There were several of these photos on boards around Wroclaw, so visitors could stand in the same place as the original photograph had been taken.
The location today. There was a period when “then and now” books were really popular, it’s a shame that this concept hasn’t been used in more cities to help bring the past to life a little.
This restaurant is located in the main market square and is a fusion of Asian and European cuisines. When I visited in October 2017 it was rated highly on TripAdvisor, but today it has risen to being the top rated restaurant in the city.
With no disrespect to the glorious city of Bydgoszcz, this didn’t feel like the restaurant that I would have expected here. Gloriously on-trend, modern and exciting even back in 2017, it felt like it should be something more suited to Warsaw or a capital city.
This is a Bavarian wheat beer, it was refreshing and crisp as well being at the appropriate temperature. For perfection from this restaurant, I’d have liked a better selection of craft beers. But I mention that a lot.
A cream of sweet potato soup, which despite being rather vegetabley was still excellent. A pleasant and quite powerful taste, with a creamy edge, and some texture from the vegetables.
Beef cheeks with carrots, all rather artful in its presentation. The beef was tender and moist, falling apart as I cut into it, whilst the carrots added texture. The sauce was rich and it all came together beautifully.
It wasn’t overly busy when I visited on a weekday lunch-time back in October 2017, but the service was polite and welcoming. The staff spoke English, which was helpful as ever, and everything seemed professional and properly done. I’m not at all surprised that this restaurant continues to be so well reviewed.
As prices go in Poland, this was a little expensive at the equivalent of around £8 for two courses and a beer. However, it would be hard to get anywhere near that value in the UK for that quality of food and service.
Installed in 2010, this is the ‘Wanderer’ sculpture by Michał Kubiak, a local man who has exhibited works around the world. There are also numerous other sculptures by Kubiak around the city and he also designed one of the doors at Bydgoszcz Cathedral.
This cafe doesn’t perhaps have the most traditional of Polish names, but it is certainly descriptive and has a suitable range of coffees and cakes. It’s located within Bydgoszcz railway station and has a decent size seating area.
The latte and sponge cake, which cost the equivalent of just over £2. Both were perfectly acceptable, the sponge was fresh and the latte had a depth of flavour to it. I’m planning to go back to Bydgoszcz by train in early 2020 and so I might pop in here again, just to check they’re maintaining their standards….
Photos from Bydgoszcz. These are from November 2017 which justifies why one of the images has a Christmas tree in it……
Some imagination had gone into the street art in Bydgoszcz, with this piece located at Księdza Piotra Skargi loosely translated as “the breakfast of champions”.
This beer cost me the equivalent of 40p in an Aldi in Bydgoszcz, so my expectations were relatively moderate. It’s not a bad beer at all though, slightly watery, but a sufficiently rich taste to make it entirely drinkable. There are some flavours of caramel shining through and looking back on this purchase, I should have perhaps procured a few more…
This is an interesting use for a shopping trolley in Beccles…..
I remember this restaurant from when I visited in 2015 as it’s the first time that I’d had Peruvian food. Now, inevitably a chicken burrito and chips isn’t exactly the epitome of Peruvian cuisine, but the chicken itself was rotisserie cooked in a Peruvian style, so it’s the nearest that I’d got to it. There are a few of these around Baltimore, with a Peruvian family having brought the concept to the city.
As chicken burritos and chips go, this was above average in quality, with the chicken being tender and moist. The portion size was also generous, it certainly erred towards being one of the largest burritos which I’ve had.
Trying to remember this visit four years on isn’t entirely easy, but I remember it was a clean and fast foody type environment, which was perfectly comfortable. I also remember that the staff were friendly and the prices were also realistic, considerably cheaper than some of the rather more fancy Inner Harbor restaurants.
For the last three years I’ve organised the Hike Norfolk trip to the Norfolk Broads, which has included hiring a Broads cruiser from Wroxham. Last year we were walking around Ranworth for our lunch break and we saw the Albion wherry and the volunteer on board mentioned about it being available for hire. So, I decided that was a marvellous idea and that’s what twelve of us did for this year’s maritime expedition.
The Albion wherry was first built in 1898 and remained in use carrying cargo around the Norfolk Broads until the middle of the twentieth century.
The Norfolk Wherry Trust took the boat over in 1949 and initially continued with carrying cargo, but it had a couple of little incidents when it sank twice and it was agreed that this wasn’t ideal. So from 1961 it was decided never to carry cargo again, just carrying passengers around the Broads.
Our boat is ready to sail.
This photo was taken out when we were taken out in small groups using the wherry’s dinghy to get photos of the wherry itself.
A swan.
The sail, which is 1,200 square feet in size.
This subtle little thing is the Quant Pole, which lets the crew punt the boat along. We had three crew aboard the Albion and they were all helpful and enthusiastic.
The downstairs quarters of the boat, which can be used for overnight hire, so hence the bunks.
Getting the food ready. Susanna and I had heated the water up for coffees and teas, a process that took considerably longer than we had expected. There is an oven and basic cooking facilities on board, all fuelled by gas.
Our picnic on board.
The view of the Norfolk Broads, we went from Oulton Broad to nearly into Beccles.
Part of the wherry, I don’t know the technical term….
A dragonfly.
All told, it was a warm day and the twelve of us from Hike Norfolk were very fortunate with the weather. Although I thought that it was too hot…. Sitting downstairs was though much cooler, so it was handy to have the option of where to sit and there were plenty of spaces around the wherry.
It was only when I went on the dinghy to circle the wherry that it was clear just how beautiful the Albion is, and many people had taken photos of the wherry during the day as we went past.
For any group or so, a charter for the day is recommended, especially as it isn’t that much more expensive than taking out a Broads cruiser for the day. And this is certainly more of an experience.
