Happy Birsday Irena! The longest birthday you have ever had.

Teresa and Irene went out to breakfast at a seafood cafe. They ordered the scrambled eggs with salmon and butter, and a frittata with mushrooms, tomato and cheese. They were very tasty. Michele stayed home and rested a bit more. It wasn’t long until it was time to get an Uber to the Polskibus station. The Uber was a Mazda van and our driver was very informative. We’ve only had good experiences with Uber so far, and we know that we can trust that the driver won’t be overcharging us.

The bus ride was delayed by 35mins but we were able to keep Amadeusz informed thanks to the onboard Wifi. Kamil and Amadeusz were waiting for us at Wrocław when we arrived and Kamil drove us another 1hr 20mins to Elsżbieta’s house in Lubin. We were once again welcomed like we were long lost relatives coming home. Waiting for us was Elsżbieta, Pavel, Teresa, Janusz, Anna & Milena. Faneks the cat sighed with bemusement that he would have to share his house once again.

The family did not tell Władek of our arrival so it was an emotional greeting when he came through the door, especially for Irene meeting him for the first time.

The table was laden with delicious foods and we knew that we had arrived at the best restaurant in Poland. Entree was pork and vegetable soup and for main we had pierogi (mushroom & cabbage served in goose fat) along with multiple salads and sides. To drink was jugs of cherry juice, apple juice and water…and of course, vodka! The family were so generous, gifting us with ceramic angels and surprising Irene with a bunch of flowers for her birthday.

After dinner Amadeusz disappeared with the promise of returning with a little surprise. After about 20mins he returned with his best friend, Piotr, and a keyboard in tow. Piotr was Amadeusz’s first vocal coach and is also Milena’s current vocal coach. The concert began. Amadeusz performed three beautiful arias in Latin and Italian. Milena sang “Tomorrow”, and Piotr played the keyboard and sang us some songs in English. He even made us laugh by serenading Irene in a Peter Allen-esque style performance for his last song.

For dessert we had toffee cake served with coffee, tea and more vodka. It was a very special first night and we enjoyed it immensely. Having Amadeusz there of course made it a lot easier to communicate, although Milena, Pavel and Elsżbieta’s English is quite good too. We were weary after a day of travel and went to bed at around midnight. Tomorrow is another big day. Dobranoc!

The sun rises at 7:30am in Poland at this time of year, much earlier than our previous two countries. We got dressed and set out to find the old town. We stopped at Loft for a bite to eat and some beers. Here we had our first Polish pierogi of the trip (yours are still better Babcia), filled with cheese and potato, served without sour cream and when we asked they said they don’t have any!

The temperature was about 6 degrees but there was a biting wind that made it feel much colder. We found the old town quite easily (no thanks to Michele, who tried to convince us it was in the opposite direction). There are a lot of pop-up outdoor museums along the way informing us of various historical events, and there are also constant glittering Christmas installations decorating the streets.

We walked into the old town square and admired more markets. All of this was apparently was completely destroyed by bombs during World War II but now restored. We bought Irene some Oscypek from a street vendor to try, which is smoked salty cheese served hot, delicious! We continued exploring the historical streets and walked home, via a quick espresso martini pit stop, as the dark set in at around 3:30pm.

We were really keen to have an authentic Polish meal for dinner, and luckily there was a restaurant just around the corner. Kuźnia Smaku was a dimly lit, inviting place and we were the first guests to arrive. Robert was out waiter who made us feel very welcome, even bringing us complimentary sparkling rosé when he found out that it was Irene’s birthday (well, in Australia anyway, it’s to be a looong one this year). We shared two types of pierogi: goose, and veal, served with a cup of sour borsh, which was divine. We also shared a plate of gołompki (cabbage rolls), which were just as delicious (but still nothing on yours Babcia!). We washed this down with shots of Zubrowka and called it a night. On the short walk home we encountered a severely drunk man who was trying desperately to stand up but kept falling on his head on the hard concrete. We tried to help him and told him to sit down but he refused. Luckily a young lady saw the commotion and spoke to him in Polish. She said that he was telling us to leave him and she would call the police from afar. We thanked her and set off home for bed.

