They go to work to earn money they can spend on travel – is the simple answer. Most of the time they spend fantasising about countries they want to visit or activities they want to do during travel, hence they are more motivated to go to office and do a good job. At least I am 😀 Every time I come back from an adventure I keep my mind occupied with travel plans, nice memories from the last trip, my hobbies and also exploring the city I live in. Thing is I also really like my everyday job so going to work is not an inconvenience, it’s spending quality time developing new skills working with fabulous people and to be honest enjoying what I do. Soooo the time between one trip and another is a different type of adventure.
Be a tourist in your own city
When I don’t travel to explore different countries I’m a tourist in the city I live in – Krakow. Aside from the well-known attractions like Wawel Castle or the famous Main Market Square, Krakow has much more to offer than that, you just need to be keen to find out. Maybe it will sound cheesy but I absolutely love to walk along the Vistula river, especially as it looks different in each season. The pink sky over the city while sitting at the riverbank is just magical… same as the whole city. Lately I discovered that there are locations which I still haven’t been to despite living here for 15 years, like the garden full of lavender. Located around 30 km from Krakow is a place where lavender is grown and the fields look like it’s Provence. There is a dedicated Facebook page – @ogrod pelen lawendy where the owner is posting pictures of lavender blossom stages to make it easier for visitors to come and see the lavender at its blossoming peak, where the flowers are big and deep purple. Checked the page out today and lavender is still not at that stage. Can’t wait for it to get there so I can go and enjoy a nice summer afternoon lying down in lavender fields 😀 Did I mention that I absolutely, deeply, insanely love the smell of lavender. There was a time when everything in my house had to smell lavender, even the toilet cleaning liquid had the smell of lavender.
Another thing you can do in Krakow is to visit museums you haven’t yet been to. Last year I finally made it to the two museums I didn’t visit in the past. Those being MOCAK – Modern Art Museum and The Oscar Schindler’s Factory Museum. You might think, what’s the point of going several times to one museum? Well, some besides permanent exhibitions have also temporary exhibitions. It means if you go to MOCAK in January and then in September in the same year you won’t see the same things.
There are also all those fabulous things you can find around Krakow. Again I have to admit to my ignorance. Approx. 10 km from Krakow is Wieliczka Salt Mine, a UNESCO World Heritage site. In all those years I lived in Krakow I wasn’t bothered to go there as it was so close and I was convinced that nahhhhh I can go there anytime it won’t disappear. This year I made it my point of honour to finally see it… and I did go beginning of May. Have to admit it was amazing and totally worth the wait. Being several meters underground, seeing the endless passages and entire chambers made out of rock salt – BIG WOW! I did the tourist route but I’m definitely going back there again to do the miner’s route as it is in a different part of the mine and now temporarily closed due to covid restrictions.
Well, don’t have to mention that after the tour I got mental buying beauty enduring cosmetics with brine at the gift shop 😀
There are plenty of things to do in Krakow so I don’t get bored. Like today afternoon, while going back home after a city walk I discovered that there are sunset river cruises with wine testing. I’m definitely going on one of those. When you decide to act as a tourist in the city you live in you not only discover the city new but also support the local tourist sector which in covid times is a very good thing to do 🙂
Stay active
I lead a very active lifestyle. I simply can’t sit down and do nothing. OK, there was a time when I didn’t wanna do anything else aside from lying down on the sofa with a glass of wine, watching tele. Only back then I was studying at two faculties and had a full time job at the same time so doing nothing was a luxury. Now however I like to stay busy so I find new things to do and experience. I have the habit for example to go to the sauna during the weekend where I normally spend like three hours. Man, it’s a fantastic experience to sweat heavily in the sauna and after jumping into ice cold water.
When we are at jumping into ice cold water. I have a friend JS who is practicing ice bathing during the winter. He was raving how cool – literally that is and everybody should experience it at least once. I didn’t believe him and said, that if I jumped into a lake during the winter, the whole city would hear my scream – I do have a powerful voice 😛 However I promised JS to do it and I kept my promise. On one very cold February Sunday, when the temperature was way below zero and an ice cold wind was blowing I came to lake Bagry in Krakow, stripped to the bathing suit and walked into the water. Imagine how big my surprise was when I discovered that the water isn’t as cold as I expected it to be and that it’s actually pleasant. It’s an unique experience. I have to admit at first I felt like a thousand needles were pricking my body and then my whole body went numb.
I felt touching my shoulder but the shoulder didn’t feel being touched… wired, very very wired. Now, I can’t wait for the winter to do it again 😀 Thanks JS!
