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

Hey blog, it’s been a minute but it is finally time to finish our trip.

Day 3 was a very busy day. We woke up at 1 am to head to the bus and train station to catch an overnight Flixbus to Gdansk. We slept as best as we could (which wasn’t well) throughout the drive and woke up in Gdansk around 10 am. At the last minute, we joined a walking tour called Gdansk Shipyard Uncovered. This tour, about the Solidarity Movement, is so crucial to Poland’s history that it seemed like the right tour to book. We met at 11 am at Plac Solidarnosci, the Solidarity Square with the the Monument of the Fallen Shipyard Workers. Our tour guide combined the history of 1970 and 1980 to help us understand what had happened in Gdansk.

In 1980, during communist regime in Poland, shipyard workers started protesting the increased prices of food and poor working conditions and labor rights. The workers created a list of demands called 21 Points. These points included the right to form free trade unions, the right to strike and security if they do, compliance with freedom of speech, pay increases, and 17 other ideas to increase their rights. Additionally, the 1980 shipyard workers wanted a memorial to be made in honor of the victims from the 1970s protestors. This monument was a big deal because the 44+ killed and 1,000+ injured were the communist regime’s own victims. The 1970s victims were protesting food shortages and price increases.

The 1980 shipyard workers protested until the government leaders agreed to their 21 Points. Lech Wałęsa and a few others created Solidarność to be a labor union under their new labor rights. The movement wasn’t only a trade union, but also a social movement against the communist regime. Soon, the Soviet Union started to feel threatened by Solidarność and declared martial law to silence the Solidarity movement. The Solidarity movement was quiet until Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union and reorganized the Soviet Union with the attempt to fix the poor economic and social issues. Gorbachev’s changes did not make life better for the Poles, so the Solidarity movement got louder. The Solidarity movement wanted to start a revolution against the Soviet Union and it gained a great momentum when it legally won the majority of seats in the Senate. In summary, the Solidarity movement started as a way for shipyard workers to have better labor rights but it later grew into a social movement to end the Soviet Union’s reign in Poland.

We saw a copy of the 21 Points, where the shipyard workers worked, buildings that housed tools to make and repair ships, and the European Solidarity Center. This part of the city is very industrial and so different than the Old Town of Krakow. This tour was really cool because it covered a part of history neither of us learned about in high school or college. Something that stuck out to me is that the Solidarity movement is very recent history; our guide was born at the start of the 1980s protests. If my parents had grown up in Poland, they would have experienced the protests first hand. It’s crazy to think how recently the communist regime ended in Poland.

After our walking tour, we walked to McDonald’s to see what new fun foods we could try that aren’t offered in Michigan. We ate at a McDonald’s in a huge mall that had a stream running through it and many other food options.

Following our meal, we used our Rick Steve’s guide book to do the walking tour of Gdansk. We started at the Upland Gate, Torture Chamber, and Prison Tower. We saw the Golden Gate and admired the statues of women at the top who represent the values of Gdansk. We walked ulica Długa and saw houses, stores, and restaurants. Inside the Long Market, we saw the statue of Neptune and the thermometer and barometer of Daniel Fahrenheit, a Polish native. We saw the Green Gate, Lech Wałęsa’s office, and the Motława River. We window-shopped for amber jewelry on our way to St. Mary’s Church. As you can assume, we checked out the beautiful church and hiked 409 stairs to the top to get a wonderful 360 view of the city. St. Mary’s Church was originally a Catholic church but spent some time as a Lutheran church in the 1500s and switched back to being a Catholic church. When it became a Lutheran church, the Lutherans painted over all the frescoed walls with white paint. This made the church feel plain compared to all of the other churches we walked into in Poland. St. Mary’s also had a beautiful astronomical clock that is said to be the largest wooden clock in the world. We briefly checked out the Gdansk Armory before heading to St. Nicholas Church. St. Nicholas Church is the only church that survived the Soviet army’s orders to burn all churches because St. Nicholas is Russia’s patron saint. We took a quick stroll through Market Hall before stopping to look inside St. Catherine’s Church. Next was St. Bridget’s Church. St. Bridget’s Church was Lech Wałęsa’s home church and has an altar made completely out of amber. The altar is only 60% complete still. The altar is incredible. As we finished our church tour, we saw the Great Mill which used to provide water and then was turned into a mall. Next on the walking tour was the shipyard which we had already seen, so we opted to grab dinner.

We headed back in the direction of the bus station and found a cute restaurant with all sorts of pierogi options and other meal items. We split zurek soup. I got spicy chicken pierogi. We enjoyed sitting in the AC and our yummy meal. We walked the rest of the way to the bus station and hopped back on a Flixbus to take us back to Krakow. Once again, we slept the best we could on the bus home and immediately took a short nap once we made it back to the Airbnb in Krakow at 6 am.

