Benjol

Dearest friends,

Last Saturday, besides the meeting with our friends, we wanted to go to the Pierogi Festival (that lasted the entire weekend and was in the Small Square) but it was way too crowdy and the lines to the pierogi stands were just endless... so we went to the next best thing when it comes to traditional food/meals is "Restauracja Kuchnia u Babci Maliny" which in rough translation would mean "Restaurant at Grandmas Kitchen Raspberries".


You can find them on the internet on their own SITE or FB Page :) Unfortunately you cannot take over and/or order from home so the only option is to go to one of the Babcia Malina locations and enjoy the athmosphere  :) And I must tell you it is unique!!! :)

In Krakow you can find them either on ul. Sławkowska 17 or on ul. Szpitalna 38 :)

Monday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday	12:00–9:00 pm
Sunday	12:00–9:00 pm

It is a perfect place to take your friends (foreign people - not polish) eating ;) You can call them between the hours listed above and book a place or just drop by and see if you have any luck in finding a seat available. The place is quite popular amongst the locals and they have very good food: fresh and "homemade" and it really tastes awesome, just like a Polish Granny would do it ;)


The Restaurant that we went for is located on Szpitalna and it is my personal fav. You have 3 floors: at the main level you have the self service and you have benches where you can sit after you retrieve your food (you will get a number of order and then they will call for the number and you need to come pick the food); on the +1 level you can find more sitting space with benches and tables (very rustic and mountaineer type of place). But! If you go downstairs you have the restaurant where you have the waiters/waitresses dressed in black and white at your service. From time to time there is also someone playing the piano ;)


 I had the awesome Zurek soup (traditional cream soup with white sausage and potatoe and boiled eggs) and some pierogi (dumplings) with meat :) Cozi had just the 3 types of pierogi dish and my fiancee had barszcz z krokietem (beetroot soup with some kind of meat thingies...) and some sznitzel with potatoes. We all had some awesome and cold beer ;)

Dear friends,

• I admire the fact that she feels comfortable with herself wherever she is, whatever she is wearing! As she put it: "It Took Me Ages To Grow Into Being A Woman, Into Being Happy With It" and I dare say she actually managed it nicely! She can stay in whatever position it pleases her, she may speak the way that she wants but she is always top class and you can see how much she has grown from being the frightened girl from A Room With A View to the hardcore Bellatrix from Harry Potter. And just have a look at her style of clothing - it is insane yet very appealing. Not everyone can pull that kind of look and remain alive without critics biting on ones neck! Who else can wear mismatched shoes to the Golden Globe Awards and say something like this: "Why not wear mismatching shoes? Who says we can’t? I was just having fun ... For me, fashion is all about fantasy and putting unlikely things together. That’s what I love. I genuinely love dressing up."
• I feel intrigued over her long-lasting relationship/partnership with the genius Tim Burton - figure this out, they have bought 2 houses, joined in by the wall and set that wall down. The third house they own is on the same street but the kids live there with the nanny. Each of the houses has their own different style and they have daily meetings. HBC is Tims muse and you can see her in almost all his movies - or at least hear her voice... - since they have been together. Marriage is overratted for them and I understand their way of thinking but I must underline this is a thing I do not agree with. If one loves another and they match, they should get wed... but hey, I am oldfashioned!
• I adore her amazing wardrobe and her genius accessories - if you can pull off mismatched shoes, weird boots, strange glasses, bird-nest hairdos and whatever not that you must be doing something right and you are one hell of a woman! And that is what she is: a remarcable woman! Everything you will put her in would look stunning on her and peoples jaws will drop. But guess what? She is her very own stylist and she picks her own goodies. She chooses what to wear with which and to what ocassion and not once has she been spotted with the same clothes, so that is a clear statement that she does fashion and she is not made by fashion. 
• Parenting skills done right - did you know that HBC and Tim actually went for 7 weeks to a childcare guru to make sure they will raise their 2 babies correctly and give them the best. I know that having a nanny  vs. shooting movies/being a producer is not that ok, also living in another house (even if it is on the same street) is not that ok either, but how awesome is Helena for taking her bike out and bringing her 2 lovely sons back home each day?!
• I love the she has ALWAYS put her heart and soul into the movies she has done - I think one of the very first movies I have seen with Helena was the ecranisation of A Room With A View. She was so adorable as Lucy, and so very young. After that it must have been Lady Jane - or so I remember... Just give her a script and a bit of time and she will do from any character in the play something legendary that for sure you will remember :) She is not afraid of strange roles that push her to the limit and she likes both the dark and the positive characters. Come on! She played in The Planet of Apes and she was not afraid of being a monkey! She had her head triple the size for being The Red Queen in the newest Alice in Wonderland - the one with the Polish Alice ;) She played a very crazy (in love with Mr. Todd - Johnny Depp) cook//baker in Sweeney Todd - just have a look at her hair and her deep dark eyes! And the beach scene is just epic! To be underlined that not only does she act remarkably but she also sings rather lovely ;) Take for example Sweeney Todd & Les Miserables.