Lapalice Castle

Half built castle middle of nowhere, built without real permissions. 

That sounds like my kind of crazy. 

Little bit more about the background here. 

Kartuzy is about one hour way from Gdansk which isn't bad for after work road trip. The architecture of the castle is brilliant. You can easily move between different parts of the castle, it feels like a labyrinth. There is a huge dancing hall, dozens of different rooms, towers, way too many stairs and surprisingly many floors. 

If you are around Tri-city, I recommend you to rent a car and drive there. It will be worth of it.

No rest for me.

Past few weeks have been crazy.

Photo by Marianne Skurnik

First there was hen party for my best friend.  After months of planning it was finally time for her special day - or in this case, weekend. On Friday morning I flew to Finland and surprised her by showing up. We had prepared different tasks for her and of course she passed all of them! Next day we had amazing brunch, sauna and partying in the nightlife of Lahti. The bride seemed to enjoy every moment and I believe she had the kind of party she wanted.

Next weekend Kalle came to Poland. We partied with my colleagues, adventured around Gdansk and enjoyed each other. We ate really well, went to festival and I shared my world with him, just like I always to do. He was here over a week and time just flew by.

Three days normal week days and then my mom came here. Whole weekend seeing different things, walking and taking Ubers everywhere. Colorfestival, Old Town and Sopot. Villa Vrest and amazing food. Shopping and talking, enjoying the mother-daughter-time.

Soon it was also over and now I have four days to rest before next big adventure.

First days.

Ensimmäiset päivät takana.

Asunto sijaitsee Quattro Towerissa, sisäänpääsyyn vaaditaan sekä kortti että avain. Sisäpihalla on suihkulähde ja koirapuisto. Asunto itsessään on iso, kaunis ja hyvin varusteltu. Meillä on tiski- ja pesukoneet, perusastiat, lakanat ja muut tarvittavat valmiina. Ainoa, mikä oli pakko ostaa ekana päivänä, oli viinipullonavaaja. Ilman sitä ei vain pärjää.

Näkymät huoneesta ovat uskomattomat ja auringonlasku näkyy ihanasti parvekkeeltamme. Kaikki ikkunat aukeavat kahteen suuntaan: horisontaalisesti ja vertikaalisesti. Yksi lähitaloista näyttää kovin onnelliselta, haluaisin kovasti tietää sen tarinan. Kontrasti talojen välillä on suuri - itse asumme 18 kerroksisessa kerrostalossa ja aivan vieressämme on omakotitaloja. Joku eilen ajoi nurmikkoa siellä.

Matkaa juna-asemalle ei ole nimeksikään ja lähimmät kaupatkin ovat matkan varrella. Jooga- ja kiipeilykeskukset ovat juna-aseman vierellä ja meidän asemalta töihin tai keskustaan on vain muutama pysäkki. Kaikki tuntuu olevan lähellä, vaikka Suomessakin tottui lähimmän kaupan olevan 200 metrin päässä ja ruokapaikan alakerrassa.

Eka päivät meni kaupoissa laukaten ja paikoilleen asettuen. Ensimmäinen ruoka oli juna-aseman viereinen kasvisravintola ja eka ruoka Tofu Barbeque. Euroviisujakin tuli katseltua, vaikka väsymys voittikin ennen pisteiden jakamista. Toisena päivänä tutustuttiin pikaisesti Gdanskin vanhaan kaupunkiin ja käytiin syömässä fitness-ateriat. Kyseisessä ravintolassa tosiaan oli oma fitnessmenu ja siellä yksinkertaisesti parhaimman kuuloiset ateriat. Illasta sitten vielä Suomi-Slovakia-pelin jännäystä uuden tiimin voimin!

ps. anteeksi kuvaoksennus!
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First days.

The apartment is located in Quattro Towers and you need both card and key to get in. There is a fountain in the courtyard and a dog park. The apartment itself is big, beautiful and well-equipped. We have dishwasher and washing machine, basic tableware, bed sheets and almost everything else we need. Only thing we needed to buy on first day was bottle opener. You just cannot make it without it.

The view from my room is amazing and the sunset looks stunning from our balcony. All windows open two ways: horizontal and vertical. One of the houses looks so happy, I would love to know its story. Difference between the houses is huge - we live in 14-floor-apartment building and next to us is small houses. Someone was mowing there yesterday.

The train station is really close and so are the shops. Yoga and climbing centers are close to train station and both work and city center are only few stops away. Everything seems to be so close by, though I got use to having grocery stores and restaurants next to me in Finland also.

I spent first day by shopping and unpacking. First food here was Tofu Barbecue in vegetarian restaurant. We watched little bit Eurovision, but went to bed before voting even started. Second day we went quick tour to Gdansk Old Town and ate the fitness meal. It was kinda bizarre to see fitness menu in the restaurant, but it had the best sounding meals. In the evening little bit hockey with our new team, Slovakia-Finland!

ps. sorry about flooding so many pictures!