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I also have some exciting news because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x
You can also see all the final photos from this trip in my Ireland Photo Diary + Travel Guide blog post!
I have previously written travel guides for the European cities of Gdansk, Krakow and Szczecin and today I bring to you my personal travel guide for Ireland! You can see my photos throughout my week roadtrip through Ireland in a few different blog posts including Slane, Kilkenny, Wiklow Mountains National Park, Dublin Botanic Gardens & Howth Cliffs. See the travel guide below!
Getting there // I flew from Gdansk to Dublin airport to get to Ireland. It was a fairly short three hour flight (compared to being used to usually taking 14 hour flights anywhere from Australia!) that went by quickly. The majority of airlines fly to Dublin, both from Europe and across the world. You can also catch a ferry from the UK to Ireland.
Getting around // I spent the majority of my time in Ireland exploring the countryside, which I strongly recommend is best/most convenient by car. You have the ease of being able to go wherever, whenever you want, you can stop the side of the road to take photos whenever you see something interesting (which dan and I did way too many times!) and you're more available to going on spontaneous road trips. On our first day in Ireland, we visited Slane and from there decided to take random roads to explore the island and accidentally almost ended up in North Ireland where all the road signs are only in Gaelic. I feel like I should make a note that the highways in Ireland are smooth and spacious but pretty much all the other roads are SO tiny, they seem like one lane but are two way, you have cobblestone fences half a metre away from your car while you're driving through them and most of the time you can't see around the corner because of all the trees and overgrown shrubbery. If you're not up for the idea of driving in a different country or on the narrow winding roads but still want to explore the countryside, there are lots of coach busses that you can book day tours with that will drive you to different country towns.
If you want to spend most of your time in Dublin, then I would suggest to forget about a car completely and just explore the city by foot. There are so many stores, pubs and restaurants crammed next to each other you would miss out on too much driving through the main streets of the city. Everything seems to be walking distance in Dublin. Dan and I spent a day on one side of the river at the botanic gardens and managed to make our way across to the other side and ended up at Dublin castle without an issue.
Where to stay // The Irish countryside is known for its amazing bed and breakfast accommodations. So without a doubt I would say to go online and look for bed and breakfasts to stay at while in Ireland and you probably can't go wrong. While in Slane we stayed at this gorgeous b&b, they had a cute kitty that followed us around while we took pictures in their huge gardens. This place is a very close drive to all the main attractions in Slane. We also got fed an amazing breakfast when we woke up in the morning, we didn't need to eat for the majority of the day!
In Kilkenny we booked a guest house accommodation, and although this wasn't a traditional bed and breakfast, the owners were very welcoming and would bake fresh Irish bread for everyone every morning and provide local jams, honey and organic farm yogurt for breakfast. We grew to love our little but very spacious room in Kilkenny. It was situated in the most perfect and convenient location, if we ever come back I would stay here again in a heartbeat!
What to do // I can only offer advice for things to do that I personally experienced, so I’m going to go through each of the towns I visited while I was in Ireland!
Slane // First stop is the beautiful town of Slane. There are an abundance of things to do in Slane starting from experiencing the historic town itself. Lined with limestone buildings the town of Slane is built alongside the River Boyne. In and close by to the town you can visit Hill of Slane, Slane Castle, Newgrange and Hill of Tara Tombs, plus so many more! Just take a look at TripAdvisor for the endless list of places to visit! It is worth mentioning that something we didn’t know while visiting Slane is that most of the places to visit you need to have an online pre-booked tour or have your bed & breakfast book you a tour the day before. We missed out of seeing a couple of things since we didn’t know this and were sadly in Slane for only a short time.
Kilkenny // Walking through the city of Kilkenny and visiting Kilkenny Castle is an absolute must! The city is huge with a maze of streets filled with cafes, restaurants and pubs. If you make your way to Kilkenny Castle, be sure to walk around the castle grounds and make your way to the Canal Walk by the River Nore. Nearby are the beautiful gardens of Butler House, a hidden gem tucked away on a side street near the city centre. Lyrath Estate Hotel also makes a great late morning or afternoon getaway, a mansion covered in vines just outside of Kilkenny for a perfect brunch or high tea spot.
