Frankfurt (apparently you're not allowed to say Frankfurter unless you are physically in Frankfurt - weird eh?)

My last post in Europe. I am going to try not to dwell on this sad fact while I fill my last night with as much excitment as possible. (But I'm still sad, I can feel Europe withdrawal already.)

Well, this night I spend in Frankfurt, since I am flying home from here. Frankfurt is not really "delivering" the way I thought it would. When I got here, I was positively surprised that my hostel was a stone's throw away from the train station and metro. However, there were some lewd pictures in some store windows on my way here, but I didn't really think anything of it. I mean, I'm in Europe right? Back to that in a moment...

I got to my hostel, and decided to go sightseeing right away. Frankfurt is a very modern-looking city, with ancient churches in between tall skyscrapers. I don't think I've seen anything like it in Europe yet! The nightlife here was great too - I walked downtown around 9, and there were already parties and people having fun in the streets.

I walked back along the river, and then along my street again, and noticed the number of neon lights spelling out words such as "sex", or "erotic", or "peep". I also noticed a high percentage of male visitors on the street, which were not there before. Upon looking in my guide book, I noticed that I was smack dab in the middle of the red light district of Frankfurt! No wonder there were pictures of breasts all around me... Dad and Mom, don't worry - this wasn't an "in your face" kind of red light district, it was... as decent and clean as a district like that can be.

Either way, I think I am calling it an early night - it's funny how midnight seems much too early to go to bed right now. My plane leaves early afternoon, but I've heard that the airport in Frankfurt is tourist attraction in itself, so I will count that in to my tour.

I don't want to dwell, but I will really, really, really miss Europe. My heart is not ready to go back, but unfortunately my wallet and career are. I also would like to mention that I have about 5 Gigs of media from my digicam, so be careful if you ask to see pictures, because I WILL show them all to you. Even the portraits I took of my "20 km a day" feet. A very detailed portfolio. Be ready!

Praha

This picture is literally the view from my hostel: it was right downtown, by the Karluv bridge, and finding it was a challenge. It turns out the hostel was above a shop, and you had to go through a tight ceiling'ed stairway, which took you up and down, and finally would lead you to reception, and then your room. The location was fantastic, and I had the perfect base from which to start my tour of Prague.

I am ashamed to admit that I actually went to bed pretty early (1030 or so) on Thursday night, but not before I went to visit the city for a few hours. Prague's winding streets and alleys are one of a kind, with a surprise literally at every corner. I was woken up at around 1 am, by a group of 4 Brazilian guys, whose beds I had taken over with my bag (since no one else was in the room). The boys were nice enough to move the stuff for me, so my sleep wasn't so interrupted.

The next day, I planned out a walking tour for myself, which included walking south to the river, than across the bridge (most Legii) and take a tour through the park and the castle. I stopped by to eat some lunch, and as I was approaching the castle, the rain started to pour in buckets. I took shelter under a cafe umbrella, but the owner stared me down, so I kept walking and took shelter on the stairs under a random building. I just started and finished Labyrinth on the 9 hour train over, and was feeling a little angry towards Catholics, so I was surprised to find that the shelter I chose was actually the side part of the huge St. Nicolas church in Prague. It was a nice break from the pouring rain, I must admit.

After visiting the castle, I took the metro to the east side of Prague, where I indulged in some window and actual shopping. I walked back to my hostel, and didn`t realize how late it was: I was supposed to meet a friend at 7! On a side note, my friend Will from Western just landed in Prague (he's Czech) on the 28th, and that's the evening that I was going to be there to, so we met up for some Czech food and drinks. We used to work together in London and he's a fellow Western Alum. It was great to see a familiar face, and we did tons of catching up that evening.

Once I got back, I packed everything, and left Prague this morning for Frankfurt: another fantastic 7 hour train ride. I must say though, the Germans know how to build their trains - second class on this train was not even comparable to first class on a Polish one. When we finally got to Frankfurt, I didn't even want to get off. Sigh, but I have to face reality: Frankfurt is my last stop before I fly home to Canada. That's right, I am thisclose to concluding my trip already.

I'll be spending the last hours trying to enjoy myself as long as possible. Frankfurt better deliver!

Poland concluded (sniff, sniff)

(This is one of my most favourite picture of all time - just Adam, Ewa and I goofin around and acting like crazy kids, and causing havoc.)

After writing a novel on Sunday, I decided to give the blog a bit of a break, and focus on spending time with the family and soaking in the Polish vibe.

Basically, for the past 3 days, I have been shopping and walking around Warsaw with Ewa, and having a fantabulous time with my little "sister". Even though she is only 14, you can already tell Ewa is at that point where she is becoming an adult and wanting to discuss serious things (and fun things like boys and make-up of course!). I love seeing little glimpses of the kind of person she is going to be - it makes me think back to when I was a teenager and everything that I went through at that age too (and how bitchy I got at times too).

Shopping, walking and talking doesn't sound like much of a challenge, but I feel I need to remind you all about the weather situation in Europe. It is honestly 32 degrees or hotter during the day, with absolutely no rain for the past 3 weeks. Apparently this heat wave is the hottest it's been in 200 years, and it's not pretty. Prague is apparently worse, with average temps being 35 - yay for me.

