Category: Quirky things to do

Poznan Christmas Market and Croissant museum, Poland (Rogalowe Muzeum)

Posted in budget travel, Quirky things to do, Random places, travel, Travel advice, Weird MuseumsTagged , , , Leave a comment

Poznan is getting popular for a long weekend Christmas market trip from the UK.

Back in 2019, I had a really fun girls weekend in Poznan. This was another bargain weekend with return Ryanair flights for £60 and a lovely wee Airbnb for £140 for the weekend.

Always check what “two bedrooms” means – in this case the 2nd bedroom was in fact the living room and the shower was in the kitchen!

Ok so it turned out that my bedroom was actually two mats ontop of a stack of crates but so what? It was cheap!

Mr Moonboot

Posing with Mr Moonboot

Not even a disagreement with a pub trapdoor and subsequent broken foot dampened our enthusiasm!IMG_20191130_115828

Touching down in Poznan, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect but didn’t expect such a large, modern airport. It took no time at all to whizz (and wizz – nice clean toilets with a luggage shelf in the cubicle – joy!) through the airport and in to a taxi. We pushed the boat out and spent a whole £8 on 30min taxi from the airport to the town.

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Granny opens at 12!

Check-in wasn’t until 3pm so we did what any self-respecting Glasgow girls do when on holiday and headed straight for the nearest pub.

We came across this cosy bar, surrounded by cakes, beer and tempting garlicky smells wafting from grannies kitchen. Beginners luck, the menu was just what the doctor ordered – all platters of perogis and local beers. We settled ourselves in with a variety platter of the perogis and beers – The holiday had officially begun!

My 10 “must do’s” in Poznan

1. Buy a Poznan City Card.

After the perogis and more than a couple of beers, we did the sensible tourist thing and headed next door to the tourist information centre where we were helped by a super efficient Polish lady who spoke perfect English and didn’t seem to mind our beery garlic breath.

For just £16, the City card gives free or discounted entrance to museums, discounts on restaurants cafes and bars and unlimited free public transport around the city (particularly handy for the moonboot)

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2. Eat perogis. Dumplings of Eastern European origin, made by wrapping noodle dough around a savoury or sweet filling and cooking in boiling water, or pan-frying. We tried tuna perogis, chicken perogis, mince perogis, spinach perogis and garlic perogis. Cheap and very filling! I’ll stop going on about them now but they were SO GOOD!

3. Visit in December we arrived the on the opening weekend of the Poznan Christmas market.

Poznan has a cute wee Christmas market that won’t break the bank and isn’t overrun by tourists. It’s far superior to any of the Christmas markets in the UK and about a tenth of the price. Poznan Christmas market offers all the must-visit stalls selling hot spicy gluhwein, bratwurst, smoked cheese and wooden trinkets, they even have a gluhwein loyalty card – buy 9 wines and the 10th is free!

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Then followed a hazy night round some of the bars in the main square, finishing at BeeJays bar and scarfing down a massive donner kebab and a sore head in the morning)

4. Visit the croissant museum (Rogalowe Muzeum).

Weird museums are high on my list of favourite places to visit. Whilst I’m pretty good at going with the flow on holiday, I did mandate a visit to the croissant museum!

Trust me, there is nowhere better in the entire world to gain an in-depth knowledge of the history of polish croissants :-p

A special mention must go to the kind, helpful (and rather good looking) young man on the cash desk who not only found a warm space in the museum for my pal to rest her moonboot but also gave her a free wooden croissant!

5. Be awed by the 1956 memorial.

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A memorial dedicated to the Polish uprising. I guarantee it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but the monolithic size and somber grey concrete certainly made an impression on me.

It’s about a 20 min walk from the main square or a few minutes by tram.

6. Treat yourself to some Michelin star quality food at a fraction of the price at Oskoma restaurant. Run by polish masterchef winner Adam my friends and I had a 4 course tasting menu plus wine and cocktails for £60 a head. I’m still not sure who we were mistaken for but everyone in the dining room kept looking over at us. Our waiter was friendly and again, pretty good looking. Here’s the tasting menu and a pic of the smoked sturgeon:

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7. Enjoy panoramic views of the city from the observation tower in the Museum of Design.

