POLAND!

Krakow is not as beautiful as Budapest, but still pretty spectacular.  I was only there for a day, but the area I was in felt modern, busy and friendly. I had a private room and bath at my air B and B. There was another guest from Japan who was also staying and had cooked a great dinner and invited me to share it with her. I paid $30.00 a night but it was right near the train station which was convenient. I did not miss the happy face on the toilet at all!

Poland has such a tragic history with the Nazi’s during WWII and then Russian occupation until 1989. I think in many ways they are all still recovering and there is still a generation my age who remembers Russia’s occupancy, the KGB and shortages. I have been reading up on the history and was reminded of the horrific atrocities that were committed here in Poland. I have no desire to visit any of the concentration camps.

After a day I got on a train to Kolobrzeg, on the Baltic sea where I will teach English for 1 month. It is a resort town where many older Polish people come to vacation and be by the Baltic Sea.  Krakow to Kolobrzeg is about 400 miles – in a car going 60 it would take maybe 7-8 hours with a few stops.  It took us 14 hours by train – this train was so slow at times I could have jumped off and walked faster. We had a lot of stops and at each stop the train would slow down 20 minutes before the stop and then it seems to take 20 minutes for it to gain any speed and then in about 20 minutes it was time to stop again. In 14 hour I could have flown back to NYC and back to Europe again! My host, who I will be working for, said in Poland they have two types of train, slow and very slow.

I was asked to add more photos -Baltic Sea, me, adorable Polish baby, my flat on the 3rd floor for the next month, and a wonderful quote from Victor Frankl – a famous holocaust survivor