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  • Wrocław – AleBrowar

    Wrocław – AleBrowar

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    I’ve had quite a few beers from AleBrowar over the years and I’ve also been to their taproom in Gdynia. They do flights of any five beers for 40zl and that felt a suitable way of trying a number of them. The brewery was established in Lębork in 2012 and they were one of the earliest craft brewers in Poland, most focusing on hoppy beers although they brew a variety of different styles.

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    The interior in the early afternoon when the bar wasn’t exactly as its busiest. The service was friendly and I liked that the server gave me a printed receipt of the five beers that I ordered to ensure no confusion on what was what on the flight.

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    The beers on the flight and from left to right:

    (i) Rowing Jack from AleBrowar, an IPA with a bitter ending, with a bit of pine and general tree, quite a punchy beer.

    (ii) Tower of Cats from AleBrowar, a porter which had a dark chocolate taste, a bit of coffee and was smooth with some roastiness to it.

    (iii) Coco Monkey from AleBrowar, a hazy IPA which I thought had more stone fruit than coconut, quite sweet and hoppy.

    (iv) Baile de Rosas from AleBrowar, a red IPA which was more like grapefruit juice than anything else, although it was still pleasant.

    (v) El Fruto from AleBrowar, an 8% DIPA which had no shortage of mango flavouring, so all that juiciness must be healthy.

    This was rather a lovely little bar which is well-reviewed on-line, I imagine it can get quite busy during the evening and the prices were reasonable. I didn’t eat anything as I was heading back to the airport, but they do offer pizzas and they look suitably tempting from the reviews.

  • Gdynia – AleBrowar

    Gdynia – AleBrowar

    [I originally posted this in January 2020, but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

    This bar is owned by the AleBrowar brewery who are based near Lebork, which isn’t far from the Tricity. The bar is located in the centre of Gdynia, just a short walk from the railway station. The brewery has also been going for some time, it started brewing all the way back in 2012, so relatively early for the Polish craft beer scene.

    There’s a nice feel to the bar, which is modern and contemporary in design and the beers are clearly presented behind the counter. The bar wasn’t particularly busy when I entered, although it got a little busier as the evening progressed. The prices were reasonable and there’s also an upstairs area for when it’s a bit more packed, although that wasn’t open when I visited.

    However, the choice recommended to me wasn’t a draft option, it was the Smoky Joe bottled beer which is produced by the brewery. I can’t recall having a whisky stout and although I’m not really into whisky, I don’t dislike the flavours which it has. So, this was a perfect compromise, a stout with the notes of whisky, but still at heart a stout. There was a pleasant, and not too harsh, aftertaste of whisky, but the initial taste of the beer was quite moderate and it isn’t overly rich. As a beer though, this is excellent, as it’s creative, interesting and has some depth to it.

  • Wrocław – The Gnomes of Wrocław (Bankomatnik)

    Wrocław – The Gnomes of Wrocław (Bankomatnik)

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    In the Gnomes of Wrocław collection, this is the Bankomatnik gnome, located next to an ATM. I’m not sure whether they’re repairing it or robbing it though….

  • Wrocław – The Gnomes of Wrocław (A02 : Parasolnik / The Umbrella Gnome or Szermierz / The Fencer)

    Wrocław – The Gnomes of Wrocław (A02 : Parasolnik / The Umbrella Gnome or Szermierz / The Fencer)

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    The Umbrella Gnome, also known as the Fencer, from the Gnomes of Wrocław series, located outside the university at pl. Uniwersytecki. As if it’s not hard enough to find all of these gnomes, some have split personalities, so this one is either seen as holding an umbrella as a defence against the rain or holding a fencing foil. I mean, it looks like an umbrella to me, but the official name is the Fencer, so there we go to add to the confusion.

  • Wrocław – The Gnomes of Wrocław (A03 : Profesorek / The Professor Gnome)

    Wrocław – The Gnomes of Wrocław (A03 : Profesorek / The Professor Gnome)

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    The Professor Gnome from the Gnomes of Wrocław collection, identifiable with his glasses, book and mortarboard. He is located by the University of Wrocław and shows his love of education and academia.

  • Wrocław – National Museum in Wrocław (Stephen Báthory by Andreas Riehl)

    Wrocław – National Museum in Wrocław (Stephen Báthory by Andreas Riehl)

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    This artwork is located at the National Museum in Wrocław and this imposing chap is Stephen Báthory (1533-1586, also known as István Báthory in Hungarian, Stefan Batory in Polish), a significant historical figure who was Prince of Transylvania, Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576), and later King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586). The text at the top reads “By the grace of God, Stephen, King in Poland, Grand Duke in Lithuania”. Báthory was a skilled military leader who led successful campaigns against Ivan the Terrible of Russia, recovering territories lost in the Livonian War, much to the annoyance of the Russians. He also strengthened the Polish-Lithuanian army and reformed its organisation, whilst also implementing reforms in the administration and judiciary of the Commonwealth, aiming to strengthen the central government and improve the efficiency of the state.

