Showing posts with label parkrun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parkrun. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Baltic Tour 2026 - Gdansk / Malbork

Gdansk / Malbork, Poland, Thursday/Monday 16/20-July-2026

Table of Contents:

Thursday 16-July-2026.

After a pleasant overnight in Pardubice the next stop was Gdansk with yet another wonderfully ornate main station. Despite being a bit off our track this was a place Mary wanted to visit for its historic significance (and a parkrun) so we planned a four night stop here.

Our Home Exchange apartment was just north of the city centre. There was a classic “desire path” cutting the corner at the end of the road.

After so much restaurant dining in the last week or so we decided to eat light by cooking in the apartment - pork with paprika and boiled potatoes.

Friday 17-July-2026.

We took a train over to Malbork for an overnight stay in Malbork to snag ”Z” for our second alphabet - “parkrun Zamek w Malborku”. Zamek means castle in Polish and there’s a clue in the name. 

We dumped our bags at the Premium Bed and Breakfast very close to the parkrun and went off to explore the town starting with the castle. It is difficult to visualise how big it is. 

We only looked around the outside of the castle buildings and at a good pace but it still took more than an hour. It is the largest brick building in Europe and has three concentric moats. 

Some original old tiles featuring creatures, elsewhere they had been replaced with modern versions.

Evening meal was at restaurant Kamienica with an oenological first - Polish rosé!

Saturday 18-July-2026.

parkrun Zamek w Malborku, 18/06/26 31:25 [22/31]

The B&B offered a ludicrously generous breakfast unfortunately, due to our imminent parkrun, we were not able to take full advantage of the abundance.

A very soggy parkrun, possibly our wettest ever. Amongst the fellow tourists were a couple we met in Sicily at Uditore parkrun back in May - small world! Normally they have 70 to 80 participants. The rain kept most regulars away but us parkrun tourists are not put off so easily! Ten of the 31 attendees were British.

As we lined up for the start the heavens opened.

The first and second finishers were soaked but happy such is the parkrun spirit. With credit to Zbigniew Jazdzewski for the photos.

After the obligatory shower we did a suggested walk around Malbork and then it was off to the station to reverse out journey back to Gdansk for lunch. We had a lovely light lunch of antipasti at Trattoria Al Dente.

We relaxed in the afternoon then went out looking at old buildings in the town centre. Having worked up a thirst we went for a craft ale at Under Beer followed by a lovely meal at Thai Thai including a tasty spicy mango margarita for Mary. 

We like Thai food but since moving out of London it is a rare treat. Penrith doesn’t run to one and Italy doesn’t really do foreign restaurant outside of the major cities.

Sunday 19-July-2026.

We took a Buggy tour to get a feel for the lay of the land. Our guide was the lively and informative Tomasz, a grandson of Lech Wałęsa! The picture he is holding is of his dad, son of Lech, between Bush and Reagan. 

We visited areas of the famous shipyards including this monument to the 17 workers killed in 1970. Apparently the first monument built by the Communists for people killed by the Communists. 

The plaque reads:

“Memorial of the fallen shipyard workers 1970. A token of everlasting remembrance of the slaughter victims. A warning to rulers that no social conflict in our country can be resolved by force. A sign of hope for fellow citizens that evil need not prevail.”

A light Japanese lunch at Sakamoto-Ya followed by a wander round town. These are some of the red brick buildings around Gdansk town centre. The bottom left shows how they preserve and make use of any ruins of the original buildings.

The World War 2 museum is high on the list of must-see sites in Gdansk. It takes two to three hours even at a steady pace. We learned so much from our visits to the museum and reflected on how some people and countries don't seem to be learning from the mistakes of the past. This poster was a quote describing the post war political landscape.

The birth and growth of totalitarianisms
Democracy in crisis after the First World War

“When the First World War ended, most countries in Europe were parliamentary democracies. But in many of them democracy soon came under attack. In some, including Poland in 1926, democratic governments were replaced by authoritarian regimes. In the Soviet Union, Italy and Germany, governments adhering to totalitarian ideologies - Communism, Fascism and National Socialism - came to power.
What they had in common was their leaders' drive for absolute control, the use of terror and aggressive propaganda, contempt for democracy, a drive to regulate their societies, and great-power ambitions. Their counterpart in the Far East was Japanese imperialism.”

