Four On The Move

There comes a time when one needs to get away, even though the pandemic does not go away. We really needed a break and a change of scenery. We were keen on travelling by car to avoid public transport. The choice was quite straightforward, as one of the most beautiful, interesting and sunny destinations that can be reached within an overnight drive from the South of Poland is the Croatian coast. This time we decided to visit Northern Dalmatia and stay near Zadar. Like other parts of Croatia that we visited before (Istria and Southern Dalmatia), this region offers something to everyone, fans of nature, sightseeing and historic landmarks and beach holidays.   Nature: Krka National Park Most people come here to see the famous Skradinski Buk waterfall and admire it while swimming (!). Yes, it is still possible to swim in some locations of the park, but only until the end of this year , so we decided to enjoy this experience before it’s forbidden 😊 . From the main entrance t...

Leaving your comfort zone and moving to a new country brings many challenges and I recall this first period of being new to a country as quite difficult, yet exciting. But my move took place in normal circumstances and I can only imagine the confusion, stress and loneliness of people who are new to (any) country in the times of Covid-19. New rules, written and not, possibly a new language – there is a lot to absorb and from my experience it takes a couple of years to feel that you are fluent in your new reality. What if you haven’t even started on learning the basics and you suddenly need to keep up with new lockdown rules every week, in an unknown environment and a health system that is completely new to you? It also takes a very long time and effort to make friends in a new place and build your local network. And it’s clearly impossible to even start doing it if you can’t have usual interactions with people.  It is difficult enough to stay in lockdown and not see y...

When we started to consider moving back to Poland and thought about various pros and cons, one of the big arguments against it was the education our daughter was getting in England, which we were big fans of. Lenka started primary school in England when she was four years old. At first, we were a bit concerned about this early age, but seeing how her school worked and how it was prepared for teaching such young kids, we quickly changed our minds. Bare in mind, we talk about an ordinary primary school in an ordinary (but very diverse!) neighbourhood, not a private or a posh one. Here is what we learnt about English primary education based on 2.5 years that our daughter spent at St. Anne’s Catholic Primary, ‘A Friendship School’. Social and emotional development of your child is as important as their academic skills.  Our daughter was very shy when she started school and her teachers, as well as other staff, supported her a lot (but so that she couldn’t tell) ...

EuroTrip 2 by Four On The Move Planning for our second EuroTrip was easier after having done the first one (see: https://www.fouronthemove.com/2020/03/eurotrip-1.html/ ). This time we knew that:  we had a total of three weeks of annual leave, we wanted to visit different places than last time, we wanted to spend at least a week in our home country. This time, there were also no sudden or last minute changes to our plans 😊 . Start and end point: Liverpool Means of transport: car, plus public transport in Venice, Berlin and Amsterdam Itinerary & Highlights: 1. An overnight stop in Germany – 1 day We decided to do the longest drives at beginning of the trip: from Liverpool to Frankfurt, where we stayed overnight visiting our family, and then from Frankfurt to Lake Garda in Italy. Switzerland, on the way to Italy 2. Lake Garda, Italy – 5 days The Farm The best part of the entire trip. We stayed in a 400-year-old, charming...

EuroTrip 1 by Four On The Move  We had been extremely excited planning our first long road trip through Europe. Living in the UK, this was a great way of combining both – a visit to new places and a visit to our home country. In this case the plans and reality turned up slightly different. The trip was supposed to last 4 weeks and start with a visit to our friends’ wedding in Normandy, France. But because of our daughter’s chicken pox (welcome to travelling with kids!;)) we had to delay our departure and shorten the trip to three weeks. During the trip we also needed to skip one of the planned stops and go to Poland earlier than planned. But all this didn’t really matter in the end, as it was still an amazing trip! Here are the details: Start and end point: Liverpool Means of transport: car, plus public transport in Paris, Zurich and Berlin Itinerary & Highlights: Paris, France – 3 days Doesn't need a caption :) After a long overnight drive...

This might be the first question you will ask yourself when you come to Liverpool, get into a bus or a taxi at the airport and are not able to understand a word of what the driver says. I still remember the first time I heard Scouse, the famous Liverpudlian accent. I was on the street and heard a ‘la’ (=lad) having a conversation on his mobile. It caught my attention, because the language sounded very exotic, so I tried to guess what it was. I was going through a list of languages in my head, while my ear started to catch single English words. Astonished I realized that I had been listening to English, with a very strong Liverpudlian twist, which overall didn’t sound like English at all! Get prepared and get patient. It takes time to understand Scousers, but imagine how made up (=very happy) you will be once you get there. For a start, instead of saying hello or good morning , try to say : Iya, you right luv? (when you greet a lady) or Iya, you right la? (or mate) when you...

Brexit means Brexit , said Theresa May, when no one knew what it meant. Not much has changed in this matter since then, but I think I can tell a bit about what Brexit means for European immigrants in the UK, as I was one of them. People tend to assume we left the UK because of Brexit. No, we didn’t, Brexit was not a direct reason. Did Brexit play a role at all? Yes, it did, but only as one of the many elements of a jigsaw puzzle that eventually led us to this decision. I still remember the night of the referendum. I woke up after midnight and decided to quickly check the initial results. Of course, I knew the majority would vote for remain. I knew, didn’t I? What was BBC showing then? How the hell was this happening?! I didn’t sleep until the morning, checking the results every 5 minutes and hoping they would change. The next day at work felt like a funeral. We could not believe it, we did not even know how to comment. Was it possible that we had lived in a bubble all...