Bon Voyage & Bon Appétit

  Our chill vacation days in Poland continue!  We left Supraśl a few days ago to come back to Sopot. Just before leaving we had a beautiful family walk at the Silvarium Forest Garden. This is a meadow full of cool rocks, bridges, and little lakes. On a family walk A cool frog rock! Colourful beehives by the lake The day after we got back was August 13th… my birthday! I got to spend the beautiful sunny day with my mom, grandma, and Liam.  First, Liam and I went for a birthday walk, stopping for a birthday coffee. We walked along the waterfront path through the forest, and then came back along the beach.  Delicious birthday coffee Walking out through the forest… …and walking back on the beach Walking back along the beach we saw a beautiful fluffy bundle of joy… a 10-week old cockapoo! I’m absolutely in love and I wanted to take him home.  I want to take him home!!! For birthday dinner, we went to Falo, a restaurant just off the beach. First, I had herring with tom...

 We arrived back in Sopot, Poland last week! Our time here has been spent doing some work, enjoying time with family, and getting lots of good snacks. So, I suppose this post is essentially an ode to Polish treats.  A very common food in Poland are “śledzie” or in English “herring”. Herring can be served in so many ways, but at Bar Przystań in Sopot they serve a fantastic śledz po kartusku. This is a herring marinated in oil and vinegar with tomatoes, peppers, and lots of onions. Essentially, the fish gets so soft it falls apart and is absolutely delicious! Śledzie po kartusku One evening, we got a very fancy fruit drink! Non-alcoholic cranberry juice with soda and topped with tons of fruit and a beautiful flower.  Fancy and fun drinks! On Saturday morning, my mom and I went to Yoga on the Pier. This free event is put on by a Polish fitness YouTuber who leads a huge crowd through many exercises! I’d call it yoga-Pilates-dance-aerobic fusion. Yoga on the Pier in Sopot ——— ...

 Our last day in Berlin was very calm and lovely.  A lovely morning coffee Our first activity of the day was visiting the free Jewish Museum. The building that houses the museum is very interesting, it’s built in a zigzag shape with many empty spaces.  Entering the Jewish Museum One of the empty spaces in the building This museum was quite interesting as it followed the history of the Jewish people over many centuries, showcasing their history, culture, art, and music.  A Torah scroll Wall of famous Jewish people Some beautiful art However, the most impactful part of the museum were the displays relating to the rise of anti-semitism in Nazi Germany and the atrocities of the Holocaust. The architecture of the whole building gives you an intense feeling of discomfort and isolation. The empty spaces I mentioned earlier are called “voids” and are meant to represent destruction, loss, and absence.  There is one void called the Memory Void, which is an art installatio...

Today we had a very futuristic day in Berlin! We started the morning by visiting the Futurium Museum. This free museum offers a plethora of interactive exhibits about “the future”.  Outside the Futurium You start by getting a wristband which allows you to store interesting information and participate in various exhibits. At the end, you get a code which allows you to access the information you stored online. You can read about some of the exhibits that I stored here .   We leaned about personalized medicine and the future of genetic treatment, we saw futuristic prosthesis like the third thumb and the pangolin, and we got our brainwaves measures.  Inside the exhibits Novel prosthesis  The headband measured our “thoughts” using electroencephalography and    displayed different emotions as different colours.  There were also many interesting robots, like the robotic arm that wrote out questions for you to answer. When Liam replied that the robot could not...