Recently in travel Category

Toward the end of last year, I visited New York City. I am still going through my photographs from my trip so that I can post them. Life is getting in the way these days, and work has been busy as wll. I am not finding the time to update this as much as I would like to do.

I visited before the holidays, but I did not get to see the Rockefeller tree lit up.

I stayed at Lotte Towers and had a view overlooking St. Patrick's Cathedral.

I loved finding these little vending machines that gave you a little printed artwork. I found them at various places in Nw York City.

I attended Radio City's famous Rockette Christmas show.

I also saw "Wicked!" I had seen it when it first came out in London. This was my first visit to the theatre in New York City.

I also saw other attractions, such as Plaza Hotel.

The financial district was nice to explore, and I found some nice streets to walk down.

And saw Wall Street.

The famous Raging Bull sculpture is here too.

Ground Zero museum was there to visit, but I did not visit it.

Because space is limited in New York City, parking cars happens in a multiple-storey elevator.

I saw the firehouse building where "Ghostbusters" was filmed.

Chinatown is huge in New York City, contrasting to just the couple of smaller streets London has. This area went on for miles.

I also explored Essex Market.

And Times Square.

And Grand Central Train Station.

More of Times Square

I found som nice markets too, so I explored those.

Of course, I had to visit Macy's and Bloomingdales.

When I'd been to New York City years ago, I didn't like it. I thought it was okay this time, and I already have plans for the next visit, whenever it will be.

I visited New York City at the end of last year, and I am a little bit behind on posting my photographs. In this post, I wanted to cover some of the food I had, notably things that are not that good for the waistline - cookies and doughnuts! I have a weakness for cookies, actually, and I wanted to try different ones in New York City. Fun fact: my favourite cookie is the snickerdoodle, which is a cinnamon and sugar. This is followed by an iced or frosted sugar cookie and the traditional chocolate chip (or chocolate chip with walnuts, which is good).

First up is the best meal that I had in New York City. This was in Hell's Kitchen - Mamasita Bar and Grill. This restaurant serves Mexican food and glasses of frozen margaritas in different sizes. The food and drink was very good!

I had the chicken fajitas, and there was so much food!

Next up was Jeremy's Ale House in the Financial District. I visited with my cousin on this picturesque little street. The bar was showing several football games on different screens. The most notable item is the atmosphere here with the bar covered in bras. This tradition has been happening since the 1970s. In addition to the bras are pictures and writing on the ceiling and walls.

Next up is Dagg, a Thai restaurant located not too far from Central Station. The food and cocktails were nice, but the portions were very large again. It feels awful to waste food as staying in a hotel means that I couldn't take it back and heat it up the following day.

Seven Grams Cafe - They have a large selection of cookies, and they will warm them up for you. I had the chocolate chip. I didn't care much for it warmed up, but it was delicious a few hours later and my favourite.

Chip City - This bakery are located underground at the Rockerfeller Centre and serve different flavours. I tried the chocolate chip and a special apple cookie. The chocolate chip was delicious. It was also one of my favourites.

Crumbl - This bakery went viral last year with its cookies. They sell snack sizes and full sizes, and I regret not getting more of the snack sizes as they did have my favourite type - Snickerdoodle. I tried the iced sugar cookie. I did not think too much of it as it was a little too sweet for me.

There are quite a few little bakeries around New York City.

Buttercup BakeShop has a large selection of cookies, cupcakes, and other treats. I had a cookie, but I was not impressed. I wish I had tried a cupcake as they do look nice.

Jacques Torres Chocolate - The shop is known for its chocolates, but it does sell cookies. The cookie was alright, but it was not my favourite. I did get some chocolate too, but one of the chocolates had a staple inside it, which really put me off. I did go and complain. I don't know how a staple found its way into the chocolate.

One of the ice cream chains is Van Leeuwen, and I tried their ice cream in a couple of places. I really wanted to try the peppermint one advertised, but it wasn't yet in store.

Max Brenner is a restaurant known for its chocolate. It sells hot chocolate that is served thick and in mugs. I decided to give it a try, but a sip was more than enough for me. This was much too sweet for my taste.

The various markets sell doughnuts, cookies, and other snacks.

