The AppleBlossom of Poznan: Blooming at the Blooms Hostel, Poland!

The greatest thing about hostel life, is that you never know what the next lodging is going to bring, in form of adventure. Sure, there are times I wish I could afford to stay, if only a couple of nights, at a traditional hotel, as such lodging most likely ensures uninterrupted rest due to the fact that there is nix and absolutely nil chance of a snorer in a bunk next to you, sounding much like an angry gorilla; or, that a group of two, whom you may be sandwiched in-between (bunk bed wise) have toured the local food market during the afternoon, and have decided to drink brew and dine where chefs hold the secret to the most brutal combination of garlic and spices...and as we all know, such lethal combination has a tendency to slowly release from internally into the midnight air, which can be insufferable for the rest of the innocent guests sleeping in a fully occupied dorm with such a fuming individuals! (needn’t say more...I’m sure you get the picture!) But, as the adventurous pleasant surprises, hostel wise, seems to outweigh the minor “garlic-fuming-find-a-gasmask-if-you-want-to-survive-the-night” or the “gorilla-hold-on-to-the-bunk-railing-so-that-the-snoring-blasts-won’t-knock-you-out-of-bed” issues, I will  continue be the proverbial hostel-booker (sleep in garlic-free aromatic atmosphere is always possible at home, in-between the hostelling)

Arriving Poznan, a smaller city in Poland, and The Blooms Hostel and Apartments proved to be just that, an adventure, as there were no expectations what this place (or the hostel) was going to be like. Usually, when visiting metropolitan cities there is already an expectation due to all the pre-exposure from media, as opposed to the smaller, but oh so beautiful cities and towns which all are tucked away, only to be randomly explored by individuals such as myself.

Let me back up and fill you, the reader, in, with regards the choice to visit (and ending up living) in Poznan:

I have found that air flights are not always the most convenient way to get to a destination in the shortest time possible; such perspective is as delusional as the myth of the unicorn! Although the airlines themselves usually offer great service, it is all the wasted time, from the moment one arrives at an airport hours prior to departure in order to wait in ridiculous lines, paying for over-priced food, also while waiting , running out of the complimentary one-hour internet, while waiting, leaving no other option other to spend the rest of the time to wander about and be tempted by all the over-priced items sold at the airport stores and kiosks, or to park the derriere in one of the bars to enjoy an over-priced drink- only to repeat the cycle at the next airport while departing on a connecting flight. I have therefore, by chance, found, that in Europe the option of trains, and even better yet, the busses are, sometimes, the better way to travel! In comfort, one can usually enjoy internet for hours on end, but then again, why would you? The view into the small towns, which the busses drives through, gives an insight to the real village life of the population of the country one is visiting. This is exactly what happened to me while hopping on a bus from Warsaw to Berlin, I became exposed to towns in Poland which I didn’t know existed.

Being deprived of American stores, such as TJ Maxx and Gap, after living in Denmark for the last three years (I know, how Shallow Halley of me, right?) needless to say that my eyes expanded to a size which would make even Marty Feldman green with envy once I saw the large posters hanging from the giant windows in the really, really, giant new shopping mall in Wroclaw! This was not the Poland I had envisioned, so modern and rather Americanized? Well, never mind that little fact that I actually returned to Wroclaw for the very reason of shopping in American stores...which also gave me an opportunity to review some of the local hostels...vive la Shallow Halley!

Anyway, it was on my way from Prague to Wroclaw to buy, in particular, leather belts which is impossible to find in Copenhagen but are found in abundance at the TK Maxx (as the franchise is called in Europe) that I had the opportunity to chat for hours with a young Chilean Vigneron whom was on his way back to his home country and grape-filled vineyards after hostelling Europe, and whom told me that he had decided to stop in Poznan for the night until travelling to Berlin for the flight back to Chile? “Poznan”, I thought. ”Perhaps...worth checking out?”

So I did. And with no regrets!

Poznan is definitely for anyone visiting Europe and who need a little break from sightseeing tours, museums, beaches, hiking mountains...only to relax at awesome cafés serving rich coffee and sirnik, the Polish name for (fantastic) cheesecake! It is primarily a student town, so the population is young and vibrant, and the above average intellectualism is reflected in nearly anything here; you will find giant shopping malls with all the modern brand names...and very attractive prices, I may add. Smaller, unique stores, laid as pearls in a row right off the old cobble-stoned streets, are also in abundance, if one prefers such shopping as opposed to the large shopping centres ...in other words: In Poznan, you can shop until you drop...and there will still be money leftover for that slice of sirnik! It can also be mentioned that the larger hotels in this town have Casinos (yes, you read that right; who needs Vegas, B.A.B.Y?!)

The town is only a four-hour bus ride from Berlin, and Poznan Airport does provide flights to London, Paris, Copenhagen, Prague, etc. Hint: the last airfare  purchased from Wizzair, departing Poznan to Malmø, Sweden, cost no less than 79 Zloty one way...  

