Folk Dancing in Krakow 'Krakowiak 2013'

We travelled to Krakow several weeks ago using Ryanair for our flights, both out and return flights on time and no problem.
On this visit we had decided not to plan anything and just follow our noses, it was a good idea and came across a variety of events. You can always rely on Krakow to have something on the go, a really vibrant city full of life and culture.
Our first morning started on the Rynek sat outside one of the delightful cafe/bars enjoying a delicious Polish breakfast surrounded by baskets of flowers in full bloom and the sun shining down on us. A great start to the morning, I could have stopped there all day just watching the world go by with perhaps a cool Tyskie beer or two.
After discussing various options we decided to have a gentle stroll towards the Wawel Castle, the views from there would be stunning on such a sun filled day. Only ten minutes into our walk we were confronted by a procession of dancers in brightly coloured outfits making their way from the Wawel to the Rynek. It was 'Krakowiak 2013' an international festival of folk dancing for youth and children, they were to perform later in the day at the Maly Rynek, our day was decided, this was too good to miss.
What a good decision, it was a fantastic event, a stunning display of folk dancing full of vibrant colours, enthusiasm and some very happy faces.
Some of our photographs of the dancing can be viewed here, if you like them and want to see more please follow the link to our https://www.procam.me/albums/37756-poland-krakow-international-festival-of-children-and-youth-folk-groups 'Krakowiak 2013'

For more photographs of Krakowiak please follow the link Flickr, Krakowiak Gallery

Some useful links

Travel and Holiday Information Poland
Krakow Guide
The Royal Castle, The Wavel
Ryanair

All photographs copyright Peter Clark, Imagine Poland

Malbork Castle, Poland

While staying in Gdynia recently, we decided to have a day out at Malbork Castle. Travel was straightforward the distance from Gdynia to Malbork is about 60km and the journey took us about an hour by train.. The walk from the railway station to the castle being only ten minutes.
Malbork is the worlds largest brick built gothic castle and is located by the side of the Nogat River in Poland.
The castle construction was started in the 13th century and it was occupied by the Teutonic Knights.
Originally only the Upper Castle was built, then expanded with the Middle Castle and in 1382-1399 the Palace of the Grand Master was added.

Below, photograph of a model of Malbork Castle which gives some idea of size and layout. This can be found in Malbork town on the way to the castle.

Gate passage of the Middle Castle

Courtyard with well

Statues of four Grand Masters of the Teutonic  Order

A bombard from the 15th century

Courtyard with well

The Chapter House

Heating system in the Chapter House

View from the top of  Malbork Castle main tower

As you can see from the above photograph it is well worth the climb to the top of the castle main tower, a stunning view over Malbork Castle, the Nogat River and adjoining countryside.

Useful links

Poland, photographs and travel information:www.imaginepoland.com

More information re Malbork Castle:http://www.zamek.malbork.pl/index.php?p=informacje

Polish rail services:http://www.about-poland.com/polish-rail.html

UNESCO Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork:http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/847

Gdynia Viewpoint

We recently visited Poland to photograph and review the Tri City area of Poland for our website Imagine Poland.
Flying with Ryanair who we found to be once again economical and comfortable, tried 'priority boarding' for the first time, it will not be the last as the system worked well for us and got us onto the aircraft well before everyone else and we had a very comfortable flight.
Prior to the visit our research led us to discover a location called St Maximilian Hill above Gdynia which would give us a good view of both the harbour and the City, looking at the street map showed us it was only five minutes from our apartment.
Our first day in Gdynia started with a lovely blue sky morning, perfect. Not long before we arrived at our viewpoint and it was all we hoped it would be, hope you like the results.

Useful Links

Photographs and Travel Information

Gdynia Information

Imagine Poland Facebook Cover Photo

Just changed our Facebook cover photo for Imagine Poland

The beach at Orlowo near Gdynia, June 2012

More photo's on our main website www.imaginepoland.com

'Horse and Carriage' at Krakow Rynek

Last year we spent several days in Krakow, Poland, the visit was to top up our image library of Poland.
We had managed to book an apartment near the Rynek through a company called ApartmentsApart
For the period of our visit the weather was superb, Krakow was even more beautiful bathed in glorious sunshine.
At the moment the we are editing the photographs in our office in the UK and should be publishing them to our website Imagine Poland in the near future.
A small selection of the Rynek  'horse and carriage' photographs can be viewed here.

Horse and Carriage for a Wedding, the Rynek, Krakow

Horse and carriage in front of the Church of St Mary, Krakow

Horses looking splendid, the Rynek, Krakow

A little love and attention

Quick lunch break in between passengers

We have many more photographs and useful information for travel and holidays in Poland to view on our website Imagine Poland
In summer we plan to tour the Baltic coast area of Poland so a lot of thought is going into the detail and organisation.

Useful Links

Hotels in Poland
Apartments in Poland
Poland Travel Information

Tumski Bridge, Wroclaw, Poland

Hope you enjoy our photographs of the Love Locks on Tumski Bridge in Wroclaw, Poland.
You can see more at our website Imagine Poland

Vanilla Apartments, Krakow, Poland

The beginning of September in Krakow proved to be a truly special time. Weather wise with the unceasing blue sky and lovely sunshine every day from early morning hours and the temperature between 24 and 27 C degrees, we could not fault it.

Rynek with new fountain and St Mary's Church, Krakow

 Destination wise – well, we knew Krakow already from our previous visits – so we knew it would not disappoint and it was such a pleasure to see the city getting more and more beautiful with the restoration work going on in the Old Town, the new Underground Museum below the Sukiennice and the refreshing fountain in the Main Market Square.

Finally accommodation wise – spot on!

It was the first time that we had booked a holiday apartment from the ‘ApartmentsApart’ website and it certainly won’t be the last.

Our Vanilla apartment located in the very heart of the Old Town, on the Royal Route proved an ideal little place for staying in Krakow. It ticked all the boxes, a great setting off point being only a nice fifteen minutes stroll away from the Railway Station. Situated on the first floor with several other tasty named apartments (Cinnamon, Ginger etc) just off the Grodzka Street, it was equally close to the busy Rynek Main Square with all its attractions on one side and on the other it was a short walk to to the stunning Wawel Castle and Wisla river with all its pleasure craft.

Lounge Area, Vanilla Apartment

Huge  fridge/freezer, washing machine, iron and board for the style slaves (we weren't) – everything was there.

Kitchen, Vanilla Apartment

Main Bedroom, Vanilla Apartment

Within three minutes walk was the ‘ApartmentsApart’ office with courteous staff speaking fluent English and willingly going an extra mile (or should we rather say a kilometre) to help at ANY time.

The combination of Krakow & ApartmentsApart was a brilliant experience.

We will be back!

Cecile and Peter

To see all our photographs of Krakow please visit our website Imagine Poland

Useful Travel Guides and Maps