Poland travel blog
G’day all and welcome to the Midlife Crisis Odyssey Podcast, where not all who wander are lost, but some of us definitely are. After seeing the main areas of Birkenau Concentration Camp, and learning of the horrors that had occurred there, it was a relief to find a tranquil patch of nature. Whilst enjoying the quiet and the late afternoon sun, I had a strange meeting. If you would like to see the post for this podcast, you can find…
It’d been ages since I’d been to the beach, so when I reached the Baltic Coast I was keen get my feet in the sand. I was staying in Ahlbeck, one of a number of small villages along the north coast of Usedom Island. Getting off the train and walking through the town to my accomodation, the place definitely had a sleepy seaside feel to it. In summer I expect the place is bulging with tourists, but it was quiet…
When I was a kid, we had a copy of a book called ‘Where Did I Come From’ in the TV room bookcase. From memory it was square in format, and had fun cartoon illustrations. I don’t remember Mum or Dad ever having the ‘birds and the bees’ conversation with me, nor my sister Vicki bursting through the door of my bedroom to tell me that Mum or Dad just had that discussion with her. Maybe they bought a copy…
It was late afternoon in Poland, and although the shadows were beginning to lengthen, the Spring air was still warm. I was sitting on a wooden bench, ankle deep in lush grass, its green blanket scattered with bright yellow dandelions. Tall trees sported soft new growth, which cast dappled shade across the copse. Frogs were croaking from their grassy hideouts near the edge of a small, reed-fringed pond. I watched as a heron landed next to the water, poked around…
I remember being told once by a psychologist that if you bottle sadness up inside, it will eventually overflow, sometimes after being triggered by something unexpected. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one bottling sadness by the six-pack on the Polish Ukrainian border. From our camp we began crossing into Ukraine in the early afternoon, providing hot drinks and food to those queuing for up to seven hours to enter Poland. Two huge rectangular tents had been erected to provide…
ANZAC Day 2022 A mother and her daughter came to our charity stall after crossing the border from Ukraine. Despite being nearly a month into Spring, the evening air was uncomfortably cold. They accepted a seat beside the gas heater in our tent, grateful for the chance to rest somewhere warm after their wait to enter Poland. As with all the refugees we see, they have very little luggage with them. I can’t imagine having to triage the tangible pieces…
Kateryna hurries through the crowd and up to our stand, where I am stirring breakfast foods on a two-burner stove. She is wearing a heavy jacket and a beanie, beneath which a thick blonde plait descends and rests on her shoulder. ‘Jeeem…’ she says, and then begins speaking Russian (around 30% of Ukrainians speak Russian as their primary language). She then switches to English: ‘Today I am working with the women and children and Mama is coming later and then…
We are never sure what each day will bring on the Polish Ukrainian border. Sometimes the Ukrainians crossing to the safety of Poland come in steady groups, their wheeled suitcases rumbling on the pavers as they make their way past our stall. We call out ‘Chai, kava, kakao (tea, coffee, cocoa)’, and some come over, thankful for a hot drink after a long, cold wait to cross the border. Other days are quiet, with volunteers and NGO staff outnumbering the…
The women, children and elderly leave Ukraine and enter Poland, carrying bags and trailing small, wheeled suitcases. Some have plastic pet transporters containing their cat or small dog. An unjustifiable and unnecessary war has forced them to flee their homes, sometimes leaving behind relatives too old to make the arduous journey to the border. Their fathers, uncles, brothers and sons have stayed behind to defend their country. The refugees arrive with very little, yet they hold themselves with dignity. Some…
It’s been an intense first three weeks here on the Polish Ukrainian border. The charity I have joined is a real unity of nations, with citizens of over 10 countries working together to provide food, drinks and a warm place to sit and rest for those who have left their lives behind in Ukraine. Working shoulder to shoulder for a common purpose with inspiring and interesting people from across the globe is an amazing experience; a grass-roots example of the…