En plein air

For some reason, this summer was full of unexpected turns, the kind I could only summarize as A Series of Unfortunate Events.

It makes me remember this year's holidays even more fondly. Being a creative soul, it was everything you could hope for: art, work, beautiful setting, eccentric characters and a large dose of quirk!

Growing up surrounded by artists of all sorts, it's only hitting me now, how unusual plein air invitationals are. When I replay it in my head, it's almost like a trailer to a magical movie.

First of all, the only way to get there is by a night train. We reached Torun - the city famous for Nicolaus Copernicus and gingerbreads at the break of dawn. Now, if gingerbread city isn't straight up from a fairytale, I don't know what is.

But that wasn't the end. We had to travel about 30 minutes more to reach a hill - the only one around, where stands a lonely palace surrounded by orchards, ponds and forest with long forgotten cemetery.

Slowly the whole crew gathered: the botanist in harry potter glasses and straw hat, the musician who built a considerable amount of wind chimes during our stay and the whole bunch of artists.

For the next two weeks, you could stumble upon them in all kinds of places. whenever the sun came out, we took to the easels, and during the rain, everyone was ensconced in one or the other corner of art studios.

There is something incredibly inspiring in such atmosphere. Even for professional artists, it's a rare luxury to be able to focus solely on their work - perfect space, all the materials, no distractions and creative spirit almost tangible in the air!

Apart from it being a great opportunity to get you creative juices flowing, I had a chance to meet a whole lot of real personalities. Everyone worked in different technique and style, had a different approach to their work which made our time together all the more interesting.

holidaying in wonderland

I spent last two weeks in a fairyland full of eccentric characters and truly magical places. The weather was a little more prosaic, so I came home with a cold as a memento of beautiful holidays. There was a huge Pegasus prancing among the stormy clouds.

Huge weird mushrooms were popping here and there. I swear, I almost saw a caterpillar smoking a pipe on one of them...

Stone gate straight from the opening of Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia). Do you remember castle ruins and apple trees in the long forgotten orchard?

And then there was a palace. Maybe not as old as the one in Narnia, but palace nonetheless!

Gate opening to the sky...

...and the magic door behind which the art happened.
Oh, and did I mention over a dozen quirky artists?

Market day in Cracow

Farmers markets are becoming a new place to be, there is no question about that. However, it took several years in India for me to see the attraction of Cracow's old market.

 And I'm not alone! Both tourists and locals are flooding in and the market is keeping up well with the new fashion. Next to the seasonal fruits and veggies, new stalls opened up. You can find everything from fresh antipasti, Turkish soaps, spices from every corner of the world to organically grown grains and cold-pressed coconut oils and doggy treats.

On top of that, once a month you can enjoy kind of a market picnic with specially selected food, drinks, and some handmade items.

Living in Goa, I can't complain about the availability of fresh produce, but I did miss all the berries, homemade cheeses, and wild mushrooms.

I'm still planning a photographic visit, but till now I stayed true to the purpose of the place and only managed to click few pics, ladened with bags and bags of fruits and jars (hello preserve making season!).

I also discovered rather funny addition - a milk vending machine, where you can get a bottle of farm fresh milk anytime!

Hundertwasser shoes makeover

This is a short story about the shoes. It started with the wedding...

Way back, in the beginning of march, we went to one of those epic Indian weddings - several days, functions, venues and, of course, outfits. It was a bit of a challenge, seeing as most of our "wedding clothes" were still in the storage, but we did pull it off, somehow! I even had my ah-mazing red dress moment, which I took no pictures of - no idea why.

Anyway, we had it under control, with one exception: I had no shoes for one of the dresses. With no time for proper shoe shopping, i just ran to the nearest H&M and bought one pair of their trusty ballet flats in a lovely salmon color. Only, after the night of dancing on the lawn, they were everything but salmon. I cleaned them up the best I could, but they still had weird black stains all over.

Throwing our perfectly good shoes after wearing them once is, to me, all sorts of wrong, even if they did cost close to nothing. I packed them up, brought them home and they were waiting for better days ever since.
And it seems like their time has come!

I think I mentioned my fascination with decoupage. Well... I always wanted to do some shoe makeover but never had a proper victim to run my experiments on. And there they were - two lovely salmon victims, ready to be remade! Even more, I just found a tissue with Hundertwasser print - the only one in the shop-  almost screaming : use me! use me!

I always thought that Hundertwasser's works were so perfectly decorative, almost like patterns, not paintings and so much fun! Now, who wouldn't want shoes like that?!
But to the point... All it took was one printed tissue and some decoupage glue/seal. In all honesty, I could probably do a better job if I wasn't in such a hurry. There are some wrinkles here and there but I doubt anyone will examine my shoes with a magnifier so it's good enough for me. Actually, I kind of love them!