We are catching a bus to see the Polish family tomorrow so we may not have Wifi to post for a couple of days. We will be sure to tell you about it once we are back on line. Until then, dobranoc!

Today we said goodbye to Scott, who had to travel back to Frankfurt to do something called work…..what’s that again? Michele and Teresa were in desperate need of a hair salon so the four of us walked down to the big shopping centre. Scott caught an Uber from just out the front so we said our farewells (he texted us from the airport to tell us that the Uber had cost him €3.70!). Michele and Teresa managed to find blow drys within an hour of each other and the rest of the time was spent perusing the shops.

We had a quick bite to eat at a cafe on the way home and then packed our things ready for our flight to Warsaw. Our Uber driver, Roman,met us downstairs and was very talkative and friendly. The ride only cost us €3.50.

When Teresa was booking our flights with Lot Airlines, she had spent the extra $68 so that she could choose our seats (she had chosen two window seats and an aisle in the same row) so we were surprised to see that they had not honoured this. The lady told us where to go to rectify this and, once we were settled in the bar with refreshments, Teresa went to speak to them. The lady made a quick phone call and assured us that new boarding passes would be issued at the gate. When we finally got to the gate, the lady gave us our new boarding passes which were all in the same row….one on the window and two in the aisle. Lesson learnt: don’t bother paying extra for seats that you can’t be guaranteed. On embarking on our flight we found that the man who was supposed to be sitting on the window seat was sitting in the aisle…so we got our wish anyway!

The flight was delayed by about half an hour but once in the air it was quick and smooth. We took a taxi from the airport to our apartment in the heart of Warsaw and met with Piotr. He was very informative about the apartment and even walked us to Aioli, the restaurant around the corner that he recommended for dinner. By now it was around 8:30pm so we were keen to just have a quick bite and then settle in to our apartment for the night. The restaurant was very busy, with a young crowd and a dj in the corner. We ordered off the typically Italian menu: roast beef fettuccine for Michele, a burger for Teresa and chorizo pizza for Irene. Beers and a margarita accompanied our meals.

With dinner completed we found a 24 hour supermarket around the corner that sells alcohol (eat your heart out Helsinki!) to stock up, and then headed home. The apartment is cosy and adequate for our needs. Teresa and Michele are in a tiny room with two single beds and Irene is in a tiny room with a double bed. The living area is spacious and we have found one tv channel that is in English, without a man speaking over the top in Polish. Tomorrow we explore Warsawa. Dobranoc!

The rain had washed away the snow and we awoke to a drizzly morning in Tallinn. We took our time getting ready, on account of the 9:30am sunrise, and then headed out into the day. We found the Occupation Museum, which documented the turbulent Estonian history. It was quite sombre and eye-opening reading about the atrocities suffered by people throughout the last 70years. We spent about an hour here before going off in search of lunch.

A quick stop in the Christmas Markets saw Irene go a little beany-crazy. She found 5 sparkly ones that she just could not decide between…what the hell, we’re on holidays….she just got them all!

We found the Golden Piglet, a quirky little restaurant in the old town serving traditional Estonian cuisine. We started off by ordering crispy pigs ear with garlic sauce for the table and some soup: Michele had a sauerkraut and pork soup, Irene had creamy pea soup with smoked pork, and Scott had pumpkin and vegetable soup with smoked cheese….a clear winner. For main course Teresa had an amazing crispy pork shank with mustard and Scott had pork roast with sauerkraut. We washed down lunch with Estonian beer, pepper vodka and local liqueur called vana. Irene and Scott also tried a traditional dessert drink called Kama, which is a milled flour blend (a bit like a really smooth porridge) served with berries.

We picked up supplies at the supermarket and then went home for another quiet night in. In this country we can actually watch tv in English and the WiFi is good. Tomorrow, Poland! Head ööd!