Anyway, Ewa and I would obviously stay up late at night too, and although I had to be at the train station this morning at 7:30, last night was no exception. I am proud to say I have turned Ewa into a true Wedding Crashers fan, which does our family proud. This morning, exhausted from no sleep, the whole fam (Grandparents, Ewa, and Ciocia) escorted me to the station, and once the train rolled in, the floodwords started. I am really, really going to miss them - Ewa especially, since she is my little sis. Needless to say, no one looked pretty, and I only calmed down once the train actually left.

The train ride was long and hot, with a lot of annoying men causing trouble. I got off the train, sweaty and tired, and was greeted by a man urinating right in front of me. Once I safely averted the urinary crisis (and was temporarily blinded due to too-much-exposure), I looked up and ahead of me. I can already see what the fuss is about: Prague already looks absolutely gorgeous! The architecture, and layout of the city is definitely worth all the praise. I am staying in a hostel right in the middle of downtown, right by the Karlova bridge (apparently the tourist centre). I am pumped for Prague!

Just wanted to take this chance to wish the Happiest Birthday to Jess, who turned 22 yesterday - I hope you're ready to party (I am, it's been too long) when I get back!!

Adam's trip to Poland, concluded

(This is the final of 5 posts I have written in a row. There is obviously a lack on consistency, but I hope you all enjoy them!)

After our nap and meal, we decided to make the most of the 3 days that Adam had left in Warsaw. We had to cut out the trip to Lodz, to visit our uncle and party - sad days, but I'm sure there'll be other times. We got our stuff together, and went to visit our Ciocia Ela at work, and from there to the Museum of the Warsaw Uprising. We were both extremely impressed at the quality and effort put into the museum - the sounds effects, video testimonies and documents depicting the Uprising were powerful. I won't go into detail about the history of it, only to say that Poland is often the butt of WWII jokes when we probably put up the biggest fight against the Germans (considering our limitations). The Uprising started August 1 and lasted for 63 days: Poles organized themselves to attack the Germans, using sewers as a means of secret transport. About 18 thousand soldiers were killed, and 120-200 thousand civilians murdered - most of the people participating in it were young, Warsaw Intelligentsia. I think Adam and I learned more about Polish history on this trip than the combined knowledge we have about any other country.

We took the evening to travel around Warsaw - metro and bus - with our Grandma. After the walk, we came back, changed into nice clothes and went out onto Nowy Swiat (similar to Bay and Bloor in Toronto). It felt nice to actually wear fancy clothes and dress up for a change!

The next day, we included Palac Kultury (like the CN Tower) in downtown Warsaw, followed by a trip to family friends on the outskirts of Warsaw. I lied before, by the way: this was by far the hottest weather I had travelled in (far worse than Buda-buda). It was great to see the Grosiki, since they are like family on my mom's side. Once we got back to our base at the grandparents place, we drove with our aunt to pick up our cousin from her camp trip in Italy. She came back tanned, thin and somewhat happy to see us (it's soooo not cool for a 14 year old to get picked up by her mom and cousins, duh).

Basically, we spent the rest of the time with Ewa and having tons of fun - it makes me wish I had a younger sister (uhh, and made me appreciate that I have a younger brother too). We visited our great-aunt at her cottage, then our grandparents cottage and finally went to see Pirates of the Caribbean. The whole day made me realize how much I want a big family, and that I hate only seeing them once every 3 years.

The grandparents let us have the apartment that night, since they stayed at the cottage, and Adam, Ewa and I were pumped to go out and have an empty place. Of course, right after the movie, we were all so drained that we bought some junk food and stayed up til 3 watching movies. Watch out, everyone, the Debowski's really know how to party!

Today was a day of relaxing, with lots of walks and then a frenzy of lunch, packing and waiting in line at the airport. Adam checked in at 4:35, with his flight leaving at 4:55, so there wasn't much time for goodbyes. There seemed to be a void when he left: Adam, I think that they like you better than me. You will be very missed here. Not by me. I will see you in a week - great.

My trip is not over yet though - Poland for 3 days (I'm determined to take on the town with Ewa), then Prague and Frankfurt. T-7 days and I'm definitely feeling it!

Robbie, oh Robbie

I failed to mention that since we were served really slowly at the Hungarian restaurant, and since we were already running late, we left the restaurant at 9:15 (with his show starting most probably around 9). I was stressed out the whole time, with the only part of my body enjoying itself being my mouth and stomach. Adam could tell I was on edge (it wasn't hard to see), so we said a quick goodbye to Roby and ran outside to get going. We got a cab, who got us there by 9:25, which was not so late into the concert.

