Tag Archive: Travelling Corner

May 11, 2022

Travelling Corner: Walking weekend in South Devon, UK

When you plan your walking weekend with two little girls, it’s going to be a slow walking weekend, and reaching any destination will be an idealistic dream rather than your reality. However, I should admit that my girls are amazing walkers. Without any complaints – almost (!) –  they are ready for the unknown walking plans of their parents, with a smile and a stick to make it all possible!

Also, I felt sentimental about going back to South Devon, as the last weekend we spend there was in winter 2018, when our oldest daughter was only 3 and now she’s 7. Now we also have another daughter aged 3. Further to that, we had day-trips to South Devon with both girls in spring 2020, with the most beautiful summery weather. This time we went to Devon in autumn 2020, but the weather truly spoiled us: apart from short showers, we had a full weekend of sunshine!

Spring

Winter

Wild swimming walks

As an inspiration for our walks in South Devon, I used Wild Swimming Walks by Sophie Pierce and Matt Newbury. I wrote about this publication here, as it’s a wonderful guidebook to walking and wild swimming in Dartmoor and South Devon, with 28 lakes, rivers and beach days out to choose from.

Walking

Our walking attempts followed these trails: Little Dartmouth (with a little stream to paddle in); Thurlestone Beach-Hope Cove (that was our longest walk, even though we didn’t reach our destination); North Sands-South Sands (with a very steep driving road to the car park); Blackpool Sands (we saw a small seal playing in the sea!). The weather was beautiful, so we could enjoy the views, but even so, some parts of the paths were quite muddy / with large puddles. We had a sling, but our 3-year-old was determined to complete all the walks by herself!

Swimming

While walking, we also wanted to enjoy some splashing in the sea, especially because the weather was amazing for autumn. We obviously went to Thurlestone Beach, to Leas Foot Sand, to be precise! That’s one of my favourite beaches in South Devon, but the sea water is quite cold. We also visited North Sands; we stayed on the beach longer, even though the high tide was coming in. The sea was warm and many people enjoyed swimming in it. We also went to Blackpool Sands, but on that day, the waves were too high and very strong.  

Do you go for long walks with your children? Please let me know in the comments below.

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March 9, 2022

Travelling corner: Weekend with the kids in Wales

We planned this weekend forgetting that precisely two years ago we were here, too! I knew we had visited this place in the past, but didn’t know we came here the same month, and to the exact same location. What a coincidence! And both times, we didn’t have the best weather, but it’s winter, so we accept it’s windy, rainy, foggy and cloudy!

The Mumbles

We decided to stay in The Mumbles, it’s a small town just outside Swansea. It has a pier, café, playgrounds, walking paths and beaches. Just perfect for a family weekend away!

Waterpark

We visited a waterpark in Swansea and we all enjoyed our time there. It’s a family-friendly swimming pool, with slides, waves, bubbles, etc. What’s more, in the same building there is a café, soft-play area and a climbing wall.

(Play) Cafes

We visited Cafe Play Mumbles two years ago and our daughters had a nice time there, but this year we went to Boo’s Kitchen (which my daughter read as boob’s kitchen: also nice!). The café is on one of the quieter side streets of The Mumbles. It has a really nice family-friendly vibe and delicious food options. As it was a Sunday morning, it was quite busy!

Beaches

The Gower Peninsula has a lot to offer in terms of beautiful beaches. I really wanted to finally visit the Three Cliffs Beach, but the weather wasn’t the best for making the effort. Especially that two years ago, we attempted to go to Rhossili Beach and it was so rainy and windy that we could barely walk and enjoy this long stretch of sand (please read the story here). Instead, this time, we visited more local beaches (for us!): Limeslade Bay and Langland Bay.

Walks

We went for a relaxing walk to the pier in The Mumbles. We also visited Limeslade Bay and Langland Bay. In Langland Bay there is a small pebble beach and the pebbles make this amazing clicking sound when the waves move away. Also, there is a small café (with a real fireplace), just something you may so appreciate when it suddenly starts raining (as it did in our case!).