To our delight a good dusting of snow had fallen overnight, making everything appear to have been frosted with icing sugar and turning Tallinn into a winter wonderland. We set out just before midday in search of lunch. We walked through the old town and admired it in the daylight, although the ground was still peppered with confetti from the night before. Scott found a cafe that was open called Revel. It was in a very old building and boasted a menu with Russian, Asian and English influence. Scott ordered a beef dish with gravy and the rest of us ordered dumplings with lamb. Just what we needed!

After lunch we found the Christmas markets in the old town. Of course gluhwein (called glüg here) was a staple as we ogled the many wares, which included ornaments, scarves, gloves, hats and other souvenirs. Then we moved onto a bar in a very old laneway where we (mostly just wanted to find somewhere to use a bathroom but, okay we will have another drink) had a round of beers as well as a small snack of Estonian cheese, deep fried in bread crumbs. Leaving here, we walked through a cobblestoned lane way displaying large, old headstones from the 13th century.

We found our way to the Solaris shopping centre, where the supermarket was open…great to know for New Years Day… and bought supplies. Dinner was to be a range of snacks tonight, rather than going out. We feasted on pork, potato bake, sauerkraut and other tasty dishes from the delicatessen and settled in for a quiet evening. More exploring to come. Head ööd!

We awoke early and had a quick FaceTime with Babcia and Bla before navigating our way into the main harbour to catch our Viking Line ferry. We began by taking a tram from the front of our building but once we were in the city decided to jump in a cab for the rest of the way. It was about 9:30am (we had to check in 90mins before) and the sun was just rising over the Baltic, making the views from the cafe in the ferry terminal quite attractive.

At just after 11:30am we began boarding along with the rest of the herd (well that’s what it felt like). Scott managed to find us some seats in the middle of the 8th floor near the children’s section, but more importantly, nice and close to the bar. Beverages were ordered and we settled in for our 2 hour journey. About half an hour in, Teresa noticed an empty table near the window so we were able to relocate and enjoy the view as we progressed toward our destination.

As we approached Tallinn, Estonia, the skyline was quite amazing as the contrast between the old town and the more modern Estonia was starkly evident. We also noticed the vast difference between the speed of the meter in the taxi from the Ferry port to our AirBnb, much slower than in Helsinki!

We met Signe at our apartment, she was very inviting and briefed us about events in Tallinn and housekeeping details. We were touched that she had also gone to the effort of leaving us champagne and gingerbread cookies decorated with our names. An afternoon nap was in order, so we organised the sleeping arrangements and rested our weary heads for an hour.

We awoke at 5:30pm. The sky outside was pitch black. Michele, Teresa and Scott ventured out in search of a supermarket where we could buy snacks and alcohol. Great news…no weird rules here, the supermarkets are open until about 11pm and you can buy alcohol until 10. It was an easy and short walk to the shops from our apartment. We spent a fair amount of time in the grocery store admiring the wares and guessing what each item contained.

We made our way into the old town, past Freedom Square, where festivities were building. Signe had informed us that the 100 year anniversary of independence was also happening in the next week, so big celebrations were in order. We were a little late for our 8pm reservation at Rataskaevu 16 but our table was waiting. Deesi was our waitress for the evening. Where do we start? The service was outstanding. The menu was extensive but not overwhelming. The building was authentic 13th century architecture. It was a wonderful way to bring in the new year.

For entree Scott and Michele had salted salmon and Teresa had fried herring fillets. Main course was lamb rump, again for Michele and Scott, braised elk roast for Teresa and slow cooked pork belly for Irene. We also had the most amazing complimentary bread and butter for the table. Drinks were mulled wine, gin & tonic, and… of course, vodka.

After dinner we ordered coffees and our lovely waitress wrote personal affirmations for each of us on the doilies underneath the cups. We were very impressed with her attentiveness and enthusiasm and were sorry to say goodbye. She gave us two piccolos of sparkling wine as parting gifts. We made our way back to the apartment through a crowded Freedom Square. Sleep did not come easy, as the fireworks exploded around us for hours, but alas we were content. Happy new year. Head ööd!