Our Citypass gave us free entry into this museum. Whilst the museum itself was reasonably interesting (and VERY HOT!) with everything from pottery and textiles to furniture and film.

The best part of the museum was definitely the 7th floor observation deck with panoramic views over the city. (Oh and free, very clean toilets)

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8. Don’t visit lake Malta. Well at least not in December anyway…. maybe it’s nicer in summer? Lake Malta was listed in various guides and blogs as a must-see. It’s a short tram ride away from the city centre. It’s not a picturesque lake, rather a large puddle beside a huge modern shopping centre. Perhaps it was just the time of year that made it bleak.

At least the short tram ride was included in our Poznan city card. I enjoyed zooming along the streets in the rapid little trams, clean and efficient.

We were cold and her ankle was hurting and we felt a little deflated..

Me taking in some of the local artwork looking like a bag lady

Re-energised from our dick hysteria, we spotted some spires in the distance and headed off to find out what they were. Poznans cathedral! We wandered through the Śródka neighbourhood admiring the Srodka tale mural and refueling.

A Srodka Tale

Hot Chocolate

9. Prepare to be very underwhelmed at the goat butting heads clock….but see it anyway! The most famous tourist attraction in Poznan is the ‘goat clock’ Every day at noon, two small wooden goats appear from a high tower and butt heads. A huge crowd gathered to watch. We happened to be in the main square just as noon struck and my pal nearly re-broke her ankle hobbling on the cobbles to catch a glimpse of the goats.

10. Meet the locals. I love meeting local people on my travels, especially in areas that are not super touristy. We were asked several times where we were from and then a pause followed by a genuinely curious “but why have you come to POZNAN?”

The people of Poznan are so warm and welcoming and everywhere we went people were kind and helpful. We met these lovely ladies in a bar and asked why they were all wearing headscarves – turns out they celebrate St Andrews Day by playing mystical fortune telling games about matrimony and fortune telling! We definitely bonded with our shared patron saint and our love of wine!

st andrews

Cutting-Edge History: A Visit to the Lawnmower Museum in Southport, UK

Posted in Quirky things to do, summer, travel, UK, Weird MuseumsTagged 1 Comment

I don’t understand why this isn’t rated as the top tourist attraction in Merseyside, England, apparently some music club where some band was discovered takes that crown?

This was my second attempt to visit the world famous Lawnmower museum. Last time around they were closed, this time we were in luck!

When it comes to weird museums,  the British Lawnmower Museum in Southport did not disappoint.

What’s Inside the British Lawnmower Museum?

There’s mower that meets the eye from the outside!

Founded by lawnmower expert and engineer Brian Radam, over 300 lawnmowers call this building home, including:

Paul O’Grady’s
Richard & Judy’s
Hangman Albert Pierrepoint
Most expensive £34k
Flying lawnmower!
Mowing attire
Churchill’s
Worlds biggest!
Charles & Diana’s

World’s largest lawnmower

A special spotlight on the behemoth mower…

I’m clearly in my element hobnobbing with world record holders!

Exit through gift shop

To top it all off there is a gift shop where you can buy merch!

I found it hard to choose but eventually went for 2 little pewter lawnmowers and postcards.

Souvenirs

Pitstop for refreshments

If you’re only passing through Southport, a worthy mention goes to Anne Forsyths automatic milkshake van. It’s located in a petrol station car park and automatically vends milkshakes and fresh milk. The strawberry shake was delicious!

Moldova – visiting the least visited country in Europe

Posted in around the world, budget travel, Global Issues, holiday, Quirky things to do, Random places, travel, Travel adviceTagged , , , 2 Comments

To get to “the country that doesn’t exist“, you first have to get to “the least visited country in Europe. Moldova.

Whilst there are direct flights from London to Chisinau, as I’m based in Scotland, we decided on a less direct route, flying Edinburgh to Bucharest. There was time for a visit to the Libearty bear sanctuary followed by a day wallowing in the Therme Spa before hopping aboard the overnight “Friendship Train” from Bucharest to Chisnau.

Bucharest Gara du Nord train station was distinctly unfriendly. I rarely feel unsafe when travelling but this was the pits. We loitered at the “bar” to kill time before boarding – a few dirty tables in the corner of the station with a beer. Hawking their wares first came prostitutes, then thieves trying to sell perfume, then drug dealers.

