Much of our time here in Krawkow has been spent wandering around the beautiful cobbled streets of the Old Town (dressed like snowmen, with layers upon layers of clothing) wondering if it’s too early in the day to stop for a vodka – or wodka as it’s written here in Poland.

It was minus 9 last night, with a predicted minus 21 tonight.  Biting cold does not begin to describe it. Vodka is cheaper than a fur coat and can be bought from any  ‘Alkohole’ shop (makes me smile and instantly conjures up Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey, who would no doubt pronounce alcohol similarly).

The high end Polish vodka on sale here easily competes with the more well known names such as Belvedere or Grey Goose (French) but it’s a shame, for this country’s economy anyway, that more of it hasn’t reached anything like their fame.

We have stocked up with Chopin potato vodka (I’m not counting it as carbo) as opposed to their much stronger rye variety.  It’s beautifully clean-tasting but I’m still a fan of Poland’s Zubrowka Bison grass vodka with it’s stem of grass in the bottle and a very pale greenish tint (it’s the label at the top of the page in fact).  Both will be delicious served in an elegant shot glass served with a starter of blinis and smoked salmon or my new favorite, raraka.

Bison vodka label image courtesy of The Guardian