Supraśl, Podlasie, Poland.

There is a pretty little town in Podlasie, it is right next to the capital of the region Białystok, it is called Supraśl (pron. soo-pra-shal). One of the main reasons I like this town other than the oak walk, the pretty buildings and the general idyllic scenery, is the shocked monastery.... shocked monastery? Scroll down, you'll see what I mean. Anthropomorphism at its peak :D

A normal every day style church.

What I call the surprised monastery, surely it is saying "OH!", no?

In this photo it looks like its hands are raised, maybe it is being held up for all its money.

I do like paint peeling.

This is a school, if you can believe it.... compared to some of the state schools we see this is darned impressive.

The lady of the school.

A tough looking walrus.

Being out east the town has some more Orthodox influence.

Eaglet

Street side houses.

The cinema and a nice little restaurant.

Signals for the oak walk where you can follow the trail of some really old beautiful oaks.

A local version of Kiszka ziemniaczana or potato sausage

Brian Fontana

The world around me is like a champagne environment. I swear.... Ok, so sometimes you have a great idea, other times you have just ideas, most of the time you have not so amazing ideas. This is one of these, yes I am being non-specific. I tried to capture the random nature of a fountain very close to home on one bright sunny summer's day. What do you think? It is artistic?

Tykocin, Podlasie, Poland.

Tickling Tykocin. Tykocin (pronounced ti-ko-chin) is a village/town in Podlasie on the lovely Narew river. It was once a thriving town of around 4,000 people and half of this was a Jewish shtetel (the West side of town). You can read more about them here. After the war, as one can imagine, this town had lost a great many of its population. The Baroque style synagogue is one of the best preserved in Poland and is from the mid 17th Century. It has a tragic history, like much of Poland, but today the town is growing back into a tourism location based on Jewish past as well as the surrounding nature.

The second building with a low roof was a typical shape of a Jewish merchant house in Poland around the 18th/19th Century. You can see these buildings all over Poland, especially in the towns of Podlaskie

The view from the window of our restaurant Galeria Sztuki i Smaku "Opowieści z Narwi "

A podpiwek (pre-beer, meaning a non-alcoholic fermented drink) it is often made as part of the beer making process.

Fried river white bait

Pike with a herb sauce and buckwheat

Perch on spinach

Amazing fresh water lobster pasta!

The bridge over the Narew

The "fake" castle as some locals call it. A re-built castle run as a hotel and function centre based on an original castle that once stood there.

A symbol of the area, the white stork migrates to Podlaskie every year to have babies and then return southwards.

The aforementioned synagogue 

It still needs a little love.

The fields around the area were full of hay bales. Always a fun photograph.