My favourite part was the main square, Rynek Główny, which is one of the largest market squares in Europe and includes St. Mary's Basilica, the Cloth Hall and the Town Hall Tower. It was really impressive to see in real life.

Every day at 13:00, someone plays a tune on a trumpet from the top window of the basilica. We were there at the right time to hear it!

The tour started at the Kraków Barbican, part of the historical defense network of the city. From there, we went on towards the city centre and then Wawel Hill.

It was cool to see that Kraków has a bridge just like the bridge of sighs in Venice.

An unexpectedly beautiful place was the courtyard of the Collegium Maius, the oldest building of the Jagiellonian University.

The final part of the tour was on Wawel Hill, where there is both a castle and a cathedral. This is one of the most famous parts of Kraków, and it was another really beautiful place.

After the tour, we had a three-course meal in a restaurant. It was the first time I'd had Polish food, and I really liked it. However, I wasn't as impressed with some of the other Polish food I tried during the programme!

I saw a few other nice sights during my first couple of days in Kraków, such as the opera house...

...this palace, which is now a Pizza Hut(!)...

...and this square in front of the railway station.

After the programme ended, I had one more day in Kraków before going back to England, which I spent hanging out with all the friends I made during the week. I definitely wish I could have had an extra day or two there, as it's a great city!

The majority of the programme took place at a hotel in the countryside. However, we did have a field trip to a small town nearby, Ciężkowice. I will write a small post about that next!

The Next Adventure...

The last month or so has been a difficult time for me and my family. However, I do have something to look forward to, and it involves travelling...

Next month, I will be going to Poland to take part in the Angloville volunteer programme. It will be my first time visiting the country and I'm excited to see what it's like. (I did a language course in Berlin in 2016, and a trip to Poland was offered by the language school, but unfortunately, it took place on the day I went home! So it's great to have the opportunity to go now.) I mentioned on my Year Abroad blog that I have a bucket list goal of visiting every country in Europe (as well as visiting every continent on Earth). I'm also trying to visit at least one new country (in any continent) every year, which is something I've done since 2014. I'm glad I can continue the streak for another year!

I originally applied to do the programme in Malta, but there weren't any spaces left. However, it's just as exciting to be going to Poland instead, especially as the programme will start in Kraków, which looks like an amazing city to visit. I'm interested to see how it compares to cities I've visited in neighbouring countries, such as Prague in Czechia, where I spent a family holiday when I was ten, and Bratislava in Slovakia, which I took a day trip to during my Year Abroad.

The day after I arrive in Kraków, I will attend a city tour with some of the other Angloville volunteers. The following day, we will travel to the venue where we will be volunteering, a hotel in the countryside in the same province as Kraków: the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, also known as Małopolska Voivodeship. Here we will spend a week conversing with Polish teenagers learning English, before heading back to Kraków on the final day. The day after that, I will return to England. I'm looking forward to helping young people gain more confidence speaking English, and teaching them a bit about the culture of the United Kingdom. It should be a very valuable experience, especially because I'm considering teaching English as a foreign language again in the near future.

Only English is allowed to be spoken at the venue, because Angloville is a language immersion programme. However, I have started learning some Polish on Duolingo, which will hopefully come in useful during the few days I'll have in Kraków. As a lover of languages, I always find it fun to learn a bit of the local language every time I visit a new country! Since finishing my languages degree, I've been able to have a more fun and relaxed time learning languages. I've restarted Italian, which I started learning on the Year Abroad, and have also learnt a little bit of Russian. However, both of these have been put on hold for the time being since I found out I was going to Poland! Polish is quite a difficult language and all the words seem to have lots of consonants, but I'm enjoying getting to grips with the basics.

To sum up, I'm really pleased that I got my wish I made in my previous post: to go abroad again soon! There's definitely going to be lots for me to write about on this blog...

Do zobaczenia wkrótce!

Image by Kaboompics.com from pexels.com

Bournemouth and the Surrounding Area

This week I spent a couple of days in Bournemouth and the surrounding area with my parents. I actually liked the area more than I thought I would, mostly because of the beaches. The weather was quite warm, so it felt like we were on holiday abroad.

On Thursday morning, we went to Bournemouth beach, which was really impressive to see. When I showed the pictures to my boyfriend, he said it looked like Viña del Mar in Chile!

Later that day, we went to Wimborne Minster, a market town best known for its church, which is also called Wimborne Minster.

Yesterday was quite exciting as we got the car ferry across to Studland Bay. The views from the boat were spectacular.

Then my mum and I swam in the sea at Middle Beach. Although the water was freezing when we first got in, it was actually really nice once we got used to it!