Here's where I'm an idiot. You don't have to tell me, because I know. When I bought the tickets online, I didn't print them out (lack of printer) but wrote down the confirmation number. I was under the impression that the ticket office would be near the entrance, open and ready to confirm my number and let me in. Wrong. The entrance to the stadium was a bunch of big, Hungarian men who didn't give a crap that I had a number: they wanted tickets. I panicked slightly as we went in search for an open office, which obviously didn't exist. We finally asked some cops for an internet cafe with a printer, and they pointed us in the direction of a roof, which I think was meant to be a joke, which I obviously didn't find funny. At this point, Adam and I had been RUNNING around for probably a kilometre or two, looking sweaty and dishevelled. We ran into the first sign of life we saw, which was some fancy hotel. Surprisingly enough, the concierge escorted us to a private room, gave us printer paper and we got our tickets.

Close to ten, we finally ran back to the ticket entrance and got in! Robbie was still going full force, and by some magical luck, started playing all my favourite songs right then and there. I was lulled by his fantabulous voice, good looks and ability to make any girls he wanted flash him on camera. My hero! In all seriousness, it was the best concert I have ever been to - just the experience of being in Budapest, with 70, 000 other people and it being our last night on the trip.

The way back was another story - completely unable to walk in my heels, we followed the thousands of people to a main intersection. The subway was, of course, closed, and we had no idea how to get back. Every bus and tram stop was packed to the brim. We started walking off in search of an ATM for cash for a taxi, and found neither. We finally walked so far that we were off the map - bad for directions, but good for getting on a bus. We got on one that came 1/2 hour later, and drove a few stops down where we were crushed like sardines in a can. I was at the back of the bus, facing outside in the heat and painful, painful shoes. Stopping and going, up and down, heat coming from everywhere and lack of air can make you very cranky (which I am sure is on Adam's list of "What Makes Monika Very Bitchy"). We didn't even know if we were on the right bus, but a few stops later, we got off, and managed to grab a cab back to the hostel. We were supposed to be going for beers after the concert, but what with the experience thus far and the fact that I didn't meet Robbie, I was not in the mood.

The next morning, our roomies were even worse off than we were - completely sunburnt and dehydrated from standing in line for 12 hours, they were exhausted, but managed to get 4th row standing and amazing pictures. They promised to send them to me, and after talking about it, I realized how great of a story we all had - I will never forget that night (my feet won't either I'm sure). It was the perfect end to a fantabulous 9 days of traveling with Adam! Our flight back was a measly 1 hour, and we rejoined our grandparents for the final days in Poland.

We ate a huge meal and took a nap first of course...

Budapest

I think we saw the city of Budapest in a record-breaking amount of time - we maximized every hour we had there. We got to the city after 5, and by the time we checked in and found our hostel, it was about 7.

We immediately went to eat dinner just down the street, which was one of the most delicious and well-served meals I think I've had. As much as Adam likes to eat and eat well, I can't complain - the places he chooses are fantastic. We quickly realized that we know nothing about Hungary or Budapest, that Hungarian is NOTHING like Polish (which we thought) and that going from Canadian dollars to Zloty to Euro to Forint is more confusing than it seems.

We met up with an American guy named Roby - he was on a Europe trip as part of a scholarship he won for college (smart guy) but mostly traveling. He joined us on a Pest tour that evening, which went from 9 to 1am. We walked to whole way, and when we got the river, were surprised with what we saw. Every important building in Buda and Pest was illuminated to look beautiful, so that I felt I was in a postcard the whole time. We couldn't really capture it with the digicam, but I don't think Adam nor I will forget it.

The next day, I learned that Robbie Williams was touring Europe and was going to perform in Budapest that night. I am a huge Robbie fan - I don't like smokers, and I don't like tattoes, but Robbie can do whatever he wants and all is forgiven. (Robbie, if you by some small chance come by this posting, I wanted you to know that. I also know you like Polish girls - that's me.) More on him later. Mmmmm...

Anyway, I am losing focus... we visited Buda from 10-3, in what was probably the hottest weather I have ever travelled in. I don't think I have mentioned this, but Europe is going through a humongous heat wave, with temperatures at about 35 degrees. Needless to say, it's really, really hot - but what can you do. Anyway, that day must have been 35 or over, with no clouds. We walked all around Buda, including up onto the hill with the castle and church. After working up a sweat and appetite, we walked to a restaurant in Pest. While talking to all our neighbouring tables, we found out that everyone and their mother was going to the concert (people drove from Germany just to see him!) which got me really excited.

The first best part of the day was right after we ate - we took the tiny metro to north Pest, where we went into the spring baths that are popular there. Szechenyi baths is one of many, but a big one: it had about 9 baths, not to mention saunas, spas and fountains. The picture up top probably says it all. I don't think any of you will really understand what it feels like to dip into one of those pools after a brutal day in the sun and just float around in the water. I got a pedicure too, as a much-needed therapy for my flip flop-wearing, Europe-traveling feet. We really need those kinds of baths in Toronto (lunch break anyone?).

We spent 2 glorious hours just floating around, walked back to our hostel (with a detour to buy sexy shoes for me... ok, for Robbie) and got ready at the hostel. We were also starved after our unsatisfying lunch meal, and ate a local place to sample some Hungarian food. It was also served very late (more on that later), but was the best food I had had so far (trumped the restaurant from the night before fo' sho'). My fish meal had paprika, which is the national spice of choice - delicious.

