Welcome to the borderland. A Suwałki cottage, over 100 years old, stands right next to the green border with Lithuania. We share a lake, forests, love of dark bread and respect for nature with our neighbours.
Our house sits on 4 hectares of private, dishevelled meadows, which are included in the European Union's nature protection programme. So there is no spraying, no excessive mowing. Once a year, in July, the farmer from the village next door organises haymaking on them. With a roaring tractor, with storks parading behind the tractor, with bale-making. Then they are combed, trimmed, with a completely new hairstyle. But they grow back at a dizzying pace. There is usually grass up to the waist, insects, wild animals and birds. Birds, which are also protected. So you can't complain about their singing at 3 a.m. It's hard to ask them out of the neighbouring trees because they are more at home here than we are.
You can see the eagle's shadow, you can see where the hedgehog stamps out at night, and all this from May to October because we only open our house when the open-air showers don't result in pneumonia. That's right, the shower is outside. We made sure it was nice and clean and fragrant, but you know. Anyone who has never been to the countryside or in a tent can get goosebumps. That the wind blows over your legs while you are soaping, that a fly will stick to the shampoo. For many years the toilet was outside, but this year, for the sake of our comfort and yours, we decided to build a real bathroom. One that is modern by our standards but smells of wood, with old logs and atmosphere. You won't have to put on flip-flops at night and go to the toilet in the garden. So we have a shower behind the house native to Bali and a bit of civilisation. A little bit.
The house is intended for two to four people. People who like spending time on the terrace, cooking, reading books, chatting and exploring the surroundings. You can go to Lithuania, learn about Czesław Miłosz's Krasnogród, sail down the Czarna Hańcza river, admire Niemen from a bird's eye view or not go anywhere.
You can lie in the hammock, pick bouquets of wildflowers and camp. If you plan to come in a larger group, take tents. There's plenty of space to pitch a tent. There is no wifi, no TV, and the range is sometimes Lithuanian. If you turn off your location data, the problem of foreign waves will disappear.
Be sure to bring your dogs and something for ticks. The meadows are ideal for romping, but you may bring an uninvited guest.
In a charming, over 100-year-old house, proudly guarding the Polish-Lithuanian border, among wild meadows. Everything is so unkempt here - forests, grasses, hedgehogs stomp wherever they want, and storks land in front of the house. Birds do not let you sleep, and wasps look into compote. At your disposal are 4 hectares of meadows, those where nature has the first word, a house with a mezzanine, which can comfortably accommodate 2 adults, as well as a 2 + 2 family. There is no intimacy here, no doorknobs, no separation. You must really like each other to spend a comfortable holiday here. Downstairs there is a sofa bed, a goat to warm up the atmosphere, a dining area and a kitchen. Upstairs you go up a ladder (very steep steps) and there are two single beds. The mezzanine is not limited by a barrier, so small children should not be allowed here.
And now the main thing - the shower is outside. However, it is closer to the standard of a Balinese cottage or a Thai resort than a Suwałki village at the end of the world. The shower tray is tiled, has a nice curtain, a place to hang a towel and the sky above.
The toilet was also a walk away for many years, but now we have a bathroom like in luxury homes. The one inside. You can go barefoot to brush your teeth, you don't have to dress up as needed and be afraid of a swarm of mosquitoes following you. There's a bathroom and a bit of civilization in this shithole of ours.
We don't have towels, so take your own, but we have bedding, blankets for lying on the grass, deckchairs, 3 hammocks, 2 bicycles, books, lots of good coffee from Polish roasters, electric grill, small oven, swing, fresh herbs to pick, badminton court, old school golf clubs, cards, dice and board games. If it rains, we also have wellingtons.
There is no wifi, no TV, and the range is sometimes Lithuanian. If you turn off location data, the problem of foreign waves will disappear.
Be sure to bring your dogs and something for ticks. Meadows are perfect for running around, but you can bring an uninvited guest from them.
The house is designed for two to four people. Those who like to spend time on the terrace, cook, read books, chat and explore the area. You can go to Lithuania, get to know Czesław Miłosz's Krasnogród, go down the Czarna Hańcza, admire the Nemunas River from a bird's eye view or do not move anywhere.
You can hammock, collect bouquets of wildflowers and go camping. If you plan to come with a larger group, take tents. We have more than enough places to stick herring.
We recommend cooking and feasting outdoors. The terrace of the house on 4 meadows is like a summer living room, life spins here. The cottage has a fully equipped kitchen with oven, hotplates, refrigerator, dishes. You can conjure up dishes from recipes that you never had time for. In such a place, the lack of a hearth for a fire is considered an insult. Make a fire, but remember to extinguish the heat completely.