My parents are thinking about possibly moving to the area in the future, which is why we went there. I think it's a very nice place, but we'll see what happens!

This was the last bit of travelling I had planned for the time being. At the moment, I'm getting on with some tasks I need to do, as well as thinking about my future, which hopefully will involve going abroad sometime soon. I don't know when I'll next be writing on this blog, but I've enjoyed updating it over the last couple of months. It's been interesting to focus more on places around the UK. Who knows where I'll be going next... 😁

A Day Trip to Chepstow/Cas-gwent

Yesterday I went to Chepstow (or Cas-gwent as it's called in Welsh) with my parents, where we met up with my godfather. It was the first time I'd been to Wales since we went to watch the football at the Olympics in 2012!

We had lunch at a pub next to the River Wye. It's quite picturesque, even though the water is a bit dirty!

Afterwards, we went to the main attraction - the castle, which first started being built in 1067. It is really impressive for a building that old.

I really liked this row of colourful houses next to the castle.

Then we had a bit of a look around the town and went to the town museum, which is free to enter.

Chepstow was a nice place to visit, and as someone who loves languages, it was fun to see all the bilingual signs.

The next place I'll be writing about will probably be Bournemouth, where we'll be going in July. It'll be nice to go to the beach, even if it's cold!

York

This week I spent a rainy couple of days in York! It was my first time in the city, and I found it really interesting. Visiting from Nottingham only takes two train journeys and about two hours in total, but it feels like a very different place - it's much more historic and old fashioned (though Nottingham does have its historic places too).

On my way from the train station to the hotel, I was able to have a look at some of the famous sights. From outside the station you can instantly spot the city walls, which you can walk along to get around the city and to see some nice views as well.

Further along, I found the Micklegate bar - the best known medieval gateway in York. Apparently they used to hang severed heads from it!

There are really nice views when crossing the River Ouse.

After that, I saw Clifford's Tower, the largest part of the old castle which is still remaining.

After unpacking, I went out again to explore the city centre a bit.  I had a look around the Merchant Adventurers' Hall, a medieval building which can now be booked for weddings and other celebrations.

Then I walked along The Shambles, the most famous street in York. It's very narrow with cobblestones, and was used as Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter films. There are very unusual and interesting shops there, including several Harry Potter shops!

My second day in York was very busy! First I went to York Minster, which is one of the biggest cathedrals I've seen. I had booked a ticket to go inside, and the interior was very grand with lots of stained-glass windows.

Afterwards, I went to the Museum Gardens, and on my way I saw the Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor of York. It's a really beautiful house!

The Museum Gardens were also very beautiful and a great place for a walk.

Then I went to Bettys for tea and cake! I would definitely recommend going to Bettys if you're in Yorkshire, because the tea there was amazing and it was really good value for money.

In the afternoon, I went to two different museums, the Jorvik Viking Centre and the National Railway Museum. The Jorvik Viking Centre literally takes you on a ride through the viking history of York, which was a lot of fun, but I think the National Railway Museum was my favourite. I've always found trains really interesting, so it was great to see so many old trains in one place, some of which you could go inside, including a Japanese bullet train. You can get into the museum for free, but making a donation is encouraged.

On my last day, I went to another museum - the York Castle Museum. It was built where the prison used to be, and there is a part where you can go inside the old cells. I think my favourite bit was the recreation of a Victorian street.

I had a really good time in York and could imagine living there! It's a beautiful city and there are lots of interesting shops, cafés and restaurants to check out. It was nice to go travelling again after several months of hard work at university, and it reminded me of when I lived in Austria and went off all over Europe by train at the weekends.

I haven't got any trips abroad planned for the time being, but I will be leaving England tomorrow... and going to Wales for the day with my parents! I plan to write about it on this blog very shortly. 😊

More Travel Adventures!

Yesterday I had my last exam, meaning I've now finished university for good! What I'll do next is quite uncertain, but I hope I can find a job that allows me to spend lots of time abroad and use my languages.

Graduation is next month, so I have some free time for now to look for jobs. However, I've got a little bit of travelling planned too! Next week I'm going to visit York for the first time. It looks like a beautiful city with lots of things to see and do, and given that it's not far from Nottingham, now seems the ideal time to go. And at the beginning of July, I'll be going to the other end of the country and spending a couple of days in Bournemouth with my parents. So there will be more posts on this blog very soon!

I'm kind of itching to go abroad again and hoping to do so as soon as possible after graduation... But for now, I'm excited to be discovering a new city next week. The north of England isn't an area I've explored much, so it should be an interesting trip!

Photo of Old Market Square in Nottingham taken by me!