Picking Blooms Hostel proved to be a great pick...again, no regrets! Entering old and charming authentic doors I had the pleasure to creep up the stairway to the reception (sorry, no elevators in this hostel), only to find more of the old, authentic frosted-glass and brass door-knobs opening up to a warm, turn-of-the-century architecture, dainty and with rather feminine flair  reception hall/kitchen/lounge area, and greeted by exceptionally polite staff handing my receipt and a charming old-fashioned steeled key to my dorm room...all I could think was “Welcome home, you little pug!”

I was put in a dorm, also oozing of femininity, and to my delight the eight-persons dorm was to be occupied by myself, a Polish student of Journalism, as well as young Dutch multilingual female techie who happened to work temporarily in Poznan and was found to be a golden well of information with regards to, what Paris Hilton would refer to as: “what’s hot/what’s not” in Poland.

While staying at the Blooms, the dorm looked more like a place of an on-going girly sleep-over party, as make-up, perfume bottles, heels, and shopping bags in powder-pink and mint-green were spread to every corner of the room, mainly due to the fact that the room only had two lockers...even though the dorm could be occupied by eight persons(?) (please read here: bring your padlock suitable to lock your luggage); Needles to say that the locker issue could be overlooked now that all sparkling everything had found its way into this room!

Anyway, other than occupying a dorm which seemed to have been bombarded with poofs of glitter the drawback was that one had to leave the on-going sparkly party and walk through the long hallway in order to visit the loo, as the fact remains, that unless you book a private room, there are no private bathrooms accompanying the dorms, and the bathrooms are co-ed; yet, the stalls are divided in such a way that privacy is never an issue. The charm of an older building may not always appear charming in the morning when met by cold water from the shower; this can, however, be resolved by letting the water run for a while before entering the the shower cabin (now, don’t say that I didn’t warn you, should you ever stay at the Blooms)

The hostel does not have a laundry facility, but it provides a laundry service...yes, you read that right. For a reasonable price, one can drop off the dirties and pick it up, usually, a few hours later.

Complimentary tea and coffee is available 24 hours a day in the cozy lounge area, and it is possible to purchase breakfast. The hostel is suitable for all ages, as it is not your typical youngster party-shack, and many of the hostel guests, particularly on the weekends seems to be Polish natives from other areas of Poland. While spending my time there, the potpourri of hostellers were everything (other than the sparkly roomies) from Irish medical students, long-term hostellers over the age of 40 years, a few Norwegian middle-aged hardcore knitters, a few intellectual couples, and then, of course your regular younger hostel patrons. In other words, this is a place where you will not be turned down because you are too old, too young, or in the case of the Norwegians: too crafty...!

Although a kitchen is located within the hostel, I will recommend to go out there and try authentic Polish food. Only minutes from The Blooms Hostel, on the main shopping street, one can find several Milk Bars, where all sorts of Polish and Russian Pierogi (dumplings) can be savored. Even better yet, around the corner of the hostel one can find a great house of crepes: the Manekin! Trust me, this place in itself is worth travelling to Poznan for...but you don’t have to take my word for it; all you have to do is check out the size of the line of waiting patrons on the weekends, ready to dig into the deliciousness of the different crepes served.

As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, one never knows what kind of adventure hostel life will bring you. Well in this case, I guess the combination of the warm, quiet and friendly hostel, the great hostel roomies and the laughters we were able to have in the short time lodging together, the trips to Tapas restaurants and Sushi bars with the techie roomie and new-found (temporary) friend, a town which seems so safe and intimate, not to mention the great pricing for non-Polish visitors, brought me to the greatest adventure of all: I decided to  pack something larger than the regular overhead compartment-sized piece of luggage which I ordinarily tote around, along with my massage table, and hauled everything (gypsy-style) on busses, and ferries in order to move to this town...and all I can say about this adventurous decision is: Oui, j’adore Poznan...Non, je ne regrette rien!

And who knows? Should you ever come to Poznan, there may be a chance that TheTinyPug is hanging out in the same café as you, drinking from an oversized cup filled with cappuccino, while planning the next hostel-booking trip worth barking about…

Time to rate:

• Was the overall location appropriate: Location is Super, Muy Bien, Dobry, Trés Bien, Sehr Gut...Kjempebra; Fedt!
• Overall ho(s)tel level: Category D: fit-for-all-ho(s)tel-bookers
• Would I let my children stay at this ho(s)tel: Of Course! Bien Sur! Aber Ja! Oczywiscie! Selvfølgelig!
• Would I bring my mother: Do birds fly? Do angels cry? in other word...Yes, Tak, Da, Oui, Ja...Si!
• Would I recommend the ho(s)tel to the neighbour: Answer is as affirmative as above (if you know what I mean)
• Low-point(s) of the ho(s)tel: No elevator…!
• High-point(s) of the ho(s)tel: the friendliness of the staff!
• For he/she who has tried everything: If you are looking for a place to get away in order to rejuvenate, then this is the place for you!

For more information, follow this link: http://www.blooms.com.pl/

Sincerely,

TheGreatDane

Chillin' at the Chili Hostel...!

