This was a very packed week that started off with Vietnamese dinner in Berlin and coworking cafes throughout the week. After getting my fix of Berlin I hopped back on a train and skipped over to visit Poland for the first time! I started off my Poland time in Warsaw before taking a quick Flixbus down to Krakow and Oswiecim. The most important thing that we did while we were in Poland was visit the Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. Walking through the dark history of the Holocaust is a tragic topic to cover but remembering the mistakes of the past are the only way to ensure that further inhumanities don’t occur again.
ANJOY vietnamese RESTAURANT
Starting off the week by checking a new Berlin restaurant of the list. This Monday we went to Anjoy Vietnamese after work and enjoyed two delicious veggie filled meals. Normally I head over to Umami, my staple dinner to share with a friend, but I am happy the tables were full and we explored other options. The food at Anjoy and especially the dessert was out of this world. I’m excited to go back for more Banana Sticky Rice and fancy tea cocktails!
COWORKING AROUND BERLIN
To escape the high heats in Berlin this summer I decided I am going to kick off my exploration of Berlin coworking spaces. This week we went to St.Oberholz and Café Blaumond. My first review of these spots is that Café Blaumond is much better than St.Oberholz. St.Oberholz is the more famous and well known coworking spot, but personally I found it to be overcrowded, hot and loud. Meanwhile, Café Blaumond was cute, unique and empty all morning. Now that I’ve started bopping around to different cafes, I am loving the digital nomad lifestyle! I wish that I still drank caffeine, but I guess decaf is a close second.
BACK AT THE GYM
This week I am finally back on my daily gym grind. I finally have the free time to workout daily and I am loving how healthy and centered I am feeling! Let’s see how long this healthy sprint lasts.
EARLY AM TRAINS
And just like that, my peaceful week of daily routines came to an end. At the end of the week, Charlotte and I woke up early and caught a 5:30am train from Berlin Central Station to Warsaw. Once we got settled on the train at our table seats, Charlotte passed back out and I logged on to get some blogging work done before the actual work day started. I love early train rides because the only people who are crazy enough to wake up that early normally have their shit together. After working at our table for awhile I headed back to the café car and got some more work done there before we arrived in Warsaw!
warsaw
This sounds stupid of me, but I was really surprised by Warsaw’s size. It’s not gigantic, but it’s just not the small town that I expected. Our hostel was in Old Town, which made it extra easy to wander around and admire the architecture and cobblestone streets. While we were in Warsaw we wandered all over the city. We spent time in the Old Town, the university area, local parks and on the waterfront with a cocktail in hand. I got to keep up my gym routine by visiting the Warsaw McFit, which is conveniently located above a McDonalds, and I spent the rest of the mornings running around the empty city. I loved being able to see the city before everyone was awake and the lighting in the morning was perfect for some architecture photos.
While we were in Warsaw we had great food every day. Some of my favorite spots were Restauracja Portretowa, Nowa Fala and Peaches Gastro Girls. The best of these was definitely Peaches Gastro Girls, a hip restaurant with funky vegan tapas.I am getting hungry again just thinking about the menu.
KEEPIN IT COOL IN KRAKO
After Warsaw we caught a Flixbus down to Krawkow to explore Poland’s hip old capital. We spent most of our time in the city exploring shop in the old town and bopping around to the funky bars in the Kazimierz district. In addition to the shops and bars, we also got our fair share of delicious food while we were in Krakow. One of my favorite stops was Pierogi’s Bistro in Kazimierz. While we were there it was hard to decide on what flavors we wanted to try. To make the decision easy we ended up choosing 12 pieces of savory each and 12 pieces of sweet. For the Savory I got 1. Potatoes, cottage cheese and onions, 2. Polish cabbage and Forest Mushrooms, 3. Mushrooms, cheese, leek and onion. Thankfully I bought new lactose pills at an Apotheke in Old Town and I was able to fully appreciate and enjoy the delicious pierogi’s. Personally I thought the savory pierogi’s were better than the sweet ones, but I also ate the savory ones on an empty stomach. Either way, they were both amazing.
Kopalnia Soli „Wieliczka”
On the outside border of Krakow there is a famous salt mine called Kopalnia Soli „Wieliczka” and it was listed as one of the main attractions in Krakow, so of course we had to stop by. The site was entered into the first ever UNESCO list in 1978 and in the middle ages this site generated 1/3 of Poland’s income. I was excited to visit the salt mine and blissfully unaware that the visit would include crawling 110m under the surface of the Earth. The first five minutes were a little scary, but after I acclimated to being trapped underground, Charlotte and I had the time of our lives. Our guide was amazing and I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that hard on an educational tour in my life. Maybe being surrounded by salt was making us giddy or maybe we are just naturally a little crazy.
Oswiecim – Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau
FOREVER LET THIS PLACE BE A CRY OF DESPAIR AND A WARNING TO HUMANITY, WHERE THE NAZIS MURDERED ONE AND A HALF MILLION MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN, MAINLY JEWS FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES OF EUROPE.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – George Santayana
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.” – Elie Wiesel
“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.” – Primo Levi
The most important thing that we did while we were in Poland was visit the Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. To make sure that we fully grasped the weight of the museum, we decided to book a private tour with a local guide. Our guide was local, well informed, and able to spend 5 hours slowly walking us through the history of Auschwitz – Birkenau and the horrible atrocities that occurred there. Walking through the dark history of the Holocaust is a tragic topic to cover but remembering the mistakes of the past are the only way to ensure that further inhumanities don’t occur again.
