Category Archives: Science

Experiment Science Centre in Gdynia (Poland)

If you’re traveling with kids or if you’re a grown up who likes to push, pull, touch, and spin things set some time aside to visit the Experiment Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Experyment) when you’re visiting Gdynia, Sopot, or Gdańsk in Poland.

Main entrance to Experiment Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Experyment) in Gdynia, Poland
Main entrance to Experiment Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Experyment) in Gdynia, Poland

Sadly, the Center is closed right now, but let me show you what you can see inside once they reopen.

We visited the Centre in June 2019 when we were vacationing in Gdańsk, and Gdynia is just a short train ride away.

The center covers one very large room and has 5 major exhibition areas:

General view onto the floor of the Experiment Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Experyment) in Gdynia, Poland
General view onto the floor of the Experiment Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Experyment) in Gdynia, Poland
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7 universities in 2 countries in 12 days

Can you visit 7 universities in 2 countries in 12 days? Sure, you can. We did just that in May 2019.

We visited 2 countries:

  • The Netherlands
  • Sweden

5 universities in the Netherlands:

We visited 5 universities in the Netherlands
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Warsaw from the viewing deck of the Palace of Culture and Science (PKiN)

There are few buildings in Warsaw, Poland that are more controversial than Pałac Kultury i Nauki (Palace of Culture and Science), also known as PKiN (pronounced Peh-keen).

As it’s a symbol of Soviet Union’s communist oppression of the country, some would like to see it demolished and gone from the landscape. Others say that even though it’s part of painful history, it’s history nevertheless and should not be touched.

Until recently, it was the tallest building in Warsaw, but it has been eclipsed by the Varso Tower, which is now not only the tallest building in Warsaw but also in all of Europe. 

“The Controversial Story of Stalin’s Palace in Warsaw” by Wojciech Oleksian published in Culture.pl offers a very thorough history of “Joseph Stalin’s idea of building a skyscraper over 200 metres (650 feet) tall in the middle of Warsaw’s post-war ruins” complete with photos from the early 1950s showing how out of place this gleaming white building looked like in the middle of bombed ruins of post-WWII Warsaw.

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#ThrowbackThursday: Our Travels (with Kids) 10 and 5 Years Ago

I’m lazy today and don’t want to write much 🙂 so I thought I’d share some of our photos from our travels ten and five years ago. Sometimes it’s really fun to go down the memory lane!

2006 February – Rabka, Poland

During February vacation in 2006 I took my son to Poland to spend some time with my parents. We went to Rabka, Poland, a small town popular with families because of its salt works (it’s a spa town).

My son had fun going sledding with my Dad:

Dziadek (Grandfather) and Wnuczek (grandson) having fun on the sled being pulled by the sleigh in Rabka, Poland, in 2006
Dziadek (Grandfather) and Wnuczek (grandson) having fun on the sled being pulled by the sleigh in Rabka, Poland, in 2006

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Nerding Out with My Son over Corning Gorilla Glass

It’s late Saturday evening. I had just come home from the opening day of WITS15 – Women in Travel Summit, and my son and I are looking through the SWAG – the free items we received from the conference sponsors.

One of the items is a charger from Corning Incorporated, maker of Corning® Gorilla® Glass 4.

“You had CORNING there?” my son exclaims with more enthusiasm than I would have expected from a “cool” (thir)teen.

“Yeah,” I reply, surprised. “They made a presentation about their glass during our lunch break. Why? What’s so exciting about Corning?”

He looks at me with disbelief, then pulls open his laptop, opens YouTube, and in a few seconds finds what he was looking for.

“Watch this,” he practically orders.

The guys on the screen look familiar – it’s Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman and the clip is titled “The Glass Age, Part 1: Flexible, Bendable Glass.”

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How much can you see in three-and-a-half days in Quebec City?

Mind you, just so we’re clear on that – three-and-a-half days is NOT enough to see everything worth seeing in Québec City and the area.

From its centuries-old stone buildings that look like they were transported straight from France, to its many museums, this charming city of about half a million has a lot to offer to visitors.

Unfortunately, we only had a long weekend for this visit, but if you have more time, do yourself a favor and spend a few more days in this capital of the Canadian province of Québec.

It’s an about six-hour drive from Boston, another old city worth seeing, but it’s very different than any American cities you will see, including the also-French New Orleans.

We saw the following attractions in Québec City. You can decide whether you want to put them on your to-see list as well.

Continue reading How much can you see in three-and-a-half days in Quebec City?