As far as I know, there are many ways to decoupage shoes, can't really say which one is best, since it was my first try. I know that there are a lot of how to's all over the internet, but in the end, it's rather intuitive, isn't it?
I started by cutting the tissue roughly to the shape I needed. I would recommend leaving a good margin around in case of mistakes or adjustments.
I worked with the front and back of the shoes separately cause smaller pieces of tissue are easier to manage. To keep the tissue from moving in an unexpected way, I glued the center front (and center back) first and worked towards the sides. It makes it easier to smooth out the wrinkles and avoid trapping in the air  - if you work slowly and patiently, not like me!

I glued my tissue in intervals, allowing every section to dry before starting another. It is also important to allow every layer to dry before applying the next.
the thing I enjoyed the most: you don't have to be very exact about the edges. You can tear the off and let its merge with the shoe "organically" or file the excess of tissue once it's dry.

I'm still waiting for the perfect weather to test run them outside the house. I didn't get the waterproof seal and it's been rather rainy lately. I wouldn't want all my enthusiastic work to just wash away...

Why Air France - Jet Airways customer service sucks

After all the FRO drama, we had to make the quick decision and finalize the travel plans fast. Obviously, we couldn't just drop everything and leave, so, in the end, we decided that I will fly out with the baby while Anant holds down the fort and keeps the cats company.
We chose Air France once again - god knows why! And once again the customer service they provided was, well... I would say shocking if I didn't know better.

We booked the ticket through Air France website, but as they now joined operations with Jet Airways, the first "leg" of the journey was carried by Jet Airways. I'm not really clear on how exactly this "cooperation" is supposed to work, because, quite frankly, from the customer point of view - it doesn't.

On Air France website, we came across sth called bassinet seat provided to parents travelling with kids under 2 years of age. You have to apply for it in advance as there are only a few on each flight. We messaged Air France immediately requesting said seat, and, to be sure, called them to confirm.

They told us, that, as the flight is carried by Jet Airways, we have to request bassinet through their customer service.
Fine.
We called Jet Airways - they told us that, as we booked the ticket through Air France website, we have to book the seat with them.
That carried on for a while, till the point when my husband, technical genius as he is, got both of the airlines on one call. After a lof of confusion, they mutually decided that we do have to request bassinet with Jet Airways, but only after Air France issues PNR number - 24 hours before the flight that is. In other words, the "joined operation" doesn't allow you to book the seat in advance and thereby take advantage of facility they allegedly provide.

Of course, we tried booking the bassinet the day before the flight but the Air France customer service doesn't work on Sundays and the Jet Airways representative was such a bright bulb, that she made me long for FRO officers! First, she claimed, they have no bassinet seats whatsoever, then, that she can't book one for us for some mysterious reason. In the end, we wanted to know if there are any left so we could book it at the airport, but she was "not at the liberty to disclose this information". Why - she didn't know.

We set out for the Goa airport at 2 am. In Mumbai, we went straight to the Jet Airways counter, to see what can be done about this unfortunate bassinet. They assigned the seat on the spot BUT told us that there won't be an actual bassinet - just an extra leg space.

On my way to the gate, I stopped in the bathroom to complete the whole pre-travel baby ritual. My diaper bag was still wide open on the changing table when they announced the final call for my flight. Of course, I panicked - as I hate being late for anything- and didn't stop to think that there was still at least half an hour left until the actual end of boarding time.

As I got on the plane, it turned out that the seat they gave me was... directly behind the bassinet seat. That was just adorable!

The flight attendant told me not to worry, though - they will see what they can do.
Luckily the flight was half empty, so they didn't have to do much. In the end, I got a whole row of seats and the infamous bassinette - go figure.
While I was quite comfortable, it wasn't thanks to the airlines. Simply put - there was no-one sitting there and nearly every passenger had at least 2 seats to themselves. If the flight were full, that would be an entirely different story, which is sth to think about, especially when you have difficult "baby travel" ahead of you.

Obviously, it wouldn't be the end of the world, getting the regular seat, but it does tell you what to expect in terms of care for the client and service they provide. If you have a stressful journey and want to plan ahead - the ground crew is just rubbish.

On the other hand, they really have excellent flight attendants - I give them that. They were extra attentive and very helpful with the baby, wich is priceless if you are alone on such a long flight.
Even so, I doubt I will fly with them again (not counting the return flight), and if you value your sanity, I wouldn't advise you to do that either.

tying loose ends...

I mentioned a while ago that we had some issues with FRO and visa extension. As it was quite funny (if by funny you mean full of incomprehensible absurd) I decided to continue the saga.
After the last visit, we asked our landlord to come along with us to FRO and explain why he didn't provide the C-form on time. As it turned out, he used to work with like 70% of FRO officers, so there was much of back slapping, man hugging and weird boxing but not a lot of actual office work. It came as no surprise that we didn't get any answer then and had to make yet another trip the next day.