I really enjoyed our short trip to Gdansk. If we had more time there, I would have loved to visit a museum or two and have a drink outside in the main part of the square to take in all the sights and sounds of the city. It was really fun to explore a new city together, since I didn’t visit Gdansk while I was abroad. And it was a beautiful day to be outside and walking around. I would definitely go back to Gdansk!

Trigger warnings: Jewish Holocaust, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, death and murder

Saturday morning came quickly. We were up at 7 in an *attempt* to catch our bus to Oświęcim (Auschwitz in German) for our 10:30 Auschwitz II-Birkenau Memorial and Museum visit. We missed the bus because I wasn’t sure what the bus looked like. We had no problem getting to the bus station and finding the right level but I had never taken a Discover Cracow bus before, so I wasn’t sure what to look for. Oh well, $75 later, we were in an Uber headed to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The Uber arrived earlier than our bus would have, so we got a hot drink and tried to wake up.

Our guided tour started promptly at 10:30 with about 20 other English speakers. We started outside the camp and our guide gave us an overview of our morning. She made a point for us to understand that Auschwitz II was a concentration camp and Birkenau was a death camp. We entered Auschwitz II by walking under the Arbeit Macht Frei sign. This is the only part of Auschwitz I took a photo of. You are allowed to take photos in all but two spots but, personally, it felt weird to take photos in such a horrible place. We were able to walk through many of the barracks, also called blocks. We saw maps with signs of where Auschwitz prisoners came from and photos of those living in the Jewish ghettos lining up to get deported to different concentration camps. We saw photos of life inside the camp that were taken in secret by the Sonderkommand. We saw a model of the Birkenau crematorium. I saw the same model at the Holocaust Memorial and Museum in D.C., but it felt different to see the model in the place where it happened. We saw a few rooms that were filled with people’s belongings like luggage with names and addresses on them, shoes of adults and children, eye glasses, Jewish prayer shawls, prosthetics, and crutches. One of the rooms contained victims’ hair, actual hair. It was horrible to see and made me feel nauseous.

In another block was scenes of how the prisoners lived. We saw the beds they slept in and bathrooms they used. You could barely call what they slept in a bed and where they washed their hands a bathroom. The inside walls of this block were lined with photographs of prisoners with their name, tattooed number, home city, birth date, and death date. We saw the clothes they wore: the single pair of thin material they had to wear every single day regardless of weather and dirt. On the way to block 11, the Death Block, we saw the Death Wall, which had flowers at the bottom as memorials of those who were killed there. Block 11 was where prisoners had trials and were tortured. We walked past the Starvation Cell, Dark Cell, and Standing Cells. Remember St. Maksymilian Kolbe? He took the place of a prisoner in one of the torture cells in block 11 and that is where he died. This part of the tour was especially nauseating.

We ended the Auschwitz II part of the tour by walking through the only still standing crematorium. It was really difficult to walk through.

After, we had a break to reflect while we waited for the bus to take us to Birkenau.

The bus dropped us off right at the train tracks leading into Birkenau and ending at the dividing platform. We walked to the dividing platform and saw the train car that prisoners spent many day crammed in and standing up on without food or water and little light. We saw where a Nazi doctor would the decide the fate of all the prisoners who entered. A secretly taken photograph caught the moment a doctor decided whether a man, who just arrived, would go right or left. The doctor’s hand is in the middle about to determine the man’s fate in the photo.

Next, we walked the path of the prisoners that got sent to the right, to the crematorium. Unlike Auschwitz II, all of the Birkenau crematoria were destroyed by the Nazis in order to destroy evidence before the Soviets arrived to liberate the camps, so we viewed the ruins of crematorium 2. Nearby, is a monument created in memorial of all the victims. There were 20+ plaques to represent all of the languages spoken by the victims. Then, we were able to walk through a barrack that housed the prisoners sent to the left at the dividing platform. We saw where they slept and used the restroom and tried to stay warm in the winter. It was difficult to imagine so many people crammed into a small space. Similar to the crematoria, many of the barracks were in ruins, only the chimneys still standing. This was the last part of our tour. We were told how the Nazis started the Death Marches in order to send as many prisoners away before the Soviets arrived. We heard about how the Soviets liberated the camp and what happened to those victims when they were liberated. Then our tour was over.

I think the most difficult part of the tour was walking from the dividing platform to the crematorium. Even though I was wearing comfortable and well-fitting clothes and shoes, the uneven road hurt my feet. I couldn’t begin to picture being told you’re going to start a new life and ending at Birkenau hungry, thirsty, exhausted, in uncomfortable and ill-fitting clothes and shoes, and marching to your own death. It was hard to think that I was walking on the same path that 1.1 million people walked and took their last steps on.