Dublin // I personally spent the majority of my time in Ireland exploring the towns in the countryside, so I only had half a day to spend in Dublin. During the day, I visited Dublin Botanic Gardens. There is no entry fee to the gardens, only a small 2 Euro parking fee if you are driving. I couldn't recommend the gardens more! There are around 5 greenhouses with varying themes including a Palm garden, Succulent garden and Orchid House. The grounds are huge and you could easily spend a couple of hours walking around through the rose gardens and getting lost within the abundance of Cherry Trees, Cedar Trees, the list goes on!
If you are just visiting Dublin while in Ireland and don’t want to venture too far away from the main city to visit other towns, there are still plenty of things to do! Howth Cliffs is almost an island, connected to Ireland by two main roads and only a half an hour car or train ride from the centre of Dublin. You can easily spend a day in Howth exploring the small town, eating the delicious fish and chips and spending time hiking in various spots around the island. A few of my personally recommended hikes include the main Cliff Walk, Bailey Lighthouse and Red Rock Beach.
One last spot only a 30-60 minute drive from Dublin (depending where you want to go within the park), is Wicklow Mountains National Park. This is definitely a full day trip where you can spend your time driving around the National Park, pulling over in various spots and going for a small hike. There aren’t too many “official” hiking and viewpoint spots within the park, the gist of the park is you drive around and when you see something, you pull over and make your way towards it. We saw SO many cars pulled over in the most random spots throughout the day, with us being no exception. A few of my more memorable stops in the park include Lough Tay Guinness Lake, Powerscourt Waterfall (although this was the only spot that was extremely busy it was still beautiful), Glendalough Monastic Site, Glendalough Lake and many others viewpoints which don’t even have a name on a map!
I hope you’ve enjoyed my Ireland Travel Guide and Photo Diary! If you have any more suggestions or things that you absolutely loved experiencing while in Ireland, please share them with me in the comments! I was only in Ireland for a short time and would love to go back one day to explore even more of what this beautiful country has to offer.
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset
Editorial for issue 30 of White Magazine.
models phoebe @ chadwicks & madalynne
styling carla burrell
styling assistants renee mantle & mikhayla marxsen
hair + makeup abbey love
florals little wren flowers
for a full list of jewellery and dress credits
have a look in issue 30 of white magazine!
all photos edited with my San Francisco Lightroom Preset!
Follow me on my instagram accounts:
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You can also see all the final photos from this trip in my Gdansk, Krakow and Szczecin blog posts!
On our last day in Ireland, we had some free time so Dan and I were trying to decide how we should spend it. While we were flying into Ireland, we remembered seeing these amazing looking cliffs that were close to the city. After doing a little research we headed towards them to explore up close what we had seen from above a week earlier.
We ended up driving to the town of Howth, which is almost an island, connected to Ireland by two main roads. We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking up and down the cliff edges, my fingers running through the fields of purple flowers as I walked along the rocks at the top. I’m so glad we came here, it is just another little spot that feels so special to me after spending some time admiring what was around us. The water looked so blue and icy from the top and the wind was relentless, but Howth was a spectacular spot that I couldn’t recommend more to anyone who visits Dublin.
That night we headed back to the city one last time for some dinner and drinks. We had a date with the airport at 4am the next morning so we didn’t bother booking accommodation. Instead we opted to sleep in our car for a mere 3 hours that night before we had to wake up and head off. At the airport we sat down waiting to board our plane back to Gdansk, sleep deprived and sad we were leaving such a beautiful country behind. I loved Ireland so much though, that I’m sure I’ll be back in no time!
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset
Nothing makes me happier than being on the road, surrounded by trees, fields, clouds, basically anything natural. Ireland is the epitome of this. On our second last day in Ireland, Dan and I travelled from Kilkenny to Wilkow Mountains National Park and spent the day driving around the winding mountain roads, chasing sunlight in between the rain.
We pulled over more times than I can remember, running in the direction of something that caught our eye from the road. Whether it was through fields, pathways or fjords, we explored everything we could during our day in Wiklow. The wind was icy all day even though it was the middle of summer, but I remember I was so happy that the goosebumps on my skin didn’t matter.
One of my favourite spots in the park was a field of grass so vast you couldn’t see where it ended - it just connected back up to the mountains looming in the distance. As I got out of the car, the wind swung my door open sharply and my hair went flying in every direction. Dan and I ran as fast and as far out as we could into the fields, laughing hysterically and giving each other piggy back rides on the way there. When we abruptly stopped running, shoes muddy from the damp grass and wind howling into our ears, it was a moment where life really sunk in. I am me. I am here. I am happy. SO so happy right now. I never wanted to leave.
