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Aflopark – to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow
Since the announcement of the opening of Aflopark in Pabianice, hateful comments have spread in local newspapers: “It is too expensive”, “Who does even need it?”, “My garden is bigger and nobody pays me to see it”. Citizens complain mostly about the money that was spent on this investment as well as the price of the tickets. They compare the collection with the ones in botanical gardens in Łódź, Rogów and even Wrocław and they don’t see the future of this park in bright colours. Are they right? Is Aflopark worth any hype? I decided to check this out myself. Since I don’t live in my home town anymore, any new attraction…
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Mini Stories #2: Through the Looking Glass
Botanical photography is a beautiful combination of science, technology and art. I follow the work of many photographers in this field and in this post I would like to draw your attention to Samuel Zeller – a photographer based in Switzerland, who published a wonderful book “Botanical”. It is a collection of photos taken in botanical gardens across Europe. What is unique about his project is the new perspective. Most of the photos were taken outside of the green house, through the windows. The glass between the lens and the object adds a new dimension. His photographs are inspired by works of impressionists and sometimes it is hard to say…
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Mini Stories #1: Magic mirror on the wall
It all started with a photo. A young woman was posing in front of the mirror and there were many more mirrors behind her on the wall. Initially, I thought it is a famous gallery, museum, or restaurant. The idea to visit such an unusual place was instantly born in my head. Unfortunately, she only mentioned that it was taken in Maxvorstadt or Schwabing (in Munich). I can’t even remember exactly. I tried to find this photo many times but it got lost in millions of others posted every day on Instagram. The mystery remained unsolved. On a cold Sunday in January, I was strolling along Schwabing. No city plan,…
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Cochem – the golden hills of Apollo
The iconic photo from Cochem always shows the castle (Reichsburg) on top of the hill. It is surrounded by vineyards, which in autumn change from green to yellow and red. At the base of the hill, there are many colourful houses. Big cruise ships slowly go down the Mosel river. This tranquil scenery has been caught in thousands of photos. What is so special about this place? Why is everyone so hypnotised by Cochem? Cochem has all components of a fairy tale village: castle on a hill, narrow cobbled streets, medieval half-timbered houses, hidden staircases, workshops and wine. It is where childhood dreams about becoming a princess come true. I…
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Mainz – the pink queen of the Rhine
Mainz is the largest city of Rhineland Palatinate, Gutenberg’s home-town and Germany’s wine capital. Some people call it a pink city. What is the reason for this? In this post, I will look at Mainz through rose-colored glasses to find out. Old Town Let’s start on one summer Sunday morning. Cobbles under my feet don’t make it easy to walk the streets of Old Town, especially in hills. The bells from church towers scare the pigeons. Apart from them, there is almost no one around. All shops are closed. Only cafes and restaurants have open doors and tables outside. Now there is only a queue in front of a bakery,…
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Bieszczady – 4 easy hiking trails
It is another rainy night in Kalnica. The water drops hit the metal roof. It is so dark that there is no difference if your eyes are opened or closed. As every other evening, we think about the next trip, but with a storm expected next day it is hard to plan long hiking high in the mountains. Luckily we have plenty of alternatives, suitable for worse weather, for when we are tired or when we feel like cycling instead of walking. Below I present 4 easy hiking trails in Bieszczady. 1. From Kalnica to Dolzyca The first trail leads from Kalnica to Dolzyca. It is a biking path through…
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Relaxing weekend at the Baltic Sea
Every now and then we all need a break. The best way to rest and forget about everyday issues is to go somewhere far from home. The farther we go the smaller our problems seem to be. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to take a few weeks off and fly to another continent. However, already just a weekend spent on recharging batteries can do wonders. What if we combine a short holiday with practicing mindfulness? It is not just a meditation, but trying to be present in the moment and live life more consciously. It helps to be more focused and ignore distractions. Such holidays, although short, will stay…
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My places – 2018 – travel destinations of the year
This time of the year everyone makes some kind of summary and resolutions for the next one. It is a perfect moment to wrap up all my travels. They may serve you as an inspiration for summer holidays or weekend trip. Some of the places have been already described on the blog, so I attached links to older posts. Others are coming soon. And if it is not enough, have a look at summary from one year ago: “2017 – travel destinations of the year”. Botanic gardens and butterflies 2018 was definitely a year of gardens for me. I started with visiting the “Paradise Garden” in Sayn (near Koblenz) full of…
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Parks and gardens of Darmstadt
One of my favorite ways of spending free time is walking in nature. It is not always possible to go to remote places or natural parks. City parks and gardens are a nice alternative. This time I would like to take you on a journey through the green corners of Darmstadt. Darmstadt is often considered grey and ugly. I don’t think so! In this post, I prepared a selection of different garden types. So no matter what your garden preferences are, I have you all covered. I found a typical rose garden and another one with more tropical plants. I have been to parks of princes and ones of artists.…
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Gardening trends 2018 – Landesgartenschau in Bad Schwalbach
Are you planning to build a new garden or just looking for an inspiration to make small changes in the current one? Visit the Landesgartenschau (State Garden Show) in Bad Schwalbach and get plenty of new ideas. This year is definitely my year of gardens. I visited already plenty of Botanical Gardens and rose gardens. Going to Landesgartenschau brought it to another level. Every year different cities in German lands organize Garden Shows. One of them is in Bad Schwalbach, which is a spa town in Taunus, 20 km from Wiesbaden (Hessen, Germany). Just in Hessen, there are around 30 spa towns! To rich Bad Schwalbach, I took a direct…
