Luxury snails and felt sausages in Warsaw

24/09/2019

It's almost half past 10 when we arrive at the address that one of the Poles in the Hippie WG has given us.

'It's an organic farm,' he said, 'a little project with nice people.'

We are standing in front of a closed gate, behind which a large cozy-looking camper van is parked in the driveway.

'Just go there and ask,' he said.

There is still light on the upper floor of the building. It looks like a normal single-family house.

A man comes and opens the gate for us. He is visibly surprised, clearly not expecting any more visitors.

We explain our situation to him, that we are looking for a place to sleep and would be very grateful for a garden space to set up our tent.

He invites us in for a cup of tea.

It turns out that he and his wife live there, but they don't usually let anyone in because it's their private home. They host parties there two to three weekends a month.

In the living room, there was a plate of melon leftovers on the table, and on top of it – a huge snail! 🐌

When I asked about the snail on the table, our hostess casually introduced it as 'Yeah, this is Jessica.'

I was totally thrilled. I had never seen such a big and beautiful snail before and had never had the chance to meet one in person. I was allowed to put 'Jessica' on my hand.

We learned that it was an African snail species, which is also known for the healing properties of its slime.

'Skin gets very soft – it's also used to heal scars,' she said.

I looked at the snail on my arm amused.

'People pay money to let her sit on their face,' she said, laughing.

The idea of paying a lot of money to let a snail sit on my face amused me, although it all seemed very absurd to me.

In fact, it felt really good to feel the snail on my skin, and I didn't find the slime disgusting at all – on the contrary, it was really pleasant.

While I was having fun with the snail, our host prepared the van for us to spend the night in. 🚐

I said good night to Jessica and we said goodbye to the three of them until the next morning.

We spent the next two days mainly in the beautiful garden of the couple, who by the way prepared a delicious breakfast for us every morning, which we enjoyed together in the light-filled conservatory of the house.

The garden was designed with great attention to detail and Buddhist elements, equipped with self-built pavilions covered in plants, several armchairs, and a sofa – a very pleasant atmosphere.

We sat on the couch, listened to music, and laughed while I got another 6 dreadlocks, or as my dad calls them, 'felt sausages,' on my head.

Despite the rainy weather, it was a few beautiful and relaxing days.