Each location we visited in Ireland had it’s own little piece of magic that I could easily say every time that “this is my favourite place”. I’ve come to the conclusion that Ireland in general is just a marvel of green and hidden secrets. Every town we visited and every park we explored holds a special place for me. I would go back to Ireland to explore more in a heartbeat.
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset
model dee @ debut
hair + makeup lidija j
stylist jessie mcnaught
video dan @ i make films
I'm excited because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x
all photos edited with Eden for Lightroom
Follow me on my instagram accounts:
main account @juliatrotti
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You can also see all the final photos from this trip in my 10 hours in Berlin Part 1 + Part 2 blog posts!
Dan and I made our way from Slane to Kilkenny one day. We were here to photograph and film a wedding for a lovely couple from Melbourne, Australia! What we though was going to be a small town similar to Slane or other towns we drove though, when we arrived in Kilkenny, it turns out to be an amazing bustling city full of life. Even though Kilkenny is a city, it is still complete with the Irish charm of flowers hanging from the pubs, old buildings, colourful doors and vines crawling on any surface it could reach.
Our first day in Kilkenny was spent at meetings and exploring the city on foot, location scouting for the wedding that was to come in a couple of days. We also decided to take the time to drive to all the locations we had to go to on the wedding day just to make sure we could find them all! In Ireland there are no street addresses, only winding directions telling you to go left at the river, over the bridge, right at the red pub and straight until you arrive at your destination. It was safe to say it was a good idea that we decided to find all the spots the day before because we ended up getting lost a couple of times. On a few occasions we ended up arriving at our ‘destination’ only to realise it was a strangers house, and having to get the help from locals to figure out where to go instead.
The wedding day went amazing. The rain that had been looming the day before disappeared and it was truly a hot summer’s day in Ireland. Alyssa and Michael, the bride and groom, were glowing and we ended up staying at the reception until 4 in the morning. We found out the night afterward at a little get together/afterparty that some of the guests didn’t end the party until 10 in the morning the next day!
As soon as we got to Kilkenny, we started exploring the city on foot.
On our way to morning meetings.
Kilkenny castle.
Location scouting for the wedding.
Our bed and breakfast.
A mansion we went to have high tea at.
Glimpses of the Irish countryside.
Crazy/lazy hair after a long day of meetings, scouting and too much walking around.
Editing pictures in our hotel room.
And here are some photos from the wedding day!
all photos edited with Gdansk Lightroom Preset. all wedding photos edited with The Wedding Collection for Lightroom.
See the photos & read my story from Part 1 here!
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset
When I look back at my time in Berlin, I can only think of how my short time there left such an impact on me that I was dreaming of coming back from the moment I left. Dan and I were staying in Szczecin, Poland during our last few weeks of living in Europe, which shares a border with Germany. We went to the train station the day before to purchase $10 tickets and at sunrise the next morning, we were boarding the train to Berlin.
The train ride is a short 2 hours and we arrived at Berlin without any idea of what we were going to do the whole day at 8am. We decided we wanted to walk everywhere so we could soak up as much of the city as we possibly could - and ended up having walked a total of 33km while we were in Berlin! My legs were so sore by the end of the day, but my excitement kept me going.
After spending 10 hours in Berlin, I came home to thousands of photos. There was something about the city that really touched me, I love the quirkiness, the beautiful buildings and how busy yet calm everything seemed. I wanted to share my pictures of Berlin in a slightly different format than usual, so here is my photo-essay from my day, split into two parts. No words, no captions, just pictures.
See the rest of the photos from Part 2 here!
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset
This is sadly my last instalment of blog posts from Poland! Karol and Pawel took Dan and I to explore the town of Oliwa near Gdansk. We spent the morning at the zoo, before heading to park and ending the day climbing up a tower of stairs to the Pachołek lookout for 360 degree views of the city. I've put together many blog posts for Poland, but I thought I would end this series by linking you up to some of my favourites!
Gdansk Photo Diary + Travel Guide
Krakow Photo Diary + Travel Guide
Szczecin + Recap of my time in Poland
I've put together many more blog posts from all the cities we visited in Poland, but those are some of my favourites! If you're interested in finding them all, you can have a look at my archives page and scroll down to "Travel".
