Village life...

We had a long weekend here to celebrate the 1st and 3rd of May.
1st of May a labour day, 3rd Constitution Day. A flood of tourists was heading towards Krakow and the only logical solution was to drive against the traffic.
My friend Agnieszka took me to see her holiday house which, due to family issues is being neglected and falling apart.
Luckily, just next door is a house of our friends who have been living out there for the last 17 years. Generously, they invited us for the weekend.
The area is absolutely beautiful. Valleys, hills, forests and all of them covered in beeches and the man loves his beech!
We've spent the time chatting and going for walks in the rain. An added bonus of the trip was meeting my friend's sister who just happens to be the historical director of Versailles, so  next time I'm in Paris...
___

This is Agnieszka's house. Unfortunately it's in disrepair due to the typical yours/mine/you pay/I use... type of a situation.

This is the resulting decor...

Our friends' house, loved and lived in...

... and the resulting decor. The owners are architects and artists as well as art historians, teaching at architecture and doing some conservation work around the country, collecting and restoring stuff.

The meadows in bloom, no water shortage here.

Lush, lush, lush...

A neighbour in the rain. This house will be for sale soon as the owners are drinking themselves to death - hurry up I say!

Off to the forest, the clouds were rolling in making the landscape absolutely magical.

Local wildlife. Salamanders were once considered R-rated (near extinction). By now, with a massive reduction in use of fertilisers and environmental approach to farming and living, they are all over the forest floor. It's hard not to step on them. They must be one of the cutest animals out there. They feel soft and rubbery like a squishy toy and despite the colouring are not toxic. Apparently very bitter if eaten, not that I would try.

The clouds rolled in and it was time to test my camera's claim of being water resistant.

Sorta Japanese looking I think, gotta love the beeches!

Another beautiful house in the rain. The camera survived, thank you Canon!

In the clouds...

This is an R - protected mushroom. Again, it has not been seen in years and now they seem to pop up in gardens in the mountains. Apparently you can get a permit to harvest one a year and the cost is about $1000 a pop. The taste is that of a truffle. When grown, they are the size of a wine bottle.

This is what they call the May snows. Fruit tree petals.

We employed the latest Polish technology to clear a bit of the garden - women with scythes - brilliant. I used the scythe as well and I must say it's an absolutely brilliant design. Obviously centuries of development allowed it to become an extension of your body. Stuff the ride-on mowers, get a scythe.

This is Wojtek, the owner of the beautiful house.

Apart from being a teacher he's started producing environmentally friendly toys. It started as a hobby and soon progressed to a world wide distribution including Australia.

Due to the popularity of his stuff he was invited to take part in a EU's educational programme for children. The programme promotes social and environmental values and awareness. Wojtek works with a group of designers producing toys promoting use of public transport. You can see his stuff HERE.

It absolutely amazes me how progressive the EU is in their approaches to people's lives in general. There are masses of money being invested in the future, grants left right and centre. There are grants for rebuilding old village houses as long as they are restored to their original state. Slow tourism is a good grant getter and so is enviro-tourism.

.