Or hello in Polish. I just discovered that there are semester long programs in Poland to come and learn Polish, do you think the nursing school would be up for some sort of exchange?
Anywho, let's talk about the amazing city that is Warsaw before we move to our day in Cracov, or you can say it American-ly as Krakow.
Day 8:
I forgot to mention that I met my Polish husband last night, his name started with a P and he was extremely good looking with that great "I am foreign" accent. He even remembered my name when we proceeded to claim our free beers at the hostel (yes, that's right, we get free beer in Europe more than once for staying at hostels). It might have been that the hostel was great, that Warsaw was great and I was transfering those feelings to P-Polish name that I don't remember, but still, I was in love for the day. We were not married and I am still on the lookout. If you see P, tell him I'm going to be at Auschiwtz tomorrow.
Warsaw Warsaw Warsaw. Wonderful city. We all felt right at home and thought that it very much reminded us of Boston, but with a better history, culture, food, and just general beauty. It's extremely modern with fancy restaurants everywhere, outside eateries, coffee houses, and beautiful people walking fast to unknown places. We began the day by climbing a 150 stair tower to the top of St. Anne's Church to visit the magnificent views of the city. The eeriest thing about Warsaw is that the entire town was rebuilt a few decades ago after World War II and they used paintings by local artists to see where things go and how they looked.
Enjoy the pictures of the views:
We were obviously starving after all those stairs, so we decided to go eat some authentic Polish Pierogi's, a great alliteration. Here is mine: Pierogi stuffed with cheese, tomato and pumpkin seeds. Delicious. Almost as good as grandma's. Oh, PS, peirogi is like a Polish ravioli and is traditionally boiled, but can be baked or fried.
If you've never had it, highly suggested. Also, Kathryn being a sneak and stealing my peirogis.
After a hearty lunch, we walked around the old town a bit more and then decided to go visit the old Jewish Quarter of Warsaw where the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising took place. Interesting story that I had never heard until this day. Good for them I say. Sometimes, some rebellion is quite necessary. Check out the monument. They all look pretty strikingly strong. Also, the wreath is from an IDF brigade, made me feel closer to home. I got to use my language skills here and read all the plaques (that were in either Hebrew or Polish) to my comrades. Wouldn't you have laughed if I said I read the Polish part? Or maybe not, that could have really gone either way.
That night, we had our celebratory free beer at the hostel (that's when P remembered my name, swooning and being cool at the same time is hard). After 9 days of no make-up and baggy clothes, the heavens parted and told us to look nice, if only for the Polish men. So....we put on some dresses (and 1 skirt), a little mascara and eyeliner and went on a hunt for Golabki (stuffed cabbage). We enetered the first Polish restaurant we saw and noticed that they only had peirogi. So it was peirogi again for dinner. You'd think that would have been too much, but oh no, you were wrong. You can never have too much peirogi, unless you eat about 14 per day, which, we successfully did, or should I say I attempted and the other two were victorious. Stretchy stomachs galore! Look at those pretty faces though, happy and full:
Day 9:
Took a well needed rest on a train to Krakow. Listened to some Kesha and talked about her influence on the music world. Deep thoughts people. We also tried to eavesdrop on a Polish conversation, unsuccessful. We checked in to our wonderfully cute hostel, Apart Hostel. I think they call it Apart because it's apart from the rest of the city, but other than that, it's just wonderful. I may be bitter because I'm sitting here writhing in pain from walking for 7 hours straight (all for a good cause of course). Or should I say 9 days of walking. I really should have used the pedometer, maybe we could have walked from Boston to Maryland by now, who knows. I'll do that on the next trip and let you know. You just wait there in anticipation. So.... KRAKOW. Here is a fun story about Krakow. Legend says that a dragon kept people from entering the city and some guy named Krak came up with a genius idea to feed it livestock with coal so that the dragon got heartburn and drank all the water from the Vistula and therefore exploded. That of course saved the town and Krakow was founded! How wonderful, and then everyone got free ice cream (lody in Polish). I made up the ice cream part, but the rest was in my guide book. Therefore, the dragon is a constant symbol here is Krakow. Enjoy this picture which is part of Wawel (or to say it properly, VAVEL. I just don't want you to be embarrassed in front of any Polish people).
Prior to that, or actually as soon as we checked into our hostel, we went for some golabki, another attempt if you will. We followed Rick Steve's advice and went to a little self serve cafeteria. SUCCESS in numbers, numbers I say. Some of the best stuffed cabbage I've ever had. Grandma's is still better though not to worry. Look, smell, and drool.
After satiation (is that a word? I'm just going to keep making up words until someone stops me) we moved on to get a look at market square, cloth hall (where they used to sell fabrics but now sell souvenirs), the old town, some gothic looking churches and Wawel hill/castle/cathedral. We found a couple who were taking wedding pictures and decided to not only follow them, but also to get in their pictures by accident. It was a grand old time and I recommend that if you're ever bored, this is a fun thing to do. Also, the inner courtyard of the castle is supposedly known for the Hindu energy chakra as it's seven points connect there. My guidebook told me to go there and make a prayer, apparently it angers the guards. Point taken, as there was a man there looking all calm and full of chakra and the guards immediately swarmed him. He was stealing all the chakra and we waited and waited, but he didn't budge. I say that's rude sir. If you're reading this, I hope you got an overload of chakra and that this means something. Next time you're in Wawel hill, go for some of the chakra. Look at him all serene:
After Wawel Hill, we decided to finally discover my Jewish roots in Romania, but in Poland. We made our long way to Kasmierez (Kah-ZHEE-mez), what used to be the Jewish section of Krakow. We tried, several times, to enter the Jewish cemetery, but with no luck. It was like the secret garden, but only creepier. Tired and in immense foot pain becuase none of us were gellin, we made our way to Schindler's factory. What we thought was a nice stroll across the river turned into a nightmare scavenger hunt for this factory. Pretty famous movie, pretty famous factory, no signs, no notices, no maps, and no one that actually knows where it is. We somehow, by miracle and directions from nice Polish people, found the address and instead ventured into the woods looking for it. It wasn't there, but there were some creepy corners in the trees with lots of trash. We thought we were doing the Polish police a favor and that we would get a parade. We'll see what happens, I'll update you on that as well.
Finally, we found the factory. It was blocked off by a concert stage and so were the streets leading to it. We made a pass at one of the barricades that had torn tape and went in. Turns out the place is closed since they are building a museum and the whole concert stage was for the opening this week. Oops. In order to get out, we had to literally jump some barricades. We are tourists running from the law, and we are good at it. Look at that agility, pure muscle and great form.
Oh, also, the factory plaque, apparently from Michigan?
We are sitting in the hostel right now, eating lody and preparing for a mentally and emotionally draining day tomorrow. Auschwitz. And then, tomorrow night, Zakopane and the High Tatras. Poland, I could really get used to you, don't tempt me.
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