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset
It's no secret that I love greenhouses and glass houses, every chance I get I will visit one! Dan and I had one free day in Dublin, Ireland and while we were looking for things to do I stumbled across the Dublin Botanic Gardens and I knew I HAD to visit! The gardens themselves were beautiful, we spent the majority of our day wandering in and out of the greenhouses and marvelling at all the beautiful plants. The Botanic Gardens also didn't just have one greenhouse, but FIVE of them. So I was definitely in my dream location.
I had become interested in gardening while we were staying in Poland. Dan's aunty has the most beautiful garden in Gdansk where she grows flowers and most of the food they eat on a daily basis. When I got home I told myself that I wanted to try and do the same thing, which has slowly started happening. It's Spring in Australia now and my blueberries are ripening, my Daffodils and Lavender have bloomed and I have so many sunflower seedlings starting to sprout. Being able to wander around the Dublin Botanic Gardens was a wonderful inspiration for me and only made me want to go green when I got home so much more.
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset!
While we were living in Gdansk, Poland, we went on a work trip to Ireland. We ended up extending our flights so we could stay a little longer and do some exploring, and I’m so glad we did.
As we were flying over Ireland minutes before landing, I remember looking out the window and awing at the sights. Dan and I were watching the bright blue water crashing onto a winding cliff edge and an endless green plain as far as we could see. It was nice not to be hit by jet lag when landing in a new country for once, so we hopped straight into our hire car and drove through the countryside to Slane.
The minute we left the airport I was already enthralled by Ireland. I loved the long stretches of road as far as the eye could see and how luscious and green it was wherever you looked. I remember passing through so many towns on our drive from Dublin to Slane, and each town was cuter than the last. The pubs were decorated with flowers and the houses were either painted in bright red or were made out of stone and had bright yellow or blue doors. We arrived at our bed and breakfast that we had booked the night before by dusk. We drove up the winding driveway through huge oak trees and pretty flowers only to arrive and find out we were the only ones staying in this beautiful cottage mansion on a Monday. We spent the rest of the night shooting portraits of each other in the garden where we met a cat that reminded us of Sneaky who we missed so much back at home.
The next morning there was one thing on Dan and I’s list that we had to see. We woke up at sunrise to get ready and made a short one minute drive to our destination. Slane Castle. This has been on both of our bucket lists even before we met each other! Our favourite music DVD that we used to watch while we were in high school was Red Hot Chili Peppers live at Slane Castle - and for some reason we both never thought we’d have the chance to visit the grounds until we were actually there - together! We spent the morning on a small tour of the actual castle and spent some time taking pictures around the grounds.
The rest of the day in Slane was spent visiting the sights. We visited Hill of Slane among a few other spots and purposely got lost while driving on the streets only to stumble across beautiful endless fields, rows of trees, lakes, rivers and front yards covered in flowers. It seemed wherever you turned in Ireland was another amazing location.
We fell in love with asking for directions in Ireland. When you ask a local where something is, they will usually say something like “follow the road to the left, when you see a cobblestone fence keep going straight, turn right at the bridge and you’ll find yourself in the town. When you reach the only set of lights, turn left, keep going straight until you reach an intersection. Turn right and you’ll be there!”. We’d stand there for a minute trying to recall the long, winding list of directions and by the time we’d drive out onto the road we’d already forgotten. But getting lost in Ireland is all part of the adventure.
I’ll never forget the roads of Ireland. They’re nothing like what I was used to at home or what I got used to while in America. In Ireland, (aside from the highways) a lot of the country roads look like they are one way, one lane roads - but they are two way roads! Dan was driving our manual car while we were there, squeezing past cobblestone fences and oncoming locals who were driving just as fast as Dan. Trees and bushes lining the roads, so overgrown you can’t see what’s coming until they are seconds away from you. I couldn’t help myself but to squeeze my eyes shut every time!
We arrived in the town of Slane on a Monday afternoon, so it was perfectly empty for us to explore.
Visiting the Hill of Slane.
An abandoned home or shed in the countryside.
The beautiful driveway to our bed & breakfast home.
Our trusty hire car.
Visiting Slane Castle, something that has been on both Dan and I's bucket list since we were younger.
After more driving around we stumbled across these fields that we made a photoshoot of. The sun set so late in Ireland it felt like the days lasted forever.
Onwards we drive to our next destination.