It was an incredibly hard visit. Many times I felt sick to my stomach. It was a very solemn experience. As sickening as it was to visit, I am glad we did. I felt that it was important to visit to see what the millions of Auschwitz II-Birkenau and Holocaust victims suffered at the hands of the Nazis and to remember and honor them. It was so different being able to be and see where the horrific events took place compared to learning about them in class. I would recommend that anyone who is able to visit the site with a guide to see for themselves what happened under Nazi regime.

We spent the bus ride home reflecting. And yes, we caught the right bus back to Krakow. We took a nap at the Airbnb and headed back to the Main Square since we had tickets to visit the Rynek Underground Museum. I had visited this museum during one of my classes, but Nick was interested so I wanted him to see why Krakow’s first floors are actually underground. The short answer is that the city is now 7 km more above sea level because of travel and construction throughout the 19th and 20th century.

After a long and emotional day and 25k steps later, we headed back to the Airbnb to get some sleep before our overnight bus to Gdansk.

Hi blog! Nick and I are back from our adventure in Poland! I expect our 2023 Poland trip to be a multi part blog since we fit so much into 4 days and have had to come back to real life right away.

Wednesday evening, after work, we headed straight for the Chicago airport. I was nervous to fly out of Chicago because of my past experiences at O’Hare. (I got stranded there not once, but twice!) Anyway, the drive to O’Hare was a breeze, we even had enough time to stop at Culver’s for dinner! It took us a while to find parking but we found a lot that was only $15/day. Getting through security and finding our gate was easy. As we waited for our flight, we made friends with a woman headed to Romania. The airport was pretty busy for as late as it was. Surprisingly, our flight was full. Finally, at 9:45pm CST, we boarded our flight to Frankfurt. I honestly don’t remember much of the flight because I was in and out of sleep for the 8 hours we were in the air. I think I slept through the drinks/snacks and meal.

We arrived in Frankfurt on Thursday at 2pm. Immigration was a breeze and we didn’t have to go through security again. The Frankfurt airport is huge so it took us a while to find our gate but we had plenty of time since we didn’t have to stop at baggage claim. My Frankfurt airport tradition is buying a pretzel, mezzo mix, and apfelschorle. I was happy to introduce this tradition to Nick and share yummy German treats with him as we waited to board our flight to Krakow. At 4:30pm we boarded our flight to Krakow! It was a short flight over and we landed at 6:00pm. I guess I should switch to the 24 hour clock now that we’re in Europe….

After another smooth flight and nap, we took an Uber to our Airbnb. Our Airbnb was only a 5 minute walk outside of Old Town! We climbed to the top floor of our building and took it all in. Our Airbnb had the most beautiful view of the city from the loft. Nick changed and headed out for a run while I tried to get my sim card set up. My old sim card wasn’t working, but a Zabka was right next door so I was able to buy a new one easily. I got 6GB for $1.25…crazy! After the run and sim card, we headed out for pierogi! We walked through Old Town and found a spot that was still open and not too touristy looking. We both got ruskie (potato and cheese) pierogi and they were delicious. As we were headed back to our Airbnb, I spotted a bar I used to frequent with my study abroad friends so I knew we needed to stop in and grab a drink. We shared a tyskie beer and ordered monte shots. The monte shots are hazelnut vodka with milk. It sounds gross to mix vodka and milk but it tastes like nutella or a ferrero rocher, so delicious! After dinner, drinks, and a long 24 hours of travel, we headed back for the night.

We both naturally woke up on Friday at 6:00. If you know me, you know I won’t get out of bed that early unless my life depended on it. But, the sun was out and I was back in Poland so there was no time to waste! We got ready for the day and headed out. We walked through Old Town again in the light and decided we wanted pazcki. I knew the perfect spot so we headed in the direction of my old university. We grabbed a paczki and walked to UEK campus and I was able to show Nick where I had classes when I was abroad. We walked campus and headed back. We checked out the mall, Galeria Krakowska, on our way back. We went into Carrefour, the grocery store, to see what products we don’t see in the US. We left with bananas and walked back to the Airbnb for a short break.

