Fall Break; Part 1 (Poland)

Last week was fall break at LCC International University. Since we didn't go anywhere over the summer we decided it was time to get out of Klaipeda. And since we have a car now, we thought a road trip would be a fun way to do it!

So we decided to do this loop:

It started here in Klaipeda, went through Poland, up the north eastern side of Germany and then brought a car ferry back across the Baltic Sea to Klaipeda again. It was a total of 1,630 kilometers (1013 miles) on the road.

Our 1st day's drive took us to the capital city of Poland: Warsaw. We've been there a number of times before, but only for transit -- never to explore. We spent 2 nights in an apartment in the heart of the city's old town & spent the entire day checking it out.

Ieva in Warsaw's Castle Square

Part of the castle wall around Old Town Warsaw

A horse-drawn carriage in Warsaw's Market Square

breakfast of fresh Polish doughnuts at an old town cafe - yum!

After our 7-hour drive to Warsaw & a full day there, we drove another 7 hours to Boleslawiec on the western border, the home of the famous Polish Pottery. Again, as in Warsaw, we spent 2 nights & one day there exploring.

Boleslawiec doesn't have much going for it outside of this amazing industry of Polish Pottery. Nearly every roundabout in the city has a display like this one. This pottery is sold throughout Poland & in many places throughout the world (google "polish pottery" & you'll find loads of American sites that sell it), but buying it here -- directly from the factories who make it -- is the cheapest way to do it. It's all hand-painted & there are hundreds of designs. We had a fun day checking out the factories where it was made and of course, had to bring some home!

We ended our time in Poland with a side trip to the Polkawice Aqua Park! After dragging Ieva through pottery shops the day before, we wanted to give her something she could enjoy. Isak seemed to like it too!

Then, on to Berlin!