From there, we went to see Robbie... running a little late (as usual) and in what turned out to be a long, exciting and exhausting night.

Wien

We were not really supposed to spend time in Vienna, but since our train to Budapest would have lasted 9 hours, and we would have to transfer train stations in between, we decided to be craaazy and stay there for about 18 hours (including overnight). I felt that I was cheated by Vienna (and more specifically the Viennese coffee) so I decided that it was time the city repayed their debt to me and showed me a good time. I also forgave the coffee.

Adam and I got to Vienna at 6ish, and by the time we checked into our awesome hostel (really, one bathroom for 2 people compared to one for 35 is heaven) it was around 8. We took a walk downtown and saw Vienna by night: the Museums Quarter, the Ring streets, ate some Wiener Schnitzel (Adam) and unknown dumplings (me) and Karlsplatz. The next morning we decided to take the 2 o'clock train to Buda-buda, and had 3 hours in the morning to work it speedily. We visited the Hofburg, Stephansplatz, etc. but also included Cafe Central, a well-known cafe which even has its own brew of coffee. Finding it took a while, since it was covered by construction, but inside it was the classiest, most luxurious place I've ever been: I felt like a complete bum. It was then that my 2 week-long and very intense war with Viennese coffee was laid to rest, and I actually enjoyed an espresso (my 5th coffee in, oh, 20 years). Adam, coffee-addict that he is, ws in heaven. I think we took 5 pictures (and the Hofburg got one).

We thought we were doing well on time, but needless to say, we were BOOTING it at 1:45 for a 1:55 train with a huge bag of last minute groceries (needed to appease the "Adam hungry beast" which I discovered earlier - not pretty), 2 bags and my backpack. I think I burned a day's worth of calories. We were really lucky, since the train was 5 minutes delayed, and we made it and managed to catch our breaths before we left.

I have been learning a lot about the brother I thought I knew so well. Here's a mini digression I dedicate to all of you as the "What I Learned About My Brother, Part 1":

1) He needs to eat. ALL THE TIME. He is NEVER full. If he says he is, he's lying. If you think he is, he will amaze you with the quantity of food he is about to eat. If you are with him, plan for a food break every 2 hours unless you want to see the Hungry Hulk unleashed. (I say this out of love for you bro, and out of concern for everyone else.)
2) His engineering degree is coming in quite handy as he teaches me the delicate science of making a broken mp3 player work. First take the battery out, and put it in again. Next, smash the thing with all your might and try to turn it on. Repeat if necessary.
3) His kindness is often misinterpreted for aggression due to his size and voice. When on the train, he offered cookies to the young girl sitting next to us. His delicate mumble of "want some" sounded more like a deep, loud, murderous grunt of "huh", after which her mom moved subtly away from him. Our first impression on the Hungarians must have been a scary one.

Vienna amazed us, but Budapest was more than we could have hoped for - Europe is truly beautiful and unique.

Auschwitz and Birkenau, Krakow

It has been over a week since my last post, but I have been trying to remember as much as I can so that my memories are accurate.

We bought tickets for an English-speaking tour on Sunday to go visit Oświęcim and Brzezinka (the Polish names for Auschwitz and Birkenau) since we knew that our time was limited in Krakow. To get into the mood, we took a tour of the Jewish area in southern Krakow, where ghettos were created in the war and where most of Schindler's List was filmed. We walked around, and examined the remnants of a culture that is pretty much extinct in Krakow (what with most of the Jewish people either being driven out into concentration camps or moving out after the war).

The tour started with a bus ride for about an hour, with a video depicting the footage taken when the camps were finally "liberated" by the Russians. What was most interesting about that was that the actual footage was replaced with fake footage in 1946 (after the war was over) with the residents of the concentration camps having been cleaned, cared for and fed for a year and cheering when they saw the Russians come. In reality, these people were the living dead, and when the Russians came to free them, they had lost hope and looked unable to feel anything but despair.

Our tour guide was a Polish girl who spoke English very well, and who was obviously very emotionally involved in the whole tour experience. She kept telling us about little-known and random facts, like how using the bathroom was a privilege and lasted all of 10 seconds a day, with SS men watching over you and counting to 5 with a gun. The lack of privacy and dignity is one thing, but then cleaning out the septic tanks in your one item of clothing... well I don't even want to think about it. Another interesting thing I found out was that the warehouses used to store all the stolen items (suitcases, clothes, shoes, jewellery) were all called "Canada". Apparently the prisoners thought of Canada as the land of plenty and freedom, and the warehouses of valuables represented the wealth that Canada had. Makes you appreciate your country more - imagine someone using the place as you live as the symbol of a better life? That definitely stuck in my mind.

The size of Birkenau was staggering - the rows and rows of barracks in the fields makes you face the reality of how many people were actually living in the hell of the concentration camp. The railroad tracks that went on and on stopped in the middle of the camp, and we actually stood at the very spot where Nazis would segregate those who were ready for hard labour from those to be sent to the gas chamber immediately. The far side of the camp had a huge memorial built there, where they built a stone likeness to every kind of burial possible - gravestone, urn, etc. They wrote an inscription in every language that was represented in the camp, which basically said that we should never forget what happened and that history is more than likely to repeat itself. I find it ironic that this memorial was built not long after the horrors in Bosnia and Serbia, and Rwanda.

