The snow was exciting at first, but now it's time it left. I've been told it's spring however this snow just seems to be never ending!!! I've had a life times worth now. There will be no need to experience much more at home. 
Despite the cold, last weekend I escaped Warsaw and headed to Torun.

 

I went with 3 other volunteers from Australia so we had a fun and relaxing weekend, filled with many laughs (mainly at each other). There is always a bit of friendly rivalry between New Zealanders and Australians. It was good to leave the noisy, busy city behind and explore the quite streets of Torun. Although we had to frequently find warmth to defrost our limbs, we saw much of Old Town Torun over the weekend. Apart from walking the quiet streets, we climbed the Old Town Hall Tower and had a beautiful view over the town. The sun was shining, but the cold was bitter. We also made Gingerbread in a museum which was a lot of fun. The instructions we in Polish but luckily the guide spoke a little English and could give us some pointers. I'm sure everyone thought we were crazy as we giggled our way through trying to make gingerbread. In addition, we crossed the bridge at night to view the spectacular Old Town lit up along the river. A camera can never capture this as it is really seen. I thoroughly enjoyed the calm atmosphere of Torun.

Easter is only just around the corner now...lets hope Spring is too!
Enjoy your upcoming break 306.

Amber:)

 

 

 

 

 

I've spent some quality time in Warsaw in the last two weeks. Two weekends ago, the majority of the volunteers came back to Warsaw for the weekend. It's was good to catch up with everyone and see how everyone's placements are going in their parts of Poland. I managed to get in a bit of sightseeing also.

Although I had already see Old Town Warsaw a few times, a friend and I took a free walking tour through the Old Town. This was interesting as I see new things every time and the tour guide told stories I had not heard before. For example, the legend about mermaid. I do wish however that the weather would have behaved. It started to snow and was way too cold to spend hours walking the streets. My feet were most certainly numb after this walk.

To get inside and warm up, Anna and I then went to the Choplin Museum. It was highly recommended by a friend of Anna's. I didn't know much about Choplin beforehand and came to the conclusion afterwards that Polish people are immensely proud of him. The museum displays all aspects of his life from friends and family, his students and the set up of his apartment right down to a model of his left hand. It astounded me the effort and the detail used to portray his life.

A couple of us also visited the Copernicus Science Centre. It was a Saturday afternoon and there were people everywhere. I went to a similar centre in Wolfsburg, however the one here in Warsaw is much bigger. We had a lot of fun playing around here, though we didn't get to see everything unfortunately. I didn't actually know who Copernicus was before coming here to Poland, so I am learning something everyday.

The last sightseeing stop for the weekend was the Royal Castle on Sunday. As it is free entry on Sunday, we decided to grab this opportunity to have a look inside. It was late in the afternoon so we were rushed through but we still got to see the castle and all it's glory. The detail inside is stunning and the rooms are so big. The gold, the thrones and the art are all incredible.

In addition to the above sightseeing, I also spend Saturday morning at Eryk's football. The combination of bitterly cold weather and the snow covered fields meant that the games had to be played inside. Football is not as popular in New Zealand as it is in Poland so I haven't watched Football too often. However, I love team sports and competition and therefore enjoyed watching these games. I was impressed with the talent and skill of the players and Eryk also played really well, scoring 2 goals!!

This past weekend was a quiet one. I did however fit in a few hours of sight seeing on Friday when a couple of us went to the suburb of Praga. I was interested that the movie 'The Pianist' was partly filmed here as I studied this film at school. We couldn't see as much of Praga as we had hoped due to the wind picking up. The wind brought a whole new level of cold with it.

I have been here over a month now. It's unbelievable how fast time fly's.

 Amber:)

So, the past week has been a busy one. Since I had some time off from school I thought I would make the most of it to travel.

First, I went back to Krakow with my host mum for the weekend. There I took a walking tour around Old Town and went to a few Museums which i didn't have time to see the weekend before. I like Krakow and think it is a beautiful city.

 

On Tuesday I travelled to Germany to see a friend. I couldn't believe how fast it is to travel to Germany. This is a novelty as in New Zealand it is a lot more difficult to travel to other countries. In Germany, I went to Wolfsburg, Wolfenbuttel, Quedlinburg, Potsdam and Berlin. Among many things, I saw the Sanssouci in Potsdam (the King's summer palace) which is amazing, the really old town of Quedlinburg and sat in a Porsche in Wolfsburg's Volkswagen factory. This will probably be the one and only time I get this close to a Porsche so this was very exciting.

 

I wish you all a good week 306.

Amber:)