I t was sometime in the beginning of March, when my phone rang. It was Antonis at the other side of the line: “I can find tickets for Poland for just 30 euros, are you in?”. We had just returned from a short trip to Paris with him and Marta, but the offer was too good to say no.

So without further thinking we booked tickets that would have us land to Warsaw and return after 10 days from Wroclaw. “Where shall we go in between?” I literally had no clue. “Let’s go and we shall see”. We would meet Marta there and since we had friends in different cities of Poland, we would find our way through valuable local experience.

We arrived in Warsaw, a city that cannot be characterized as “beautiful” by common standards. However its intense way of life, the soviet-era buildings, the old town, the parks and the Vistula river – the longest and most significant river of Poland – made up for a unique mix and turned it into an interesting destination.

Next stop: Gdansk and Sopot. It was kinda impossible to resist a visit to the baltic sea when the plane ticket costed just 5 euros. The two cities by the sea where far more touristic and totally different from what I had in my mind that I would encounter in Poland. A pleasant surprise.

We took the train to Wroclaw. Overlooking from the window, we could witness the wonderful polish countryside till we arrived in our destination to meet some friends. The company made us feel warm and welcome as we moved from family dinners to even a bachelor party at the house of Lucas with lots of vodka , poker and some polish delicacies. A night to remember! Especially when the last people capable to translate between english and polish fell asleep and we had to rely on “smart” devices to communicate… Apparently that was not very successful but it sure made us laugh a lot!

Michalis Koulieris
Poland, April 2015.