I was pretty much silent the whole time, but I think I stopped myself from really understanding the reality of the camp. It hurts me that all this happened on Polish ground, since it creates an area of true evil that existed in Poland. I was also surprised that so many Polish people were killed in the camps: until about 1942, mostly Polish political prisoners and gypsies, homosexuals and other foreigners were killed and tortured in Auschwitz. Once the Germans perfected the art of killing was when the mass murders of Jews began.

After 6 hours of the tour, it felt really good to leave - I was relieved to return to my normal life, and even try to joke around once we got back - I can't imagine what it would be like to be completely hopeless. I can truly say that I appreciate everything more now, and will never forget what I saw and read about. Auschwitz should be witnessed by as many people as possible, especially all the ignorants that know nothing of our history and those that refuse to accept that this happened.

To regain some positivity back into our lives, we dragged our emotionally-drained bodies to enjoy Krakow by night. Once we got back, we chilled with the boys from the hostel again and went to bed. I didn't even complain (except to myself) about the smells, noises (snoring and other) and mess that boys make - they must all have amazing moms!! I was woken up several times that night by some classy guy who fell asleep drunk, with his hands down his pants and shaking his bed with loud snores. No comment.

To finish, Krakow is definitely as described - gorgeous, well-preserved, and full of history. It is Poland's little darling, and seems to be the center of all other touristy areas - 1-2 hours from Auschwitz, Zakopane, Wieliczka, the late Pope's humble beginning place... I am almost tempted to say it's prettier than Warsaw, but it's hard for me to be disloyal. It will make the right impression on you if you choose to visit Poland!

Next: Vienna - barely made the train, with no food, 6 hours... you can only imagine Adam's delight at those kind of conditions!

Krakow - the party town of Poland

Hey all,
I'll be making this a quick one, to regain my control over my blog after Adam's novel of an entry.
Adam and I finished our stay in Zakopane this morning, after a huge rain out and decrease in temperature. We tried to be troopers and keep visiting places, but the rain and 10 degree weather just made everything hard to bear. We did however, drink beer to keep warm, and therefore had a fantastic time. Adam was convinced that our landlady (Ania who owned the house) was sneaking into our room to steal his underwear (sounds crazy, but actually is based on an earlier event in which she found his cleaned laundry and threw it out the window to him- yes, Adam was as freaked out as much as all of you are by that image).

Either way, we passed out last night, and woke up this morning at 7am in order to make it to the top of the highest peak in Zakopane, which is about 2km up in the mountains, and requires a 20 minute cable car to get to the top. We waited for a while, but managed to get up to the top by 9am in order to beat the crowd. Lemme tell you, the crowd were all idiots for waiting, because the only thing we saw when we got up there was fog and rain, and we were literally IN a cloud the whole time. We tried to walk over to the border to say that we made it to Slovakia, but we ended up FREEZING our asses off (literally, since with the wind it was about -2). We settled for saying that we threw a rock across the border, and came back to enjoy the feeling of warm blood in our bodies. We made it back, took our bag from the hotel (with Adam throwing suspicious looks at Ania the whole time) and took a bus to Krakow.

So far, we have walked around Krakow and enjoyed talking to people in our hostel (who, to my delight, are all Australian boys) and also frozen in the cold weather that has made its way here. The 35 degree heat that we had in Warsaw would be a great welcome compared to this - I constantly have to take vodka shots to stay warm (and how sweet it is).

Tomorrow, we will be going to Auschwitz, which will no doubt be a sobering experience, but in the meantime, we are making drinks out of our grocery booze and enjoying a Saturday night in Krakow. Here's to a fantastic weekend in Poland - cheers!

Guest Post by Adam - Zakopane

Hello All,

It is mini Debowski writing as a guest on Mon's blog... Hi! We are currently embarking on our third night in Zakopane, and are full of beer and perogies and pancakes. I thought that since I'm around for this part of Mon's journey and I love Zakopane sooooooo very much that I would make an appearance for my fans and let you know how this wonderful town is doing with us in it.
We got here Wednesday afternoon after a 6 hour train ride from Warsaw. Other than the ridiculously early wake-up (not used to the time yet) , getting on the train was easy and Grandpa (a.k.a. Dziadek) made sure we got on no problem. We were pretty worn out the whole way and had a nice adrenaline rush for about 8 minutes, until one of us pondered: "ARE WE THERE YET?!" After some philosphical talks and frequenting of mp3 player use, we arrived.

We got here to 30-degree weather and a million people asking us if we needed a room. We ended up taking a few wrong turns and winded up at this beautiful renovated house with a room for two for relatively cheap. The woman was a Grade A Bitch, but once we got her out of our hair we liked the place. That night we hit the town and took a train up this light hill and had a beer. We got our first breathtaking view of the place, something like this picture.