The nearest village shop is 3 km away - you can ride your bikes to it. You will find a larger store in Sejny. There, in the Karczma Dom Litewski restaurant, you can try specialties from abroad. We also recommend a brilliant restaurant on the Polish-Lithuanian border in Ogrodniki - Dworek Hołny. There you will try Augustów smelt, potato and zucchini cake, delicious kartacze, zander and carp cream soup, vendace in vinegar marinade, dumplings stuffed with carp and perch.
To the market every Friday to Sejny, where you can buy fruit and vegetables from farmers.
For fresh milk, eggs and honey, you can go to the host next door. You can also order homemade sękacz from him.
The shop with products of local producers is in Giby - Sklep Szarejko.
For very good local fish, including whitefish, roach and crucian carp only to the Sieja store in Sejny.
Korycin is nearby, on the way to Podlasie. We recommend stopping by for Korycin cheese.
You can buy Lithuanian bread in almost every shop. We will provide you with all detailed instructions before your arrival.
For your vacation in Podlachia, take the books that you never had time to read and the ingredients for the dishes that you never had time to cook. Nothing will distract you. We don't have wifi and we don't have tv. The range is there, so LTE will rock if necessary.
In our 4 hectares of fragrant, disheveled meadows, you can primarily observe birds and nature, so we recommend taking binoculars. Once or twice, it is worth getting up with the birds singing at 3 or 4 am and admire the sunrise rising above the clear horizon.
We mow the meadows once a year in July, when the farmer comes from the neighboring village and arranges real hay-mowing with a roaring tractor, with storks parading behind the tractor, baling. Then they are combed, haircut with a completely new haircut. They grow back and rise after 3 days, so they won't be smooth for a long time.
During the first day or two, it is worth spending time contemplating silence, taking a nap on the terrace, punching steps for your daily record, observing storks or eagles, because these are regular unregistered guests.
We have two bikes for you on site. They are more touring than performance bikes, but you can ride them to the store or to the lake. It is the closest to us - Balandis - that belongs to half of Poland and half of Lithuania. On the beach on the Polish side, you can hear your Lithuanian neighbors, and there are many of our compatriots on the pier on the Lithuanian side. To the lake 15 minutes on foot or 7 minutes by bike. There are plenty of beautiful lakes around. Pilwie, Berżnik, Gaładuś, Hołny are just a warm-up. In Lithuania - Zapsys, Uosis, Seliovinis. It is also close to the Wigry, which in our humble opinion is the most beautiful lake in Poland. In the territory of the Wigry National Park, there are many walking and cycling tours with guides.
We highly recommend the Czarna Hańcza canoeing trip (Głęboki Bród, Stary Folwark). It starts around Gib and is gentle enough for the whole family to play forward.
We highly recommend going to Lithuania to the Druskininkai water park and the "ONE" Adventure Park. The latter is a rope park located above the Neman River (you can admire the river from the height of the treetops), in the picturesque village of Dzuk, next to Druskininkai (42 km from the cottage) .
Once you've reached this end of Poland, it is worth visiting the Stańczyki Bridge, whose architecture resembles Roman aqueducts.
You can go to a concert by a klezmer orchestra in the White Synagogue in Sejny (concerts every week). Visit the place where Czesław Miłosz used to go on vacation (Dwór w Krasnogrudzie).
The Borderland Foundation from nearby Sejny organizes many cultural attractions every year as part of the Summer in Borderland program. This year, the Kuba Więcek Trio and Mikołaj Trzaska will perform in the Synagogue alongside the Orchestra.
And those who cannot sit still, can even go to the Baltic Sea, but not to Gdańsk, but to Klaipeda.
What’s there for children?
Children who came here on vacation love to go barefoot until now. Because that's how it is. Authentic, Suwałki, barefoot, wild. The kids walk around dirty, happy, scratched, with flowers in their hair. It is worth taking a magnifying glass with you, because our meadows have a life of their own. Through the magnifying glass you can see how the ant carries the stalk to the anthill, how the beetle shimmers in the sun, what colors the butterfly has and what the wings of a fly look like. We know from experience that while on vacation in Podlachia, children of all ages naturally switch to summer time and during their stay they often release layers of creativity. They write songs, poems and novels, so we recommend taking lots of clean notebooks and pens.
We also have a volleyball ball and 3 masks and tubes for diving in the lake. We recommend taking your bikes with you.
Our plot has natural borders, marked by a road and a forest, there are no fences or fences and there are no balustrades on the terrace. Take this into account when considering staying with young children.