Doughnut Plant was another place I visited, and it is all about different flavours of doughnut here. I got the pumpkin one, which was delicious. It is located in Grand Central station.

I also enjoyed some cocktails.

I also went to Magnolia Bakery for the famous cupcakes.

I look forward to return to New York City to try more sweet treats.

I took a tour from Krakow in Poland to Zakopane. On the way to Zakopane, the tour bus drove through the wooden village of Chocholow. We were told that we would normally stop here and then look inside the church, but we did not get to stop as the day was the Saturday before Easter, and this is actually a special day in Poland where people go into the churches to have their food for Easter blessed. Luckily, I was at the front of the bus, so I was able to get some drive-by photographs. 

We were told about the history of the village, which is unique in that it is filled with log cabins or wooden houses. Each wooden house is scrubbed clean at least once a year, and we were told that the women did this to find suitors back in the older days. A clean house was a mark of pride and of a good woman.

We drove by the church but did not stop, but we saw many people entering it with small baskets of food and chocolates.

It is a pity that we did not get to stop to have a wander around.

After the village, we stopped off at a little shepherd hut where we had some nice views of mountains and snow.

The hut is a small tourist stop, and they sell different food items, such as the smoked sheep's cheese - oscypek. This is served with cranberry sauce, and I enjoyed it. It seems to be a common food staple here and was also popular at the Easter market.

We also tried two different types of flavourd liqueur. One was apricot, and the other on was a cherry.

Keep coming back to read more about my time in Poland and the stop down the road to the thermal spa here at Chocholow. You can also see my post on Zakopane here: http://almostafternoon.com/blog/2026/05/an-afternoon-at-zakopane-polan.html

Easter this year fell at the start of April, and I visited Krakow in Poland to see the Easter Market. Krakow's Easter Market is located in the main square with a smaller one behind St. Mary's Cathedral. The one in the main square is larger, but both markets offer similar items - crafts, street food, drinks, and gifts. I explored the Easter Market over several days since I was in Krakow for a week, and I enjoyed the market at different times and in different weather. Easter Sunday was particularly glorious with very warm temperatures, full sun, and many of the street food and gift stalls were still open.

There is an egg sculpture in the market that shows different seasonal scenes. I saw these painted egg sculptures in other towns in Poland as well.

The Easter bunny was also around...

Some of the items for sale included wooden eggs. I did not see any real egg shells that had been painted.

The tornado potato crisps are a big street food.

I had a delicious hot chocolate, and as the weather was still cool, mulled wine and other options were available.

The sausage and meat is an important food in Poland; it was not one that I would try as I don't eat beef nor pork. There were vegetarian options as well -- soup!

Cheese with cranberry sauce is another staple food. I don't know if the cheese is vegetarian, but I did try it, and it did taste nice with the cranberry.

Cookies and biscuits and gingerbread were popular gift choices.

Easter decorations were also common.

The decorations in the square included birds and flowers.

Easter is a pleasant time to enjoy Krakow, and I enjoyed the atmosphere in the city. The weather is starting to get warmer; Easter was a little on the early side this year. I enjoyed exploring the Easter market.

During my April visit to Poland, I visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow. The salt mine is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and visits to the mine are through guided tour only. Salt was produced here since Neolithic times, but the mines themselves date from the 13th century and were used to mine salt until 1996. The guided tours only cover a very small portion of the mines, roughly 2 miles, but there are over 280 miles of passageways in total. There are small chapels built into the salt mine rock, carved figures, and an underground lake. 

The tour was very fast-paced without much time to look. We did stop and were quickly told some of the facts as we went. Some of the mining equipment is on display in the mines.

The most impressive room with the chandeliers was later on in the visit, and there are religious carvings in the walls and a chapel. All of these items were carved by the miners.

There is also a statue of the Pope.

All of the tour groups arrived before the group I was on, and the place was packed. Thousands must visit the mines daily.

Lighting was also used in the carvings.

There was also a carved copy of  "The Lord's Supper" painting.

There are underground lakes as well and other chambers with signs to detail the names and the dates in which the area was mined.

