Day 9

Jenna:

Wow, our first day in Poland! It’s hard to believe it really happened, especially after I wondered for so long when I would be able to see and experience the place I had heard so much about. I wondered if TH’s descriptions had been accurate, and if I would dare to say that I actually kind of liked it here.

We actually landed at 1:30 AM on Thursday morning, and it was so nice to see the faces of TH’s father, and sister, Zu there to greet us. They were definitely some friendly faces in a place where we felt a little lost and confused. We expected, and were even excited about getting a stamp from Poland in our passports, but after carefully selecting the exit sign that we though would be appropriate for us we ended up walking right out the door with no check of any kind. I think this might be because there are not many people attempting to illegally immigrate to Poland. Instead of driving all the way back to TH’s hometown for the night, we stayed in Krakow so that we could get up and explore in the morning. We stayed in a clean little place (which felt like a palace compared to our last Rome hotel), that we nicknamed the “Ikea” hotel. Our second hotel is kind of like an Ikea hotel as well, so I think this look is very common for nicer Eastern European hotels. We woke up to a delicious breakfast which included my new favorite things nutella and plain yogurt with honey. I wouldn’t be surprised if these two items become a regular part of my diet when I return to the US.

The very first thing we did in Poland was do a tour of the salt mine. We may have been a little wary to hear that we would be touring a mine (and we knew that there was one mine tour planned for the trip), this seemed a little strange to us at first because mine tours are definitely not a common activity in the US, at least not in the western US. I was very happy to discover that this mine was like an amusement park with animatronics and sound effects and ghosts and everything! We took an English tour with the most adorable tour guide I have ever experienced. I seriously walked away from it with a little girl crush on her. I think you can tell the people who really understand English well because even their sense of humor translates. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of everything because it was all made of salt. Seriously! Who knew you could build an entire chapel full of salt? With an engraving of the Last Supper made in salt? A nativity scene of salt? The urge to lick everything on the tour was a little hard to master. I can’t deny licking my fingers a few times after touching the wall. I always had a hard time as a child playing with playdough because I always wanted to lick my fingers, and it was the same feeling during this tour. Their were all kinds of animatronics (at least that is what I like to think of them as), and we even crowded into this room where “magic” happened (according to the tour guide) and we heard some pretty music and I think I may have seen the ghost. It was pretty hard to tell, but I think I caught it all on film to review later. We came out into this banquet hall that would be amazing to have a wedding reception in. Underground and very cool (in both meanings of the word). I just think it might be a nice idea you know?

Our next stop was a castle! A real one, that princesses used to live in. We didn’t go in however, because the queue was a little long (FIL’s word, not mine). My favorite part of the castle was the huge dragon that breathed REAL FIRE. I was too mesmerized to get a photo. I did however, get a photo of myself eating some kind of traditional poppyseed salted bread roll. Kind of like a pretzel, but not really. They love opiates here, poppyseeds are in EVERYTHING.

We walked down towards downtown Krakow, stopped in to see a few churches. It’s amazing how detailed and ornate all of the churches are here. I know we have said it a hundred times, but America is so young! All of the churches here are very old, very well kept, and very beautiful. And of course they are all Catholic. The square was filled with pigeons, and I made sure to get some pictures of myself feeding the birds and running through them, I just know my friend Heather is going to love that idea J

We stopped to look at some paintings on display, and the experience was very different than in Italy, and I guess also different than what happens in the US. Everywhere else, as soon as you even pause in front of the paintings the artist is right in your face, asking if you would like to buy it and telling you that because you are so beautiful they will offer you a special discount. At this display, the artists hung back, but were still readily accessible if I wanted to ask about prices. I really liked it, and I think we would have been a little more serious about buying if we hadn’t already purchased some gorgeous paintings in Rome.

