There has been so much to blog about these past few days...it's almost like we're in POLAND or something.

I woke up today from the most incredible nap up in the mountain town of Zakopane where the air is tingly with goodness and the scene is vibrant--and I thought to myself, "Man. Where do I even start in terms of discussing the sun of Krakow and the hazy mountain calm of the South of Poland OR how much we all love and miss the Marcins and our Marianna and Marek and the Magda's we met and that cool chick Monika OR how every single name that I just listed starts with an M (my dad's name is Miroslaw, too) AND how there are a ton of other awesome Polish names we come across--like Helena and Stanislaw and Jadwiga and Pawel. Note: we love these names so much that we name our favorite inatimate objects with them. Examples: Janusz the Seal (named after my father's sleazy old school friend) or Tadeusz the Fleece (very handy down here in the colder hills).
Since I last blogged: Poznan, Gdynia and Gdansk and Sopot, Warszawa y Krakow. Now, I write from Zakopane. What is most fascinating to me right now is the differences in international tourism and intranational tourism. AKA--my dad came here as a kid to ski--this is the winter capital of Poland! And the richness and the visitor atmosphere shows that clearly! But we also see a lot of English or German adaptations made. Our menu today at a little (expensive) restaurant off the main street was translated in to both English and German. So for whom has this city been developed--the tourists of northern, central, eastern and western Poland, or for abroad travelers?

But also---I got some rad video of breakdancing MONSTA'S rippin' up Krakow's Main Square! Needless to say, I'm in love with about 6 very Typical Polish Bad A$$ES. Video will be posted as soon as I have capabilities. You haven't seen stuff like this in the states. And these kids can draw CROWDS!
Talk about creating your own flavor of tourism.

OLIVIA! with utmost excitement!

I am told Zakopane is beautiful and the pictures seem to prove it however, as Bruce said we are overrun with clouds. I will have to trust those who have seen it. :o) It will be a balmy 10 degress C tomorrow. (read, cold) Did I mention there is a chance for snow?? Snow at the end of May, perhaps it is the mountians or global warming. As Uncle Jurek said, 'all this means is you have to come back.'
Bruce, it sounds like you have a mission for round two: see the mountains.
Love to all espically Uncle Jurek, Aunt Martha, and my littlest Uncle. Now to find Aunt Wladzia :o)

Tatra Mountains

Well here we are in the most scenic part of Poland and we can't see a thing, low clouds and some rain are not conducive to mountain viewing. We hope for improving weather tomorrow with some great pictures to follow. Fingers are crossed.

Our accommodations here are the best yet but at a cost. This place is over-run by student groups that I didn't anticipate. Nothing against 10- 16 year olds - guess I was there once, but so many?

Everything going well as the adventure unfolds. I am taking notes on how to make next year's trip even better. Lauren is going to play a big part in that effort. Right Lauren?

b

Calcium

While the pictures may show that we eat a lot we do other things too, like shopping, touring, and eating.... :o) I think by far and away the food of choice is, wait for it, calcium. Today was our first adventure with Polish milk and no issues thus far. However we do not get our lovely calcium from milk. That comes from the ice cream!! Yeah ice cream. I have personally had three cones in one day. I like Poland. :o)
Śarah

Traveling

So it has been a while since my last blog. This entry is dedicated to Bruce. Ok, so Since last time we have moved to two different citites. We have been to Gdansk and Warsaw. I really liked Gdansk and i really appreicated the help that Mariana's mom gave us and all the beautiful sites that we were able to see. I really enjoyed the Baltic sea, even though it was freezing cold. Our last night in Sopot was really nice, i really like the night walk we took to the pier and the cute little coffee shops that were all around.

In Warsaw we saw antoher castle, i think it was realyl nice. i wish we would have been able to see more than just a few rooms. I really liked the short tour and the guide was nice. I really liked the Old Town area in Warsaw. Everything looked classic and really nice. I liked the shops and the hand made pieces of art that seemed to be every where around us. i really thought it was nice to see somewhere that has been kept up for so long. I don't really think that we have anywhere like that around us. We certainly don't have any Castles!

I also liked the Downtown area in Warsaw. it was really nice and very highly developed. i was surprised to see how many stores and little restaurants that lined the streets. I would have really liked to have seen an Opera or a show, but i wouldn't understand it anyways. I had a great time in Warsaw, i think that it has been my favorite city so far.

We now have a new guide, Marek! i really like that Marek is our age he can better relate to the things that we would be interested in versus what some one older may think. I really like that our guides change every couple of days, i think you get to know more people that way!

This hopefully is enough blog fun for a couple of days. Today we go to the salt mines, which i'm pretty excited about and tomorrow is Auschwitz....yikes! I'm also not looking forward to the "train ride from hell" Every day is an adventure!

Lauren

Krakow

Hi friends and family of the Poland crew! We've found ourselves a great internet cafe that allows us to post photos and navigate the internet a lot better with computers that are set for English-speakers. Krakow is great; my favorite city so far. I think I just really like the ambiance of the market square. It is much bigger and has an endless amount of shops and vendors to peruse. Also, it seems like there's always something going on in the middle of it, be it break dancing, accordian players, a puppeteer, or what have you. Yesterday there was even a British guy on his Bachelor's party but I don't think his intention was to entertain the Square. ;)

Pictures:

The top is a shot of our current living arrangements for Krakow- all five girls in one room! How cozy. :) The rest are all of the beautiful and vibrant Market Square of Krakow.

Anyway, it's really very interesting to be able to travel around Poland at a time when its tourism industry is just beginning to take off. Will have more to say in the next few days. For now, enjoy the pictures! Take care!