If this post had happened a few days back, it would have had a very different tone. But it is what it is, and I only hope reality is a much less dramatic penman than me. Kraków is the reference sample of a peaceful place. Though stuck between a rock and a hard place for over a...

Kraków is as much a home as I’ve ever had. The city has grown so familiar that most of the time I barely notice it. It feels more like an abstract mental space than a set of objects occupying a specific patch of the physical world around me. It’s so everyday that I tend to forget ...

Ostrava is a weird little town you probably never heard of. It’s the third largest in Czechia, and definitely one of the ugliest. Yet its unconventional beauty makes the city one of the most unique places in Europe — especially during the Colours of Ostrava music festival, hosted in a long-abando...

Summer in Bergen must seem like one very long day, since it never really gets dark this time of year. Unless, of course, the 120 hours I spent there were extraordinary in that regard — as they certainly were in many others. Let me tell you about it. I promise not to burden yo...

I’ve been off the social grid for quite a while now. I’d say it’s been well over a year since I stopped checking the feeds regularly or out of boredom. I still take a peek every once in a while, but it’s rather never than often. And so what? Nothing, really. No sudden revelations, no dr...

Life after 30 is as dull as it gets if you’ve had your share of experiences, left your past behind, and settled in a small town where nothing ever happens. At that point, you either start chasing very expensive rainbows or learn to enjoy the same simple pleasures over and over again. Kraków is a ...

On June 1st, Poles were electing a new president. The old one, inherited from the previous ruling coalition of national-conservatives, served his sentence, and is ready to ride off into the sunset, leaving a chemtrail of not-so-funny political memes. The current government was formed in late 2...

Poland is supposedly one of the least LGBT-friendly countries in the EU. According to the Rainbow Map, it just gave up its last-place spot to Romania. One could argue that even that is still years ahead of the global average. But should that be enough? I don’t think so. I believe that in any s...

Lublin got kinda hot lately after serving as the backdrop for the Oscar-nominated movie A Real Pain. Since it was just a few hours away — and I’d already been almost everywhere else in Poland — I decided to go and see if it was worth a visit. The city’s rich Jewish legacy made it a per...

I started this blog in 2009, back when reading was still a thing. It began in Russian, but now I’m happy to finally share some of my latest posts in English as well. Photography has been my hobby since ’08, when I took my first loan and got a brand-new Canon 450D with 12 mpx of raw power (and ...

Slovenia was a pure coinsidense that turned out to be the greatest discovery of the year. Had zero expectations, got massively surprised. It is as neat as Denmark, as stunning as Switzerland, as chill and delicious as the rest of the Balkans. The trip was random — scored a dirt-cheap flight to...