I have to say, they are very consistent in their lack of helpfulness, but the ways they invent to make your life harder are quite imaginative. As we got there, we were sent to talk to some women I never dealt with before. She glanced at our file, slammed it close and said, not even to us but to some other person, "Issue an exit permit" and made to leave without a word of explanation. At that, my dormant monster awoke, and I told her in no uncertain terms, what I think about this kind of behavior and of this office in general.
I mean, they accepted our file, gave us a confirmation and were supposed to send it to MHA in Delhi to be processed and all of a sudden she is issuing an exit permit without so much as "Hello, sorry we can't help you" ?!
What we got instead was, and I quote : "Visa expired, you ENJOYED here for almost three months, not you go".
So we went - to the guy who is supposed to be the head of something there. Honestly, at that point, I didn't much care.
He definitely tried to appear helpful but wasn't. Instead, he blessed us with this piece of office wisdom: "there are only two cases when we can extend X-visa. When you get married on it or if you are born on it". Now, how anyone is supposed to be born on any kind of visa - that I don't know. Don't you have to have a passport to have a visa? And a name, nationality, and date of birth for that matter?
He also got confused, and at some point, tried to send all of us- including my husband, out of the country,  to, I'm guessing, get rid of the problem altogether.
After much time wasted, they grudgingly agreed to forward our file to Delhi. It hardly felt like a victory then, and even less so when we learnt that we will have to wait for a decision for another 2 -3 months.
That was just too much on top of everything, so, in the end, I just packed my bags, book the tickets and came back to Europe with our little troublemaker.
It goes without saying, we needed a beforementioned exit permit, which we had to apply for. It's quite simple, really, though it didn't stop me wanting to rip their throats out at some point or the other.
You write an application mentioning that you need an exit permit, for when and why - they tell you to wait. At some point they will give you a green light to buy your tickets, you need to submit the copy and... wait. Then, you have to pay for overstaying your visa - mostly it's the cost of the visa you overstayed, as far as I can tell - they tell you to wait again. And finally, you can come and collect you permit, which will be issued a day or two before your flight - talk about nerve-wracking!

Of course 24 hours on the plane(s) with 6-month old is a whole other story, so I won't even get into it now. I'm just emerging from my post-travel coma, trying to comprehend the fact that just a couple of days ago I was packing in pre-monsoon Goa, and now I'm eating strawberries in pre-holiday Poland!

OCI and the Foreign Regional Misinformation Office

Dealing with Indian government offices is like fighting mythological monster: you cut off one head - it will grow tree others!

After the pain of FRRO registrations, court marriage &its registration, extending and converting visa, applying and receiving PIO card (just to learn that  I have to go through the same process to convert it to OCI card), I finally had the holy grail - the infamous OCI! How naive of me it was to think that it is the end of our trouble!

When our son was born, we decided on Polish citizenship and OCI card for him. After all, how hard could it be to get OCI for someone who is half Indian? Well... I can tell you how hard: VERY!
First of all, we timed everything quite well according to all the official information: the registration of birth, applying for the passport and then visa, which, according to Indian embassy's website, takes approx. 2 weeks.
However, we were advised against applying for anything else than tourist e-visa because one of the consuls was absent and therefore there was a backlog in visa processing. In other words, there was no chance of getting a proper visa on time.

Looking back, I should've known just then, that the whole process will be full of complications!

We arrived in Goa and marched to the local FRO, to register, extend, convert - all the usual fun, and that's when the real problems started. First of all, e-visa is non-extendable and non-convertible. So, as they told us, we can stay for 30 days and then our baby boy will have to leave the country!

When we managed to convince them, that flying 3-month old back and forth across the continents isn't a good idea, they agreed to do all the extension/conversion magic provided that we submit all the documents. We had everything on hand - or so we though. Apparently a C-form is and always has been required.Funnily enough, during all my FRRO adventures, no-one ever asked me for a C-form, including Goa FRO. Not very surprising though, as they change their regulations and laws weekly plus the rules differ from office to office and from officer to officer!

Oh, and have I mentioned the cherry on top of FROs ineptness? After learning that my husband is from Rajasthan, the chief of the office told us "If I knew you were not from Goa, I wouldn't have agreed [to help you]". Unfortunately, in this little piece of paradise that Goa is, locals loathe outsiders and let it be known, every opportunity they get. Even so, hearing sth like this from government officer is a bit much!