After a snack and break, we headed back to Old Town. We followed Rick Steve’s Royal Walk Way Tour. We went at our own pace and checked out all of the iconic sights of Old Town Krakow. We started at the Barbican and city walls. Then, we made our way to the Planty which is the park that surrounds Old Town. It used to be a moat to protect the city, but when the Austrians were ruling Krakow, they changed it into a park. We saw the Grunwald Monument and a statue of Jan Matejko. We made a pit stop at Stary Kleparz, the Old Market, to look for some oscypek, smoked cheese from salted sheep milk. We were successful! I think I liked the cheese more than Nick. We walked under the Florian Gate and admired the replica of the famous Black Madonna of Częstochowa painting. We strolled Ulica (street) Floriańska. Some of my favorite spots from when I was studying in Krakow are on Floriańska street like McDonald’s and Bania Luca. Then, we got in line to buy tickets into St. Mary’s Church. As we waited, we heard the bugle player play the hourly hejnał song. Once he was done playing in our direction, he waved to us below. We bought our tickets to get inside the church and to be able to climb to the top. You can enter the church for free if you’re going inside to pray but we decided to pay to get close to the altar. The altar was under restoration and renovation in 2020 so I wanted to make a point to see it up close and finished.

After buying the tickets for St. Mary’s, we took several moments to take in Rynek Główny, the Main Market Square. We took in the Adam Mickiewicz statue, St. Adalbert’s Church, the Cloth Hall, the Town Hall, Igor Mitoraj’s gigantic head, the pigeons, and all of the people walking around. It was so different to visit the square at 11 instead of 6. At 6 in the morning, it was peaceful and quiet. By 11, it was busy and full of people! There were multiple groups of children on field trips, college students on break, and tourists that came to enjoy the sights and sounds. After taking in the square, we headed to the second oldest university in Europe, Jagiellonian University. This wasn’t my university in 2020, but I still wanted to show it to Nick because of its history and beauty. Then we walked to St. John Paul II’s residence while he was the archbishop of Krakow. Above the window, where he would lean out of to talk to the people of Krakow, is a painting of him smiling. Then we stopped in St. Francis Basilica, which was St. John Paul II’s home church. We admired the stained glass instead and a painting of St. Maksymilian Kolbe. St. Maksymilian Kolbe was a priest who served at St. Francis Basilica and was a prisoner and victim at Auschwitz-Birkenau. He died at Auschwitz II-Birkenau by sacrificing his life for a fellow inmate (more to come on this). We walked on Grodzka street to visit the Dominican Church. We stopped in Mary Magdalene’s Square to see the Church of Saints Peter and Paul and St. Andrews. We walked down Kanoniczka Street to Wawel. We checked out Wawel Castle, Cathedral, and grounds. We admired Wawel from the outside and skipped the museums since we wanted to spend our precious time on other things. We walked down Wawel Hill to see the iconic Krakow dragon. The legend says that the dragon was eating all of the livestock of Krakow and was soon going to start eating the people if Prince Krak didn’t find a solution. Prince Krak and a genius shoemaker knew what to do. They filled a sheep’s skin with sulfur and when the dragon ate the sheep’s skin, he needed to drink all of the Vistula river to stop his heartburn. After he drank the entire river, he exploded and was no more. Then Prince Krak let the shoemaker marry his daughter. Now, the dragon statue blows fire out of his mouth every few minutes to commemorate this legend.

We started to feel hungry so we headed to Kazimierz for lunch at Plac Nowy. We both got zapiekanka with sauce, mushrooms, cheese, and salami and ate it on the sidewalk under the sunshine. It was the perfect lunch stop. Knowing there was a Good Lood nearby, Nick obliged to an icecream treat. Good Lood was a spot I frequented during my time abroad. I mean, who can resist $1 for a scoop of very good icecream? When lunch and dessert was over, we headed back to St. Mary’s because it was our turn to view the altar and climb to the top! We climbed 271 stairs to have the most beautiful view of the city. Down below, we saw a group of break dancers performing for the crowds. At this point, we needed a break so we went back to the Airbnb.

Sometime after resting, we headed to Kazimierz for the Rick Steve’s Kazimierz walk. This started with the Kazimierz monument that honors the 65,000 Polish citizen of Jewish nationality from Krakow and its regions. Unfortunately, the sun was going down by now, so we were only able to walk past the Old Jewish Cemetery and not visit the inside of it. We walked down Ulica Szeroka and saw a statue of Jan Karski, shop fronts of Rattner, Weinberg, Nowak, and Holcer, some other shops. Multiple restaurants that were on Ulica Szeroka had live klezmer music. We peaked into the New Jewish Cemetery and stopped in front of Helena Rubinstein’s childhood home. We walked past the Popper Synagogue, town wall, and the Old Synagogue. We walked past Plac Nowy again and saw the Schindler’s List Passage from the movie. We saw Kazimierz’s main market square, Plac Wolnica, and decided it was time for dinner. I remembered there is always a parking lot full of food trucks at Judah Square, so we went that way for dinner. Not surprising to any, we got ruskie pierogi from one of the trucks.

After an entire day on our feet, we took a break until it was time to go out to one of my favorite dance spots. We spent a few hours dancing and ended late at night.

