Nellie has made a great start on her incredible voyage. With your help she was able travel all the way to Poland in only 3 months!

Starting from the Centre, Nellie travelled to Dover, where she caught the ferry across the Channel to France. She spent some time in France, visiting the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and even went the Louvre Museum to see the Mona Lisa, the embarkation for Cythera and The Bridge at Narni, before moving on to Belgium. She visited Dinant and Brussels, experiencing the local architecture and history. Moving on to Germany, she visited the Marienplatz in Munich, to see the Mariensäule and even stayed for a beer and street food festival! After Germany, she finally made it to Poland, where she has remained due to lockdown restrictions.

Since lockdown began, Nellie has been stuck in Poland unable to return to us at the Centre. She has made the best of the situation and taken many walks overlooking the Odra river, through the crooked forest in Gryfino (she especially loves the crooked trees to sit and have a picnic), and even visited Morskie Oko Lake in Tatra National Park. It was a bit of a trek, located 8 kilometres from Palenica Białczańska taking 2 hours!

The sites were definitely worth the effort. Morskie Okotranslated as ‘Eye of the Sea’ is the largest lake in the Tatra Mountains and is naturally stocked with fish. Legend says that the lake was connected to the sea through an underground waterway, coining the name ‘Eye of the Sea’. Sadly, Nellie couldn’t take a paddle to cool her feet as swimming and paddling is prohibited to protect the delicate ecosystem the lake has.

Even though her journey was interrupted, Nellie has kept her spirits up, with regular exercise, Netflix and zoom calls with her family back home.

Winter in Poland is especially cold for Nellie, with her being used to much warmer climates. Wrapped up in a a warm hat and gloves she is excited to experience a traditional Polish Christmas with all the trimmings. Keep an eye out for her next update!