The salt itself does not really look much like salt. It's grey in colour. Visitors were told that they could lick the walls if they wanted because the salt is in the walls. I did not want to do this.

We were told a story about the king and the opening of the mines.

We were shown how the miners used to light the mines in the past.

We walked through so many passageways.

One of the tallest shafts is held up with a wooden frame.

We watched a small light show around the lake.

At the bottom of the tallest shaft is a pool of water with one of the tunnels submerged.

There are a total of four chapels carved into the rock.

The salt mines were interesting, especially the large carved chapels. I felt the tour was too rushed and crowded overall, but it is a top attraction.

The One World Trade building was built near to the former World Trade Centre in New York City after the towers were destroyed by a terrorist attack in 2001. The new building is the tallest in the western hemisphere and one of the tallest buildings in the world. When I visited last December, I took some photographs of "ground zero" where the footprints of the two twin towers were located and are now memorials to those who lost their lives. The names of those are located around the base, and roses are placed on the names from time to time to remember special days. Visitors can view the observation deck on the towers for views over New York City.

There is also a museum dedicated to ground zero as well.

The views from the top look amazing.

I saw bands from the Mets baseball game playing on the streets below, street art, and a part of the flag flown for the last time on 11 September 2001 during the tragic day. The flag is located in the post office around the corner.

The observation platform is perfect to see on a clear day.

One of the museums that I visited on my last trip to New York City was the Intrepid Museum, a museum dedicated to aviation, space, and sea. The museum is named after the "Intrepid", a 1940s aircraft carrier, where a large display of military aircraft from around the world can be seen on deck with additional exhibits inside the ship.   

There is also a submarine to visit, called the "USS Growler", which was used in the Cold War. Visitors could wander through the lower part of the submarine and see where the crew lived and worked.

Missiles were stored here.

We went in a one-way tour through the submarine museum at our own pace and saw various living, working, and social areas.

A control room

A bedroom for some of the higher levels in the crew 

A control communications room

Kitchen

Officer's room 

Missiles

After visiting the submarine, I went up to the aircraft carrier to have a look around.

There is also a space museum here with one of the spacecraft - Enterprise.

We could also explore the "Intrepid" working areas.

There was also a model of the ship with planes inside the carrier.

This is an informative museum if you enjoy history and aircraft, seacraft, and space. The museum is open daily and is a short walk from Hell's Kitchen.

I visited the Kościuszko Mound in April. The mound is a tribute memorial to Tadeusz Kościuszko and located a couple of miles to the west of central Krakow. Tadeusz Kościuszko was a Polish engineer and military leader who fought against Russia and in the American Revolutionary War during he late 1700s and early 1800s. He was a friend to Thomas Jefferson and sought to protect the less fortunate members of society and to abolish slavery, and he helped to design military forts in the United States, such as Fort Clinton / West Point. The building next to the entrance of the mound contains a museum of the life of Kościuszko with some personal items on display, and visitors can climb the mound for views.

The fort at the mound contains the engineering style (polygon shape) that the engineer created and mimics West Point in the states. He incorporated trees into the design to help protect against wind and climate. There is more information at the mound about the use and style of the fort. 

After learning a little about the man, I took a walk up to the mound to enjoy the views. 

At the top is the memorial ston and flowers. It was windy at the top. I could see the old town in Krakow and the castle.

After descending from the mound, I had a wander around the ruins of the fort outside.

The approach up to the mound and museum was covered with beautiful yellow daffodils in abundance. I took a few photographs of them because they were very pretty.

A taxi to the mound from the centre of Krakow was not very far, and I enjoyed the museum, mound, and the beautiful daffodils.

One of the most popular attractions in Krakow, Poland, is Wawal Royal Castle. Visitors can easily spend a day at the castle to visit the art collection and other exhibits. The complex also contains the cathedral and several smaller museums. Dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, the castle is located on a hill above the Vistula river. It is a UNESCO World Heritage attraction. I visited the castle and cathedral on my visit to Krakow at the beginning of the month.

The castle is part of the old town of Krakow and a short walk from the main square. 

At the top of the hill, the castle opens into an internal courtyard. There is also a post office up on top of the hill, which is convenient for stamps and postcards. There is a restaurant and a smaller outdoor cafe too.