We walked 49k (!!!!) steps and saw the condensed entirety of Krakow and Kazimierz! It was an incredibly successful and busy day. I think my favorite part of the first full day was the familiarity of the area. It was really fun to show Nick all of the places I used to frequent and funny stories that went along with each location. I was surprised by how much I remembered and was able to navigate without using my phone. My brain stored all of the Polish knowledge I acquired from 2020 knowing I would one day go back and I’m thankful it did.

Hi All!

Since the majority of our trip is figured out and booked I can share our itinerary and bucketlist! Something important to note is that the theme of this trip is “We’re doing XYZ because it’s something I learned about during my semester abroad but never got to visit because COVID sent me home before we got to visit during class”. It’s going to come up a lot in this post as I share our itinerary, sorry in advance for the repetitiveness.

Day 1: Since we arrive in the evening, the plan is to drop off our bags at our cute airbnb and head out for dinner somewhere in Rynek Główny. Then it’ll be time for ice cream at Good Lood. Let’s be real…we’ll probably be on the hunt for pierogi for dinner. We’ll walk around and settle in early to get a good start on the next day.

Day 2: I assume we’ll be tired from the flight and slightly jet lagged so we’ll have a relaxing exploring day. I’d love to show Nick the famous sights of Krakow like Wawel, St. Mary’s Church, and the Cloth Hall. We’ll walk around and stop where we feel called to stop and explore. I’m hoping we’ll run into paczki and obwarzanek for a morning snack. Then we’ll make our way to the Kazimierz, the Jewish district, and have zapekanka for lunch. After lunch, we’ll continue exploring Kazimierz and Podgórze. I’m hoping to show Nick the Helena Rubinstein house and mural in the area. I’d also like to visit Schindler’s Factory Museum since I didn’t get to in 2020. We’ll find somewhere yummy for dinner (probably zurek soup) and spend sometime enjoying Krakow’s nightlife.

Day 3: I booked a guided tour at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum for the morning. This is something I was supposed to do during my semester abroad but it never happened. My professor gave us an online tour but I know it won’t compare to the real tour. I think this will be a very hard and emotional tour to go on but I think it’s really important to make it part of our trip. After our tour, we’ll head back to Krakow and relax and reflect. I’m hoping we can do some shopping in the evening. Then, as long as the weather holds up, we’ll head to Kosciuszko Mound for the sunset. This mound is a place I learned about in my classes but never got to visit.

Day 4: We won’t really go to sleep after day 3 because I booked us on an overnight bus to Gdańsk. We leave at 1:05 am and will arrive in a new city by morning. This might be a tough night and we might be cranky all day but at least we will have seen a new city! Gdańsk is a city that never got checked off my bucketlist so this will be exciting because Nick and I will get to experience it for the first time together! We’ll spend the majority of the day exploring the city and port, visiting churches, eating whatever speciality food is there, and hopefully buying a few pieces of amber. We’ll leave in the evening and arrive back in Krakow at 6am.

Day 5: On little sleep, we will head out in the morning for the Wieliczka Salt Mine! I loved visiting so much and want to make sure Nick gets the chance to visit it since this isn’t a common experience. Don’t worry, I will make sure he licks part of the mine. I’m going to lick it again too, so don’t worry about me either. After a busy morning 300+ kilometers underground, we’ll head to Nowa Huta or Ojców National Park. Or both? It depends on the time and the weather.

In 1949, Nowa Huta was created to be the ideal Socialist Realist city, the city the rest of the country could model itself after. There were many cities that planned to be built like Nowa Huta, but only one other was actually built. The other is in Magnitogorsk, Russia. Nowa Huta used to house the largest steel mine in the country. I’m kind of expecting a utopian city described in books like The Giver, Divergent, or The Hunger Games. We’ll see if its what I’m imagining.

Ojców National Park has caves, crazy rock formations, castles, and a natural history exhibition. There is so much to see here! It would be peaceful to spend some time in nature instead of the city for a bit.

After checking out one or both of those spots, we’ll decide what we want to eat one last time and retire for the night since we have an early flight out of Krakow the next morning. On the way home, we’ll stop in Vienna! Once landing in the US, we’ll drive home and rest up until work the next day.

Work is going to hurt but it will absolutely be worth it. Now is the time for us to do these crazy trips since we’re young and can survive on little sleep. I mean… how else are we supposed to see all of the cool spots and make great memories?

Until next time! Do widzenia!

Hello all…welcome back to my blog! Never thought I would get to type those words again but I’m headed back to Poland in exactly 30 days and I can hardly contain my excitement.