TH's family is seriously treating us much better than we ever could deserve, and we ate at this absolutely amazing restaurant in the middle of Krakow, which I think is the oldest restaurant in all of Europe! The seal on the menu says 1364, which is something they know because it was mentioned in a history book that a meal was served there. The décor is obviously not from 1364, but I got the impression that they believe the place has been open for almost 700 years, and after tasting the food I can understand why. I was a little put off by the fact that all of the men were servers and all of the women were hostesses, but I don’t think that other countries have experienced the revolution of gender stereotyped that America has. I am still thinking about this goat cheese that they brought out as a starter. I think anyone who knows me can tell you how much I love cheese, but this usually only applies to cheese made from cows milk, because in the US cow and sheep milk cheeses are very pungent and difficult to stomach. This cheese was spongy and creamy and not overpowering at all. It has a mustard sauce on the side, a slice of very fresh tomato on top, and I even ended up eating the sprig of rosemary that came on top after both Zu and FIL did. I had decided to make this trip as authentically Polish as possible, so if they did something, I did it as well.

I let FIL do all of the ordering, assuring him that I would eat anything he ordered for me, and I decided this is definitely the best way to experience foreign cuisine because everything we ate was so delicious. All of it was very foreign to our inexperienced tastebuds, but still very appealing. I had a sour soup with eggs and bacon (very had to describe), which I though was made sour with some type of lemon or citrus, but is flavored with a type of wheat. My entrée was deer (yes, the sweet Bambi animal from the forest) and some kind of authentic cabbage filled noodle thing (I want to say Piroshky?) with Polish wontons (obviously this is my term and not theirs) and a shredded onion and carrot salad. I would have polished if off completely if I had room to do so! TH's family is stuffing us to the brim. I am not sure how they can all be so skinny if this is anything like how they actually eat. The 700 year old restaurant of course had a gorgeous bathroom, and I was very happy to discover that Polish toilets have seats. Who knew I could ever be so excited about something as simple as a toilet seat? If I were ever going to campaign for election in Rome, I would make one of my issues the lack of toilet seats in Rome. Seriously Italians, if Krakow can do it, I know you can figure out some way to get seats for my tushy as well.

We continued to walk around the square, letting our food settle before we got dessert. Apparently people in Poland have two stomachs, one for dinner and one for dessert. This is something that I think could definitely get on board with. Zu and I took one of my favorite pictures of the entire trip, when we got inside of this giant head on display and stuck our faces through the eyes. Lots of people taking advantage of the opportunity to ride a horse and carriage through the square rode by, and we stumbled into this little square to witness the clock hitting 5 and a strange little “clock parade” of saints and bishops and such. A very odd thing that neither Zu nor FIL could explain. The last thing we did that day was eat a smörgåsbord of Polish desserts (anyone who has experienced finals with me knows that smorgasbords are my favorite way to eat). Again a dessert made with poppyseed (a type of bread), cheesecake made with cottage cheese (I must say I prefer the sweeter American version, although I was happily thinking about the protein I must be getting from my treat), Polish apple pie, and my personal favorite, this creamy chocolate concoction that was layers of wafers and goodness. All of these sweets really made me realize how rich and sweet we like our desserts in America!

By the time we got through all of this, I was exhausted, and I opted to head back to the hotel for the night so that I could be ready for the tour of TH’s hometown the next day. The drive back to Ruda (where TH’s family lives) was about an hour and a half, but I have no idea how long it actually took because I was sitting in the backseat with my head lolling around within 10 minutes of the drive. I am sure I looked really adorable with my mouth hanging open, and I hope I didn’t snore in front of these people I had met less than 24 hours before!

We checked into our next Ikea hotel room where I quickly fell asleep. I think you can tell from my 3 page long single spaced description that the day was marvelous, and I slept perfectly knowing that we would wake up the next day to all kinds of new sights and sounds (and tastes) to enjoy. We are going to say it again and again, but we owe the TH’s family so much for their wonderful hospitality. I really recommend traveling to foreign countries with your own personal guided tour. It really makes you feel like a rock star!

Our internet card is almost out, and apparently the only cards they have left cost $100. I might be mistaken in what I am hearing though, I don’t seem to understand Polish very well. I am not sure what kind of people are staying in this hotel that would actually buy a card for such a ridiculous price, so I will be writing these updates offline and updating as quickly as possible. Most likely I will not be uploading any pictures until Sunday when I hope to be able to use the internet at TH’s parents house. So within 2 days you will have all of the pictures of our Poland adventures, including the amusement park salt mine, TH’s hometown, and our trip to Auchwitz. I am actually one day behind in my posting, so look forward to my story of how I almost got myself thrown out of the Polish grocery store today. Who knew that such a thing could happen? I guess it is the least you could expect from someone as free-spirited and feisty as I am!