Continuing our wandering we went down to the docks where this historic crane was originally powered by four men in a giant hamster wheel.

The evening meal was classy dining at Canis, friendly service, wonderful food and an extensive wine list in a lovely setting.

Monday 20-July-2026.

We had to have at least one meal of pierogi as I think of it as Poland’s national dish. It made a great lunch on a day devoted to sightseeing.

Gdansk-Lenin shipyard gate number two where we did the Solidarity Museum.

The evening was more craft ale with beer and meal by Brovarnia.

We do like a tasting paddle to try different beers. They only had three beers on tap at the time so we might have to come back in the autumn / winter to taste their dark beers.

The schnitzel was ludicrously large, almost as large as the plate; I couldn’t eat it all.

That evening we booked for a classical concert at the Polish Baltic Philharmonic. A solo pianist, Daniel Zimko, playing Chopin & Ravel:

  • Nocturne in F major, Op. 15, No. 1, 
  • Ballade in F major, Op. 38,
  • A cycle of Chopin's outstanding piano miniatures, the Waltzes, Op. 34. 
  • From Ravel's works, the pianist had chosen Le Tombeau de Couperin.

From the balcony we had a great view of his impressive fingerwork.

Tuesday 21-July-2026.

Up early for breakfast at the main station and purchase of a picnic lunch for the train trip to Warsaw.

Next stop: Warsaw 

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Saturday, July 11, 2026

Baltic Tour 2026 - Graz

Graz, Austria, Friday/Saturday 10/11-July-2026.

Table of Contents:

The third day of back-to-back travel in order to pick up our original route at Graz. The reason for visiting Graz was a parkrun.

Friday 10-July-2026.

The trip from Stuttgart to Graz was smooth, uneventful and on time. We forgot to take the platform station sign so improvised with this.

We passed through some beautiful scenery with mountains in the distance.

After a quick change we headed straight out for supper, preceded by the essential beer. Although it was only an overnight in Graz it was long enough to appreciate the buildings and find the brauhaus, Glöckl Bräu, recommended by the hotel.

Graz city centre.

A weisse beer and a dunkel lager. 

The restaurant was offering cevapcici which we first tasted and loved in Vienna so it was an easy menu choice. Normally served with potatoes but we went for the healthy option and had salad.

After supper we went for a stroll around town and caught the sunset over the river Mur.

Heading back to our hotel in search of a bar for a nightcap we serendipitously stumbled across this DJ spinning vinyl in the garden of the Volkskunde museum which was a lovely way to finish the evening.

Saturday 11-July-2026.

Stadtpark, Graz 23/05/26 31:10 [55/75] 

Saturday morning was parkrun / park walk just three minutes walk from the hotel, and afterwards a chat with new parkrun friends, Oliver and Stephanie, in a local cafe.

The course is distinctly bird shaped which is why the sign has a little duck perched on it!

After a shower back at the hotel we had a lunch of sashimi at nearby Subarashii and then it was time to head to the train station for the next leg of our journey.

Next stop: Budapest

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Sunday, May 24, 2026

City Break - Lecce

Lecce, Puglia, Italy. Friday/Sunday 22/24-May-2026.

We wanted to be in Lecce on the Sunday for Cortili Aperti (Open Courtyard). Rather than drive down to Lecce and back for parkrun on Saturday and then do it all again on Sunday we decided to treat ourselves to a little mini break and halve the drive time. We booked ourselves an economically priced room 15 minutes walk from the old town rather than pay top dollar to be in the centre.

Friday 22-May-2026. 

Checked into the apartment then went out for a walk round town, a aperitive on the main street for people watching and a supper at Restaurant Pezzetto.

Saturday 23-May 2026.

Salento 23/05/26 29:26 [12/28]

On Saturday morning we enjoyed an extra hour in bed and a 20 minute drive instead of our usual hour and ten minutes. 

One of the visitors was an Australian who was staying in Lecce and had got up horribly early to get a bus to somewhere near parkrun. So we offered him a lift back into town where he could get some much-needed sleep having been out drinking late the night before.

The afternoon was spent wondering about the town including the fascinating Faggiano Museum. A fascinating home-turned-museum, where sewerage excavations led to the chance discovery of previous occupations all the way back to the Messapian culture of the 5th century BC, Roman crypts, medieval walls, Jewish insigna and Knights Templar symbols in the rooftop tower. The house itself dates to the 12th century and was used for a period as a convent.