Let’s catch up! Since I wrote (what I thought was) my last post in May of 2020 so much has happened. I spent summer of 2020 in Michigan with 2 extra roommates. I went to school online for fall of 2020 and spring of 2021. I spent summer 2021 interning at a cosmetic contract manufacturing company in Ohio. I moved to Ohio in fall of 2021 to be closer to campus for my last year of school. I went to class and lab in-person for fall of 2021 and spring of 2022. I graduated in May of 2022 and took an 8-day roadtrip to California with my best friend. In June 2022, I got engaged and then moved to the west side of Michigan for my job. In January of 2023, I got married, visited Costa Rica for our honeymoon, and bought 2 roundtrip tickets to Poland for my husband and myself. It’s been a busy 3 years!

Now that we’re caught up, let’s talk about Krakow, Poland. After 3 very long years, Nick and I are headed to Poland for 4 full days. I would have loved to visit for two full weeks but we are limited with PTO and the prices of flights (#corporatelife). Our two roundtrip flights together were the price of my single roundtrip ticket from 3 years ago, isn’t that insane? It was such a sweet deal there was no option to not book a flight.

I am so ecstatic to visit. The goal is to see and visit all that I had planned but was cancelled during my semester abroad. Once I have a better bucketlist/itinerary for our short trip I’ll make a post so be on the lookout!

Until then…do widzenia!

I should be on my flight home today. Instead, I’ve been home for 8 weeks. Who could have predicted that? I feel like since I came home on such WEIRD and absolutely bizarre terms, I didn’t experience culture shock the way students abroad usually do. I had trouble adjusting to being under someone else’s rules again but that was it. Not hearing Polish hasn’t been weird because in the dorms, with my friends, we would speak English. It feels like I’m in the dorms, with my friends, when I speak to my family, in English, in our house. I haven’t been out to interact with other people that are not my family and friends yet. Maybe the first time I go to the grocery store I’ll say thank you in Polish or something. Who knows? For the record, I haven’t been to a grocery store since MARCH 11^th!!!!!!!! I haven’t been to Meijer since January. I’m going to see how long I can last without going. Not like I want to go to Meijer anyway. I am glad to be home because I missed my big bed, full closet, mom’s cooking, family dinners and my family’s presence. I am super happy to have Maddie here too. She adds a new element, perspective and loads of comedy to this household. I have my best friend living in my house and I love it. Even though I wish I was still in Krakow, I’m not taking this time at home for granted. Before COVID, family dinners with all 5 of us home were far and few between because of jobs, school, and other activities. But now the whole family and Maddie are home for dinner every single night! I really missed family dinners and didn’t realize how much until I came home. After my two weeks of true quarantine, my classes started back up and I created a new routine for myself. I woke up at 8:30, drank my coffee with my mom and Maddie, started grinding for the day, watched Mel Robbins, ate, and continued to grind. I’m not super proud of this… but I am able to tell you what’s on TV during certain hours of the day. But this is because I work downstairs on the couch. On Wednesday, May 6th, I successfully completed a semester at the Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie! I ended this semester with all As! I finished my Holocaust studies class over Skype, my art and arch and Polish culture class over Zoom, and my language class over email. For my finals I had to write 8 pages on Vad Vashem (Holocaust studies), 10 pages on Wawel Castle and Cathedral (art and arch), 10 pages on the Wieliczka and Bochnia salt mines (Polish culture) and make a video about me in Polish (Polish language). As a STEM major, writing 10 pages about something non-analytical was a STRUGGLE. Somehow, I completed all of my papers and earned As; I made it through the wackiest semester of my life!! I miss Krakow with my entire heart and more. My brain spends a lot of time wondering what I would be exploring today if I was still in Europe. I follow a lot of Poland Instagram accounts including photography accounts of different cities, some of my favorite coffee shops and clubs. It’s a way for me to stay connected with the city and country that I love. I talk to at least one USAC Krakow student a day, every day. I still keep in touch with my roommate from Poland and all of the other friends I made there. I’m so thankful for technology because everyone I spent those two months with is a text, call, or snapchat away. As for the future, anyone that knows me in the slightest knows I have plans to go back to Krakow and Europe. No dates have been decided yet, but things are in the works. For the summer, I’m taking an online chemistry course, chemistry and society, for my minor. I had to buy an at-home experiment kit so now I can break beakers at home instead of at school! I’m not sure what my plans are for a job yet…that’s a problem for when Michigan actually opens back up. I’m waiting for the day I’ll be allowed outside. Other than that, nothing new is happening at my house. I’m trying to find a new hobby to start since I have all of these free time. This is the official end of my blog. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed reading my adventures as much as I enjoying sharing them. Love, Helene.

I feel like the coronavirus is the only thing we talk about now. I don’t want to write another blog based on it but that’s what is ruling my life right now so it be like that.