The next day we were champs! We climbed up an ashphalt-ish type road to get to Morskie Oko - a big lake in the middle of the mountains. It took us about 1h40min (40 minutes faster than average ;) to get there. After that we booked it up a much harder slope for another hour to get to Czarny Staw ("Black Pond"). Since we were going pretty fast for about 3 hours, we felt very accomplished. The place we got to looks like the picture below.

I don't know how to describe this place except for absolute heaven. Despite the huge difference in culture (almost every aspect) and looks we got for speaking english (constant throughout so far), I felt immediately at home like I've never done before and did not want to leave. We took many pictures here and have lots to show. I immediately took a pic with my phone and set it as my background, and something tells me it will be there for a while. Although Canada is great and you can't deny how good of a place it is to live, here is where I feel I belong. It seems as though I'm going back to Canada to work with the eventual goal of ending up here, swimming in that water (which you weren't allowed to do... booooooo). It was quite an emotional experience for me... as much as the walk down was a physical one.

We really gave-her on the way up but were slooooow on the way down and chose the more scenic (meaning the exact same way but slower with more pictures and people-watching) route for the way home. We got back to our room, took a hot shower, and went out for traditional Polish food and a beer. They serve beer here with a shot of concentrated raspberry juice which is awesome. Mon had tea with a shot of liquer and we proceeded to walk down the strip with a buzz and appreciation for where we were.

Today's wake-up was a little later, and we got rained out of everything. A real curse (and blessing in disguise) pointed us back to perogies and beer.

It's hard to convey how great this place really is. It seems that I've inherited the thirst-for-thin-air gene from my male ancestors (Marek and Stasio as far as I know) because leaving here is going to be painful. Although other parts of Poland (Krakow and Auschwitz), Vienna, and Budapest will surely be great, I will always be a visitor everywhere but here and feel that this is a place to spend later days. Despite totally sticking out (people look at us speaking English, and then Polish like it's never been done before) , we feel very belonging.

I also feel belonging amonst the legions of ridiculously attractive Polish women. OH MATKO!!! There are beautiful, well dressed, and conveniently liberal women EVERYWHERE and I can't help but talk about them all the time, even though I'm here with Mon. Even the older women are fabulous, and seem to maintain themselves very well. Let me assure you that seeing them in short shorts climbing up a slope faster than I can has NOTHING to do with my love of Tatry... It seems this is further proof that I am in fact my father's son. =)

Tomorrow we are off to Krakow and will surely have more great things to say! Auschwitz will no doubt be an emotional experience that I'm looking forward to as well. Travelling with Monika is great... and that's not me being diplomatic as she reads what I write. =) Needless to say, we are laughing all the time.

See everyone soon!
Adam

To eat or not to eat...

Yes, my friends, it is time to become patriotic and describe my time in Polakland. I have been here for about one week, and I have been restless since day 2 since I am used to moving along every day. Adam got to Warsaw on Saturday afternoon, and it has been a party ever since. He eased up the line of questioning from me to him, since my grandparents like to talk (while I am not used to it all the time). Him and I went out "na Starowke pod parasole" (to the old city to sit under the umbrellas of patios), and have been doing that every night since then.

We got a chance to chill with our little cousin, who is not so little anymore. Ewa is an adult, and an hot one at that!! I feel proud to have a model in the family, while Adam feels the need to protect her from all those aggressors in downtown Warsaw. She is really turning into a chick with attitude, and I love that we can finally chill with a family member our age.

We also met with Piotrek, our uncle, and our new little cousin, who is also not so little - an adorable, joy-for-life kind of child who made me realize that I actually AM capable of loving kids. He has the biggest, bluest eyes I've ever seen and I'm sure will be a heartbreaker in a few years.

My blog title is a result of the constant battle I have with my grandparents, and most people in Poland. Because there was always a lack of food, they eat every meal as if it were their last, and base their whole respect system on whether or not you eat enough of someone's meal. I, as a girl and also as someone who just doesn't eat that much (relatively), am suffering! But once I learned how to adapt, it all worked out.

Today, Zakopane - which will require a longer explanation later.

P.S. Adam says hi to everyone!

The Motherland

Anyone ever watch a little show called Seinfeld? I feel like I’m in an episode of it 24/7. My grandparents have been married for 52 years, and no doubt are still in love and the ultimate couple, but are the funniest, more random and Seinfeld-like couple in the world.

I’ve been here for 2 nights, and my second day today. I sometimes feel like they forget I’m there, and I’ve stepped into a conversation they were having without me. They constantly talk over each other, remind each other that it’s their turn to speak, and then continue speaking. They also comment loudly about politics and the weather, and are the most patriotic of anyone I know. It’s truly hilarious just being an observer.

