Krak-OWWWW

Dzien Dobry!
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.

Take my money Lithuania!

Hello!
We are blogging from the distant lands of Warsaw, Poland. Sorry for the blog-free 3 days, but internet was scarce and let's face it, tired-ness won again. So, let's recap....
Day 5 of crazy trip:
We were in Riga, Latvia for a second day, getting cabin fever from 2 full days in one country. So, instead of actually seeing Riga, we decided it would be best to transport ourselves to Sigulda, Latvia (a 1 hr tram ride to nature). We started the day off right by deciding to bobsled with real live (yes, they weren't dead) bobsledding athletes from Latvian origin (you could tell by the nice muscular build). We got lovely directions from the guard to walk all the way down the hill to the bottom of the track, so we followed suit, like sheep. At the bottom of the hill we entered several interesting buildings such as the Finish house, now I get what it means. We waited for about half an hour for the guides to find us, with no success. So, we decided to make the best of it and eat some fruit and then throw the peels in their grass in protest. If you are a Latvian bobsledder reading this blog, sorry. Train your guard better. Anywho, finally, someone found us and laughed in our face when we said what happened. He managed to take us back up the hill where the real guides were with an actual bobsled. We met some nice Norwegian men who were waiting in line and then it was our turn. Fast winds, wobbly heads, and a full bobsled ride later we were all quite happy and satisfied. Now it was time to actually see Sigulda.
I'm sure Sigulda would have been a lot more enjoyable if I loved the sweet sounds of mosquitoes biting my hands and feet and if there was a pond of free ice cream. But there was no pond and I unfortunately do not love mosquitoes (Nigeria made sure of that). Sigulda is a beautiful place, but I just wasn't ready for what it had to offer. If I ever return to the Latvian forests, I'll be sure to bring my own bug spray and shoes full of traction. Enjoy some of these views, including the ones with our faces in them.


Also, here are the ladies swatting those bugs away. How attractive :)

We ended the day as locals in Double Caffe, our regular spot for the last 3 days. Ordering hot chocolate and traditional Latvian desserts.

On to Day 6:
Started off with a quick shopping trip to an authentic Russian market in Riga where we purchased unnamed pastries with various jams and custards along with bananas and oranges, yum! We took a 5 hour bus to Vilnius, Lithuania (Keith, if you're reading this, it's your homeland in case you were confused). The chocochino was not all it was made to be. We arrived in Vilnius and went straight to the train station to purchase our train tickets for our Vilnius-Warsaw trip, 10 hours of butt-sitting bliss. No stop or drive-through Belarus, which is a success because if you know anything about Belarus, it's that you need to get a visa to go through, yes through, their country. Not ok Belarus, not ok. We didn't have to deal with that though, so let's move on to countries that don't require such nonsense. Vilnius! is beautiful. Old (and un-renovated) churches with peeling paint and cracks in the foundation (safe if you ask me), miracle plaques in old town squares, and foreign countries within foreign countries. Check out Uzupis, it's own little republic with it's own president and government and about 4 streets wide. Love it. I say that brings our country total to 15 and I really don't care if you say otherwise. Look at that sign, so official.

That was at night though so let's back up a little. We walked all the way to the KGB museum which was supposed to close in the next hour. Our 30 minute walk was failed by a sign that went as follows:
Closed for Father's Day June 6. Is it sad that I'm a little mad at my dad for this? I mean a real KGB torture chamber overlooked due to a fake holiday. I'm sorry, not ok Lithuania, not ok.
We were utterly disappointed and took comfort in a pretty park next door. Pigeons are not comforting. We decided that sulking was not the best way to enjoy Lithuania so we proceeded to the old town to see some old churches, bell towers, castles and magnificent views of the city. Here is a view of the old town from some hill, I don't remember what it's called, but there is a cable car/elevator thing that we rode without paying. The authorities are still looking but we are long gone in Poland, out of their jurisdiction.

Also, deep thoughts on the top of the hill.

