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| Not all
it's Krak'd up to be |
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Pros: salt mine-apparently one of
the biggest in Europe, auschwitz-amazing experience
Cons: none
Krakow,
Poland
Friday, Sep 02, 2005 18:58
I realise i've left this latest entry hanging a bit. Think i started
to worry some people when they hadn't heard anything from me. Must
say i am flattered.
Anyway, it's my last night in krakow, should of been last night,
but i'll get on to that in a min.
So i arrived safely 5:30 in the morning in Krakow station, and in
a bit of pain too! No i wasn't mugged (yay for me) but had to sleep
sitting up. Coming up to Krakow, i was approached by a girl in a
"tourist information" t-shirt asking if i had any accomodation
arranged. I said no. She then provided the solution. I had heard
about hostel employees touting rooms on trains, and funnily enough
it was the same hostel that Andy and Will (the guys from Prague)
stayed at. About Prague, very funny story but a bit rude, so when
i'm back just say "deutsche machiner" and i will tell
all.
So anyway, Strawberry hostel; free internet access and 6 pound a
night. And the rooms weren't bad either. The buiding is a halls
of residence used as a hostel during summer. Because of this, i
have managed to sleep in three different rooms since being in Krakow.
So my first day was alright. Met two english girls; Jo (from Leeds)
and Lucy (from Hull) in my hostel. We skipped into town holding
hands (not really). We ate some lunch in a small park, where the
girls got abuse from a homeless drunk woman. It was scary, but looking
back it's quite funny, because the woman didn't heckle me.
A quick back history of Jo - she's been travelling for the past
couple of months, and was in turkey, and worked at a bar. There
she met Simone (not the ex) a blonde aussie (Pete you would of loved
her) who is also travelling.
So we met up with Simone, went out for dinner, i had peirogi (kinda
like ravioli, but not as good). Went back to the hostel and slept.
Next day did a shite load of walking, saw the castle and cathedral
on Wawel Hill. Went inside the cathedral (very nice) and had to
pay to leave the ground. Basically there's a legend, that a dragon
lived at the bottom of the hill (kinda like the poddington peas
at the bottom of the garden). SO i paid 50p to go down this spiral
stair case that led into a cave, which looked something out of Shelob's
lair from Lord of the Rings. Remember Shelob the giant spider that
attacks Frodo, and you think he dies but doesn't really (i don't
apologise for ruining it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet - you
shouldn't have taken so long).
I then went on a salt mine tour. Apparently its one of the biggest
in Europe, and at one point i was over 100ft below sea level. Everything
inside, funnily enough is made of salt, of which most of it was
edible...i licked the wall. I met a group of brits three northern
irish, one english. Went out for dinner with them and then got very
drunk with the northern irish guy, who we will call Damien, because
that's his name. We planned to go to auschwitz on thursday morning.
My head was hurting far too much to go next day, so i slept in.
By this time i had already moved dorm room once the day before,
because they were beginning to close the building down for the nex
students. I had to move to a different building yesterday morning,
where they put me a smelly german, did i say he smelt? Yes? Well
i'll say it again. It was so bad. The worst was when i met him...
at 2pm when i woke up fully recovered from the night before. He
comes in, i simply say "english?". He shaked his head,
then says "deutsche?". I shake my head. He goes and sits
down with three beers he's just bought, opens one and then offers
me the other one. I say no, grab anything valuable and leave to
get some food. I was out for over an hour, i get back and he's there
looks at me and offers me the third can of beer. I say no again,
take my book and start to read it. I convinced myself he was a serial
killer with a hacked up body in his luggage. I don't think he is
though. And to be honest i don't really care, cos i've left the
hostel. But i will cry if he ends up on my train, and in my carriage,
sitting next to me, stroking my leg. You may think this is far-fetched,
but you didn't see the man, i did, and i had to share a room with
him and his bloody annoying mobile phone that kept on beeping cos
he had a text message, but he was sound asleep and couldn't hear
it.
But apart from that, i had a good thursday night. Went out with
the peeps from the night before, for a curry. We get along so well,
that we might meet up in Dubrovnik (croatia).
And today went to auschwitz (i made it there!). I gotta say that
everybody should go to auschwitz before they die. It's an amazing
experience. It was very peaceful, but felt eerie at the same time.
Overall, Krakow i don't think was as nice as Prague, although a
lot of people i have met this trip have said otherwise. The beer
is stupidly cheap - 1 litre glasses for just under 2 pounds.
So i leave tonight (10:30pm) and arrive 9:30am in Budapest. I'll
be sitting once again as all beds have been booked up...great.
I'm a bit hurt that not more of you participated in the last question
for a pressie. Only one reply that was wrong anyway Cathy. It wasn't
American Pie, but Problem Child 2 when a dad drinks a fresh glass
of piss thinking its lemonade. Which leads to the next question
for a pressie, where do i like to buy freshly made lemonade once
a year? Answers on an email.
Well, its goodbye from me, and i'll try and post a blog sooner than
later next time. But that's not really saying much now. |
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