We stayed up late again last night, which surprisingly was due to their interest in keeping conversation, and not me being cruel and keeping the grandparents from their sleep. It was a serious conversation, and my grandfather was reminiscing about life when he was a boy, and witnessed family members being murdered by German soldiers, and walking to school and seeing bodies on the way. I couldn’t even imagine living through that time, and I must say, I am so, so grateful that none of us had to. I spent most of the night horrified, and seeing how deep the scars of war can last on someone – my grandfather is now 77, but is still sad and angry about events that occurred when he was 7. His life was basically forever damaged by Germans and then Russian communists – he was denied the right to a life as a Christian, a Polish man, an intelligent engineer and more importantly as a good human being. These stories have stiffened my resolve to visit Auschwitz, and to never forget what my own grandparents have gone through, since we are so damn spoiled and ignorant of events that happened not so long ago.

On a lighter note, Poland is on the agenda for the next 3 weeks... family time, but also time to party it up! Adam and I are travelling around Poland , visiting everything and everyone we can. We have an adorable cousin who we have yet to meet, and my uncle and aunt are also excited to dump him on the grandparents and have fun Polish styles. It’s my first time to see Poland from an independent standpoint – I am older, with no parents, and am excited to discover the nightlife here. I really think that Warsaw, and most of Poland are seriously underrated as a place to visit.

If anyone is in Europe, I would be HAPPY to show you around Poland the right way – if you’re in the area for the next 3 weeks...

Vienna: The view from my room

My last entry ended on me getting to Vienna on the evening of the 3rd, and being really excited to see it. I am sad to announce that my plans were not realised that day, and my trip took an unexpected turn since that evening.

I was feeling pretty crappy that night, and went to my room to chill and go to sleep like the old person I am. My roommate came home soon after, a girl from Denver, Colorado who has been studying in Milan for the past 6 months. Michelle is a music major (piano), and once I looked past the fact that she actually liked Milan, I found she was an awesome girl. We had tons in common, and talked for a while before bed and decided to visit Vienna that morning together before her plane ride back to Milano.

We left the hostel around 11, and walked around downtown Vienna for a few hours. It is really beautiful there, and I could tell right away that you would need at least a week to properly visit the huge city. There were little surprises everywhere too – we were visiting the Hofburg in the downtown square, when we looked down and saw ancient ruins from the 17th century that were unearthed during some construction. It’s safe to say you would never find something like that in Canada! That was a great surprise.

A more unpleasant surprise began once we moved on from downtown. Michelle and I were feeling a little tired, so we decided to try to some world-famous delicious Viennese coffee. We had a huge fancy cup, with lots of cream and were on our way. Michelle had to catch a bus at 3, so we started walking back. On the way, there was a guy playing piano for charity on the sidewalk, and Michelle started small talking with him, piano major to... piano sidewalk player guy. Next thing I knew, she was playing her heart out in front of a department store on the busiest street in Vienna – it was awesome! We walked back after that, said goodbye and I went to take a nap in my room.

The unpleasantness begins from there: I was rudely awakened by my body going through hell, and refusing to let me sleep through it. I won’t go into much detail, but I had some MAD food poisoning and was in and out of consciousness for the next 10-12 hours. Dreams became reality, I had some hallucinations (which would have been amusing in different circumstances) and had nothing left in my body after some time. I woke up the next morning, decided to skip Hungary for the time being, and crawled to the train station to book my ticket for that day to Poland. I was really, really disappointed in myself for not going on, but I also found out that being sick can be the ultimate test when you’re travelling alone. I am proud to say that I didn’t call for mommy or cry for help from anyone, so I am pretty sure I passed it. As for coming to Poland, I was looking forward to seeing family one day sooner than expected.

Poland, in a word, is comforting. On the train ride over, I finally risked eating some solids and went to the dinner wagon to get some food. The smell of dill, sauerkraut and potatoes was so familiar that I felt like I was back home again. Whatever the saying is about the power of scent, it’s true – I could literally see my childhood after inhaling the air in the wagon.

Although I hadn’t spoken directly with them in days, I knew my grandparents would be at the train station, an hour early, and positioned strategically to find me at any point. I saw them right away – no change, same expressions, even some of the same clothes. In Poland, time always seems to stand still. We stayed up til 3am just talking and gossiping and it was great – my grandparents are the coolest.

The Motherland doesn’t know what hit it yet...

Austria con't

On a side note, my posts seem to be going out of order, and I can't figure out the German way to fix it, so Italy was actually BEFORE Austria.

I finished my stay in Innsbruck this morning, and said a reluctant goodbye at 9am to the lovely town and mountains. I got on a 2 hour train, and traveled to Salzburg, where I set aside 5 hours to walk around and see as much of the city as I could. Salzburg is bigger than Innsbruck and has a totally different vibe - lots more tourists, and you can hear Mozart everywhere you go. Although the Altstadt (Old city) and parks were beautiful, I am more glad to have stayed in Innsbruck an extra night and enjoved the view. 5 hours was enough, and I took another 3 hour train to Vienna, where I am staying for 2 nights. The area I am in is really close to the train station, which I am thankful for since I am getting perma indentations from my backpack.

I really am glad I splurged and bought the first class train pass for Eastern Europe - it's the little things that make a difference, like being able to nap in more space all around. I also went shopping for the first time since I got to Europe.

It was a good day!
Tomorrow, Vienna....