I gotta say that I'm rediscovering my Catholic roots on this trip with the amount of pretty churches we have visited. Oh wait, just kidding. I'm Jewish. Well, good thing I can rediscover my Jewish roots for the next 4 days in Poland. Here is another pretty church, almost completely unchanged from when it was built, a long long time ago. St. Anne's church in Vilnius.

It is a true backpackers life here in Eastern Europe. Please marvel at our talents in doing laundry at B&B Florens, Vilnius. Kat and my agitation powers to simulate a real washing machine and hours upon hours of Katie's arranging to ensure the best drying methods leads to success. I do not know how women in the old days with 20 children laundered in the pond. Maybe the donkeys helped.

Also, a fun picture from a menu in Uzupis. Just to show how much I love cross-language translations. Makes me chuckle everytime.

In case you can't read it, it says: Snack to the Vodka
Today (Day 7, in case you got tired of counting): We began with our "breakfast" of sliced bread and weird orange mini-muffins at the B&B in Vilnius and tried to find a mysterious local market to buy some snacks (not snacks to the vodka though). That did not go well, so we entered a supermarket and with our budget friendly eyes, purchased enough food to leave us only slightly hungry on the 10 hour trip to Warsaw for about $5 (18 Litas). We kindly said thank you to our cashier (aciu) trying to sound as if we are not sneezing. We boarded the train and watched the Lithuanian/Polish countryside for the next 10 hours. Wait, did I not say 10 hours. It was long.
Please see the excitement:

On our Polish train, we met a very nice Polish woman who lives in New York. She offered to help us find our hostel and was a true testament to the Polish generosity. I like this country already. She warned us of flooding in Krakow though and I don't like the sound of that, so let's see how nimble we have to be to continue on our path. We arrived in Warsaw starving, so we went for some authentic Polish pizza. It doesn't exist, so we decided to just go for regular pizza. It was delicious.

We are now satiated and tired, so for now, Do widzenia (goodbye in Polish).

You are holding something that has killed thousands of people

Hello and welcome to Latvia!
A 4.5 hour journey from Tallinn, Estonia to Riga, Latvia started us off this morning. We weren't sure if we were going to have to stand the whole way, but the Soviet gods smiled upon us and we successfully boarded a eurolines bus with free snacks, coffee, tea and hot chocolate (sorry Kat and Katie for forgetting to mention the free-ness of these items). Also, Estonia's countryside is spectacular! Moving on. We arrived in Riga at around 2:30 pm to Friendly Fun Franks hostel, apparently a famous hostel. We were welcomed with open arms and a free beer/champagne (what?), the Soviets know how to do it right.


We then signed up for our true Soviet bunker AK-47 tour, no big deal of course. We just wanted to get the true communist experience and
shoot some Kalashnikovs, pistols, and shot guns. By the way, we have some sort of sniper/killing future as our master shooting instructor said that we do better than Latvian police trainees. I say it's all part of my Israeli blood, I don't know where the other two got it, maybe a gift from the soviet gods as well.
Check out our form and kickback in these staged photos. My shoulder can tell you that this truly happened and I am proud to say that I am now a Kalashnikov expert (oooo feel the power).

Alert: 3 femme fatales (or fatal, you know, whatever) on the loose in Eastern Europe.

And with our excellent, pretty badass instructor. I couldn't tell if she was part of the Red Army or not, but she looked pretty lethal. Exceedingly sweet though :)

After not eating all day (Katie's endless granola bars don't count), we decided that a good shooting deserves a great dinner. So we headed over to Lido Restoran to enjoy some authentic Latvian food for $8. YES, that is my style people. A buffet of deliciousness for dirt cheap.
After the major food coma, sleepiness, and forceful winds outside, we toured the old town of Riga for about 10 minutes (we managed to appreciate the house of blackheads, magnificent on the outside!) got tired and decided to get hot chocolate and dessert instead.

