The border crossing to Poland was the first where we've actually been stopped and police checked inside the moho. We wondered whether this is standard since we're really close to the border with Belarus or we just looked suspicious. We spend the night in a car park opposite a lake and the kids got to have a play at the nearby park after breakfast. It's a short drive into Białystok where our first visit is to Branicki Palace otherwise known as the 'Polish Versaille'. You can only visit as part of an organised tour and in hindsight I'm not sure we'd have done it. The tour was actually in Polish and we were given an audio guide with content for each room we visited but we were often finished within a couple of minutes and the tour guide would talk to the rest of the group for a lot longer (probably very interesting if you understood Polish).

Today some of the rooms remain just for the tour but the rest of the building is the home of a university of medicine. The tour has rooms dedicated to old medical equipment and even deceased organs (you weren't allowed photos of those) used for educational purposes. We got to visit the cellars and see some of the original brickwork as again this building was destroyed and rebuilt. We walked through the beautiful gardens then went for a little walk through the town. It was mainly cafes and we didn't see any tourist shops so we just got ourselves an ice cream then went back to the moho for lunch.

Yesterday Al bought some mayo to go with the roast chicken he has decided this mayo is the best he's ever tasted and therefore must be written about and remembered forever more 😂. Even Liliya has to agree with him although her exposure to mayo is a lot less than his. Białystok had been chosen more as a stop to get to Warsaw rather than on its own merits so there weren't a huge list of things to see or do but I had read about a free zoo on the outskirts of the centre so we headed there next. The animals were all native to Poland and I was hoping to see Bison but either they were hiding or had been moved but the bears were very magnificent and we also saw a wolf.

There was also a playground so we let the kids have some time there whilst I looked at what to do in the capital. On the way back to the moho we got to see some red squirrels, in the wild rather than the zoo, and other than the bears these were the kids next favourites. As we still had quite a lot of the day left we decided to drive all the way to Warsaw which meant we could have our evening meal out in the old town. Several people had told me prior to coming to Poland that we had to try lots of the food so that's just what we did. We found a local restaurant that was rated highly (we had to wait to get a table) and ordered half the menu, much to the amusement of some of the other guests as plates just kept arriving. Of course we had to try the pierogi which we make on Ukrainian Christmas.

They had 3 different types of savoury versions, meat, potato and cheese and spinach and feta. The kids wanted to share a turkey schnitzel, Al had the local sausages, I had some potato pancakes and goulash and we all shared some baked potato with a sour cream dip. We were quite as stuffed as the feast in Riga but we were close. The kids were adamant they still had space in their pudding tummy so Robert got the apple pie and Liliya the cherry meringue.

We didn't have much time to see the old town but what we do see is beautiful and look forward to coming back tomorrow. Whilst in the park earlier we'd looked up an article about the most unusual things to visit in Warsaw and we all agreed the neon museum sounded very interesting so that was our first stop the next day. It turns out we were the second group (just pipped to the post by a couple from Portugal) to enter the museum in its new location, the palace of culture and science.

We got talking to David (an Englishman who had married a Polish lady) who was the museum's director. They got thrown out of the other building a few months ago having been there for 13 years but thankfully they had connections with the mayor who offered up this new space right in the centre of the town so hopefully they will get more visitors anyway. He was really kind, he gave the kids a free postcard each and asked them to find certain neon signs. Unsurprisingly this is the only neon sign museum in Europe. After the death of Stalin there was a relaxation of social and cultural repression and an official government policy wanted to bring some western glamour to the streets and so began the "neonisation". This lasted between the 50-70s before other forms of advertising and lighting became more popular. As it is such an important part of the city however many shops are now coming out with new neon signs which after we left the museum and explored the streets we spotted lots of. The kids enjoyed playing the museum game to find their favourites which they then wanted to tell David all about.

He was happy to chat with them even teaching them the Polish word 'half' which sounds like poo so of course the kids found that hilarious. They wanted to buy a badge with their initial on and David also gave them it for free and a few tips for other things to see in the city including the Poster bianniale as the Poster museum we had hoped to visit is currently closed.

As we walked towards the main street in the new area of the city we walked past the Melt museum, an immersive art museum which the kids loved the sound of and it turned out to be a great find. The kids found the robot dog who greeted us in the lobby very entertaining. Many of the art pieces required interaction so it was great for curious little fingers. They had to make music by touching digital 'trees', turn themselves into robots and make fish swim by jumping and waving their arms.