Where do you travel with your children for the weekend? Please share your recommendations in the comment box below.

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November 10, 2021

Travelling Corner: North Wales with children

Last month I published here my summer memories and today I want to explore North Wales with my children. Yes, I want to take you on a trip with us, to visit the places my children enjoyed most.

Alice in Wonderland (Llandundo)

Since reading Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, we all wanted to visit Llandundo, as apparently, the ‘real’ Alice spent her holidays in this beautiful Welsh town. What’s more, when we arrived in Llandundo we learnt from the Information Centre that we can follow an Alice in Wonderland town trail and find many sculptures inspired by the book. We all had so much fun walking around and spotting different pieces of art.

Farm and zoo (Llandundo)

We went to the farm but we didn’t go to the zoo. It’s not that my children don’t like zoos as such, but the ticket prices were high and when we asked those who attended, they weren’t exceptionally impressed. However, we did enjoy our farm visit (free-of-charge). The farm is located in Llandundo, just by the promenade. It has llamas, pigs, goats, deer, hens and owls (!). There is a small playground and a café. Just perfect for a day trip 😉

Beaches and pools

Our children had a great time on different beaches in North Wales: in Penmaenmawr, Llandundo and Prestatyn. They enjoyed looking for shells and pebbles, having a splash in the sea and building sand castles. In Llandundo, there is also an open-air paddling pool, located just on the promenade, not far from the farm.

Local trips

What captured our interest in North Wales? We really enjoyed the The Great Orme. You can get there from Llandundo on foot, by car, by tram or by cable car. We all preferred to go by tram (even though the queuing time was around one hour!) and it was a very enjoyable ride with some beautiful scenic views of the town and the sea front. We also went to Dyserth Waterfall which turned out to be very impressive (about 70 feet / 20 meters). The nearby forest is a perfect spot when it’s very hot or windy. We also visited Conwy Castle and walked around its medieval fortress (slings recommended, as tower stairs are quite narrow and steep). What a great place for a short history lesson!

Have you been to North Wales with your children? What did you enjoy most? Please let me know in the comments below.

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April 28, 2021

Travelling corner: Wild swimming in Poland

I love wild swimming and had many opportunities to try it out last summer in Poland. In Poland, there are swimming pools and lidos which are popular in cities and towns, so if you have a stay-cation, you can still enjoy some cooling down on a hot day (oh yes, it is sometimes 30 degrees in Poland!). But if you’re in nature, there are some wonderful natural reservoirs to have a proper dip.

Lakes

I rarely go lake-swimming in the UK (any tips, do let me know in the comments below), so happily welcomed the opportunity to spend some time by a lake in Poland. We went to Pogoria which is a complex of lakes in the Silesian region. The lakes are surrounded by forests and have many cycling paths. We decided to spend a day on the beach. It was warm, sunny, windless and as expected, the water was super calm 😉 Our girls loved splashing in the lake’s waters and enjoyed the temperature of the water— you could easily spend the whole day there: splashing, swimming and playing. Very comfortable and highly recommended if you’re ever in Poland.

Sea

Oh the sea… More and more I dream about living by the sea, so I am using every opportunity to be able to wet my feet in the salty waters.. The Polish Baltic shore is a long stretch of sandy beaches, forests and lakes. It’s a perfect place to enjoy some time in nature and this is precisely what we did when we were in Poland. We went to a small village, just outside Ustka and explored the surroundings on foot or by bike – mostly by bike.. We even found a wild beach in Orzechowo with the most beautiful colour sea. The sea in Poland is cold, especially when it’s calm, however its temperature raises when there are waves.

River swimming is also popular in Poland. I didn’t try it out this summer, but it’s definitely on my travel to-do list!

Did you enjoy some wild-swimming last summer? Where did you go to? Please let me know in the comments below.