Latvians know how to make Belgian desserts right! Look at those waffles, yum yum yum.

I want to say that I am thoroughly enjoying the moderness of Riga, its strong people, the history it brings, and it's abundance of techno music and free things. Tomorrow we are going to Sigulda, a fun town with bobsledding, bungee jumping (don't worry mom, it won't happen), and wonderous hikes. Two days in one city guys, I don't know how we're going to make it. The wanderlust will have to wait until Sunday.

I am the bull and you are the china shop

Estonia, Estonia, Estonia. Music to my ears. After 3 days of traveling with a 30 lb pack we have all realized that it is hard to maneuver our person in tight corners, nooks, crannies, and around small children. Also, around Eastern European pottery. On the other hand, we discovered that Finland has wonderful wool, reindeer furs, fresh fish, and sporadic live music in random parks. Excellent. This morning we took a ferry over from Helsinki, Finland to Tallinn, Estonia. Tallinn is a mecca for adorableness. It's true. The entire old town of Tallinn is about 10-15 streets with outdoor cafes, historic palaces and forts, old Russian churches, Amber malls (that's stores that sell amber jewelry and amber jewelry only), medieval torture restaurants, ice cream shops, and helpful men on segways. We started the day off by walking to a cute cafe where we bought delicious lunch pastries. We then decided to go for another snack at a hidden (literally) cafe that included only Estonian people, amazing coffee, and some of the best tiramisu I have ever had (look at it and salivate).


After spending about an hour in a quiet courtyard, listening to the birds sing, we decided we should actually explore the town of Tallinn. We went to a mysterious Dominican monastery that was actually Russian. We trailed one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe and took a look at preserved mummy hands, deer penises, and pickled toads. We also went to Alexander Nevsky Church and got distracted by the all too touristy archery challenge that was actually archery blackjack. Kat and Katie were brave enough to pick up a bow and arrow and attempt to make excellent fools of themselves. Please enjoy the pictures that follow:

and

Who knew that the archeologist and the med student would be so good at archery? Katie even won us a traditional Estonian liquor, PARTY! We then proceeded to actually look at Alexander Nevsky Church: magnificent architecture...not really sure what it is or who it is for, but it's definitely pretty to look at, just like the Finnish men.

Oh, also...we were in a palace with some towers that had names and secret Estonian music rooms, and one more, little Estonian children performing the art of parkour. Here we are, look at those grins!

To commemorate our thus far great experience, the ambitiousness of this trip, the joy we all get from traveling, and the fateful years of friendship, also apparently health, we all purchased a piece of traditional Estonian amber jewelry. Check it out, we thought we were pretty rockin'.

The memories have been made and Tallinn is a city that I would consider moving to as well. I think we see a trend here. It was peaceful, not too busy, charming (this is actually what I would call charm city, sorry bmore) and it had a colorful culture. I'll leave you with a fun fact: Estonian is NOT the official language of Estonia, it's actually Russian! I just wish I spoke Estonian, because those accents are pretty cool. Tanan for now (thank you in Estonian).
Nomad Wannabe

Iceland is rocky, Finland is green and Greenland might still be icy

Surreal, but nice. So we have started our whirlwind tour of Eastern Europe covering Iceland and Finland, with much more to come. Can I just say that exhaustion is a key ingredient in adventure. A 5 hour overnight flight to Iceland was mostly spent wondering what would come next, except for Katie, who thought that this would be her only time to shut her eyes and was knocked out for the duration of the flight. Jealous. After getting into Iceland, we went straight from the airport to the Blue Lagoon, a thermal mineral spa in the middle of a lava field. Pretty damn cool. Not so cool what your hair feels like afterwards, STRAW. With the amount of conditioner we used in our hair both before and after the swim, you could have greased an elephant through a banister. That's hard people. Needless to say, we conditioned some more and the Finland air is doing wonderful things for our attractiveness.

Check out our fancy bathing suits. Also, it smelled like sulphur. Yum.

