Place where time has stopped

We tend to spend most of our time in cities, mainly because we need a good access to the internet. But we actually love nature, forests and small villages. Places where you often have the impression that time has stopped. In Poland there are plenty of places to enjoy nature. There is exactly everything – sea, lakes, mountains, beautiful and vast forests. We have already been to the sea, we have crossed the lake, so it is time for the forest. When we talk about forests, we cannot forget about Bialowieza Forest. But we will write more about it next time, because on our way to Bialowieza Forest we pass through an exceptionally charming region of Poland – Podlasie. 

Trip in time on rural roads

Usually, when driving we try to avoid highways. Although it is a quick way to drive long distances, it is unfortunately the most boring one. We choose small, often full of holes like cheese, local roads forgotten by the world. Usually you can’t drive too fast on them, but you can look around a lot more. This time, however, the views were so amazing that we not only drove slower and slower but also stopped more often than usual. With every passing village we had the impression that we were going back in time! Our plan was to go to Białowieża, but in the end we spent the whole day driving around the villages of Podlasie. 

The Land of Open Shutters

Along the way we passed unique houses and churches. All beautifuly decorated and colorful as if from a fairy tale. At first, such houses were rare, but at some point we reached Trzescianki, where literally every house was unusual and beautiful. This village is so charming that we decided to stop here and go for a walk. 

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All the houses here are wooden and have beautiful decorations around the windows and on the trims of the houses. All the elements are painted with vibrant colors. The decoration is completed by shutters. Because of these shutters, Trześcianka and two neighboring villages – Pukły and Soce, are called the Land of Open Shutters. The historic spatial layout of the villages is under the protection of the conservator. The charm of each of these villages is complemented by Orthodox churches, each of different color. 

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Slow life of living

Life here seems to flow slowly, more peacefully. There was a wooden bench in front of the fence at each of the houses, and someone was sitting on most of them. Not with a phone at all, not even with a book! He was just sitting and staring into the distance, or talking to his neighbor. In an age where contact with other people is limited to social media and the Internet, here we have not seen even a trace of it. 

We could stay here forever

We liked Podlasie so much that not only did we stay there longer than we planned, but we even started looking into buying a house in that area! As we don’t currently have a home and we still haven’t gotten tired of “living out of a suitcase”, however, we realize that someday we will want to stop and live somewhere permanent. Podlasie has just hit the top of the list of places where we would like to stay.