Wroclaw, Poland 

Christmas Market

With the Christmas season rapidly approaching, my thoughts go back to last December and a visit to Wroclaw, Poland to experience the Christmas Market. Wroclaw (pronounced Vrots-wahf) is the fourth largest city in Poland and is situated in the southwestern portion of the country. It has been called "The Venice of the North" due to the large number of bridges and the way it is situated on the Odra (Oder) River. There is a large market square and one of the oldest town halls in Poland. Wroclaw has a rich history which I will not go into here. My focus for this post is on the Christmas Market, which was the main purpose of our visit. I will cover some of the other sights and areas in another post.

The Wroclaw Airport and their beautiful unique Christmas tree was our first sight upon entering the city.

We stayed in an apartment overlooking the entrance to the market square. This was an advantage in the evening when we went out to the market. But it did get noisy at times from the late-night partiers. The lights were absolutely beautiful. Here are some shots from the balcony of the apartment.

Daytime View

The Christmas Market gets going in the evening and runs late into the night. There were many stalls selling all kinds of things - Christmas items, clothing, jewelry, and a lot more. A good place for Christmas shopping. Also tons of food stalls. Oh, the food! All types of wonderful Polish food. Various meats including kielbasa, cabbage dishes, soups, desserts, fruit and candy are included in the options.

Giant loaves of tasty bread

I regret that I did not get more pictures showing the variety and options of the food. We ate very well and had some tasty desserts. Trust me, there were tons of choices and it was all delicious. 

Now for the entertainment and decorations. It's best to let the pictures tell the story.

                                                                                    

                                                                     

                                                  

                                  

                                                             

                                

There was some music and other odd performers like the guy twirling fire. One of my favorite was the talking moose head.

And last but not least are the mugs. Every year they have a different color boot shaped mug. You can get a mug at the stands where they sell the drinks. There is a deposit that you pay for the mug and you can either keep it or return it when you are finished and get your deposit back. Needless to say, we kept ours. The choice of drinks was different flavors of mulled wine (I tried cherry and it was great) or hot chocolate. We got ours with whipped cream .Yum!

                

  

The weather was reasonable winter weather. I wore a coat, hat (sometimes) and gloves and was very comfortable. Good walking shoes are a must! I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a winter vacation. It was a fun experience, especially if you have never been to a Christmas market.

Future posts will cover more of the other areas of Wroclaw. Please check back later for more.

         

     

    Scenes of St. Augustine, Florida

  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

                     

It was a bright sunny day when I visited St. Augustine. We parked on a side street and walked several blocks into the historic district. There were some interesting houses along the way such as the colorful Victorian home pictured above. We passed by Ripley's Believe It or Not! but did not go in. We did visit St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine and Museum. It had beautiful exhibits and history of the first Greek settlers. There is no admission charge but they do accept donations.

Entering St. Augustine's  Historic District

      

Exhibits inside the Visitor Center  

The visitor center is a good place to start. There is lots of information and help for planning your day. Above are some of the interesting historical exhibits in the building. It is definitely worth taking the time to check out this place.                                                                                                                                                

                                                 

                                                   Huguenot Cemetery

The Huguenot Cemetery in St. Augustine was established as a public cemetery in 1821 during a yellow fever epidemic. The Memorial Presbyterian Church acquired it in 1832. They operated the cemetery as a public burial ground in the city until 1884, when it closed. I enjoyed looking at the old gravestones.

   Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine

 

                                                                                 

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine is the oldest Catholic Church in the United States. There is abundant ornate decorations as is the case in most Catholic churches. But what catches your eye is the open-timbered ceiling which reminded me of the ribs of a ship. And outside the architecture fits the Spanish style seen in St. Augustine.

Flagler College

Beautiful Spanish Renaissance Architecture

This is such an exquisite, breathtaking building surrounded by beautiful grounds. What more can I say? It was closed when we were there, I'm not sure why. Usually it is open to visitors. 

Lightner Museum

We walked into the Lightner Museum and looked around the lobby which had a few interesting displays. We did not feel like paying the admission so that was the extent of our visit here.

                               Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States. It is an impressive structure. We wanted to go inside but the line was super long so we just walked around the fort on the outside and sat by the Matanzas River. It was a hot day and after a long day of walking it felt good to cool my feet in the water. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

This was a quick visit, just for the day. We spent the day exploring the historic district, admiring all the wonderful architecture and browsing in the shops. For those looking to spend more time in the area, St. Augustine offers numerous museums and other attractions including the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse and Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park.

Odds & Ends 

The Monterey Bay Coast and Beyond

The drive on Highway 1 from Monterey to Santa Cruz offers some interesting spots to stop for a quick bite to eat or just to explore. Here are a few that I visited and some others I missed but that are worth a mention.

Castroville

This town is "The Artichoke Capital of the World". There is an Artichoke Festival every year with all kinds of activities and the crowning of the Artichoke Queen. Guess who the very first Artichoke Queen was in 1948? None other than Norma Jean Mortenson, better known as Marilyn Monroe!  

https://artichokefestival.org/

A great place to eat in Castroville is Phil's Fish Market & Eatery. If you love seafood like I do this is the place to go. There is also the Giant Artichoke Restaurant and a Japanese restaurant.

                     http://www.philsfishmarket.com/

Moss Landing

I only drove through this town so I can't tell you too much. It has a beach - Moss Landing State Beach but from information that I read, there are dangerous rip currents so swimming is not safe. There is a big power plant that you pass when driving through. 

Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve is a few miles east of Moss Landing. It is a coastal wetland, a large tidal salt marsh with an abundance of wildlife. There is  a visitor center, picnic areas, a boardwalk and trails. I did not get a chance to visit the reserve but I think it is worth a visit. 

As you leave Moss Landing you will see J & S Surplus, a military surplus store. I did go into the store and look around but I loved the outside more as you can see in the photo.

Aptos

OK - In Aptos I did only one thing. Eat ice cream. Marianne's Ice Cream is a small ice cream shop but they have amazing flavors. And the ice cream is "hand-crafted". Yum! Delicious.

Marianne's also has 2 shops in Santa Cruz.

https://mariannesicecream.com/

The next stop was Santa Cruz. Check out my previous post on Santa Cruz.

Now, let's head south on Highway 1 from Monterey. This takes you through Carmel-By-The-Sea to Big Sur, a beautiful, scenic drive along the coast.

As you drive down the coast you will see many state parks. There is the Big Sur area where there are amazing beaches, state parks and breathtaking scenery.

Close to San Simeon is Hearst Castle. What an unbelievable place! It is hard to believe one person could possess all that opulence. It really is extravagance in the extreme.

View from the drive below

                        

      
                     

As you can see there is so much to do and see in this short stretch of coastline. Something for every taste. Anyone who loves the ocean this coastal drive is one of the best. It is definitely some of the most spectacular scenery I have experienced.