Chili Hostel, Prague

Have you ever had that potpourri of feelings which lead you to thinking: “je ne sais qui…?!” Let's just imagine for a moment that you were, hypothetically, about to step into the house of your friend’s sister’s house where you were to spend the weekend due to the acceptance of an invitation to “hang out and chill” in a home away from home; and, as you may have expected that sister to be married to an utterly boring version of Mr. Grey, living in a suburban home with a white-picket fence; SUV’s in the driveway reflecting that post-graduate paygrade; the tea cup which you are forced to drink the “welcome drink” so politely from is just as pretentious as the house, the cars, the Mr.Grey-wanna-be husband...yes, even the family pooch is pretentious as h*ll; only to feel utterly surprised when you enter such friend’s sister’s house and wonder if you just stepped into a yoga retreat, Taj Mahal style; there are no SUV’s in the driveway- instead, a Volkswagen van with a bracket big enough to carry anything which you now imagine this sister and her husband are all about: surfboards, cross country skis, dirt-road bikes, oversized camping backpacks to go along with the oversized tent! And, oh no...you will not be served tea in a delicate china cup- instead, the "welcome drink" is glass filled to the rim of the sister’s secret herbal smoothie, which you can’t help but wonder if it will send you into a psychedelic rabbit hole rather than serve as a holistic cleanse for your tired body…! Hypothetically, such an experience would probably make you say out loud "Alors, je ne sais...qui!" Even if you don't, ordinarily, speak French.

Ok, so if you have ever had that kind of “je ne sais qui…?!” feeling, and you liked the surprise accompanying the emotion, then you will like the vibes of the Chili Hostel; if you have never had such a surprise feeling, ever, in your lifetime, and want to add that good “je ne sais qui…?!” feeling to your bucket-list, then you should spend a weekend-get-away at the Chili Hostel!

The Chili Hostel is located in a quiet part of Prague, however, everything lively is within walking distance; not to mention that this hostel, in itself, is lively: Walking down into the hostel, it appears to be located in a basement; yet, once you have checked in at the most “laid-back” reception counter (and laid-back staff) I have experienced so far, in the world of hostel life, you are given the linen, which the hostel have bought in mass quantity from Ikea, I may add (I should know...I own the same kind of linen!) and the hotel key (old-style), whereafter entering an equally laid-back lounge-area with computers, a kitchen, and to my delight, a coffee vending machine...only to walk either up or down (depending where your dorm is located) to what seems to be an old apartment complex covered with original mosaic tiled flooring...funky!

The dorm I was assigned to, could also only be described equally as “funky” and as laid-back as the rest of the hostel. Painted in mismatched colours, off-setting the colour-scheme of the linen, it added to that good surprise feeling, as well as the feeling of chillin’ in the bedroom of your friend’s organic-farming, yoga-instructing hippie sister rather than staying at a hostel in one of the prettiest cities of the world!


This is a place where you definitely want to be able to use your padlock key directly unto whatever luggage you might have brought. Although the hostel provides lockers for storage, they are too small to fit anything but a pair of socks/underwear, a phone, and/or a laptop, and any other small possessions you may treasure enough to put behind lock-and-key...but, who cares about that when you are chillin’ at the most laid-back hostel in Prague, right?

Furthermore, the bathrooms are as unpredictable and surprising as the dorms and the hostel, in general: one bathroom may be very small (and as I experienced, not suitable to bring more than soap, tooth-brush,flip-flops, and a towel, if you don’t want that claustrophobic feeling!)...only to find another bathroom in the same section of the hostel in the size: enormously spacious! (please read here: bring ALL your primping equipment without worries!). One thing that was delightfully predictable, though, was the cleanliness of the bathrooms, and consistently HOT water...yea!

Overall thoughts of the hostel: this is a hostel for the younger hostellers, and not suitable for families/older hostellers, in my opinion. (Unless, you are a real version of the Cheech/Chong team, then this hostel may be suitable...if you know what I mean!) The hostel serves as an inexpensive opportunity to see Prague’s attractions without having the lodging eating your money away, and should therefore be considered the place to stay...at least, for the not-so-picky-hosteller!

Time to rate:

• Was the location appropriate: Central enough...enough said!
• Overall hostel level: The Chili Hostel gets an “A”...as in category A: Youngsters...enough said!
• Would I let my children stay at this hostel: For the ones over the the age of 16...oh, h**l yes! (again: enough said!)
• Would I bring my mother: Oh h**l...NO! (here we go again: enough said!)
• Would I recommend it to my neighbour: Oh h**l yes...if the neighbor falls into the category “A”, as in youngsters (or, at least feels young at heart, if you know what I mean)
• Low-point(s) of the hostel: other than a really worn mattress, I cannot think of any low-points beyond that…
• High-point(s) of the hostel: Did I mention that there is a coffee vending machine located in the lounge area?
• For s(he) who has tried everything: if you want a Cheech/Chong moment (without a need for any “herbs” in order to feel hippiesh…!) then absolutely, this place to have that moment, whilst in Prague!

For more information about the Chili Hostel, Prague, follow this link: http://www.chili.dj/ 

Sincerely,

TheGreatDane