    He was also a skilled dancer, which I’m not entirely sure that I expected from the portrait, but it’s best not to judge. It is also said that he kept a pet bear at his court, which is certainly brave and at least it wasn’t a polar bear. On top of that, he was a master swordsman and he apparently kept on fencing into his later years. Before the Second World War and also since the fall of communism, he has become something of a hero in Poland. The Russians didn’t like him though and his historical role was downplayed during the communist years, it wasn’t really the done thing to celebrate someone who had fought successfully against the Russians.

    As for the artwork, it was painted by Andrea Riehl (1551-1613) in about 1600, so after Stephen’s death. He was a German painter, but there’s not much known about his life and this is one of his most important works.

  • Ridgeway – Day 0 (The Savoy)

    Ridgeway – Day 0 (The Savoy)

    [I originally posted this 11 June 2018, but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

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    We thought for our pub visits in Swindon that we should rely on the Good Beer Guide, so many thanks to Nathan for sending the details of pubs which were listed.

    The Savoy, which is a JD Wetherspoon pub, had made the cut and so we thought we’d go there for a quick drink and small snack.

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    There was a pleasant external beer garden area, although Bev later complained about the locals when she went to examine the clientele…… This was our last chance to talk about the others before they turned up, so we made sure that we took advantage of that opportunity.

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    Since the devastating removal of pastrami bagel from the menu, the chicken wrap will have to do….

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    A lovely pint of Guinness, although perhaps not perfectly poured…

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    There were nine real ales available, an impressive number, and they were well selected with some interesting options. The stout had a rich and pleasant flavour, with the price of £2.29 being particularly appealing. The service at the bar was also engaging, with the team member being willing to offer samples and she happily discussed the options available.

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    Interior of the pub, which is a former cinema that originally opened in 1937 for ABC. It was redesigned in 1973 to add a pub at the rear and was taken over by Cannon in 1986, before closing in March 1991. It re-opened as a JD Wetherspoon pub in February 1996.

  • Ridgeway – Day 0 (Watergate)

    Ridgeway – Day 0 (Watergate)

    [I originally posted this in June 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

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    So, Steve, Dave and I managed to navigate across London’s underground system, despite the closure of Liverpool Street Underground’s concourse and the closure of the Hammersmith & City Line. We were like a team of Michael Palins as we arrived into Paddington, ready to see if we could get some group saver tickets to Swindon. We could, so delighted at our purchases, we jumped onto the first train to Penzance.

    The train to Penzance was fortunately going to Swindon, but it was a bit full. We didn’t want to wait 4 minutes for the next empty train, so we positioned ourselves near to the buffet carriages.

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    There was free water near to the area that we were standing. Or at least we thought it was free water, since Dave decided to hand some out to nearly the entire train.

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    Steve also considered walking through the train with a little basket of goods. But Dave was the natural here, tempting customers into taking two bottles of water when they probably only wanted one.

    Fortunately, the train restocked at Reading, with the train crew no doubt wondering where their entire stock of sparkling and still water had disappeared to. However, we disembarked at Swindon and there was no British Transport Police, so I’m fairly sure we did nothing wrong  🙂

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    But in case we did, I’m calling this incident Watergate. Above is Steve monitoring the on-board replacement of water supplies at Reading.

  • United States – Amtrak Trip Cancelled but Canada on the Horizon

    United States – Amtrak Trip Cancelled but Canada on the Horizon

    With some sadness, I’ve ditched my plans to complete the next stage of my Amtrak adventures in the United States when I wanted to go from Chicago to Seattle and then back down the west coast to Los Angeles. I’m not confident that I would be safe under the current political leadership, but, instead, I’m switching my attention to Canada and seemingly they have something called Via Rail which is the equivalent of Amtrak.

    Here’s the route map and it all looks rather lovely, so I’m now on the lookout for a cheap flight to Canada….

  • Wrocław – The Gnomes of Wrocław

    Wrocław – The Gnomes of Wrocław

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    Wrocław has become well-known as being the city of gnomes (or dwarfs) and there are now an estimated 800 of these little things dotted around the city. There are so many of them that I’m not even sure that there is a complete list available (although the map at https://visitwroclaw.eu/wroclawskie-krasnale is likely as complete as anywhere), which makes completing a task to visit them all rather difficult. There’s a city map available listing hundreds of them (Dwarfs in Wroclaw_map), so I’ve now decided that I’ll have to start finding some of them because that’s what happens when I’m left alone in a city without any adult supervision……

    Anyway, my two loyal blog readers can now expect some random posts about gnomes every time I find one (and, so far, I’ve found under 30 which is a rather amateurish effort I accept).