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset
campaign for hello molly
model sophie applegarth
makeup lidija j
all photos edited with my L.A. Lightroom Preset.
The 50mm focal length is my favourite to use for creative fashion photography. This photoshoot is an on-location e-commerce shoot for Australian designer Suzi Rose. The brief was to create fun, natural images of the model. We needed to capture both creative poses and poses where you can see more of the outfit.
See my Szczecin Part i blog post to read my travel guide for this city!
It was towards the end of our few months of living in Gdansk, Poland that we hopped on a train to Szczecin to visit and stay with Dan’s aunty and grandma for a week. The train ride took just under 5 hours and just like our train ride to Krakow, I loved endlessly gazing out the window at the deer roaming through the fields and the country houses in the middle of nowhere, smoke rising out of their chimneys at dusk to warm themselves from the cold nights that have already started to fret at the end of summer. We arrived at night and were greeted warmly at the train platform to Dan’s aunty who hadn’t seen Dan for more than 10 years. We spent the rest of the night eating a wonderful home cooked meal, flicking through photos and listening to stories.
Our week in Szczecin was sunny and warm and we spent our days being shown around the city, exploring all of what it had to offer. Szczecin to me seemed to be older than all the other Polish cities I’ve visited. The buildings are bigger, engrained with character and the streets are busy with mostly locals either working or running their daily errands. It felt to me that Szczecin was filled with people who live more of a city life. We made new friends, with Piotr who is Dan’s aunty’s son and runs his own computer store in the city, spent our days road tripping, walking and even visited Berlin for a day!
Anxiety started setting in while we were in Szczecin. We knew that it was soon time to say goodbye to everyone we love and had spent so much time with. It was soon time to call this adventure around the world that took us four months to an end. We had the most amazing time in Szczecin and Poland itself, but deep down there was a nagging feeling that we just didn’t want to go home. After all these months, where we were at that moment already felt like home.
The train ride from Szczecin to Gdansk was one of the longest in my mind, filled with tears and heavy sighs. I mostly remember the sight of the trees blurring out the window at dusk from where we were sitting, then standing, then sitting again in our restlessness. We had a going away party in Gdansk at night with all our family, next door neighbours and more people than I can remember where the vodka flowed freely and we were all huddled under blankets and heavy jumpers to warm ourselves from the cold. The laughter and the chatter was loud that night, but nothing was louder than the deafening anxious pit in my stomach that I knew we were going to leave this all behind once again.
We stayed up all night, slowly one by one people retreated back inside or back home. But we sat outside, talking and enjoying our last few moments until the morning sun started trickling back over the horizon.
“You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place. Like you’ll not only miss the people you love but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you’ll never be this way ever again.”
The beautiful Szczecin Opera House.
Dan and Majka.
Exploring the sights around Wały Chrobrego, just in front of the marina.
Szczecin Old Town.
One of the prettiest and most quirky building I've ever seen!
Catching the train home from Szczecin to Gdansk.
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset.
This is my personal travel guide to Szczecin. If you'd like to read my story about my time spent there, click here to go to Szczecin Part ii!
Chrobrego by the Oder river // Spend a morning or afternoon, or anytime really, walking around the Chrobrego area. Here you can find the Fontanna Wały Chrobrego, some beautiful old buildings covered in vines along Wały Chrobrego Road as well as many restaurants and cafes. Once you finish walking down the huge stone steps and spent some time by the fountain, make your way down the road by the Oder river for another stroll to see the city by the marina.
Jasne Błonia Park // There are many parks in and around Szczecin, but we personally spent a little bit of time walking around Jasne Błonia which is located just off the Szczecin Municipal Office (this green building). Here you can find an avenue of Plane Trees, planted in rows as well as a statue of Pope John Paul II.
Pomeranian Dukes' Castle // This castle in the heart of the city of Szczecin was built in 1428, damaged in World War II and rebuilt again. You can visit this castle at anytime and wander around the grounds. There are a few restaurants and cafes, and I personally had some amazing Pierogi at Na Kuncu Korytarza! You can also pay a small fee of around 5zł to visit the elevated open-air viewpoint.
Cathedral of St. James the Apostle // This is a large church located in the Szczecin old town. Here you can purchase tickets to take two elevators up to the highest level in the bell tower to see 360 bird’s eye views of Szczecin.