Yesterday for example I booked a visit to a shooting range. For my birthday my friend DJS – the same one that changed my bedsheets when I broke my wrist, gave an awesome gift, a voucher to discover shooting with professional guns on a shooting range. That will be interesting and I literally can’t wait for the 3rd July to try it out.
I’m also very glad that the broken wrist is going back to normal as there are many activities on my to do list this summer. One of them is wakeboarding. Last year my friend JG gave me the hint that there is a wakeboarding school in Krakow and they offer discover wakeboarding packages. Never did that before but I heard it’s quite exciting. And there is my daily activity I can’t wait to start doing properly again – yoga! So far I was doing hands free yoga, so no downward facing dog or high planks but now I can come back fully. Told ya, I really like to stay active and find new things to try out. That doesn’t mean however that I’m not lying down on the sofa with a glass of wine anymore. Of course I do that every now and then when I feel like it. Mostly after a Friday night party ehem 😛 or when Netflix releases new episodes of my favourite show. When new episodes of Lucifer were released on Friday the whole Saturday I wasn’t doing anything else apart from watching tele. Balance 😀
Memories
Sometimes when I look at pictures from trips or lie down on the sofa with a glass of wine I like to think about the adventures I had on each trip. There are two extreme that come to my mind while writing the post.
1. It’s not a secret that I get seasick, also during diving. When I don’t dive for a long time, the first day I go diving while being on holiday I’m puking my guts out… well… happens. My bestie PRS is constantly laughing at me saying – how can a diver get seasick. But OK, puking the ocean full is your way of marking the territory. Anyhow, while being on a Panama Canal Cruise one of the stops on the way back to Miami was in Mahahual in Mexico. Did some research before and it turned out that there is not much to see in the city, so I booked two dives with a local dive centre. On that day when I got to the beach where the dive centre was located, saw the waves and the little nutshell boat I was supposed to get in. I knew exactly what would happen… and it happened. After the first dive and being rocked from side to side on the small boat I got sick. Nothing new, especially as I am used to it. During the break before the second dive I felt better so didn’t hesitate to jump into the water again. As I was the only diver, the dive guide took me for a canyon dive. It was absolutely amazing, swimming between coral walls with great visibility and rich marine life. From time to time, the dive guide was asking me how much air I have left in my tank. He was very surprised if I’m actually breathing as my air consumption was so low… haha practice ;P At some point my dive computer started beeping, I ignored it. It started beeping again and I ignored it again. Thing was that I stayed deep for way too long and the nitrogen concentration in my body was rising, hence I should shallow up. I didn’t do that. When it came to the safety stop at 5 meters which normally should last 3 minutes in this case the dive computer showed 9 minutes. Well, I was stupid enough not to pay attention to what my dive computer was signalising so now had to do a way longer safety stop. Luckily I had enough air left in my tank to survive it, my dive guide didn’t. Which means he had to take my octopus after 5 minutes to finish the safety stop. In the end nothing bad happened but never ever again I will ignore the signals that my dive computer is sending.
2. Was going to Berlin on a bus, well it was faster and cheaper than taking a plane. The bus had to stop several times to collect passengers. The first stop was in Katowice city and it lasted like 15 minutes. The next one was in Opole city and I was convinced it would last the same, sooooo I went to the kiosk to get some cigarettes. Imagine how big my surprise was when I came back and noticed that the bus was gone with all my things. Instead of panicking, I took a taxi for 130 EUR to Wroclaw, which was the next bus stop. The extraordinary situation required an extraordinary solution. It literally looked like, get into the taxi and say, follow the bus. Time was tight as the bus was already in motion with proper speed. The whole time in the car I was thinking “I will make it, I will make it… there is no other option than to make it”. Arriving at the Wroclaw bus station, I saw my bus to Berlin, it wasn’t moving… YAY! The taxi driver was slowly pulling over and at this very moment the bus started leaving the station. I jumped out of the taxi thinking, over my dead body are you leaving without me on board. As much power as I had in my legs I started to chase the bus, reached it and started to bang on the back door… YES! IT STOPPED! YES! KNEW IT WOULD! After I got on board the bus driver gave me a bit of bollocking but hey ho, some adrenaline never killed anyone right 😉
Traveling is huge fun but the time between one trip and another can be fun as well, all depends how you organise it. I strongly encourage you to get up from the sofa, leave the glass of wine aside, turn the TV off and discover the city you live in new. Seriously you will be surprised how much fun it can be 🙂
Indeed Alice 
ice bathing in minus degree , that’s adventurous 🙂
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