I could easily have written a post about twenty suggestions for gripping summer reading, or even thirty, but I thought it best to keep it short. Each of the novels listed below has been selected either because of its beautiful writing, its compelling storyline, or in some cases, both. So here you are then, my [...]
My guess is that there are quite a number of people out there who have secretly been enjoying lockdown. And who are now feeling a little saddened that things are gradually getting back to normal as restrictions ease and country after country slowly but surely prepares to return to normal life. Of course there are [...]
This morning when I woke up, I randomly thought, 'Oh no, it’s three weeks since I wrote my last blog post! I have to write another one – and SOON!' I jumped out of bed in guilt-ridden panic. And then I stopped. And thought to myself, ‘Hang on a minute. Why exactly am I feeling [...]
I love my dog and my dog loves me. That’s been my doggie mantra ever since all this corona-lockdown business hit our planet like the proverbial plague. Beforehand, it was more a matter of: I hate my dog and my dog hates me. Of course that’s not really true, just as it isn’t really true [...]
This post is dedicated to my daughter, and to all others who are currently undergoing quarantine and self-isolation due to COVID-19. When she first spotted the message on her mobile, sent by the quarantine police (as she liked to call them) scarcely an hour after arriving back home in Kraków in the middle of the [...]
A year and a half ago I came back from an international school reunion in Vienna and felt so deeply affected, I wrote a blog post about it. Now, eighteen months on, I’ve just come back from a smaller but equally moving reunion (same school, different location) and ... well, here I am again, writing [...]
Today is Fat Thursday in Poland. (Tłusty Czwartek to the Poles.) A day of over-indulging yourself with greasy, fatty, calorific donuts to your heart’s content. All bakery shops will be stacked mountain-high with them; most work places will be offering platefuls of the melt-in-your-mouth delights to their employees; practically every shop window will have a [...]