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March 24, 2021

Travelling corner: Winter wonderland in Stourhead (Wiltshire, England)

In December 2020, we gave ourselves a beautiful treat; a visit to Stourhead. It was our first visit there and we didn’t know what to expect. It turned out to be a magical experience. Especially since, in December, along the path way there were Christmassy decorations with some lights installed for the late-evening visits. The place is a true gem for garden and nature lovers. It seems that every detail was carefully designed with many different types of trees, shrubs, plants and water animals. As we read on the NT website, it’s a world-famous landscape garden and can be described as ‘a living work of art’.

As we visited the garden in winter, we’d love to visit it in spring, summer and autumn, as it’d be lovely to observe the seasonal changes. We’ll keep our blogging journal updated and will share more stories from our visits here.

Have you recently visited a magical place? Please let me know in the comments below.

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November 4, 2020

Travelling corner: I fell in love with Exmoor

Why? Because, it has so much to offer! I re-discovered this beautiful region last winter and want to share with you why I find it so special. Below you’ll find my favourites of Exmoor:

Green

Exmoor is green. Even in winter, lower parts of the forests still remain green. It’s (almost) covered in trees and consequently, the air is very fresh (yes, you can feel the difference immediately). What I found really fascinating is that we weren’t so weather-dependant, even if it’s cloudy/rainy, it doesn’t impact our desire to go for a forest walk. Perfect solution!

Quietness

I love the business of everyday life, but I also like to be away, in nature, somewhere quiet. And I definitely slowed down in Exmoor. This region is not so commercial, so not too many tourists. It feels remote, yet local; a good combination.

Landscape

Beautiful. I found it so diverse, from stony beaches and paved walking paths to wild & muddy forests and windy sea shores. Its diversity makes it so unique and it gives you an appetite to explore further.

There is so much more to discover and I plan to return to Exmoor at different seasons to have a fuller picture of this beautiful region. Do let me know if you recommend any books on Exmoor or authors who explore this region. Let me know in the comments below.

Kinga Macalla

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October 7, 2020

Travelling corner: Baltic Sea in Poland

You know I love being by the sea and am even planning to move there one day (!). So when we planned our stay in Poland, we knew we wanted to go to the seaside, too. As the whole summer of 2020 was planned rather chaotically and last-minute, we chose the best location and summer chalet we could find! But, it turned out to be a beautiful spot which we explored intensively and greatly enjoyed. Where did we go to?

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea in Poland is a long shore of sandy beaches, forests and dunes. Some of the beaches have beautifully looked after white sands, like in Karwia. You can also find islands, e.g. Wolin and peninsulas, like Hel. The sea has relatively cold waters, but it doesn’t stop swimmers from enjoying some wild swimming or children from splashing and jumping through the waves. You can go on a boat trip or have a longer cruise to Sweden, Finland or Denmark. There are 9 different countries that have access to the Baltic Sea: Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.

Beaches of the Baltic Sea: Urban, Wide, Wild, White

What a choice! When visiting the Baltic Sea this summer, our base was just outside Ustka, a small town located in the middle of the Baltic shore. There was a long stretch of the urban, sandy beach going up to Orzechowo (a small picturesque wild beach). On one of our cycling trips, we discovered beautiful silver-blue waters and a wide beach in a village called Poddąbie. When visiting our friends in Jastrzębia Góra, we stopped for breakfast on a beautiful beach of white sands in Karwia. What are my favourite beach memories: swimming (of course!), walking (very relaxing!) and sitting and waiting for the sun to set (the explosion of colours!).

Cycling

Nearly the whole  Baltic seashore is surrounded by forests, lakes and rivers. Beautiful nature to be explored on foot, but also on bike. We rented bikes for a few days to explore local forests and beaches and found the whole experience wonderful! The cycling paths are occasionally a bit sandy (careful cycling important here!) and quite uneven (countryside roads). The paths are well marked, but occasionally, we had to ask somebody for directions. We cycled towards Orzechowo to visit inland dunes (on a very hot day!), explore a wild beach (beautiful colours of the sea), as well as go picking wild-blueberries (you sometimes need blue fingers!). We also cycled further away, to Poddąbie where the beach was wide with white sands and silver-blue waters. After a long cycle, it was a real treat! One happy observation: I think cycling in general and with kids is more and more popular in Poland (!!!).