Mary spotted boards in the Roman amphitheatre indicating that it was either now open to the public or would be soon. Previously it could only be viewed by looking down into it from street level but we saw this too late to investigate but resolved to check it out later.

Then we had an interesting wine and food tasting at La Strada Del Vini. As the nibbles were not too large we were able to squeeze in a light supper later that evening at Tranquillo.

Sunday 24 May 2026.

Sunday was Cortili Aperti in Lecce. A bit like Open House in the UK but in Lecce's case it is their fabulous courtyards that are opened to the public. Hidden behind the huge wooden doors of many of their palazzi (grand houses) are lush gardens, ornamental architecture and evidence of previous epochs, even going back to Messapian times (7th to 3rd centuries BC). 

We last visited Cortili Aperti in 2011 and it was a delight to return. We planned a morning timetable taking in some of the most interesting buildings combined with dance, music and theatre performances.

First stop Marcelline Institute of Culture and Languages promising "Scenes from a 19th-century ball, featuring dances and costumes typical of the Romantic bourgeois period." There was a real Jane Austin vibe about the whole event.

Unfortunately our planned itinerary all went awry when the performance in our first stop started more than 30 minutes later than timetabled. But it was worth the wait, especially as, unexpectedly, a friend from parkrun was performing.

Onwards to continue our itinerary. Several of the houses had live music.

Castello Carlo V, one of the most important monuments in Lecce, constructed in the Norman era (10-12 AC) and actively used since, transformed into a barracks late 19th century and now a museum. Suitably imposing fortress with square towers and sharp angles - about as unwelcoming as they could be.

Between 10am and 1pm we saw around a dozen buildings or courtyards, walked about 6km and then we were done.

As there was a break in the programme between 1pm and 4pm, it was time for a lovely lunch and a rest in the Giardini Publici before heading back to the car and Cisternino.

Back home we went for a sundowner at Quirico and were treated to a religious parade for Maria Ausiliatrice (Mary the Helper) down the street. A procession of the devout.

Followed by the Madonna on an electric float then a brass band. Apparently to be followed by a solemn mass.

Finally supper at home. A cracking weekend.

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Sunday, May 10, 2026

City Break - Palermo

Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Thursday/Sunday 07/11-May-2026.

Of course it was parkrun that triggered this trip. We had heard that Uditore parkrun was at risk of closure. So we decided we would pop over for the weekend to visit Palermo for the first time and to tick this parkrun off the list.

Thursday 07-May-2026.

A mid afternoon flight so a mid morning start - very civilised times for a Ryanair flight. A drive to the long-stay car park and we had a late lunch airside before our 15:00 flight. The flight is only one hour long so it was over almost before it began. 

Our apartment was lovely but a bit inconvenient for travel into town so for our first night we decided to stay local. We found a nearby highly rated fish Ristorante Pescheria CB Sea Food but we made mistakes in the ordering. They offered a €40 four course deal. First mistake was choosing a primo that had many of the same ingredients as the secondi. 

The second problem was their quantities were very generous and we were so stuffed we had to forgo half the main course and the dolce.

The first couple of starters were delicious.

Sadly the other two starters were disappointing - the limpets were chewy like rubber and gritty - not a pleasant experience. The seafood paella was ok but a little stodgy.

The primi was seafood risotto which was tasty. The secondi course was mixed fried seafood with all the same components as the paella and the risotto but deep fried so not enough contrast in terms of taste and texture. Sadly I would not go back there again. 

On the other hand the white wine was delicious. Grillo is a local grape variety and we were impressed by the exotic, floral notes.

Friday 08-May-2026.

A full day of doing the tourist stuff. One of the interesting things about Palermo (and Sicily in general) is the mix of architectural styles: Roman, Norman, Arabic, Byzantine, etc. reflecting the different invasions over the centuries. 

Our first stop was the tourist information office where the very helpful chap gave us a map of the city and sketched out some of the key places to visit. He highlighted the sights for us to visit and gave us a brief description of why they were important.

First stop: Quattro Canti (Four Songs), the main crossroads that marks the centre of the old town.

From there we walked up to the main cathedral. We bought a ticket that gave us entry to the main building, the crypt where a number of Roman sarcophagi had been repurposed for mediaeval bishops, the treasury where religious gold and silver artifacts were on display, and the rooftop.

