Trying to update quickly: Krakow

The second weekend in Europe, Brian and Uday went to Paris. Having already been to Paris, I decided to join Ally and Eric in Krakow. From Krakow, I learned that there is a ton of salt in Poland, I needed a new cell phone and that Poland was cold in early June.

The trip had quite a rocky start. The plane tickets were crazy expensive, but I wanted to do something with people and I'd probably never visit Krakow otherwise, so I decided to give it a shot. Going to the airport was a mess. It was rainy and I was trying to drive without a GPS from Cassinetta to the airport. Not a good idea... It's supposed to take 30 minutes, it took me almost an hour and a half. It was terrible! I was running so very late. I actually barely made it on the plane. Then there was the fear of not making my connection. Luckily it all worked out well and I ended up in Krakow safe and sound.

When arriving in Krakow, my cell phone decided that it'd completely die. I've been having troubles with my cell phone ever since I got it, but this was terrible. The phone started off having no cell phone back. Then it kept on giving me a boot loader error 2 days into purchasing it. The phone then decided it wouldn't want to start... Ever. This left me in Kraknow's airport, not knowing how to speak Polish without the name of the hostel I was staying at or Ally's cell phone number. My only option was to try and find someone with an unlocked cell phone who could put my SIM card in theirs and retrieve Ally's number. The only problem was I didn't speak any Polish. As a result, I wasn't able to communicate with ANYONE. Almost at the verge of tears, a really wonderful Australian couple helped me out. Those Aussies are everywhere and so nice! The lady spoke Polish and was able to find someone who had an unlocked cell phone, retrieved my number and even called Ally for me. She then set me up with a taxi and told the taxi driver to call Ally's phone number so he could talk with the girl who knew where we were, Ewilina. In the off chance you happen onto this blog, nice Australian couple, I am forever grateful.

I finally was on my way to Krakow and was just chilling in the taxi. I'm sure he took me through a few circles, but at least I was to where I was. It was a bit funny because part way through, when we were at the place, the taxi driver called Ally and was speaking with the other Polish girl. I couldn't understand a word outside of "Japanese, Japanese!! Japanese." Apparently he thought I was Japanese. Arriving was a relief. Ally even ordered a beer and a salad for me! It was fabulous. To my surprise, Emiliano was there. Emiliano is an Italian I met in Cassinetta one of my first few days here. He was a bit off, but he was a pretty nice guy. It was just strange to find him there.

After dinner, we all went to the hostel and dropped off my stuff, then it was off to the bars! I had this delicious apple juice/vodka drink that I must try again and find the name of. The Polish sure do know how to party, though. Each bar had a dance floor equipped with a great light and sound system. After a fun night, we went back to the hostel and had a good night's sleep.

The hostel was a bit strange and was definitely not the nicest I've ever been in . It also wasn't the worst, though. The hostel didn't have heat at all, so it was very cold those few days. It was cold enough to have to wear sweaters and a jacket. I'm glad Ally told me what the temperature would be like. The room was clean, but quite spartan. All in all, it was a cheap clean place, so it was fine.

The next day, we woke up at like... 11ish and made our way to the middle square of the city. I think every Polish city has a square in the center of it where there's a lot of markets and often a large church. This one was beautiful. We wandered around and had a kebab, my first of this trip in Europe! Kebabs are delicious and I wish they had them in the States. It's like the Turkish version of a burger but much more hearty and well worth their cost. After lunch, we walked around the center square where there was a festival and a parade.

On our way to meet Ewilina, who was picking us up to go to the salt mines nearby, we had the unfortunate chance of walking down the parade procession's route. Right next to the guy who fired his musket every 10 minutes. It wasn't a quite musket either. It made me jump each time I heard it. The first time, I ducked for cover because I thought something exploded. I think everyone around me thought i was strange.

We finally made it to the car and were off on our way to the salt mines. The salt mines were made a really long time ago... although I forgot when. You must take a tour to go inside. It's huge, so I don't blame them. The tour, which is 2 hours long, is only 1% of the salt mines. There's another 99% to go. The tour is a bit dry, but goes through all the different history of the salt mine and what it was used for. There were a lot of spectacular salt sculptures including a whole chapel in salt. Even the chandelier was in salt, using a really pure clear salt. The tour guide has probably given this tour hundreds of times and the jokes are getting dull to her, so she delivered them in a monotone voice, which actually made them all the funnier because you could feel her distaste.

After the salt mines, we wandered around a bit more and went around the Castle. Unfortunately it was closed. There were a lot of weddings going on. We got lost on our way back and had the chance to wander around Krakow a bit as well. In the end, we arrived back at the central square and had some dinner.

After dinner, in true Polish style, we went out to party! We went to several bars, all of which were wonderful, and had a great time. Ally and I went home early because we were exhausted but the boys partied until the wee hours of the morning.

The next day was for shopping. Krakow has some of the most beautiful amber in Europe and they set the amber in silver, which gives a great contrast. I bought a nice necklace and a set of earrings to match. I think I'll have to go back to Poland and try to find more, though. It's really unique and beautiful.

At approximately lunch time, it was time for me to head out. I went to the airport again and back to work on Monday.