Today we got the news we had been waiting for. Mabels autopsy results came back negative and her lumps are benign. This called for an extra long walk, excess cuddles and a smelly pig trotter as celebration (yep I’m vegan and still feed my pups the most disgusting treats because they go crazy for them).
With this being our third time in Krakow, and our longest stay, we have walked the streets for miles. Our flag map of visited destinations is nicely spread out but we are still finding new areas to explore. Today I took us further east to Park Strzelecki, to see a striking sculpture called Pomnik Ignacego Paderewskiego and then on to Wesoła Cafe for the best brunch and coffee we have had in months. My veg plate of bread and homemade spreads was so tasty and filling, if left to me I’d be back for more tomorrow 🤣
We continued our walk/waddle to see an usual Mozaika Wyspiański which decorated an underpass and passed a huge palm tree in a greenhouse at the Botanical University – it looked like it had been built just for that single tree. Poor Mark thought we were then heading back to the centre but I’d found another board game cafe so sneakily took him there.
Hex is the most amazing ridiculously hidden little gem. We passed the black door three times, and the only clue was the word Hex scribbled on a flat door buzzer next to all the other flat names. I’m so glad we found it though as it’s got a great bar and hundreds of board games, including some English copies. It was a lovely rest stop – the dogs had water, Mark had a beer, I had my first iced tonic expresso and we played the weird but wonderful Bears vs Babies.
Emerging from the darkness of the cafe, it was a warm bright afternoon so we took the pups back to the van for a sleep (via a water fountain so Ernest could play). Then Mark and I ventured out again with the aim of sitting and reading outside a cafe. We tried Cafe Kiosk but we both fancied iced lattes and she was out of ice, but she did give me a brilliant recommendation for a local tattoo artist. Instead we found Metaforma Cafe which was nice enough, and had lots of outdoor seating. We ended up chatting through a Tim Ferriss Dreamlines exercise we had completed and have each chosen a couple of different aspirations to focus on.
We then pottered over to Black Mood Tattoo Studio to talk to Jakob (insta @pilgrim77tattoo) about a design based on a Karl Newson painting that I’ve been contemplating for ages (cookies, space, astronaut and space dog Mabel…what’s not to love?!). As this would be my first, he instantly put me at ease and made such a great first impression. Unfortunately he is off to Edinburgh tonight and not back until the 21st so I’d have to make a forth trip to Krakow if I wanted him to do it 🤣 There are also a few scale issues with my design unless I want a massive tattoo- which I don’t. I think I’m going to ask him to design something and make a special trip back, if not this year then definitely next.
After yet more walking to find GoodLood ice cream (it’s the best!), we nipped back to the van, took the pups for another walk and then opted for dinner at the polish vegan burger chain Krowarzywa. Although it took a while to be served, it was delicious and much nicer with far more choice than the one we had previously at Free Farma, though its definitely more of a fast food diner.
This evening we are snuggled up with the pups reading and writing. We are so lucky to be living this life, and I really can’t ask for more ❤
SofaWolves 