The viewer from the roof was spectacular but a little scary. I’m not a huge fan of heights, but the railings were sturdy and I kept to the centre of the walkway where possible.

We then continued west to the Royal Palace and explored the area around there, passing the Porta Nuova.

We had a wander around the church of San Giovanni degli Eremitio which had been the mosque at one point. A fascinating mix of Islamic domes, Romanesque cloister ruins and tranquil gardens.

Next, as advised by the man at tourist information, we went down to Ballarò market area and found ourselves a lunch spot at Greta’s where Mary had a delicious Caponata (a traditional Sicilian dish) with added swordfish. We have made it at home twice since we got back and it will be entering our standard repertoire.  

After lunch, we’re headed north for a tour of the Teatro Massimo. We took a bilingual, guided tour of this fascinating concert venue, built around the same time as the Royal Albert Hall but more ornate.

Like the Royal Albert Hall, it has seating in a horse shoe shaped auditorium and tiers of boxes plus a Royal Box which we got to see.

In the grounds of the theatre was this entertaining art installation of garden gnomes crossed with the Terracotta Army, a temporary art exhibition by Italian artist Max Papeschi titled Extinction: The Twilight of the Gnomes. The installation, described as a "dystopian" army, serves as a critique of modern society, aiming to highlight hypocrisy regarding peace, war, and environmental destruction.

For supper we decided to head down to Notarbartolo which seems to be the Clapham Junction of Palermo where there were plenty of well rated restaurants. Being a tourist is thirsty work so we went for a cocktail before dining. Mary had this very tasty melon version of an aperol spritz while I, of course, had to try a local Palermo gin and tonic.

While there we were stunned to spot a K6 Telephone box across the road! The shop behind was called Cabine Inglese.

We had a very nice meal at a restaurant coincidentally called Terracotta.

Saturday 09-May-2026.

Uditore 09/05/26 29:35 [13/39].

Uditore parkrun in Palermo today on a lovely day, albeit a bit hotter than we are currently used to. The oldest parkrun in Italy, two weeks away from their 11th birthday and at risk of closure! According to the petition for the park supporters, which stands at over 25,000 signatures: 

"Uditore Park represents one of the few green spaces within the urban context of Palermo, providing a vital space for relaxation, sports, and community gatherings. Unfortunately, by 2026, the existence of this urban and social asset could be at risk due to a lack of funding from the Sicilian Region. This situation is unacceptable, both for environmental conservation and for the well-being of the local community.".

The latest success is that the water meter has been replaced thanks to generous donations from supporters. The ball is now in the court of the authorities.. 

Today, as well as the park runners and walkers, it was well used by all sorts of people: people walking and running the paths, families with children in the play parks, older kids chattering on the grass, dogs being walked and playing in the large dog parks and a bunch of martial artists practising with real, very scary looking swords! 

In an area full of high-rise flats, this would be a significant loss to the community as well as the parkrun family.

Lovely to meet up with the five fellow tourists from the UK.

Back to the apartment for the obligatory (and necessary) shower and straight back into town. First stop a delicious, light, salad lunch at Bar Al Capriccio.

We went down to the old harbour which was lovely and went in to the nearby Chiesa Parrocchiale di Santa Maria della Pietà.

Porta Felice down by the harbour.

We then had an hour to spare before a booked wine tasting so we popped into the botanical gardens which were excellent. We spent a very pleasant time wandering around.

What I liked was that the informative plaques not only told you what they were and where they were from but also included a small item of trivia for every single one.

The wine tasting was at at Bottega Monteleone. The selection of wines was interesting, representing some of the range produced locally (one each of sparkling, white, rose, red and sweet) and we liked them all. The food pairings worked well and they were very good at adapting to cater for Mary’s lactose intolerance. Full write up at Sicilian Wine Tasting With Snacks.

After the gastronomic indulgences of the first couple of nights we decided to go for a simple pizza at the highly rated Alex Bar - Pizzeria near our apartment.

Sunday 10-May-2026.

Because of the timings we did not have any opportunity for doing tourist stuff on Sunday. We packed up, cleared out of the apartment and sat in the garden enjoying the sunshine for an hour. Then headed off to the airport which took two hours by public transport, got ourselves our airside and had a snack lunch.

The flight landed 10 minutes ahead of schedule and with no formalities to go through we were off and away back to Cisternino in record time for an aperitivo at Oltramura and a meal at Chirico.

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