So we went to Roztocze region, which is at the south-east of Poland. We stayed near Zwierzyniec--small town next to also small but much more famous Szczebrzeszyn. Szczebrzeszyn is peculiar because it contains `sz' (twice) `cz' and `rz' sounds, which are extremely difficult to pronounce for foreigners. So Szczebrzeszyn is near-impossible to pronounce for strangers. There is also a short poem by Jan Brzechwa (for children so every Poles knows it) which starts from ``W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie'' (cf short video)

We arrived to Szczebrzeszyn about 18:00 and made a quick 1 hour tour. Then we went to Zwierzyniec or to be precise to Sochy--a village 3km away from Zwierzyniec. Next day we walked around Sochy/Zwierzyniec and went by car to another small town Józefów. In Wednesday we visited famous Nature reserve ``Cascades on Tanew River'' (cf https://roztocze.love/p4871) and similar reserve on river Sopot nearby. In Thursday we completed a kayak trip from Zwierzyniec do Szczebrzeszyn on river Wieprz. The best kayak trip ever.

In Friday we moved west to Sandomierz, a medium-sized city at the Vistula river (160 km from Cracow); It is an old town in the center of an interesting region. We stay there for two days. We returned home in Sunday about 18:00

Photo-track of our trip is here (or here) and the photos are available at my flickr account.

The weather was sunny and warm Monday--Friday and cloudy but (almost) no rain in Saturday. Perfect.

With ZK and his family we have spent 3 days in Vienna. If you are interested click the map below to see journey GPX track and photos.

We visited Schönbrunn Palace (a former imperial summer residence), Stephansdom, and Kunsthistorisches museum (where one can see Pieter Bruegel's famous paintings including: The Tower of Babel, The Fight Between Carnival and Lent, and The Hunters in the Snow).

We also visited Flak Towers which are enormous concrete bunkers constructed during 2nd world war. FLAK stands for Flug Abwehr Kanone (or Flugzeugabwehrkanone) and Flak Towers were a part (not particularly effective--mobile system is always better for obvious reason) of German air defence system intended to protect cities and residential areas from Allied air raids. Their construction was planned in September 1942 and Vienna was the third city after Berlin and Hamburg that got them.

The Flak Towers fulfilled two purposes (cf. Flak-Türme Towers, Vienna: Nazi concrete heritage at Vienna's heart): They held cannons and spotlights that should fight airplanes from the ground; and they were important bunkers with an autonomous electricity, air and water supply system. They were built in pairs, comprising of larger Gefechtsturm (Combat Tower) and a smaller Leitturm (Fire-control tower). The three pairs of Vienna can be found in the Augarten in the second district, the Arenberg Park in the third district and one each in the Esterhazypark in the sixth and the Stiftskaserne in the seventh.

We visited Augarten and Arenberg towers.

I have just returned from a week-long trip to Georgia. We have visited Borjomi, Tbilisi, Kazbegi (Stepancminda) and Kutaisi (click the map to see journey track and photos).

On arriving to Kutaisi airport we went straight to the famous Borjomi resort where Russian Emperors once rested. We walked in the park tasting Borjomi mineral spring water, and swimming in hot water pool. From Borjomi we visited cave-city and monastery ensemble Vardzia where there was other hot water pool (with even hotter water). After 2 days in Borjomi we went to Tbilisi where we stayed 1 day (walking in old town). Next morning we drove to Caucasus mountains along Georgian military road via ancient Capital of Georgia -- Mtskheta (unfortunately we did not stop there). We stayed 2 days in Kazbegi where we hiked to Gergeti Trinity Church at 2170m and attended rugby union game Kazbegi vs Tbilisi Crusaiders (among other things:-). Finally we returned to Kutaisi where we visited Gelati and Motsameta Monastyrs as well as Sataplia caves...

We stayed in Leo's Homestay/Guesthouse in Borjomi, Why Not? Legend Hostel in Tbilisi and Hostel Kutaisi by Kote in Kutaisi. We recommend all of them.

The guesthouse we stayed in Kazbegi is not recommended so we do not mention it:-(

More details later...