Krakow the 27th

I sat down this afternoon all set to do my blog and my computer started messing with me.  Everything's fine now.  I forget exactly where I left off but we boarded a night train headed to Krakow, Poland at about 6, or 8-I can't quite remember, the evening of the 26th.  This time it was an 11 hour train ride.  We got to K in time for breakfast and then headed for the hostel to drop our stuff.  We took a tour of the hostel and then headed out to change money.  Poland uses the zloti and when we were there it was about 3z for every 1$.  Immediatly we were drawn to the Christmas markets and toured those for awhile.  We discovered a walking tour starting after lunch and decided to join that.  Our guide's name was Thomak, or Thomas, and, since we were a little early for the tour, he decided to have everyone introduce themselves and tell where they were from.  YOU ARE TOTALLY NOT GOING TO BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!  If Jez and Rachel weren't with me the whole time I would have sworn they had something to do with this!   I said I was from Indianapolis and he said "isn't there a basketball team or something in Indianapolis?"  I gave Jez my cup of hot chocolate and went and gave him a hug.  I asked him later what he knew bout the bball team in Indianapolis and he said that was about it.  Since the tour itself was around 4 hours and we hadn't had an actual lunch, I decided to forgo the chit-chat in order to keep our stomachs happy.  What are the odds???  The tour ended up being very nice and informative!  We saw where Max Factor, the makeup brand, started and learned something, which is gone from my brain now, pretty cool about Star Trek.  He took us to the Schindler Museum and we saw part of the actual wall that seperated the Jewish people from the rest of Krakow.  Lots of history there; most of it appaling but history nonetheless.  We saw the section, kinda like a center square, of Krakow where, after the liberation at the end of WW2, the German officers/soldiers raided the homes of Jewish people and literally threw all their furniture out of the windows to the center below.  Today there are statues in the shape of chairs scattered throughout this part of Krakow.  More on that later.  At the end of the tour, we gave donations since it was a free tour and I threw in an extra 5z because he mentioned basketball.  We went back to the Jewish section we had been to earlier and had a late lunch/early dinner.  Then it was time to go actually check in to the hostel.  We hit up the Christmas market more that night and discovered this cupcake place that just happened to be right next to our hostel.  That was a sign right there I'll tell you what!!  We each enjoyed a different kind and then of course had to try a bite of the other 2.  We saw on the sign that the flavor for the next night was oreo, grasshopper, and another flavor that was a big draw, and made a pact to go back the next night.  I think we headed back to the hostel after that and called it a night.  Oh yeah!  Jez and I went for a walk, got some adult beverages and chips, and sat on a bench and chatted for a bit.  After awhile the conversation paused for a bit and she says, in Bulgarian, "I think that we should speak in Bulgarian now because I have a homework assignment from my tutor to speak Bulgarian some during this trip...and YOU DO TOO!"  Her tutor is a very nice lady who I met once when I was visiting, and makes awesome banitza, and knew we were going to be together.  I thought it was pretty funny.  I think we called it a night after that and I am now going to as well!  It's COLD here!!  I think today it was -14*C which is about 6*F.  Classes have been shortened all over B because of the cold temperatures.  Stay warm wherever you are and love and hugs from here!!

As promised!

Jez and I with the Charles Bridge
in the background.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY WYATT!!!

Rachel and I with the C.B in the
background.

entering the C.B. 

walking across the bridge.  You
can see the Prague Castle in
the background, or at least I
think that's the P.C.

this was just looking down a street.
I think the streets in Europe
are just so cute with their narrowness
and architecture.

Rachel and I overlooking Prague. Now
there's a sentence I never thought
I would say!!

Jez and I. I told myself the hat, untied,
makes me look like an Amish girl with
her braids and bonnet.

delayed!

I'm going to do it to you again.  For Prague the 26th pictures tune in tomorrow.  I got a late start to today, we lost power this am. and I decided to stay in bed where it was nice and warm, and have a full day.  Tomorrow I'll have more time.  It snowed again last night and I think is snowing now.  Not very much but it's sticking.  I tried to look out my terrace windows this am to see what was going on and couldn't see because they were covered with and frost!  I guess that means it's cold!!  Love and hugs from here!