There are views over the river valley.

The most iconic building in the courtyard is Wawal Cathedral.

The castle itself opens into a courtyard.

I purchased the ticket to see all of the exhibitions. The first was the underground castle. This exposed the earliest foundations of the castle and how the land was formed millions of years ago. The underground exhibtion showed some of the former walls and brickwork, which is now underneath the existing complex.

Some items were found amongst the structure. This included glass and pottery bottles and metalwork for clothing.

After the look around at the old walls, I went into the main castle complex.

The next exhibition was the treasury and crown jewels. There were so many beautiful items to see. They belonged to former kings of Poland. The tour I paid for came with an audio guide, which pointed out some of the more interesting items and allowed free time to see as much or as little as you wanted.

The next part of the tour was the armoury, which was also exhibited.

After this, there were two floors of the state rooms to visit. These had many different items on display - paintings and furniture.

Another part of the museum focused on ceramics. This became a popular product to manufacture in Poland.

The ceramic religious Jesus on cross figure looked complex and fragile.

After visiting those rooms, it was time for a late lunch and a glass of wine on the castle grounds in front of the cathedral.

Additional state rooms and displays were visited in the second part of the tour.

At the end was an exhibition on the Ottoman (now known as Turkey) tents. 

Next, I visited the catedral. The cathedral has tombs of some of the kings who lived in the castle and ruled Poland, a bell tower to climb to see the bells, and the main part of the cathedral itself. Also, a museum dedicated to the former pope John Paul, is across from the castle and is included in the cost.

Photographs inside the cathedral were not permitted.

I climbed the bell tower for some nice views and to see the bells.

After the cathedral, the final exhibition was about the reconstruction and conservative work of the castle.

A couple of the exhibtion rooms were closed due to the time of year. I enjoyed the visit, and I would take the time and enjoy the castle and have a nice lunch and take longer to explore the different rooms.

After visiting the death camp at Auschwitz in the morning, I spent the afternoon visiting Schindler's Factory and museum. The story was made famous in the film "Schindler's List", which I have yet to see but told myself that I would. The former location of the enamel factory is now a museum, and the museum covers the Nazi occupation of Krakow and the fate of the Jewish population, who were forced into a ghetto made outside the city before many were sent away to camps. Some of the population worked at the factory. 

When Germany invaded and occupied Poland, German Nazi party industrialist Oskar Schindler took over the enamel factory. When he discovered the treatment of the Jewish people in Krakow, he risked his life to protect the lives of over 1,200 Jewish workers and evade the Nazis.

The museum starts with a series of short videos that visitors can watch that depict ordinary life and the rise of the Nazi occupation in Krakow. 

There was a lot of information in the museum to read. The floor tiles in a couple of the large rooms actually had the swastika design.

Street names and other public buildings had their names changed to German spellings and to glorify the leader of the party.

A large part of the musum was for the fate of the Jewish population. There was a little room with items from a Jewish household, and the items became abandoned when the families were forced to live in the ghettos. Many families would have to share a house.

Schindler's desk was on display in one room, and there was information on how the pots and pans were created from metal before being coated in enamel. One video shown in the museum featured workers who told their stories working for Schindler's factory. 

There was a section of the museum to appar as a Jewish home in the ghetto with Jewish places of business.

Outside the museum are the gates of the old factory. The factory was taken over when the Soviets invaded.

Entrance to the museum also included entrance to a pharmacy inside the area that was formerly the Jewish ghetto. (This area of Krakow is not walled off, but a part of the ghetto wall can still be seen, and this area is known as Kazimierz.) The pharmacy includes information about some of the people who lived in the ghetto and their lives. 

The square outside the museum contained a lot of empty chairs, and these symbolise the families crammed inside a small area. This square is called Ghetto Heroes Square.

The pharmacy had exhibitions mainly about real people and other information about the Jewish population of Krakow.

The museum was interesting to understand the occupation years of Krakow and the fate of the Jewish population, including the enamel factory and Schindler, the man who helped save the lives of over 1,200 Jewish people. Schindler's motto was "Whoever saves the life of one, saves the world entire." This is displayed on the front of the museum.