Poland

Just a quick check in before I leave for Vienna.

Yesterday I visited the bulk of the sights in Krakow (didn't make it to Auschwitz or the salt mine, unfortunately) with Jason and his three college friends named Joy, Meg and Allegra. The best sight that we made it to, in my mind, is St. Mary's Cathedral which is in the north-east corner of the main market square (Glowny). Inside the church was decorated in a orthodox-cum-catholic style with the traditionally advanced architecture of a catholic church but featuring the highly decorative icons and painted ceilings so typical of orthodox churches. It is to color what Rococo is to texture. Unfortunately, not pictures were allowed but you can probably do a google image search for St. Marys in Krakow and find some nice shots.

It was nice having company while sight-seeing. I probably wouldn't have been as motivated to see everything were I alone. That's what I'm facing in Vienna but perhaps I'll make another short-term friend(s) to keep me company. Well, I have to get on the road. I don't want to miss my train! Wish me luck as I have to transfer in Katowice (Ka-to-vee-tsay) bound for Vienna. Habsburgs here I come.

Got up late this morning. I had set the alarm for PM AND the wrong time. Realizing that we were waking up 15 minutes after the time that we had planned to leave for the airport I loudly exclaimed "SHIT". Hearing the hurried movement in the neighboring room, Anne, Daryoush and Ella got up as well. We quickly finished a couple tasks and were out the door in probably less than 10 minutes.

Upon arrival I quickly bid Laura adieu. I had hoped to spend more time with her before jumping our planes in opposite directions but a quick goodbye kiss had to do. I jumped on line to get through security and raced to the gate only to discover that I still had 45 minutes before the plane left. As it turns out the Stockholm airport, Arlanda, is much less hectic and intense than its American and British counterparts. I was left feeling remorseful that I could have indeed spent more time with Laura but I had opted to hang out in a room with a bunch of strangers.

The flight to Krakow was very uneventful. I had heard rumor of thunderstorms around southern Poland but thankfully they didn't materialize while I was inbound. It was rather overcast but the descent was smooth and easy.

When I stepped off the plane I was greeted by warm and humid conditions. Krakow airport is the most crowded airport that I've ever been in -- at least to my memory. It was difficult to walk through the immense crowd.

Thankfully, I found an ATM rather quickly and withdrew 300 Zloty (roughly $100). But when I went to buy a train ticket to the Krakow city center I discovered that the machine only took small denominations of Polish money. I walked on hoping to find a place to buy a ticket from an actual person but as I approached the little platform that appeared to be the Airport rail station I realized that I had no option but to return to the Airport and try to get smaller bills.

At this point I found another American in the exact same predicament as myself, Jason Burke. Together we walked back to the airports, bought some coffee, used the change to buy train tickets (less than $2! DAMN I love Eastern Europe and their reasonable prices!) and returned to the train JUST before it left (catching the train necessitated running and sloshing hot coffee all over my hand, but that's the price of rushing).

Once in town I checked into my hostel (Mama's Hostel which couldn't be in a better location from a tourist's standpoint) and together with Jason grabbed some lunch. We went to a very swank looking restaurant and in total, including drinks and tip, spent less than $7 each.

Now that I'm showered and rested I'm waiting to meet up with Jason and his three friends. Hopefully they'll keep me from being too lonely in the absence of Laura.