Prague the 26th

So on the 26th we got up and had breakfast in the hostel.  More of a traditional Bulgarian breakfast (maybe it's a European thing) including yogurt, scrambled eggs, cheese slices, meat slices, bread, and of course tea and coffee.  Jez just reminded me that we actually talked about the fact that the only thing that breakfast was misssing from what we were used to in B were the tomatoes and cuccumbers.  We got done with breakfast and headed back to the room to pack up our stuff and leave it in storage while we headed out and about Prague.  We walked to  the Charles Bridge, got some pictures along the way, and then saw the Prague Castle off in the distance.  If I remember right we walked to a place after that that had a very beautiful overview of the city.  I just love looking down on all the rooftops; it's just a cute sight to me, maybe I'm wierd.  Rachel, Jez, and I did note what a difference the architecture in Prague was from what we were used to in B.  Things were more colorful.  After that we walked around the Jewish Quarter a little and I got some postcards.  If I remember right, it's quite possible I don't, we then headed back to the hostel to gather our stuff...OH YEAH!  How could I forget a trip to Starbucks to warm up a little!!  Then we went to get our things, headed to the train station to take a bus to the other (bigger) train station.  We bought more snacks/food for the 11 hour train ride to Krakow and had dinner in the train station.  Sounds a little familiar to me, only this time I only had mashed potatoes and a hogarden since I wasn't hungry.  (My sister and I took a trip over Christmas several years ago and had Christmas eve dinner in the train station in Lucerne, Switzerland.)  I could spend more time in Prague and we only saw a little of the beautiful city!   We boarded our overnight train that would take us to Krakow, Poland.  Pictures will come on Thursday and Krakow will come next week!!  It snowed most of the afternoon on Sunday here and both yesterday and today have been/are about freezing and thus melting much of the snow and ice, making it safe for me to walk!!  I am a little afraid for all the babas, grandmas, that walk on the ice but to tell the truth, I should be more concerned about myself!  They can pass me on the street walking on ice; they've got it down!!  Love and hugs from here!!  LET'S GO GIANTS!!  At least there will be a Manning in the Superbowl!

PRAGUE, THE 25TH#2

Since I have been so bad about blogging I figure I owe you all one!  We, 3 OF US, left from Sofia by  plane the 24th of December and flew into Frankfurt Hahn, Germany.  If I remember right, I can go look and see if thE times are right but really don't want to right now, we boarded a bus at Frankfurt HaHN to take us to the train station.  We boarded the bus at probably about 9:30-10 and were on that bus about 2 hours.  Once at the train station we found a train to Prague at 1am.  I think we had a bit of a layover in the train station.  We were all at different stages of tired at this point!  Our train finally comes and we get on and pretty much went right to sleep.  The car was darK and it was pretty obvious we weren't the only ones traveling a long distance overnight.  I'm sure I slept, how much I can't be certain and I really don't think it was much; I just couldn't get comfortable.  We arrived in Prague about 10 am the 25th.  We had been snacking on basically junk and were ready for a substantial meal.  We had done some research on stuff to do in Prague before we arrived, and Rachel had been there before, and had found this beer club/restaurant type place and wanted to do that for dinner, so decided to get a light lunch and have an early dinner.  We headed off to find the hostel, leave our bags, and find some food while exploring a bit.  We left our bags and headed out and smack dab into the center to be confronted with this statue of this guy on a horse holding a Czech flag with TONS of red and white candles, flowers, and canned red stuff all over the ground in front of this guy.  Then it occured to us that "ohhhhh!  This must be the former leader of the Velvet Revolution Rachel's mother was talking about!"  His statue flowed into the Christmas market where we (finally) Got some food in our stomaches.  There were litTle tables set up so that you could eat.  We enjoyed traditional food, I'm assuming, and cups of hot mulled wine.  aFTER OUR LUNCH WE WALKED A LITTLE MORE AROUND THE CENTER/market and THEN headed back to the hostel to check in.  I have no idea why this is in all capitals...and no, my caps lock isn't on.    By thE time WE GOT CHECKED INTO OUR ROOM, THAT NIGHT WE HAD A ROOM TO OURSELVES AND GOT SOME GOOD SLEEP; AT LEAST i DID, AND GOT THINGS SITUATED A LITTLE AND HEADED OUT FOR AN EARLY DINNER IT WAS ABOUT 3:30-4.  THE BEER PLACE/RESTAURANT WAS VERY NICE AND THE WALLS WERE LINED WITH BEER BOTTLES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.  THE MENU OF COURSE HAD SOME FAVORITES LISTED AND, i'M NOT SURE HOW MANY TIMES WE WERE INFORMEND THAT THE CZECH REPUB. IS KNOWN FOR THEIR BEER, WE HAD TO TRY THEM OF COURSE.  I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT 2 OUT OF THE 3 OF US HAD COLDS WHEN WE STARTED THIS VACATION AND IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME!!!  EVERYONE KNOWS YOU ALL HAVE TO TRY EACH OTHERS FOOD AND DRINKS, ESPECIALLY THE RENOWNED BEER!!  THAT WAS A FUN NIGHT!  WE EACH HAD ANOTHER BEER (I LET JEZ PICK MINE OUT SINCE EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT A CONNOSEUR OF BEER I AM...NOT) AND SHE DECIDED I SHOULD TRY A COCONUT BEER.  IT WAS INTERESTING AND LED TO ALL DIFFERENT SORTS OF CONVERSATIONS SINCE IT WAS ALSO A "FAIR TRADE" BEER AND, LET'S FACE IT, WE WERE FAIRLY HAPPY BY THIS TIME.  I GOT A SOUVENIOUR (HOWEVER YOU SPELL THAT) BEER MUG.  WE DIDN'T DO MUCH AFTER DINNER SINCE WE WERE LACKING SLEEP; WE MAY HAVE WALKED AROUND A LITTLE MORE BUT BY THAT TIME IT WAS DARK (THANKS TO JEZ AND RACHEL WHO WERE THE NAVIGATORS PRETTY MUCH THE WHOLE TRIP-FOR MY FAMILY OUT THERE, NO JOKES ABOUT MY DIRECTION ABILITY OR LACK THEREOF) AND WE DIDN'T WANT TO BE OUT TOO MUCH AFTER DARK IN  A STRANGE PLACE.  WE HEADED BACK TO THE HOSTEL AND BASICALLY FELL INTO BED.  I'LL SPEAK FOR MYSELF WHEN I SAY THIS WAS THE LAST GOOD NIGHT SLEEP I GOT UNTIL THE 30TH BACK IN BULGARIA.  THIS WAS THE 25TH OF DECEMBER.    IF I CAN'T BE WITH FAMILY OVER THE HOLIDAYS I'LL TAKE MY PEACE CORPS FAMILY!!  THIS HAS TURNED OUT TO BE LONGER THAN I REALIZED SO THE FULL DAY IN PRAGUE, THE 26TH, WILL COME NEXT WEEK...OR AT LEAST I'M REALLY TRYING FOR IT TO BE NEXT WEEK.  LOVE AND HUGS FROM HERE!!  TO MY FAMILY, IMMEDIATE AND EXTENDED, THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE!!

