Long weekend in Poland

My mom, sister, and niece just left to go back to the States this morning after spending 8 days with us. I haven't seen them since October (when I went back for my sister's wedding) and this was their first time visiting our place in España. So, even though I've been meaning to share these pictures from our Memorial Day weekend trip, I've been too busy catching up with them, showing them where we call home, and just generally enjoying having a casa full of family.

When planning for the long weekend away, I had only one requirement - to go somewhere new. As much as I love España (and Portugal...and France) I was ready to explore a different area. After a quick internet search for flights we decided on...Poland!

On Friday morning before the holiday, we flew directly from Málaga to Wroclaw (on the airline which shall not be named). We split our time between there and Krakow, which was easily reached by an inexpensive, 3-hour bus trip. 

The cities are similar, with Krakow being the bigger, more bustling version. Both have a large town square, filled with restaurants and shops, and surrounded by smaller streets, parks, and bridges crossing rivers or canals. 

The first thing I noticed was how green it was and how many people were out and about, enjoying the (relatively) mild temperatures, often with an ice cream in hand or dining outside. The other was the flowers - in bloom in the parks, in vases on every table, carried by strolling couples, and for sale in every color and variety in markets. Pretty Poland in the springtime - who knew?!

Wroclaw...

Polish beer, very different from Spanish cerveza!

There were little gnome statues all around town, these were in the main square.

Then Krakow...

The view from our room.

Lock bridge.

Pierogies stuffed with sauerkraut with a side of sauerkraut and a big beer. Perfect!

We found both cities to be modern but with plenty of old world charm (being back in eastern Europe definitely had me reminiscing about my semester abroad in Budapest). The people are friendly, the food is hearty, the beer is tasty, and the zloty exchange rate made it easy to say "tak" to another round. 

Ever been to Poland? Did it charm you?