Our little detour complete, the kids spotted a person dressed as a pierogi so of course wanted their photo taken and that led us to taking a break to get some food as they offered the dessert variety.

We tried pierogis with strawberry, raspberry and cottage cheese, and blackcurrant and apricot all with vanilla sauce. They also had some local drinks so it was a fruity beer for Al and a fruity cocktail for me. They offered a shot of vodka with mine which I assumed would be in the drink but no they give it to you on the side. No thanks of course I had a sip but then it went straight into the cocktail.

Back on the street and we noticed lots of people were waving flags and the kids were given some by a group wearing old looking war clothes. Something was going on but we weren't quite sure what.

Afterwards we were enticed into a local sweet shop with free samples, it's the rock type candy with pictures on the inside and we could see them making it which was fun.

We then found our way to the poster exhibition after which we could hear singing so followed the sound.

In a large square they had set up a stage which a large choir performing and now many more people were waving flags and in themed clothing.

An internet search led us to learn that 1st August is the remembrance of the Warsaw Uprising (something neither of us had heard about before). It was one of the most significant acts of resistance during WW2 where the Polish underground resistance rose up against the Nazi Germans in Warsaw. Their goal was to liberate the city before the Soviet Red Army arrived, asserting Polish sovereignty and preventing Soviet domination. They bravely held out for 63 days until they had to surrender then the city was destroyed and tens of thousands of civilians were killed. Today this event is remembered with a one minute silence at 5pm whilst sirens go off. We had some time for a bit of tourist shopping (including a pierogi bauble!), an ice cream and some popular polish sweets that David had told us shared the name with the Polish word for cow, along with visiting a couple of churches including the one where composer Chopin's heart is buried before making our way to the old square just before 5pm.

We're used to being a part of rememberance parades in the UK but this was on another level and felt very moving to be a part of it as the silence occurred then the crowds started singing the national anthem.

There was one final museum we wanted to see and that was the street art back at the palace of culture. To save time later on we grabbed a quick slice of pizza so we didn't need to cook before driving then viewed various forms of graffiti and other street art.

A tube, a bus and 22.5k steps later we said goodbye to Warsaw, our second favourite city on this trip, and began the 2.5hr drive en route to Poznan.

Our stop tonight wasn't pretty and quite noisy but the ear plugs did their job and another couple of hours driving in the morning we were in Poznan. It was larger than expected and the old town square was beautiful.

Very randomly Al had found a Japanese cheesecake cafe so of course we went across to try some. I voted it the worst cheesecake I've had since I'm a set cheesecake fan rather than baked but the boys loved it. At least the chocolate version Liliya and I ended up sharing tasted just like a sponge cake.

We visited the basilica and found the 'famous' goat statue.

Today's booked activity was to the croissant museum. It was an interactive show and workshop centered around the legendary Rogal Świętomarciński (St Martin's croissant). It is specific recipe which is a croissant filled with a paste, currants, covered in icing sugar with a few chipped nuts on top. It's officially protected by EU law and a Poznań delicacy. During the show the hosts recount the story of how St Martin became a saint and how the croissant became to be in the city in a very humorous way. They tell us a bit about the Poznan dialect then get various volunteers to help with the process of making a croissant. Liliya volunteered to be the dough folder.

At the end of the presentation we all got an apprentice certificate and freshly baked croissant to taste. After all that the kids didn't even like them (they were very different to a traditional butter croissant). The show we chose ended just before the hour so we had a prime view of the town hall clock and the famous goat show.

Legend has it that in 1551, a grand clock was built for Poznań Town Hall to mark the rebuilding after a major fire where the cook accidentally burned the roast for the feast. In a panic, he stole two goats from a nearby field to replace it, they escaped, dashed up the clock tower, and began butting heads in full view of the guests below. The mayor was angry but saw how the crowds laughed and he pretended he had organised the whole thing then ordered a mechanical version of the goats be installed on the clock. Whatever the truth may be we've now got our very own Poznan goat bauble to remember this by.

We had time for one more attraction before leaving Poland and decided upon history land where major events in Polish history are recreated using lego. It was interesting enough and we had an audio guide to tell us about the event but it was very detailed and a bit too much if we're honest but we did see some very cool lego creations.

We did a quick hypermarket trip to stock up with supplies at Polish prices and Robert was very sweet and bought Al and I some chocolate as a wedding anniversary present. Just before we cross the Polish / German border and I don't think we've ever seen so many trucks. There is a huge difference in fuel costs so all the trucks stop and fill up. Even with our tank it was a saving of £15!