Holiday in Poland Part II: Kraków and the Dragon Under the Castle

Welcome to the second and final part of my story about my recent trip to Poland. The first part covers my experience of a traditional Polish wedding and local culture. This post is all about one of the major tourist cities in Poland: Kraków.

Kraków is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland and was once the capital. It was about three and a half hours away from the original place we stayed at, near Aleksandrów.  

Holiday in Poland Part I: The Wedding, Czarny Staw and Zgierz

In August I travelled to Poland for my friend Milena's wedding. I'd never been before so I didn't really know what to expect. But it was a fantastic experience and I'd definitely like to go back.

 Over the next two days I'm going to talk about the places we visited and share some of my photos. I hope you'll join me for the journey!

Life's a Beach Contest

Author Laurie Larson is hosting the Life's a Beach Contest contest with a fantastic prize pack that includes paperback copies of her novels Roadtrip to Redemption and Tide to Atonement, as well as a choice of two shell necklaces-gold or silver.

To enter, all you have to do is post a picture of your favourite beach, along with the name of the beach and location and post the link on Laurie's blog, Facebook page or Twitter. Include your name and email address or Facebook page/Twitter name so you can be contacted if you win. The contest is open until 9th September.

Here's my entry:

I couldn't narrow it down to just one beach so I've decided to share two of my favourites-one from abroad and one from my home country-sunny England!

Playa de San Juan, Tenerife [© A V Brown, 2014]

Our Honeymoon in Tenerife Part 2: Local Attractions

Today I'm following on from yesterday's post about my holiday in Tenerife. I already talked about the local area, the beach and the fiesta, so today I want to tell you about some of Tenerife's main attractions: Jungle Park, horse riding, boat rides, Playa de las Américas, Mount Teide and Siam Park.

Jungle Park

Jungle Park is one of two large animal parks in Tenerife. I have mixed feelings about it overall. On one hand it was a fun day out-the scenery is beautiful, they have a lot of unusual animals (over 300 in total) and the bird shows were amazing. They had parrots that could perform tricks, we saw eagles and huge African vultures flying and saw a Stork up close as it fed. They also have a big obstacle course through the park and a bob sleigh, which are fun for kids.

Two macaws during the parrot show [© A V Brown 2014]

Our Honeymoon in Tenerife Part 1: Sun, Sea and Sangria

Recently, my husband and I spent two weeks in Tenerife for our honeymoon. It was an amazing holiday. I'd never flown on a plane before, so I was quite nervous about that. But it was all fine, apart from experiencing aero-sinusitis (aka the feeling of a pickaxe stabbing my brain) as we descended. I thought I'd share some details and pictures of some of the places we visited on our holiday, in case my readers ever visit the island. This will be the first of two posts-the next one will be all about the local attractions.

We stayed with a very generous friend in a lovely place called Playa de San Juan (St. John's beach) in Guía de Isora on the West coast of the island (see map below).

Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour! Review and Pics

Last month I was lucky enough to get the chance to go to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London. For those that don't know, it's the place where most of the Harry Potter series was filmed. You can take a look behind-the-scenes at the sets, costumes and props used in the making of the films, and learn closely guarded secrets about the special effects and animatronics that brought them to life.

Insurgent Release Day, Paris Holiday and Big News!

It's been more than two weeks since I returned from my holiday in Paris and I've finally gotten around to posting. In my defence, I've been super busy with my work and social life. I recently took on more hours at work so I have a little less time in the evenings for blogging and my weekends have been filled with entertaining friends and attending birthday parties and weddings.

Twelve Days of Christmas Day 2: Holiday in Devon

To celebrate Christmas this year I have decided to do a post on each of the twelve days of Christmas (25th Dec-5th Jan) to celebrate all of the gifts (both physical and metaphorical) that I have recieved this year and take stock of what I have achieved during 2011.

On the second day of Christmas 2011 gave to me...a holiday in Devon.

Things I Discovered on my Holiday in Devon

Yesturday I got back from a week of camping with my other half in the beautiful Devon countryside. Here are the things I learned and discovered from my trip:

• The weather forecasts in Devon are completely meaningless and often completely opposite to the actual weather. You can go from sun lotion and shades weather to dashing for the tent in your anorak in a matter of seconds.
• When it rains in Devon, it really rains. Like for 12 hours.
• Those arctic waterproof sleeping bags (the kind that make you look like an egyptian mummy) are AMAZING at keeping you warm and dry even when your matress and pillows are soaking wet.
• You don't need to take tinned food with you when you can live off a diet of fish and chips, pasties, icecream and barbecued food.
• The long journey down to Devon (six hours without stops) is much easier if you set off early in the morning and make hour-long stops at nice towns on the way.