Politely declining all of the above, it was good to get onboard the train. We’d shelled out a few extra euros for a 2 berth cabin rather than risk 2 strangers joining our evening slumber. On the outward journey this did feel like an upgrade – opening windows and enough room to swing a proverbial cat.

The Good

The sockets worked to charge our phones.

The outward journey bunks were clean and pretty comfy and the window ensured a steady supply of cool night air.

At the Romanian/Moldovan border, the train gets jacked up and they replace all the wheels. The Moldovan railway is soviet gauge, a relic of the very intentional barrier between the USSR and Europe back in the day.

Although it took forever and was noisy and bumpy at 3am, I love these experiences for what they are, part of history and a wee antidote to global homogenisation. It did take bloody forever though! Between passport, customs and engineers it was certainly one of the longer border crossings I’ve been through!

The Bad

The toilets on the train flush straight onto the track below which meant our cool night air was sometimes ponging of shite when someone used the toilet.  (They lock them when changing the wheels so time any “physiological” trips accordingly!)

No dining car!  😦

I’d read about the limited choice of food and drink on board, but on both legs of the journey (we travelled in May 2025) there was no dining car attached, no wee onboard shop, no hot water urn to make supernoodles, zilch, nada.

Dinner on the outward journey was cold chicken nuggets washed down with a couple of ciders and some jelly sweeties.

Our return cabin was definitely a downgrade. The window was sealed shut and the temperature on board was ten million degrees. And still no dining car! On the plus side we’d stocked up on copious amounts of cheapo white wine and enormous plastic bottles of beer.

The Ugly

Bed bugs!!!

Returning to the cabin after being chased around the toilet by an orange spider (eek!), I was less than chuffed to see a flat burgundy bug crawling over my recently vacated sheets. Bed bugs were confirmed a few hours later with my body covered in red lumps.

A taste of Moldova

Arriving in to Chisnau after 14 hour train, what better way to distract from bed bug bites than a trip to Cricova Wine Cellars?

Cricova has over 70 miles of underground tunnels with over 1 million bottles of wine maturing underground – basically an underground city of wine that has the look and feel of a James Bond villan’s lair. Moldova is the 6th largest wine producer in Europe, much of it state owned.

We hopped on a golf buggy and whizzed through the underground streets stopping at various winey locations along the way

Me channeling my inner Diogenes of Sinope

Legend has it even Yuri Gagarin got so cozy here he got lost in the tunnels and spent a rather fuzzy overnight here, leaving a note (see pic below) thanking the staff for their hospitality!

Day Two: Old Orhei

On day two, we swapped wine for scenery and headed to Orheiul Vechi open air museum village and monastery. High on a hill was a lonely goatherd…well almost. Carved into limestone cliffs above the Răut River, there’s a 13th century Cave Monastery complete with a grumpy hermit monk who looks and smells like he’d been there since the caves were carved. In fairness to him, must be a bit gutting to choose a life of solitude which is shared with camera-waving tourists. Rumour has it that he was a soviet soldier in his previous life.

Day Three: Chișinău

Back in Chișinău, Moldova’s capital, we tagged along on a walking tour of the city.

Chișinău isn’t intrinsically beautiful but there’s something about it – tree-lined boulevards, brutalist architecture little churches and lots of green space. Also lots of traffic jams!

Chișinău’s Central Market—aka the old “New Bazaar.” Rebounding from total wartime destruction in 1941, a gentrified tourist trap it is not.

Today, it’s a kaleidoscope of stalls brimming with fresh produce, cheeses, handmade baskets, fur căciuli hats sweets, and anything you need or don’t really. I could have easily spent a whole day having a dauner* around here, people watching and grazing on local cheeses and pastries. I was particularly fond of the wee old ladies selling a few herbs or a couple of packs of tights out of buckets on the pavement.

Chișinău State Circus was just a short hop away, a relic of Soviet architectural ambition. Built in 1981, it claimed the title of the USSR’s grandest circus—boasting a 1,900-seat arena and retractable dome roof. Today, the building remains as beautiful brutalist urban decay.

The circus

Sticking with architecture, some other structures I liked were the post office building, the parliament and presidential palace. The hardware outside the military museum was worthy of a photo stop too.

