

Wspaniały - Beautiful
Gdansk, one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. Vera booked us into the Holland House Hotel. Wow and double wow, the view we had from our window. We booked for 2 nights to give us plenty of walking around the Stare Miasto (Old Town) and walk we did for hours on end. Holland House is the blue and green one with the flag. Views from our window. The oldest house in Gdansk. We explored every street and alley. So many beautiful doors, features and buildings. We


Karma
Vera and I being such nice people, being friendly, polite and thankful certainly paid us back during our Poland trip. We had not booked any accommodation ahead so often had to try and find something later in the day. After our night in depressing Frankfurt/Oder and getting a parking ticket in Szczecin we ended up in a gorgeous little town (Kamieri Pomorski) near the water and found a lovely old hotel for the night. We sat overlooking the water, watching the sun set having a R


Dziekuje - Thank you
The word Vera and I probably used the most in Poland. It took us about 10 days to get the pronunciation correct but the locals seemed to really like us trying to speak a bit of their language. First place we drove to in Poland was Szczecin and straightaway collected a parking ticket. We did not have enough small money (Zloty) so parked the car (spaces are hard to find) and went in search of change. By the time we came back 10 minutes later we had a ticket. Amazing old roa


Gratitude
Back home from a 3500km road trip, with my sister, through Poland. Gratitude for being able to experience something like that but also for seeing what a great life I am able to have because our parents fled East Germany when I was only a baby. We drove to Frankfurt and der Oder which is my birth town and sits right on the Oder river which is the border between ex East Germany and Poland. A very depressed town. Huge streets with few cars and few people, broken down buildings


Land of the big skies
Canada, a land of contrasts. Three great weeks in Calgary with my generous and talented friend Denise and her very cute dog Duffy/Duffer. This is him with a severe case of bed hair. A trip out to Pike Studio today to visit Connie and Bob who are potters and metalsmiths. Had an amazing guided tour of their gallery and workspace including looking at a fully loaded kiln and Bob showed me how he designs his metal pieces and how the plasma cutter works. A very generous and talen


Mississippi Blues
Eight days in New Orleans for a ISGB (International Society of Glass Beadmakers) Gathering. Stepping out of the airport was like being back in Darwin – hot and humid – a shock to a system which had become somewhat adjusted to Melbourne winter. When not in workshops and lectures I wandered and wondered. The French Quarter is an amazing collection of shops, houses, art, bars, very bumpy footpaths and people. Bourbon Street is an eye opener when the sun starts setting – anythin