Poland 2023 Part 4

Hi blog! Last and final post. I was procrastinating writing this last part, but now is finally the time.

Our final full day in Poland started with us on the overnight Flixbus back to Krakow from Gdansk. We made it back to Krakow in time to take a quick nap, get ready, and head out to catch the bus to the Wieliczka Kopalnia Soli, the Wieliczka salt mine. Even though I had visited the salt mine before, I wanted to take Nick to see it because it is such a cool once in a lifetime experience. We arrived at the salt mine with enough time to grab our caffeine fix before the tour started. We had such a fun time on our tour and licking the walls of the mine. Nick really liked seeing all of the cathedrals. I enjoyed seeing it all over again, but by a different tour guide. Something new that we both learned was that everything was carved by miners, not artists. Knowing that made all of the carvings even more impressive. It was a really enjoyable tour so I’m glad I got to go again and take Nick with me.

After the bus trip back to Krakow from the salt mine, we took another nap break since we were still so exhausted from not sleeping well on the overnight bus. Following our nap, we left our Airbnb to journey to Nowa Huta, the ideal Socialist Realist city. It was exactly what I had expected – a dystopian city disguised as a utopian, something you may find in books like The Giver or Divergent. The city was neatly and efficiently laid out. The buildings were uniform, gray, and drab. The sun was shinning, but the lack of color and diversity made everything bleak. I don’t think it would be an enjoyable spot to be in the winter when there is snow, gray skies, and no sun. There really wasn’t much to see since the goal of that particular district of Krakow was for the citizens to go to work, home, and back- there was no post-work life to be had.

Feeling like we saw it all in Nowa Huta, we headed to Podgórze to see St. Joseph’s church and surrounding area. We crossed the Father Bernatek Footbridge (Kładka Ojca Bernatka) into Kazimierz. Schiller Park in Columbus, Ohio has statues made by the same Polish artist who designed statues for the Father Bernatek Footbridge. I made the art connection when living in Columbus and was able to give Nick the Poland connection. We stopped for our last Good Lood cone and kept walking wherever the wind took us. We finally made it back to Krakow and enjoyed a Starbucks drink on the patio as the sun set and the St. Mary’s bugle player played his last few calls (all which ended abruptly of course).

This was probably our most relaxing day since we spent the majority of it walking to whatever piqued our interest in each part of the city. We took our time to enjoy and take it all in for the last time. It was really difficult for me to leave the Rynek that night. I didn’t want our trip to be over, but I knew we needed some sleep before our early flight the next morning. We went back to the Airbnb to shower, pack up, and go to sleep.

We were up early the next morning for our flight out of Krakow. It was a tough wake up call, yet we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We made it to the airport in Vienna without any problems. I slept the entire 45 minutes to Vienna – through the safety talk, lift off, and landing. It was crazy because I never sleep well on plane but that was one of the best naps of my life. After landing in Vienna, we hungout and tried to find breakfast. Shortly after, we were on the plane to Chicago. It was a quick 8 hours to Chicago but sadly, neither of us slept well. It was a trip to find our car and then we were finally on the last road to home.

Despite the length, our trip to Poland was truly so fun and worth every sleep deprived moment. It was really amazing chance to show Nick what I was up to when we first started talking and to share with him a lot of the experiences I had told him about. And it was pure fun to make new memories and go on new adventures together. As for me, I felt like this trip gave me the closure I’d been hoping for for the past 3 years. I was able to give Krakow the goodbye it deserved and the goodbye I needed. Although, I hope that wasn’t my final goodbye. I hope that Nick and I can go back again and explore all of the other amazing cities and opportunities in Poland. I feel incredibly blessed to have found the cheap tickets, the fun travel money, and the PTO to be able to go and live this dream.

Once again, do widzenia Poland! I hope to visit you again one day!

Signing off until further notice,

Helene