Thursday Thoughts – Wildlife Close to our Hotel

19 mars, 202618 mars, 2026 / Leya / 11 kommentarer

I love the idea of wild animals being so close to humans all the time. And the animals down here naturally feel more wild than those at home…( I guess the Africans feel the same when they visit us.)

Around Victoria Falls Hotel, there were these electric fences set up,

but before they were there – this sign was even more relevant.

Baboons roamed the streets and the forest, and the hotel had a guard to chase them off.

He told us he had a lot to do every day…

There were also many guenon monkeys around. A bit more slender and agile than the baboons.

Banded Mongoose was a new aquaintance to me. They are 12-18 inches, weight 3-5.5 pounds. They are one of few species that use tools – they throw eggs against rocks to break them.

This one had captured a snake – a fairly long one…

..and feasted on it for a long time. It was interesting to watch them. The mongooses are known for their agility, speed and resistance to venom. They can survive a bite from a cobra.

The Mongooses live in colonies and have a complex social system. They take care of their young together, which is rather unusual – only the banded Mongoose live in colonies though, the others are loners. I liked to watch them eat, play and taking care of their young. Fascinating animals.

Thursday Thoughts – Not a Foodie, but…

12 mars, 202611 mars, 2026 / Leya / 21 kommentarer

– I maybe could have become one on this journey! At the Victoria Falls Hotel I fell in love with the coffee/tea set and plates – but don’t think it would be possible to buy any of this. I guess it was designed for the hotel only.

We had excellent food everywhere and excellent service. On the train everything was so delicious, but unfortunately my stomach didn’t agree with me. I did taste everything though.

Gorgeous soups – I love soups and should indeed cook more of them at home too…

And to accompany every course we always had an excellent South African wine.

Just looking at the menue was a treat before every meal, but unfortunately we were not allowed to keep it – so, I only remember a few of the courses. This was a tender springbok.

To my husband’s great pleasure we had plenty of dreamy desserts…

One of the sweet girls from the Diner cars – I wonder how many times a day she had to walk down that narrow corridor with her hands full?

With the train moving, at least we, the passengers, got many bruises from the railings trying not to fall over.

I never forgot to praise the chef and the brilliant service staff working in this tiny kitchen. Always good humoured and a smile ready for everyone.

Adventures, big or small, are treats to everyone. We learn from them, we treasure them…but in the end, the best thing is to come back home again. Or, what do you think?

Thursday Thoughts – 3D Painted House and a King

29 januari, 202626 januari, 2026 / Leya / 9 kommentarer

Impressive mural by Radosław Barek, featuring a 1920’s scenery. We struggled to find it – and finally, there it was. Hidden behind a hideous Christmas lit house.

And outside the cathedral – the three kings. I caught one of them where the light was magical.

Thursday Thoughts – Not Only Ice Festival

22 januari, 202621 januari, 2026 / Leya / 15 kommentarer

A mix from the streets of Poznan. Old and new together.

The Poznan June 1956 monument with two crosses 19.5 and 21 m high (symbols of death and resurrection) was built for the victims of the great protest against Russia and Communism in 1956.

Thursday Thoughts

15 januari, 2026 / Leya / 15 kommentarer

I do love trees!

Thursday Thoughts – Poznan Ice Festival

8 januari, 20267 januari, 2026 / Leya / 26 kommentarer

For many years we have kept an eye on the ice festival in Harbin, China, but oooh…the cold (-25) is just too much. This year we went for the small Ice Festival in Poznan – the Midieval beauty that once was the capital of Poland. Unfortunately no snow, but the festival is always held.

Poznan is a big city of about 1 miljon inhabitants, but we stayed in the old center with its typical architecture and beautifully decorated facades.

A festive feeling lit up the grand square, where they also had arranged a skating rink.

People of all ages enjoyed themselves – and treated the audience to lovely moves as well as spectacular falls…

The Christmas market was in full swing as well and we were still lucky with the weather. But, This was what we came for:

There were participants from all over the world, about 30 couples all in all. They circled the whole square. It was good to see great cooperation between people of different countries and nationalities. Iraq, Spain, Canada, the Philippines, Germany, Poland…The Ice Team worked hard to serve them all!

The artists were very skilled, and it was a treat to see them handling the ice. Some of them had made a sketch to follow, but some not. Their tools looked similar to those used for tree sculpting, but how do you work with a material like ice? We saw no big mistakes though, and the ice blocks seemed to tolerate almost any treatment…

The finished sculptures were fabulous works of art. Most of them rather small sized, but some the size of a grown human.

They were put on pedestals and lit up in different colours. We didn’t stay to see the winner, but these two were my favourites.

Art is a wonderful thing, it makes your heart glow and your mind grow. Thank you for walking with me, I hope you enjoyed!

Thursday Thoughts on New Year’s Eve – PEACE

31 december, 2025 / Leya / 43 kommentarer

The only thing to wish for this night. The only thing that would change life for the better for so many living beings on planet Earth – Peace.

Thursday Thoughts – From Colours to Black and White

11 december, 202510 december, 2025 / Leya / 19 kommentarer

Thursday Thoughts – A Day of Memories

4 december, 2025 / Leya / 54 kommentarer

My grandfather…wrote songs and verses, in two books when he was at sea, and they have been lost for 37 years. My uncle took care of them when my grandmother died, and promised to return them after copying them.

I often reminded him about those books, but he didn’t know where they were. My uncle died some years ago without ever returning the books. Today we attended the funeral for his wife. a wonderfully strong woman who had a life worthy of a novel. It was a beautiful funeral with many friends, music and flowers.

And – the two books were found among their things in the apartment. They are finally returned to us! They were written in 1924-1925, so almost precisely a hundred years old. As a child I was enchanted by the beautiful handwritten pages in ink, and the many colourful sketches he made on almost every page.

Here’s a couple of quick shots with my phone:

Life is indeed using mysterious ways to connect us. I am immensely grateful to her nieces who finally found the books and returned them to me. I am the only relative left who have seen them before and remembers them. I feel so rich and blessed today.

Gratefully,

Ann-Christine