I ventured outside today for the first time in two weeks (I’ve been quarantined). I have been to the Polish shop, pharmacy, the supermarket and to drop some groceries to my friend, who’s under quarantine. I saw all those memes about the city being abandoned, I expected to have an “I am Legend” style experience. […]
Scotland
On the Gardens of the Heavenly Spheres
Those who love beautiful Gardens can enjoy truly wonderful choice in Scotland: numerous botanic gardens, private gardens, castle gardens, gardens maintained by National Trust of Scotland – everyone can find something to his taste. There are also some gems, that will please people, who look for something completely different. Places that are more of a […]
Smash those Ciapaks, with a holy picture if need be.
“Boję się ciapaków” – told me my old university friend. Intelligent, educated, with a diploma in difficult field from a leading Polish university. “Ciapak” is a Polish racial slur for Muslims and Arabs, but also for Indian people and other people with a darker skin. The closest English equivalent would be “Paki”. “I fear Ciapaks” – […]
Go West – Barra and Watersay
Scottish Hebrides fell victim to its own success. World famous Isle of Skye became one of the most popular holiday destination, which means that during the summer, swarms of tourists queue in the traffic jams full of coaches and caravans or struggle to find parking space around most popular attraction. With the warm summer finally […]
Can Scotland learn something from Slovakia?
Everyone has those few memories from childhood that stick out. One of mines is the day, when I was about 12 years old and for the first time become witness to serious discussion on the topic of foreign politics. My distant uncle, a prominent Slovakian politician, visited Poland somewhere in 1992. The adults – my […]
Apocalypse now
Glasgow has seen biggest snowfall in years. About 15-20 centimetres. I often mocked Britain for its inability to tackle even a little sprinkle of snow. But that was when it was indeed just a sprinkle. Now, with that amount of snow, it is no longer laughing matter. It is a SNOW ARMAGEDDON. And so, the […]
“Driving in the snow is impossible. Period”
I always loved winter driving. When I lived in Poland, I was taking every opportunity to drive out of the town, or to have some winter fun on the empty supermarket car park. But since I live in the UK, I do it less and less often. And it’s not even because there is rarely […]
Morvern, Ardnamurchan and Moidart
Although Scotland is a sparsely populated country for European standards, those who seek to enjoy it’s beauty on their own can find even those tourists that can be met at Loch Ness or on the route to Skye to be an annoying crowd. Some say that the true uninhabited Scottish mountains can be found only […]
Britons: give me a blowjob* and translate correctly!
Let’s state the obvious: there is an elephant in the room. Britons cannot into languages. Of course, there are many who speak more than just English, but in general, Britain is all about English. Average Briton can live all his life with virtually no contact with foreign languages. There is virtually no foreign music on […]
Scotland allows Poles like me to have our dream lives
The internet nowadays is full of people who are happy to tell you how to have a good life. One group urges you to join them in leaving the rat race, drop everything and retire to some exotic country where life is cheap and beaches are beautiful. Another group includes motivational speakers who urge you […]