Prague, the 25th of Dec.

the memorial to the deceased leader
of the Velvet Revolution.  My mom told
me a little about what he did
when Czech was being attacked
by the Russians; it was pretty
interesting!

a closer and sideways look.

this is looking to the right at
the xmas market from our table.
See the little tables set up so
you could stand and enjoy the
delicious food?

this was looking to the left.  I
had what I thought looked like a
brat and Jez and Rachel shared
some potato, bean, pasta
type dish. 

again at the outside xmas
market with a view of the
center.

this is the astronomical clock.
every hour these people come out
from the top and wave flags and
stuff.  it of course chimes too!

everything was sold at the market
or at least lots of different foods and
hot mulled wine, a favorite.

waiting for the clock!

there are revolving small statues
in these windows that revolve
every hour.  The actual face of
the clock is underneath.

I thought all the umbrellas were
funny to see.  It had started to
drizzle a bit while we were
waiting for the clock.

You can barely see the people
leaning over the balcony but they
are there!

Jez and I in Starbucks.  Starbucks was a
highlight for Jez and Rachel.  The hat
is from Prague.

The Czech Repub. is known for
their beer and of course
what would a trip to Prague
be without sampling the
specialty of the country?  This
restaurant/beer club/whatever
had beer from all over the world,
including Bulgaria and the
US.  It was pretty cool seeing all
the different beer bottles displayed!

It's Friday

I know.  This has been an interesting week!  I know all of you want to see pictures of Prague and Krakow and the rest of my activities over the holidays and they will be posted!  But not right now.  Partly because I don't want to get up and go out in my kitchen to get my purse, which has my camera, so I can get my chip and post them and partly because it's Friday and, like Fridays I want to be done with work.  Of course I'm never done with work but...I'm here and you're there and you'll just have to deal with the fact that you will have to wait.  Getting back to work was an adjustment as is always the case after a break.  I will say that, unlike last year,  our holiday travels went flawlessly.   Except for my ears that have a tendency to act up on planes we had no problems and were even early for flights, trains, and buses.  I have gotten several packages from family members as well as cards and letters for the holidays and I can't thank everyone enough!  I got some candies and took some to work today.  One of my co-workers, who speaks English, put a sour candy in her mouth and her reaction was super funny!  I told her it gets not sour after a few seconds and she was ok but she still had a look of "what did I just put in my mouth-GET IT OUT!" on her face.  Someone else tried one and the candy ended up in the trash.  I am sitting at my desk watching my solar powered plant "dance" in the sunshine.  The weather says it's 3*C which would be about 35*F but it's warmer than that, probably about 45-50*F which is very surprising, after all it is January.  That and Friday the 13th.  So I leave you to wait until next week for the holiday summary.  Things are fine, not great but fine.  Thank you everyone for everything so incredibly much with cherries and whipped cream and everything else on top!!  Love and hugs!!