h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I went to Gdynia in Poland for the weekend, in order to see the oldest surviving Isle of Wight-built battleship, do a Polish Parkrun, oh and attend my brother-in-law's wedding. Never been to Poland before, but only got to see a two mile stretch of Gdynia.

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Tell us about that battleship!

Here's one I wrote earlier: A87769453

The journey home was quite amusing as, the instant I arrived back in Eastleigh, who did I see next to the statue of Charlotte Yonge but Sasha?

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He sounds a bit off-piste.

(nice entry - I hadn't seen that one )

Can you guess where my ARP granddad was at the time of the Cowes blitz air raid?

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You'll have to tell me what ARP stands for. (In this country, it's a kind of Calvinist church.)

Did Sasha get along with Charlotte? Do you have pics of Gdynia?

ARP was Air Raid Precautions – so volunteers who would shout 'Put that light out!' and issue fines/arrest people for not observing strict blackout regulations and would also be involved in escorting civilians to shelters, record sites of bomb damage and unexploded bombs, fight fires caused by incendiary bombs and carry out first aid etc.

I took a fair few photos of ORP Blyskawica and a few of Gdynia as well, but I didn't get much of a chance to explore - only a little time each morning before we had to rush back to meet up with the bride and groom again. As well as the ship I did get to see the maritime museum (one of those museums where they just dump stuff all over the place and there are no labels to tell anyone what anything is, not even a Polish guidebook) and we took the children to Gdynia's 'Akwarium'. That was interesting – when I walked I had been expecting the to be alive…

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Your grandad was in Poland?

Thanks for the explanation - your grandad did a great job, then.

And we want a pic for the Post.

No, my grandfather was on the Isle of Wight, which is where the Blyskawica was berthed in May 1942 (Poland having previously been somewhat invaded.)

After the war he continued as a volunteer fireman.

I've already mentioned the ship in : A87757889 Bluebottle's Blyskawica Blog

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Well, *I* remembered that.

Did you have some good Polish food? I grew up in Polish American country, and if you missed their stuffed cabbages, you missed a treat.

No cabbage this time - but I have been to my brother-in-law's when my new sister-in-law cooked a traditional Polish Christmas dinner, including cabbage.

Instead I did have some salmon to die for, as well as a lovely pork dish. Most meals had a lot of small courses rather than a big main dish. (Not that my 8-year-old son would eat anything…)

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Kids don't eat anything unfamiliar - it's a survival mechanism.

But Polish food is GOOD.

Our local Dobry Smak delicatessen has disappeared now, replaced by Ramro Svada.

Wait, you have an 8-year-old BB? Not possible! (My children are the only ones allowed to age, don'cha know...)

Notepad's "survival mechanism" is so fine tuned that I'm surprised she hasn't starved

My daughter, the once Baby BB, is turning 6 next week too – old enough to qualify for a Blue Peter Badge.

But my son somehow managed to survive the weekend on cornflakes and bread. He even started to eat chips at one point, which he normally refuses to eat.

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Wow. When did this happen to kids? When I was eight, I'd eat anything that didn't eat me first.