Poland

After Berlin I took a train to Warsaw, Poland. I was only there overnight before heading to Krakow to meet up with Cao. On the train I talked with a few people in my cabin. One girl was Polish and traveling with her Aunt. She taught me a few Polish phrases, which turned out to be pretty useful. As it turns out, I'm interested in learning more Polish also (add that to the list). I think it's because I really enjoyed my short time there and would like to spend more time there in the future.

Warsaw (pronounced more like Vashavah) is in the middle of a ton of reconstruction. On my way into the old town area to look around and to find dinner I had to dodge and detour a ton of fenced-off areas in the streets and walk around piles of stones and walk on dirt paths. It was harder to appreciate the city unfortunately, because it was night, I was tired, hungry, and got lost looking for the place I was told to eat (which turned out to be closed). I still had a good time, and met some cool people in the Hostel, who were Polish.



The next morning I took an early train to Krakow. After meeting up with Cao and checking into our (extremely nice) hostel, the city proceeded to be awesome! We went to the main tourist destination, the old town, to have a look around. There were certainly plenty of tourists, but it felt more like a functioning city than only a destination to visit and regard.



We had some very good pierogi at a small restuarant for lunch. Back in the main square we were suckered into playing with pigeons, which was hilarious, although kind of dirty.



In the afternoon we spent some time by the old castle, where we saw a huge walking mug of beer and spent some time relaxing by the river. Relaxing came to be one of the main themes of my voyages after that. After seeing tons and tons of monuments, sitting or laying down is always a nice break, plus it's nice to take in a city, not just by seeing it's historical buildings. Plus, the weather in Krakow was amazing!






At night we went to dinner at a restaurant by recommendation of the hostel. The place was awesome! For under $10 I got a soup, kielbasa with potatoes and salad and a beer. On top of being really really affordable, the food was actually very good!


After dinner we meandered through the old square again where we found fire dancing. There was a group of people, playing drums with others dancing with whips, and torches of fire. It was a lot of fun and pretty awesome.





Krakow, was my favorite parts of Poland. I'd really like to go back to spend more time there and give Warsaw another chance. I'm sure I would have appreciated it more under different circumstances. After Krakow, we moved on to Prague. Check back soon for pictures and the synopsis of our time there.

Do widzenia!