As you can see the Baltic Sea has a rich offer for nature lovers, as well as for those after more active holidaying. We had a truly wonderful time exploring the seashore and have already made some plans for our future travel adventures by the Baltic. Have you been to the Baltic Sea? Which country did you visit? Please let me know in the comments below.

Kinga Macalla

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September 9, 2020

Travelling corner: My summer travels 2020

I think for many of us our plans for summer holidays / travels changed this year. We had planned to go to Portugal but, due to travel restrictions, we cancelled the trip. However, that wasn’t the only reason why we decided to cancel it. We also felt that we so wanted to see our family and friends in Poland this summer, so we booked our flight tickets to travel to Poland. Then those flights were cancelled, too, just two weeks before! Fortunately, a different airline had tickets still available, so we booked our flights with them. Phew! I think travelling became more challenging this year, but I’m grateful that we still could travel, even in this much limited capacity, don’t you agree?!

We loved our stay in Poland. The weather was beautiful. Most days: sunny, warm, cloudless. We went to see our family in Silesia, our friends in the mountains, then we travelled to the seaside to visit some other friends and spend some time splashing in the water and building sand castles. We went away for three whole weeks (omg how long?!) In the past, we would usually go away for maximum of 10 days, but this year we needed to be away longer, to properly re-charge our batteries after a very intensive and stressful spring. And to be honest with you, we really enjoyed this longer time away. We managed to use this time to the fullest, but also managed to get bored and look forward to coming back home.

In Poland, we spent most of our days in nature: by the lake, in the forest (picking up wild blueberries) and on the beach (oh, the pleasure of walking barefoot on the soft sand…). We also found a wild beach, searched for white sands and explored dunes in the forest. I’m preparing more travel stories for you, so do expect more posts on our summer travels in Poland.

Lazy and slow, this is how I’d describe our summer in Poland.

Let me know in the comments below how was your summer 2020?!

Kinga Macalla

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July 29, 2020

Travelling corner: What are your travel plans for summer 2020?

What to do with travelling in the current global situation? My summer travel plans have already changed three times and there were many emotions involved with each of the changes. I felt frustrated, angry, disappointed. But one thing made me think that whatever we decide to do and are able to do (!!!), let’s enjoy this time, let’s be fully present in the moment, let’s make this time beautiful and unforgettable, shall we? 🙂

Below, I put together some inspiration for travelling in England, including Cornwall (of course!):

Isles of Scilly: it’s a dreamy place for a summer holiday

Jurassic peninsula: for the best beaches and quietness

South Cornwall: getting close to nature

South Devon: family-friendly beaches

Exmoor: wilderness & undiscovered walking paths

Where have you decided to travel to this summer? Please let me know in the comments below.

Kinga Macalla

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July 15, 2020

Book review: These Islands. A portrait of the British Isles

I’d most probably recommend that you read this book review in autumn so that your could get the book for those long wintery evenings. So why publish it now? I think that for many of us, the summer plans have changed (including mine!) and it might be a very good time to get inspired by some local routes and travel destinations—your ‘summer playground’. The book / album I want to write about today is so beautiful that I could easily photograph every page of it to inspire you to visit the British Isles. To explore this beautiful land of secret beaches, grey lakes, narrow walking paths and ancient woods.

The album creates an interesting portrait of the Isles, from the Jurassic Coast, Lake District, and the Isles of Scilly, through Snowdonia, the Pembrokeshire Coast to the Wild Atlantic Way and the Isle of Sky. The album contains photographs, short essays, paintings, and poetry, all to inspire you to reflect, to slow down, to travel. It tries to get underneath the known history, pictures and destinations, to bring the Isles closer to the reader and explorers.

Published by Cereal, edited by Rosa Park.

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