Austria, Innsbruck

My friends, this picture is me today (well, not actually in the picture, but I wanted to give you all a visual).
After a nice, real breakfast this morning, Erin and Nahleena left for Amsterdam, and I got another night in Innsbruck in our lovely Gasthof. I decided to have an adventurous day, and I saw a brochure in the tourist office on my walk through town. Before I knew it, I was booking a trip to just outside Innsbruck (Naustift or something), into the Alps and going paragliding. An older, tough-looking man picked me up at noon, and we drove for about 20 mins. We got to a tiny village, obviously a ski town during the winter, with mountains all around it and a glacier peeking out on one side. We rode a lift to 2 kilometres above sea level, with a bunch of other (male) paragliders who kept laughing at my face getting paler and paler and using their German-talk to comment oh-so-discreetly.

We got to the top, and Raymond dressed me up in gear, which I felt made me look fat (as did all the other men) and strapped me in. By the time he got me into my harness and standing with the parachute ready to run, I had forgotten all my girly idiocy and focused on "not dying". It's funny how I can forget my own name when faced with a steep slope and a forest just in front. Raymond's precise directions were "run until you don't feel the ground anymore", which I heard but didn't really understand. We started on 3, and I almost tripped when the parachute lifted us straight up, and kept going until we were about 600m in the air. We were going at 40-50 km/h, and it was the most relaxing and invigorating experience I have ever had. Raymond kept it interesting by making 360 degree circles a few times, and took tons of pictures for me. I have some videos of the flight, which lasted about 1/2 hour, but felt like 5 mins. I absolutely would recommend it to anyone: it's not scary at all, and refreshing to see the world from another angle. I didn't even feel like I was that high up until I would look down and see how small our shadow was.

Since then, I have tried to find a grocery store and walk around, but Austria really follows the "nothing open on Sunday" rule. I have amused myself by sipping cappucino and eating apple strudel and people-watching. Innsbruck is really amaying, and I don't feel as bad about missing Interlaken so much now that I've been here.

Tomorrow, Salzburg and Vienna for a few days: very excited to see the rest of Austria!

P.S. Happy Belated Canada Day... I didn't forget you...

Italy - The Mess

So I haven't written in a while for two reasons: I have had limited access to the internet, and I have been so rageful the past few days that if I had written anything this would have been an R-rated blog.

So basically, I spent my third day in Switzerland in Zurich - Alexis and I had a coffee with his aunt in the morning, went to the train to get my ticket to Milan and walked around the city. There were some great views, and even greater stores, most of which I didn't even go into. I did buy myself an authentic blingin Swiss watch, and helped my Swiss host find some business clothes. I left Zurich at 5ish, and got to Milan at 930. As we were entering the Italian "fashion capital" train station, there seemed to be a smell of urine in the air, partnered with graffiti and ghetto train wagons littered around the place. Long story short, my directions to the hostel SUCKED, and the bus they told me to take was apparently one of the most dangerous buses in Milan at night. The nice convenience store girl led me a different way, but her directions were not great. After an hour of being lost in the Metro, I called my hostel and asked for directions - it's hard to communicate when the guy at reception speaks NOT ONE WORD of English. Even I spoke more Italian than he English. After another hour of wandering, and help from a nice gua named Fabio (no resemblance to his namesake which we all love) I found my way, only to be told that my reservation didn't exist. I opened a can of whoopass (second time in my life), got a room, took a cold shower and went to bed.

My plan was to get out of Milan the next day, and as I woke up, imagine my surprise at finding my roomies to be 2 boys. One was leaving for Venice, while the other asked me if I was at all interested in taking a day trip with him. Still in my pj's, I agreed, got ready in 10 mins and we were off. We hit the grocery store to get fruit and bread, and got to the train station. This trip was Italy's saving grace - for the time being. We hit up Cinque Terra, which is a recently discovered cluster of 5 villages on the Mediterranean. Andrew and I LOVED it - we walked around, attempted the cliff walk from the first village to the next, but it would have taken too long. We did work up a sweat with the miles of stairs, and then refreshed ourselves by bathing in the Sea for an hour, getting some local pizza to go and heading back on the train. The 3 hour train back was supposed to get to Milan at 1045, and we ended up being stuck, in the dark, for an additional 3 HOURS. I won't even comment.

The next day, I got my ass out of Milan (having gone to bed at 4, since we had to walk from the train station at 3am). The train from Milan was of course delayed and I missed my train to Innsbruck, being forced to wait for 2 more hours. I am getting mad just thinking about it, but I was also lucky - I got myself a seat in 1st class, and met 2 girls from Toronto who were going to Innsbruck as well. Nahleena and Erin were travelling around Europe too, except they are closer to being done the trip while I'm not even halfway done. We exchanged war stories, and they offered me the chance to stay in Innsbruck with them that night. I looked up a place in my guide and we all found the Gasthof Innbrucke together.

However, Austria deserves itw own entry, so I will end on that. In short, I am definitely not going back to Italy anytime soon - until I am older, and have cash to throw around so I don't have to stay in the ghettos and deal with Italians negative attitudes to students. (You should see them with Americans!! They actually refuse to serve them.)

P.S. No offense to any Italians.