I survived 14 days in true quarantine! It felt like I was reliving the same day for two weeks straight. I had (and still don’t) no concept of time. I am not sure what I did each day besides sit on the couch. And I felt so lazy not doing much for 14 days but I didn’t have much to do, I didn’t leave projects for myself to come home to. The most interesting thing I did was write the blog about my trip home. I spent a LOT of time on my phone watching TikToks, scrolling through Instagram and on FaceTime with my friends.

I am super thankful my mom stayed home with me and I didn’t have to quarantine alone. I am also super thankful that Sarah’s family took Andrew and Marie and that my grandma took my dad in for those two weeks. If the rest of the family had been home during my quarantine, they’d be subject to it too. And that wasn’t a viable option because Andrew and my dad HAD to go to work. So, today I am thankful for the friends and family I’ve been gifted and their willingness to help no matter the situation.

The other good news is that I passed my temperature checks with flying colors! I passed with straight A’s and ended the two week period with a 4.0. I haven’t done that well in school since freshman year of highschool.

Now the whole family is back together under one roof. And we gained an extra member! My cousin, Maddie, (who was supposed to come to Krakow) is with us for the next few months since all of her face-to-face classes are cancelled. I haven’t seen her since the summer so it’s really nice to have her around. Plus she helps with the chores, so there is slightly less for me to do. 

As for my classes, I don’t have a good idea of what is going on. USAC said they would be contacting our professors to see how they wanted to teach their classes and I have heard very, very little. I know USAC is overwhelmed but my classes were supposed to start up again this week and I only know what’s going on with 1 of my classes. I am frustrated.

My Jewish Studies professor has been really great about everything and I had my second online class with her today. I have class with her on Skype. She sends materials for us to look at before class and then we discuss them in the second half of class after she lectures. Today I was babysitting, so baby Atticus made a guest appearance at the end of my class. As soon as my classmates and professors saw him, there were smiles across my computer screen. I’m glad my Jewish Studies professor has it together because her class is my favorite and I’m happy I can continue it.

For my language class, I heard that I am supposed to do the worksheets my professor sends in an email and then email pictures of them back with the answers. I’m upset about this because that is not how you learn a language. Polish is already hard enough and now I don’t have anyone to explain what’s going on. And what’s the point of learning the language if I can’t speak it.

For my art and arch & culture class, I still don’t know what’s going on. I know I have to write the papers to get the grade for the class and that is it. I’m bummed that I can’t finish these classes in Krakow because half of the meetings were study tours. How am I supposed to see city architecture and go to museums from my couch in Michigan? 

Anyway…

If you keep up with my blog you know I had trips planned to Cyprus, Austria, Hungary, Israel and Greece. Since I can’t go anymore I photoshopped me and my travel buddies in each location. They’re on the pictures page. It made me feel a little better and everyone in the picture had a good laugh.

I will be going back to Europe. Not quite sure when yet…but I will. I’ve got a whole list of cities I didn’t get to see and friends to visit. Here is my list for my next European adventure:

• Krakow, Poland
  • There are things on my list I didn’t get to check off
    • Auschwitz
  • And I just love the city so much
• Gdansk, Poland
• Paphos, Cyprus
• Vienna, Austria
• Salzburg, Austria
• Budapest, Hungary
• Tel Aviv, Israel
• Haifa, Israel
• Jerusalem, Israel
• The Dead Sea
• Athens, Greece
• Santorini, Greece
• Antalya, Turkey
• Istanbul, Turkey
• Mallorca, Spain
• Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • the Tulip field

This list will probably get longer the longer I stay in the USA.

You can expect at least two more blog posts. One at the end of the semester about finishing my classes. And one about reverse culture shock and a reflection on my trip. But after that, I’m not sure how many I’ll write…maybe I’ll find a new adventure to write about.

“One problem at a time.”

Mae
the motto for the entire trip home

Grab your popcorn. I hope you are ready for a story of a lifetime.

The world was aware that coronavirus was spreading rapidly through China. A few USAC students had to cancel trips to Italy, so the 13 of us were aware of the virus, but none of us thought it would be the reason we got sent home early.

After my weekend in Prague, I was receiving at least one email a day about the coronavirus, and it was never positive. On February 26th, our resident advisor asked us to reconsider European travel since Europe had just become level 2. I still went to Prague and I have no regrets.

On March 4th, the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in Poland. It was in the city of Zielona Gora, in the western part of Poland. My university rector decided that any student or faculty member coming from a high risk country (China, Iran, South Korea, Italy, etc.) would be required to self-quarantine for 14 days.

