Wednesday. And we’re off again. Is there anything more stressful than packing on a hot day to go somewhere even hotter. Luckily there is lots of time and I actually did most of my own packing yesterday. Work expands to fit the time available so I spent all day, running! Up and down the stairs, […]Read Post ›
When I was very small my paternal grandmother used to talk about going to the Prater, the ancient Viennese funfair with a giant ferris wheel. I never really understood what she was talking about, as the Polish words for Vienna and prison were virtually interchangeable in my childish mind – I knew she had lived […]Read Post ›
When I was eighteen I went to Poland for six weeks. It was a great turning point in my life, as up till then I had been very shy, very nervous, lacking in confidence and with very few independent skills. I was clever and well read, but that was about it. I left school after […]Read Post ›
We came to Poland a week ago in order to sort out my mother in law’s funeral – she died nine days ago quite suddenly but peacefully in her sleep – originally we were just coming to visit her, but sadly she beat us to it. But this post isn’t going to be about her, […]Read Post ›
I have had this scarf for sixty years. It is one of my oldest and most treasured possessions. But it was not until today that I thought to investigate the writing on it. Thank goodness for the Internet. I discovered that in 1962 there were international skiing championships in Poland. This is what Wikipedia has […]Read Post ›
Packing away my grandmother’s spectacles I came across this piece of embroidery. My father had obviously packed away her things when she died and gave them to me many years later. But I never really looked closely until now. I remember this cushion and I always knew she had embroidered it. There were some others […]Read Post ›
This is a wonderful maquette of Diocletian’s Palace – you can really see the scale of Emperor’s vision here Here are some photos from our first day in Split as we explored Diocletian’s Palace. It is the most amazing place, hard to believe it is still in everyday use after almost two thousand years. Inside […]Read Post ›
We walked from the bus station to our apartment up the hill. We had been warned by the tourist information lady that a taxi would take a very long route because of the one way system, so up the hill we trudged. We found the street. But not the house. I’d chosen to stay here […]Read Post ›
These days going abroad should be easy. But the pandemic has for me at least put back all the stress possible into going abroad, what with all the paperwork, testing etc etc. Having sorted all that out, the rest of the stress that I suffered last week was largely my own fault. Did I check […]Read Post ›
George Sand has always been a very romantic figure in my imagination. Ever since I was at my boarding school in Ealing, when Mother Mary Dominic swore me to secrecy not to let the other nuns know that I knew, she divulged that Chopin’s lover, that very wicked woman, had actually been a pupil at […]Read Post ›
Life Through Basia's Eyes 