Poland 2014 Part. 2.

It's been rather long since I started writing this series about my trip to Poland. Here you can check out the first part.

The second full day in Poland, was spent at a town called Lancut. It's the town, where my dear friend lives at, so it was a good idea to check out the town and its attractions.

In the morning we visited a castle, where we got a tour from a tourist guide. It was interesting to see and hear stories about the castle, as it's so different compared to the Finnish castles. In Finland the castles look pretty bland, I mean they are beautiful in their own way, but don't have painted walls, sealing and such high-end furniture like the castle in Lancut had. Overall, I enjoyed the tour in the castle and also around it, seeing the beautiful flowers was nice. 

If you want to read more about this castle, go check out this page: Zamek w Łańcucie

After visiting the castle, we walked around a bit, getting to know more of Lancut. What surprised me, was how there are fences around every house, like real fences that are made of some metal. Yes, we also have fences in Finland, but they usually consist of wood or then they are just some bushes. 

The next day we went on a road-trip, which was nice. I surely noticed how different the driving culture is between these two countries. Anyway, I felt safe, as locals know how this driving culture works. hah. If I was the one driving, we would have had some problems for sure. 

The first place we went to, was this garden in Bolestraszyce. It was a beautiful place, with some amazing flowers. As you have probably noticed I take lots of flower pics, so here are some more for you. 

I just love this thing!!

From the garden, we headed to see another castle in Krasiczyn. It was somehow similar to the first one, but still so different - once again very different when comparing it to the Finnish castles. 

So far, I had enjoyed the trip a lot, and the next two days in Krakow and Zakopane were even nicer! (: 

This is a perfect time to thank Barbara and her family for hosting me and making the trip forgettable, so Thank you!! It was exciting to taste different cuisine, something that I had never tasted before. I sure drank lots of tea over there as well, almost got an over-dose of tea in a good way. hah. THANK YOU!

First time meeting a foreign pen pal

Some time last year (2013) I got to know that my pen pal from New Zealand would be spending an exchange year in Finland. It was great news for me, as I was always hoping to meet my pen pals for real. 

Don't misunderstand - I have met five of my Finnish pen pals (tho, I'm corresponding with only one of them nowadays...), which has been awesome as well. Last September I also got to meet my Polish friend in a town called Lahti, which was my first time meeting an online friend from other country than Finland, so it was a very special day for me. 

Thank u for the pic! :)

On 14th of March I got to know that my friend from New Zealand could come to Hämeenlinna and visit me on 22nd of March! Of course, I said yes! :) I was excited for the idea of meeting someone with whom I had exchanged letters with for a long time, tho speaking English with a native speaker did worry me a bit. Hahh. I still think my spoken English is understandable, at least I wanna think that way. Of course, I couldn't remember some words and wasn't speaking clear enough all the time. I need to practice pronunciation - how difficult can it be to pronounce Russia?? :o 

At 10 am I took a bus to go to the railway station, where I met my pen pal at 10:30. At first we walked around, and through the center of Hämeenlinna. This ain't a very big place, so it won't take long to walk through it. x) After that we ended near to the Häme castle, and decided to walk through all the three museums there - cost €14, which is rather expensive if you ask me. Must say that the 1st museum, Häme castle, was the most interesting one. We both agreed on that. :) 

Medium interesting was the Prison Museum. Wouldn't believe it was still working in 1993!?! :o

And the least interesting was the military museum.... 

Then we came to my home for lunch.. This time I learned what we call as a blueberry pie is most probably called a blueberry tart in New Zealand. I will remember this forever! :p We stayed at my place for a while as all the walking had some effects on our feet. 

Thank you for the cute stuff!

Later we headed to Aulanko, this time by a car. There we checked some ''ruins'' before it was time to go back to the railway station. 

Overall I had lots of fun that day! 

Then it was time to say goodbye for now - hoping to meet again, soon! ;)