Tuesday, May 28, 2013

In My Love Letter to Istanbul post, I announced that we have moved our expat life to a new location – Warsaw, Poland.

This move had been in the works for a few months, and I’ve been trying to figure out how  to best adapt and make some changes to the blog. Since we are no longer living in Turkey and we may be on the road for awhile, I decided to change the name to My Traveling Joys. I think this name serves as a good blanket for what I write about here – travel, food, living as an expat and my every day adventures.

In my new city, I’ve slowly been discovering new “joys” such as Polish pierogies, local beer, the daily farmer’s market at Hala Mirowska, bountiful pork products and lush green spaces. It’s kind of ironic to go from pork-deprived Istanbul to pork heaven here in Warsaw. I no longer have to fill my suitcases with pork and “smuggle” it across country lines to our apartment. However, I’m sure I’ll be bringing pork to my friends in Istanbul when I return to visit later this summer.
Polish must-eats - meat and cabbage filled pierogies topped with bacon"gravy" at Zapiecek Restaurant.
Beautiful baby beets found at Hala Mirowska in Warsaw.

Upon first glance, Warsaw doesn’t reveal its beauty as openly as Istanbul does. The Vistula River appears quite gloomy and muddy compared to the glistening Bosphorus.
The red roofed buildings in the background signify Old Town in Warsaw.
But as you walk through the Old Town area, you can’t help but marvel at the beautifully restored buildings and want to stop for a local beer and sit under an umbrella and people watch. Unfortunately, nearly 85 percent of Warsaw was leveled by the Nazis during World War II. The hard working Poles have spent many, many years trying to rebuild their city. I’ve got a lot of exploring to do here.
Local artists set up in the large, open square in Old Town, Warsaw.
A view of old and new Warsaw as seen from the viewing terrace at the Palace of Culture in Warsaw.
I hope you’ll continue to follow my new expat adventures here in Poland. Don’t worry as I’ll still be sharing some of my Turkish stories, and who knows where my travels will take me in Eastern Europe.

Here’s how you now can find me:

Tweeting - @MyTravelingJoys

Instagram Photos - @mytravelingjoys

Pinning - @mytravelingjoys


My Facebook Fan Page is still at My Turkish Joys because I haven’t figured out an easy way to change it without starting a whole new page. Any advice?

Thanks to all my loyal readers for reading me every week! I truly appreciate all your comments, retweets, repins and likes.

Cześći!
Joy

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9 comments:

Mary B said...

OMG - those pierogi look divine! Must have bacon cracklins on top. You will love eastern Europe - it's been my go-to place for over a decade (besides Turkey of course). Hope you get to explore the Czech and Slovak republics, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine, as well as the rest of the Balkans. The people and food are wonderful and there is a lot of Turkish history as well. The best of both worlds, IMHO.

Mavi göz said...

Pierogi *_* I miss them so much but my mother will prepare a lot of them when I will come back to home ;)

Julia said...

Congrats on all the name changes. Must check we're still following you everywhere. :) Facebook is a pain isn't it? Think I would be tempted to start again (easy for me to say, I know) and keep reminding everyone on the old page to move over to the new one. You can always call on your blogging buddies to help spread the word. ;)

Cuisine de Provence said...

Joy I will miss your Istanbul discoveries - what a change to go to Warshaw....
Bon courage as we say in Provence!

Joy said...

@Mary B, yes the pierogi are very good, but very filling! We definitely plan to do some exploring. In fact, this weekend we are going to the Prague Beer Festival. The summer is looking quite busy. ;-)

@Vixen, I'm sure the homemade ones from your mother are the best!

@Julia, thanks dear! Making the changes have been a pain. And to think I just do the blog for fun! HA!

@Barbara, Don't worry, I'll be back to Istanbul this summer so I'll have more stories to share. And new Polish ones too. ;-)

Moe said...

I loved Poland and Warsaw was one of my favorite cities. Be sure to visit the salt mines not too far from there. They're really impressive. And I'm really happy you're continuing the blog! Very jealous of all your pork! Best of luck on the new adventures!

jaz@octoberfarm said...

i am so excited to follow you on all of your new discoveries! i spent so much time in the czech republic and praque is quite the happening city. pierogies are one of my most favorite things to eat. i live in pierogi heaven and can get about every kind imaginable. i make my own often. i am thrilled to get to see poland through your eyes!

Joy said...

@Moe, thanks for your feedback! The salt mines are on the list. We've already been to Krakow for a weekend, went hiking in a nearby forest and did a whisky tasting here in Warsaw. There's lots of castles and road trips we can do here in Poland too. :-)

@Joyce, Always nice to hear from you! Thanks for staying along for the new ride. ;-)

Erica (Irene) said...

Happy you are settling into Poland....I'm jealous of all the pierogies you will be eating. My grandparents originally come from next door to Poland the Ukraine so I miss my Grandma's pierogi's.
I'll be looking forward to your new changes and great name you chose.