Szczecin Concert Hall // Also known as the Szczecin Philharmonic Hall, this is a must-see in the city if you have half an hour to spare to walk by. The Hall’s architecture stands out to anything else that has been built in Szczecin and is just as stunning inside as it is out. This attraction would be even better if you have tickets to a show so you can see the inside of the theatre. Unfortunately while we were there they were undergoing maintenance construction so we missed out by a few days!
Szczecin Old Town // Like any Polish city, visiting the old town is a must-do for me! Compared to cities such as Gdansk and Krakow, Szczecin has the smallest old town to visit, but it’s still a well-spent afternoon to take a walk around. There are plenty of restaurants and cafes to spend your time having lunch or dinner.
Crooked Forest // The Crooked Forest, known as Krzywy Las in Polish, is located about an hours drive away from the city of Szczecin, right on the border with Germany. You can read more in detail about my trip to the Crooked Forest here.
Emerald Lake // Also known as Jezioro Szmaragdowe, the Emerald Lake gets it’s name from the emerald colour of the water, created by a collapsed mine. Here you can spend your time walking on the various hiking trails around the lake, and also receive a free tour of the mines that were built during World War II that are still largely unexplored to this day. Once again, you can find more detailed information on the Emerald Lake and my personal trip there in my blog post about the Crooked Forest here.
Make a day trip to Germany // Szczecin is located right on the Poland to Germany border, meaning at 30zł you can take a two hour train ride to Berlin. Dan and I decided to go to Berlin for one day, so we could have the chance to visit a new city but ultimately come home at the end of the day. We rose early to catch the first 6am train out of Szczecin to arrive in Berlin at 8am, and we were back at the train station at 8pm and home by 10pm. My blog post about Berlin is coming soon!
The Planetarium by the Szczecin marina.
Driving around the suburbs.
Visiting Jasne Błonia park.
Purchasing our train tickets for our day in Berlin.
Visiting Pomeranian Dukes' Castle for one of the best Pierogi lunches in town.
At the top of Cathedral Basilica of St. James the Apostle, getting a bird's eye view of Szczecin.
all photos edited with my new Gdansk Lightroom Preset.
clothing hello molly
model michaela wain
makeup lidija j
all photos edited with my Summer Haze Lightroom Preset.
One afternoon while hanging about in our sun-filled home in Szczecin, Poland, Dan’s aunty and grandma took us for a drive to visit the Crooked Forest. The Crooked Forest, known as Krzywy Las in Polish, is located about an hours drive away from the city of Szczecin, right on the border with Germany. We drove through the countryside and I marvelled out the window at the wild sunflowers growing on the roadside as we listened to stories of how the stalks fly south in the winter and return to the very same home they built atop the electricity poles every season.
I’ve heard many theories as to how the Crooked Forest came about while researching online. From aliens, to war tanks, to ideas that there is perhaps a fluctuation of gravitational forces in this particular area. Regardless, I couldn’t wait to visit this place! There are also many concepts that this forest is haunted due to it’s particularities. I personally don’t really believe in places being haunted, however the minute I stepped foot in the Crooked Forest I started feeling slightly anxious which later went away as the day progressed. It could have been just a coincidence but that was part of my experience of being here. The forest itself is so beautiful, I’ve never seen a sight like that before in my life!
There was a board up at the entrance of the forest which mentioned that these trees were planted before World War II by a carpenter to make furniture. The trees were bent for the furniture he wanted but when the war started, he fled and never returned and the trees stretched back towards the sun.
The Crooked Forest itself is very small, so we only spent a short time here taking some pictures before heading onwards on our adventure. We stopped for ice cream (of course) in the town of Gryfino and next at a place where Dan’s aunty used to visit regularly when she was younger called Emerald Lake, Jezioro Szmaragdowe in Polish. At Emerald Lake (the name comes from the emerald colour of the water, created by a collapsed mine) we spent the rest of our day walking on the hiking trails around the lake, taking pictures in the lush green shade of the towering trees. We also went for a free tour of the mines that are home to bats in the winter. The mines we explored were apparently built by the Germans in World War II and had carvings on the walls of Swastikas and soldiers names who used to spend time down there. Most of the tunnels are still largely unexplored to this day, however we do know that they run from Germany all the way into Poland. It was extremely interesting to be present in something that was created so long ago and we still know so little about today.
If you want to check out what else you can do while you're in Poland, you can see my travel guide for Gdansk here and Krakow here!
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset!