I only got a plăcintă-sized taste of Moldova before it was time to head on to Transnistria and then all too soon the bed-buggy ride back to Bucharest on the friendship train.

Moldova may not be on everyone’s radar, but maybe that’s the point? It’s unspoiled, uncomplicated, and inexpensive.

*Scots language: To stroll, to saunter, to walk aimlessly, idly, or uncertainly, to wander

Exploring Floatation Therapy: The Reset Float Centre Falkirk

Posted in Central Scotland, lifestyle, Quirky things to do, Scotland, UKTagged , , , , 1 Comment

****UPDATE 2025: Reset Float Centre has just sent me a discount code for first-time floaters for 10% off – just enter ch-906586 when booking on their website. ****

The entire population of Scotland was recovering from what felt like a win from the Euro 2020 game vs England. (It was a 0-0 draw but for those of us in Scotland, it felt like a huge victory against our old football rivals) I was lying in my bed feeling like a big toxic bag of sludge munching my way through way too many items from the Domino’s menu.

My 7 hour Netflix binge interspersed with long periods of mindless scrolling on my phone led me down an internet rabbit hole that started at different countries travel restrictions via the Dead Sea and culminated in Googling for sensory deprivation tanks.

Somehow the idea of pickling myself in epsom brine with complete silence and darkness really appealed to me and would get me away from my damn phone for 90 minutes.

To my surprise, the Reset Float Centre popped up on my search results, just a few miles from my house. This isn’t normal for someone who lives in “the sticks”. I’m used to seeing these kinds of things confined to the big cities, it’s great support small businesses closer to home.

Being the impulsive person I am, an appointment the following evening for a one-hour float session was just too much to resist. (£47.00 for a 90 minute session including time for showering etc* edit this is now £50 – as of 2025)

Reset Float Centre is located just off the M9 motorway – easy to find. At first I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the industrial estate location. However, on entering, concerns disappeared. A look around reassured me that the place was spotlessly clean and very professional.

The woman at the desk knew even with my facemask on, “first time floater?” she smiled.

She talked me through what to expect from my floaty session as she showed me the clean white room where the giant sensory deprivation tank/pod sat filled with Epsom salty water.

She explained that “the floater” (me) was to lock the door, shower, strip naked, stick in ear plugs (brine and ear canals don’t mix well apparently) and jump in (carefully) to the pod, close the lid and then it was up to me.

For first-time floaters she recommended 10-minutes of relaxing music followed by 50 minutes of silence.

The floater controls the lights inside the pod via a big rubber button and there was an alarm bell in case of an emergency(?!)

The pod. Apologies for the lack of photos, I was embracing my time away from my phone!

On inspection, the pod was hot tub-sized with a big domed lid. Slipping inside it felt roomy and nothing like the claustrophobic watery coffin I’d imagined.

I quickly showered and hopped in pulling the lid behind me, it felt like hiding in one of those beds where the mattress lifts to reveal under bed storage.

At first there certainly wasn’t much sensory deprivation, the strong epsom salts made my skin burn (I have eczema), one of the ear plugs floated off to the feet end of the tank and I couldn’t get my head and neck to relax. Every time I forced my neck to relax, relaxed I could hear my blood pulsing around my head and was sure I was going to drown myself.

Eventually the burning calmed down, I put my hands behind my head and and felt very bored. Had I really paid to be bored in the dark for an hour?

After about 15-minutes, I found myself in what I can only describe as some sort of meditative state. I vaguely remember thinking about pretty mundane things, a bit like a waking dream. I was very relaxed, comfortable and secure in my salty womb/coffin/hot tub.

When the hour was up soft tinkly music started up in the tank and I “came to” feeling really well rested with a very pleasant brain fuzz.

Après float

I loved my float session, it was a great way to spend a Sunday evening and I slept extremely well that evening.

And I got a wee floaty loyalty card.

My eczema was definitely less inflamed for the week after the float.

My earplug-less ear was itchy and crispy for a few days.

My poor hair which had just had its first real hair cut and colour since January 2020. The epsom brine had stripped the toner from my hair leaving it strawy-yellow

*originally written in 2020 (Has it really been 5 years since the pandemic? The crazy queueing systems? the travel restrictions! )