Remembering Travel Before COVID

Man, 2020 has been quite a year, hasn’t it? I mean, I’m not really there is much else to say about it except for I’m ready for 2021 and September just started!

At the end of January this year (before there was a global pandemic), we took a trip to Poland. It feels like a lifetime ago, but then I remember that it was really only about 7 months ago. We had two missions for this trip: order drysuits from Santi and eat pierogi. I’m happy to say we accomplished both!

This was one of the most complicated trips we have had to date with the girls. We left the brand spankin’ new New Orleans airport (MSY) on January 25. We Flew from New Orleans, to Detroit, to Amsterdam, to Gdansk. 3 planes, 20 hours of travel: we were exhausted. And, to top it all off, our flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was late getting in, meaning we had a short connection in Amsterdam, and that our luggage didn’t make it. The luggage that had our car seat for Julie (I know, this is one of the reasons people say not to check a carseat, but I was not about to haul it through three airports, so we took the risk), the travel car vest for Evelyn, oh, and our winter coats. Not sure if you know this or not, but January in Poland is brisk! Coming from the Gulf Coast, we are not quite as acclimated to the cold as we used to be. Thankfully, we we got everything worked out. We were able to get some car seats for the girls with our rental car, we got to our amazing AirBnB that had a nice restaurant and a little market within a 5 minute walk (meaning we could walk it briskly without coats), and we all took a nap. That evening, our lugagge was delivered. A hot shower was MOST welcome :)

Enjoying the view from the Delta Skyclub in MSY

Sleeping on the flight from Ams > GDN

This trip was unusal for us in that we stayed in one location for the entire time. We had one rental for the week and did things in and around Gdansk. I was worried I would hate it, that we would get bored. But, I actually loved staying in the same place! It was so much easier and nicer than I expected to not be moving every couple of days. See, I usually get FOMO when we take a trip to Europe. I want to see and do all the things. But with kids, we’ve been forced to slow down and I’m actually kind of grateful for that! We got to explore Gdansk slowly, really take it in. We didn’t feel rushed and it was actually (almost) relaxing.

View from our Airbnb as twilight set it at 4pm on the first day we were there. I forgot how early is gets dark when you’re this far north!

Now, 6 (or is it 7?) months into a pandemic, with international travel all but impossible for the foreseeable future and even domestic travel an ordeal, I feel fortuante that we were able to take this trip. It wasn’t always easy (the girls fought sleep and naps nearly every day), but we did some fun things and had a good time. Evelyn is even asking to go back to Poland :) We have a Google Home Hub in our kitchen that uses our pictures for a screen saver and both girls are glued to it when pictures from our trip to Poland pop up.

Oh, and to cap off the trip, Evelyn turned 4!! We celebrated by letting her pick dinner (she picked Italian), dessert, and a trip to a local indoor water park. I think this is the real reason she is so keen to go back to Poland ;)

Her favorite flavor - pink vanilla!

I know this is a bit rambly, but I’ve been having a lot of feels lately over all this. I miss Europe. I miss travel. My feet are getting itchy. Evelyn starts kinder next year (OMG!!) and taking trips during our preferred time of shoulder season will be more difficult. And, I thought it was about time to post some of our adventures from Poland on here!