I can’t believe I’m going to be in Italy in just a few short hours! I’m on the train from Switzerland to Milan as I type this. I thought I’d share some memories from this trip as a series since this can get really long. First stop in this Europe Vacation: Poland! In each part of the series, I’ll share some outfits too. We had to pack for a two-week trip with two very opposite weather. The second half of the trip is close to 100 degrees all week. I’m sweating just thinking about it…oh wait, that’s just the train not having air conditioning (send help).
We started our two-week trip in Poland, where Patryk (my husband, if you’re new here!) is from. It was supposed to be two weeks from the alps to the Amalfi Coast, but I figured why not squeeze in another country we’ve never been to?! Besides, it was important for me and Patryk that I get to visit his homeland.
Poland: Day 1
We flew into Krakow, arrived right around dinner time, and picked up our car rental to drive to his hometown. Halfway through the drive, we got some dinner at a hotel restaurant that has one of his favorite mushroom soups! We ordered a giant platter of everything so I can try everything. My first taste of Polish food in Poland did not disappoint obvi.
We spent our first full day in Poland in Patryk’s hometown. We walked around the town square maybe four times over, shopped at the market, and got his favorite ice cream (twice!). By the way, our hotel was terrible. Never staying there again! That afternoon, we went to see some of his relatives from his dad’s town before we headed back to Krakow. We also took some time to go to the cemeteries to visit some family who are no longer with us. Then to a beautiful church where Patryk’s great-grandpa and grandpa were organists for the longest time. Patryk could have been a church organist if he had stayed in Poland – who knows?!
It was so special to be able to see his hometown and see so much of his family’s history there. That meant so much to me to be able to do that.
Poland: Day 2
We spent our second evening and the next day in Krakow to explore the old town area. We luckily got a taste of the nightlife there on a Saturday night. I had so much fun, I haven’t gone bar hopping in years! It was so chill but buzzing with energy. Walking down the street, we would hear music we like, follow it, and walk into a bar to a dance floor. Haha.
Our first dinner there was at Sukiennice, a random tourist trap restaurant in the middle of the square. We didn’t expect much, but we actually really liked it! Patryk got goulash with potato pancakes, and I ordered a pork schnitzel. My dinner ended up being the size of almost 3 of my hands. We definitely did not finish it… We tried. Oh and when paying the bill, they brought out two really strong shots of lemon liqueur. I’m very familiar with them from Polish parties, but these were strong. Definitely explains how we ended up bar hopping that evening! This post-dinner shot thing in Poland is something I noticed across Europe in this vacation…
Poland: Day 3
On our third day, we explored the Wawel Castle that was just outside the town square. We didn’t tour the entire place, but we did tour some of the rooms where the royalty used to live. There was a cathedral there that we didn’t get to visit because it was closed until the afternoon and we didn’t have all day to wander around. We got there early, had some coffee and walked around the outdoor area before our short tour.
For lunch, we made reservations at Wierzynek, a restaurant that’s been around since the 1300’s! It was an interesting experience, with silver platters and whatnot. It was on the pricier side of things, relative to the really affordable food in Poland. But let me tell you…I had one of my best meals there. The service was slow, but the beef tartare we had was so darn good I would go back there next time! We ended up ordering a steak, which was pretty ordinary. I think I can make a better steak honestly, but it came with this porcini sauce that was to die for. It was so worth it. For dessert, we had porcini ice cream! I was so intrigued by it, but also the presentation was so cute. The flavor was good and subtle. It was a creamy vanilla ice cream that was not too sweet, with a hint of the porcini. Any more mushroomy and that would have been too weird.
Our dinner was underwhelming to be honest, and I’m not even gonna talk about it. It was kind of Italian-Polish but it was so-so… Nothing to write home about. We ended our last night in Poland with a walk around the town square and stopping at a small cafe where Patryk had a margarita. I couldn’t drink anymore so I had some tea. Haha. Then, we went back to our hotel to pack because we had to get up at 2 in the morning for our 5:30 AM flight to Zurich!
Outfits: What I Packed and What I Wore
Poland was much colder than we expected. I’m from Chicago, so the cold doesn’t phase me and I was okay. Patryk is always cold though, and he didn’t bring thicker jackets so he wore mine – good thing my denim jacket is a men’s large. Haha. Oversized clothing came in clutch!
I always opt for the most comfortable clothes when flying – cute or not. Unless I’m going somewhere as soon as I land, I don’t really bother looking that put together on flights. Flying to Krakow, I just wore a cropped crewneck from Abercrombie, my Lululemon Align leggings with my platform combat boots. I wear my heaviest pieces on the plane instead of in my luggage! My heavy boots are my only “nicer” shoes that are waterproof and comfortable to walk in (instead of heeled booties or my massive Hunter boots). I also brought my denim jacket with me in case I get cold on the flight which rarely happens, but it’s always better to be prepared!
Most of my outfits in Poland were a mix and match of the same two jeans (black and distressed blue), my leather jacket or denim jacket, and a button-up top. For shoes, I tried to wear as many different ones as possible for variety in pictures since my clothes were very similar! We also went back to the hotel every couple hours so I was able to change them depending on what we were doing next. So I mostly wore my Allbirds Wool Runner Mizzles for walking around, my lilac “woven” sandals from Target for dinners, and the rest of the time (including our flight to Zurich) I wore my burgundy Doc Martens which I swear are probably 5 pounds each.
I mostly packed dresses for this trip thinking I’ll be wearing them the whole time. No, it was too cold for that. Saving those for Italy! 🙂
Final Thoughts!
I loved Poland as much as I thought I would. The most special part of the trip for me was being able to see where Patryk grew up, and seeing all the places Patryk had told me stories about from his childhood and physically being there after all these years!
If I had to change anything in our entire 3-day schedule, I probably would have skipped the last dinner reservation at the Italian-Polish restaurant and opted to get street food so I can try more things. I only really booked it so we didn’t have to think about where to eat, but also because the restaurant had a Michelin star. The street food in the town square was so freaking good I wanted to eat so much more than I got to try! Besides that one little detail, the rest of the trip was perfect.
Here’s a link for a quick reel from our trip. In my next blog post for this series, I’m doing a run down of our Switzerland adventures in Zermatt!
