September 09, 2020

Hiring a Vacation Photographer in Gdansk

September 09, 2020/ Meghan Oaks

After our first, and very succesful, experience hiring a vacation photographer in Cesky Krumlov to take family photos, I knew that one day while in Poland, we needed to do it again. For our first experience, we used Localgrapher. They were great to work with and our photographer came down from Prague to take our photos. I appreciated how streamlined their process was, so I returned to review their photographers for Gdansk. As it turns out, the photographer I had wanted was unavailable. I decided to try to find my own photographer in Gdansk. I mean of course people live there, so there must be photographers there too!

September 01, 2020

Remembering Travel Before COVID

September 01, 2020/ Meghan Oaks

Man, 2020 has been quite a year, hasn’t it? I mean, I’m not really there is much else to say about it except for I’m ready for 2021 and it’s still August!

Back in January, we took a trip to Poland. It feels like a lifetime ago, but then I remember that it was really only about 7 months ago. We had two missions for this trip: order drysuits from Santi and eat pierogi. I’m happy to say we accomplished both!

November 13, 2015

Krakow - A Photo Diary

November 13, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

Over the course of our long weekend, we were able to explore a lot of Krakow, especially the old town. Our hotel gave us some really good recommendations of places to eat, and where to get the best Pierogi. And on our last morning there, we decided to do one of the free walking tours that are offered. We chose this company since they offer a lot of different tours, and at really convenient times. We also checked out a local flea market and many of the local shops. So, instead of writing a bunch of words about what we did, where we ate, and what we saw, I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures. Think of it as travel porn - cause Krakow is absolutely beautiful and one place I would definitely recommend visiting!

November 04, 2015

8 Things to do in Krakow

November 04, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

Krakow is amazing. Like, I want to go back now, amazing. The food is delicious, the beer is tasty (or so I'm told), the people are some of the friendliest we've met, and the town is positively oozing with old world charm. After a long weekend there, we realized that there is a lot more to this city than we expected, and really, you could spend a week with Krakow as your base exploring stuff nearby. Thanks to the abundance of tour companies operating there, you can do it all with minimal planning on your part, unless you enjoying figuring out the local systems (which, in reality, aren't all that hard). So, here is a list of 8 things to do in (and near) Krakow!

October 28, 2015

Wieliczka Salt Mine in Krakow

October 28, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

Have you ever seen an entire church carved out of salt? What about larger than life statues of saints and famous Europeans? Or how about a chandelier made out of salt? No? Well, neither had we, until we visited Krakow and the nearby Wieliczka Salt Mine. On Sunday, the weather in Krakow was beautiful - sunny, a slight breeze, and cold in the morning. We were headed to Wieliczka Salt Mine, a half hour train ride outside of the city. There are lots of tour companies than organize tours for visitors, but we went solo and did it ourselves (we did use a tour company for Auschwitz since it was much further outside of town). It wasn't all that hard either, and it ended up being a lot cheaper than using a tour company (although, compared to London, everything in Krakow was super cheap).

October 23, 2015

Auschwitz and Birkenau

October 23, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

Death camp.

The words flowed easily, as if the guide had said them many times before. And indeed he had, and would continue to do so throughout the day. Despite the manner in which they were said, and how many times they were said, the emotion behind them never left. For it was here that hundreds of thousands came to die. At first it was Polish political prisoners, those who disagreed with and resisted Nazi ideals, or simply were found to be listening to foreign radio, reading illegal pamphlets. Then, came those unlucky enough to have been born into the wrong racial or ethnic groups - the Jewish, the Slavic, the Romani and others.