New Years bit

A stroll around the hood on New Years Day.

Waking in Warsaw, hangover free,
I am expecting a day cold and icy.
However, to my grateful surprise,
The day is clear, and I feel energised.
Now to assess my part of the city.

As we had a light night with only a couple of bottles of champagne and a few fingers of whisky it was easy to get up and smile at the face of a new year. I know this year will be great as there were less fireworks than normal the night before, there was a sunny day to greet us and I did exercise on the first day of the year.

Contrasting

The traditional Russian "champagne" leftovers from the night before.

There was only one shop open, it has traditional and regional food and three fridges of regional beers! I think I am in heaven.

Crusty and crunchy the new year appears

People already on the move.

Paths crossing in the stratosphere

Everyone wants to fly away.

Sometimes the easiest way to get away you just need to do it yourself.

The icy paths are everywhere and were great to watch people shuffle along.

Gently gently.

The paths look like this up close.

Staring into the new year.

Many people were out for a walk.

Such a nice day for a walk and to start the year.

many were out for a walk :)

Time to follow the path

It may look like it is into the dark, but the path still leads to something new and bright.

I hope the first 2 months of the new year have treated you well. Let's all be creative, happy and positive so that the year will be great for all around us, which in turn helps us to have a great life.

Ksiazece - Czerwony Lager *Product Review*

Ksiazece - Czerwony Lager

*Product Review*

Brewery: Piwowarska

Alcohol: 6%

Volume: 500ml

Cost: 2.79PLN

Apperance: Light brown almost pinky red. Light airy head that didn't last long.

Aroma: Hoppy, oaky tree sap, fresh green wood.

In the mouth: Bitter, quite bitter, hints of honey, very dry in the back mouth, mustard seedy and herbaceous. But no lasting flavour at all.

Drink with: The spiciest food you can find so that you don't actually have to taste it for long, and it is only used to put out the fire. If you have to drink it, make sure it is ice cold minimising impact on your delicate little taste buds.

Overall: Rather disappointing after enjoying their dark beer recently. I'd say you will find better beers out there, in fact I tipped out half the bottle as I couldn't put myself through finishing it. Reminds me of Victoria Bitter in Australia. In other words, not good at all.

2/10

Website:http://en.kp.pl/brands/ksiazece-czerwony-lager/

Christmas, Chrimbo, Wigilia.

I am obviously a little late.... like only a month or so.... ok, maybe two. But Christmas posts by everyone in the world are now over, so only the lazy are available to give you such pleasures. Enter me!

The drive back in -20C

Plenty of snow in the east, and cat prints.

It looks so clean and crisp

trails in the snow

action man in tracksuit pants. Funnily enough they are called dres in Polish. Not so manly....

Look at the snow fly

slowly making a dent

it must be lunch time, the sun is going down.

night lights

The ol' Chrimbo tree

The day was too much for some.

All Christmasy creative

Don't forget the annual gingerbread house.

The most amazing gingerbread loaf with blackcurrant jam filling! Yum!

The sweet quartet. Gingerbread loaf, and gingerbread house, right is a cheesecake and centre is a plum and pudding cake.

Sorry it was late. Next I am sure New Years will pop up!

Ksiazece Product Review

Ksiazece - Ciemne Lagodne

*Product Review*

 

Brewery: Piwowarska

Alcohol: 4.1%

Volume: 500ml

Cost: 2.79PLN

Apperance: Light brown head with good retention and a dark coffee colour better than many dark Polish beers.

Aroma: Oddly enough it is quite light on the aroma, that could be also because I served it very cold and it has such a good head retention. I could get a little raisin from it and the coffee smell of roasted malt and that was about it. But it wasn't over the top with aroma.

In the mouth: Slightly metallic in the mouth feel, it has some coffee tart to it certainly plenty of malt flavour come through with coffee and a hint of honey. It was enjoyable after that small first hit of flavour. Even now 20 minutes after finishing it still lingers in my mouth in a positive way.

Drink with:As this is a dark beer that is not too sweet it could be enjoyed with some rich roasted game like wild boar, or duck would be good. You could even try to enjoy it with a heavy rich coffee cake for dessert or maybe some dried fruit and matured cheese.

Overall: Quite a good beer, it lasts long in the mouth and gives a well rounded flavour, the slightly strong metallic flavour at first can have its drawbacks, but the long coffee flavours and the slight honey sweetness make it well balanced.

7/10

Website: http://en.kp.pl/brands/ksiazece-ciemne-lagodne/

Lomza Podkapslowe *Product Review*

Lomza Podkapslowe

*Product Review*

Brewery: Lomza
Alcohol: 6.0%
Volume: 330ml
Cost: 3PLN


Apperance: When you roll the bottle you get a nice hazy beer,if not it comes out quite clear according to their marketing.... but I don't see it. It has poor head retention but that isn't an issue for this style of beer.

Aroma: Citrus in the form of yellow grapefruit, jasmine and wheat notes.

In the mouth: Full of hops and yeast in a big explosion of flavour. A nice tartiness to the mid palate and is rather dry across the tongue. There is no real sweetness, which is surprising for a beer of 6%. It has some grassy flavours and also just screams of summery sunshine in your mouth.

Drink with: Great with pizza or burger and fries, goes perfectly with anything salty. So, if you want to be elegant some scallops or even oysters could replace the more "working man" foods.

Overall: When served very cold this is a fabulous beer especially for summer. It has a freshness that is not expected for a 6% beer and is in a nice "stubby" bottle that is easy to hold if you choose to drink from the bottle.

8.5/10

Website: http://www.piwolomza.pl/

FUCC'ers Visit

Last year we visited the Europe FUCC's in Sweden, this year it was their chance to visit us here in Poland. We only had a weekend but tried our hardest to get some quality FUCC family time in.

They day they arrived was steamy and the day of a protest march about.... well no one was really sure as everyone had a placard of some description but rarely were they the same message.

There were plenty out on the streets.

And flags a plenty.... well, mostly held by retired folk.

And the cafes were packed with on lookers.

First watering hole was przekaski zakaski part of the Gessler Mafia restaurant corp. I say that tongue in cheek as they are a family that has many restaurants to many members of the family. It is a great place to get some cheap Polish tapas, vodka and beer.

Nice to get a cold beer on a sweaty day.

The Champ is ready for some hot sausage!

and into the old town

the wacky clock.

There is always a token wedding party in old town.

old town square

 

Sawa

It's out of focus but I still like it.

And the old band plays on the big screen.

Time for a bad icecream

K is for konfused, right?

Cape Jesus

The waving cat says goodnight.

 N.B. FUCC is not a rude word, it is Flinders University Cricket Club please do not get offended.