After a quick 2 hour dip in the baby blue springs, we headed back to the city of Reykjavik. Gloomy, but nice. Very modern, the people were all dressed nicely and it rained, just like Ireland. It had a beautiful view of the mountains and adorable shops and churches. I would have enjoyed it much more if it was 70 and sunny, but I would go back for an Icelandic farmer, I really would. The sun shines til 12:30 am and then shines some more til the next day. We were awoken by 15 straight gunshots. No mom, they weren't gunshots, we just thought they were until we heard the rain of fireworks. In the meantime we just cowered, hoping they wouldn't hit us.

On to Finland! We took a morning bus from Reykjavik to the airport, it was scenic, but I was tired, so sleep won. We took a flight from Reykjavik to Helsinki and might I add that I am a fan of Icelandair. Promptness and fun words in Icelandic are their strengths. Takk is thank you by the way.

In Finland, we encountered the wrath of crowded streets and a lack of knowledge of where to go. Finnish men are nice and pretty is all I have to say. A random stranger noticed the frieghtened looks and bewilderment on our faces and offered some well needed directions to our hostel. We preceeded to make it to the hostel safely and on time to take a ferry over to Suomenlinna, an island that houses a world heritage fortress and beautiful beautiful views. We toured the fortress, hid behind isolated rooms and doors, and rode, yes rode, canons.

We also encountered supposedly famous Finnish men that offered a picture with them for 10 euro. A steal if you ask me as they were ridiculously intoxicated and unattractive. Maybe next time boys, maybe next time.

After a lovely 4 hour tour of serene beauty, hot air balloon sightings, church bells, picnics, supposed jewish weddings, and european techno family gatherings we headed back to Helsinki. Helsinki is absolutely breath-taking. Parks, outside cafes, fresh fruit markets, ice creams, adorable dress boutiques and wonderfully attractive people. This, I could get used to. Anyone want to help me open up a bakery in Finland? We could learn nordic languages together, become blonde, and eat some cured fish. It'll be a party.
Enjoying the past two days with my comrades. Be jealous, they're wonderful. Fast fast typing becuase my 15 minutes of allotted hostel computer time is up. Until I get free internet again, enjoy!

I have yet to pack

Hello dear friends.
I'm assuming that my friends will be the only ones reading this, and if you're not my friend, well, the fact that you're reading my blog tells me we'll get along just fine. I am starting this blog in anticipation of a major life trip to Europe. After several ups and downs this year, my trip has been the apple of my mind (is that even a thing? oh well). Almost a full 2 years ago I sat down with 2 of my best friends from college and we decided that a trip to Europe in our last summers of blissful irresponsibility would be just what we needed, or wanted really. I'm glad to say that last Christmas, in our emotional reunion, we decided on the less than traveled Eastern Europe. Full of magical palaces, old Soviet history, AK 47's, some poor man's stews, and a journey that will reveal the unknown. How we decided on 13 countries in less than 30 days do you ask? Well, we're quite ambitious and this is something I'm proud of. With 1 friend's extreme organization, the other friend's genius finds of strange and exciting things to do combined with my love for reading travel guides and learning languages we decided that it can be done, and it will. Remember that time we traveled through thousands of miles that one summer and had a stunningly amazing time? That's right, it's about to happen. Saying all of that, we're about to embark on a journey like no other. Whether we can get to and from places and make our final flight out of Croatia will be a guessing game, but no fright, cause I have faith. We shall follow this arduous trip with a semi-vacation in the land of all holies and my homeland, Israel. We will rest with some well deserved Middle Eastern grub and some well needed family hugs. Please take a look at the map and marvel at our delight. I would like to say that I would never ever want to take this trip without my comrades at hand. They will make this trip what it is and I am excited with every cell in my body.
That said, who knows how much internet we get. So for now, enjoy this little blurb about the life I want. If Anthony Bourdain calls, tell him I'm in Poland, eating some Kilbasa and I need his help.
Nomad Wannabe