Anyway, we got the "application under process" paper and were on the mission to get the C-form ASAP. Unfortunately, it is up to the landlord to file for it - supposedly they are obligated to do it whenever they rent to foreigners, but if they don't, nobody will say a word. After all, they are the locals, it's just the foreigners, the "outsiders" who get into trouble.

Apparently, the title of the house wasn't clear, so to get the C-form, our landlord had to apply for some other document from the court. That meant another trip to FRO, explaining why we didn't submit the documents yet. Surprisingly, we heard that that's not a problem and we can submit it later. Of course, at this point, I didn't believe them in the slightest. I knew it was a ticking bomb and apparently it just exploded.

We got a call that they can't help us after all, and our son will be required to leave India in order to apply for a proper visa. That was followed by the usual "we are not responsible for...". After all, not taking responsibility for whatever they say or do is what they do best. Basically, you can talk to 20 people in those offices, you will get 21 different answers and, in the end, it won't matter anyway, because "they are not responsible for...".

So now, we are making another trip to FRO, this time with our landlord, to explain why it took so long to submit the stupid C-form and to hear in return, how they can't help us because they can't.


In moment's like this, I often feel like I'm in one of the Kafka's novels with all its incomprehensible bureaucracy, illogical requirements and nightmarish, near-impossible quests.

...and all of that before we can even think of applying for visa extension, not to mention OCI!

Pregnant in Paris - aka travelling in 3rd trimester

so... Paris, once again...
As I mentioned before (about a billion times), our trip was an unconventional one, planned and yet full of question marks. We bought tickets waaay in advance - understandable, considering the situation, but we had no idea how thing are going to go pregnancy-wise. Most of the airlines and doctors will allow you to fly till the end of 7th month, to avoid complications, but then again, being allowed to do sth and actually doing it are two different things, aren't they?
Of course, I did my research, as I always do, to see if there are any other crazy mothers to be, planning romantic excursions just before the due-date. Most od the "Paris pregnancy" articles were about moving to France while pregnant etc or having your last holidays in the very beginning of your pregnancy. I also found a lot of "avoid flying and longer trips in your third trimester" advices. Well... we already had the tickets so I decided to just wait and see what happens.
After not-so-encouraging reading material, I was a bit sceptical, but, at the same time, determined as hell to make the most of it. And it wasn't bad at all! It was actually pretty great.

First of all, we booked air-BnB, making sure it is 1. - near the metro station; 2. - more or less in the centre; 3. - has an elevator(!!!).

After a day of galleries, gardens and cobbled streets, the last thing you want to do is climb 5 cases of steep stairs, no matter how romantic it may seem to stay in one of those old Parisian attics.
As my feet started to swell on the day of our departure, I've noticed every step we had to climb, and there was no end to it. Forget Monte Martre or arc the triumph (yes, I did climb both!), stairs are everywhere! Metro stations, museums, galleries, gardens, shops... it may not seem like much to those with normal size feet, but after few hours in the softest ballet flats I was dreaming of crocks - yes, the ugliest shoes in the world!
So, if you are planning late pregnancy holidays - get yourself a pair of flip-flops or Uggs (or sth alike), depending on the season.

Second of all, your pregnant belly will work like a VIP pass nearly everywhere! I had some misgivings about blatantly using my "condition" to skip queues, use special entries and such, but it was such a comfort and time saver, I decided to screw missgivings and use it while I could.

Then there was a food conundrum. There is the whole list of things you are not supposed to eat while pregnant: seafood, pineapples, papayas, soft-boiled eggs etc. and then there is soft cheese, foie gras and wine... Apparently, it's safer to skip salads and red meet too.

To cushion the blow of not trying some culinary staples, I concentrated on desserts and... snails. As far as I know they are safe to eat and oh-so-delicious! Plus a sip of red wine every now and then is supposed to be ok too. To be on a safer side, skip fresh fruits and veggies (unless you wash them yourself), shellfish, red meat and cheese and you are good to go. Honestly, with all the macarons, creme brulee, baba au rhum, you will barely notice that you are missing something!

when it comes to safety, we didn't face any difficulties. Only two things that come to mind are the metro crowd and pick-pockets. Metro can get super crowded at times, and even though people usually will give you a seat, there is a fair amount of pushing and shoving so whatch out for that. As for pick-pockets, it's a standard warning for every tourist around the globe. I would make extra sure that you are comfortable with your bag as guarding you documents and money can be more difficult with an XXL belly.

To sum it up, I think 3rd-trimester trip is a fab idea.
It takes your mind off the pregnancy/delivery stress, helps you refocus and gives you "a kick" of energy. It gives you a great opportunity to click your belly pics and document you pregnancy glow. Plus, who knows when will you have a chance for a "just the two of you" trip again? If you are tired or walking, there are cafes and parks everywhere, just sit and people watch with a macaron in hand!
If your doctor gives you a green light - go for it!