Pierogies, Prosim!

So this last weekend, I traveled to Krakow with CIEE. The trip was amazing and I'm so glad I went.

We left Thursday evening at midnight, and began our six and a half hour bus ride to Auschwitz. The ride was fairly uneventful, as I passed out and slept the whole ride, which was wonderful, as we arrived at Auschwitz at 6:30 am and had our tour of the concentration camp at 8 am.

I won't go into the details of the camp here, because no explanation can really do justice to such a powerful experience. But while I normally don't do such things, I'd like to dedicate this entry to Gina Lanceter. Since I was 12 years old, she has continued to be a major role model in my life, and a true inspiration to me whenever I find myself in difficult times. She, like so many others, witnessed first hand the atrocities of the Holocaust, and I find her strength and spirit incredible. I love you, Gina.

After the camp, we traveled 2 hours to Krakow, where we got ourselves changed and put together before going out to explore the city center. Kelly, Marya, Lisa, and I enjoyed a delicious meal of soup and meat pierogies, the first of the trip, but not the last! We then wandered around the town, and discovered some fun characters along the way!

 

 After napping in the hotel, a huge group of us went to find some dinner. We found a kebab and falafel place, which while probably HORRIBLE for us, was fantastic. We tried some Polish beer for the first time, and all I can say is that I'm TERRIFIED for my return to the States, because even to Polish beer I now had an aversion. We then wandered around attempting to find a bar called Alchemia, which we eventually found. We tried the Polish version of Becherovka, and I hated it almost as much as the Czech version. Why these people enjoy this...is beyond me. Regardless, it was a fun night, but Kelly and I headed home early as we were POOPED from the day!

Kelly and Lisa at Alchemia

Me and my boys from my two schools! (Sam-Conn, Paul-Gtown)

On Saturday we woke up and headed off on our guided tour of Krakow. The tour to be honest was fairly disappointing, as the majority of it was spent showing us things, but not actually going into things. The one thing we DID go into was St. Mary's Cathedral, and despite my thoughts that I was really over churches in Europe, this one blew my mind.

Altarpiece at St. Mary's

After St. Mary's we were left on our own, so I headed off with Jessica, Kelly, Kate, Nina, Kara, and Jackie. We went to get some lunch and once again, our meal was fantastic. I got a mushroom soup in a bread bowl to start, but I have NEVER seen a bread bowl that looked quite like this. I finished off my meal with some potato and cheese pierogies...yum!

Seriously? It had a top!!

So much better than Aunt Alice's

We then went shopping for amber goodies, and boy did I do some damage to my wallet. Bought some gifts for people back home, as well as some presents for myself. The experience was really fun, and attempting to haggle using my Czech while they used their Polish...an interesting experience to say the least!

Top: Me and Nina, Top Left: Kelly and Kara, Bottom Left: Kate and Jackie

At night we pregamed in the hotel before heading out to look for fun clubs. Overall, we failed at that, but the attempt was fun, and let's be honest. We came to Krakow to go to Auschwitz, not to party, so any success at all was a good one.

The next morning we said goodbye to Krakow and headed to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. While I had heard these were cooler than they sound, they still managed to catch me off guard. These people built a CATHEDRAL INSIDE A SALT MINE. Excuse me?!?!

Carving of the Last Supper inside the Cathedral

After the Salt Mines, our trip was over, and we headed back onto the bus for the long 8 hour bus ride home. Completely exhausted, we arrived back in Praha at 9 pm. A really fantastic weekend and the perfect way to spend my time NOT studying for my midterms! :)