During this week, I was still going to class. I had my first study tour for Jewish studies and it was my favorite one. I saw the actual ghetto wall. I learned about WWII and the ghetto in history classes but to see the content in real life is SO different. One section of the wall had a playground on the other side and it felt cruel. Kids playing on the playground didn’t know what was happening inside the ghetto and kids inside the ghetto could look over the wall and see kids enjoying themselves. My Polish teacher took the class out to breakfast. We all enjoyed a buffet breakfast at a restaurant in Kazimierz. After breakfast, it was the midterm. For the midterm, each of us were expected to order something from the open air market…in Polish! I successfully asked and paid for raspberries all in Polish (maliny)! It was a major win for the week!

On the 9th, there were 16 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Poland and 1 in Krakow. An older man returning from Italy brought the virus to Krakow. Starting at 3pm that day, there were sanitary stations along the Czech and German borders. The sanitary station workers would be stopping trains, buses, cars and everything in between to check temperatures. On the same day, my family decided it was in their best interest to not visit. The fears were that all of the museums and places to visit might be closed, I might get sent home, and if Mom, Aunt Jessie, or Maddie caught the virus they would be out of work/school for 14 days. It was a tough decision to make but ultimately the right one.

On March 10th, the university rector forbade all students and faculty members from leaving Poland. If I left I would be subject to quarantine when I got back. By forbidding travel out of Poland that meant the USAC trip to Vienna and Budapest was cancelled.

The next day, the 11th, the Prime Minister of Poland shut down face to face classes from March 12th through April 14th. That same day, I visited the grocery store for toilet paper (I actually needed it) and it was INSANE! I waited in line for an hour to check out. The same day, Bella threw an American party in the dorms. She and I found the closest thing to red solo cups we could and taught our Turkish, Spanish, and Polish friends how to play beer pong and rage cage. It was like a normal college frat party and I felt at home.

On the 12th, I had emails that my flights to Cyprus and Israel were cancelled because both countries were closing their borders, to everyone but their own citizens, to stop the spread of the virus. Morale was low all day. One by one everyone’s college sent them an email telling them to come back home. Scott was the first to receive an email and I was the last. At the end of the day, 11pm, USAC sent the email officially cancelling the Krakow program. Even though I knew it was coming, I was devastated. A week and a half later I still am. Our program officially ended on March 26th so I had 2 weeks to decide when I wanted to leave. I planned to change my ticket to leave that coming Tuesday so I could have a few more days in Krakow to finish seeing everything, pick up the rest of the tchotchkes I needed, eat all of the food I just bought, and say proper goodbyes to everyone.

But the Prime Minister didn’t like that idea.

On Friday, March 13th (the odds) the Prime Minister announced that Poland would be closing their borders on Sunday, the 15th, at 00:01. My resident director emailed at 4:30pm that I was still “free to leave Poland”. And then at 7pm, my RD emailed that she had just called the emergency US Consulate and that it was “best for you to leave tomorrow”. The next 2 hours were pure chaos and confusion. The Prime Minister’s statement about borders was very vague. He said all international travel was banned but didn’t specify if that was outgoing international travel too. Because there was no clarity, Bree, Brian and I decided it was best to leave ASAP. At least, our big group was able to eat lunch together one last time at Antler.

Bree, Brian and I had about 24 hours until Poland closed their borders, so we BOOKED it. The three of us worked for about 2 hours to buy an airline ticket online but as soon as we would get to the payment part an error would happen. We decided it was our best move to pack all of our stuff, go to the airport, and try to buy a ticket there. At 3am with 3 bags each, we left for the airport. Little did we know, we were in for the LONGEST, most stressful, tiring, and emotional 48 hours of traveling possible.

We got to the airport before any of the help desks were open but we got in line anyway. At 4am, the Lufthansa/United airline representative had 2 tickets to Chicago and 1 to Detroit for $3000 each. Let me tell you, I didn’t spend even HALF of that for a roundtrip ticket so there was no way I was buying a $3000 ticket. While the three of us were trying to buy tickets at the airport, Bree’s mom was trying to buy us all tickets in Wisconsin. But nothing was working for her. My mom tried buying us all tickets in Michigan and the payments went through! I felt relief that we had finally gotten a ticket, but when I checked the confirmation email it said my seat was waitlisted. Because I was waitlisted and my ticket was still processing, I couldn’t check in. The email said tickets are typically processed in an hour, we had an hour and a half until the flight took off. Bree, Brian and I gave it until 5:50am for the tickets to process. They never did; in fact, the purchase is still pending in my bank account.

Since that plan failed, our new goal was to get the hell out of Poland. We were going to try to get to the UK or Germany and go from there. I heard LOT had flights out of Poland throughout the day so we headed over to their help office and bought expensive tickets to Frankfurt. The first step, to get out of Poland, was figured out. I was able to breathe for a minute. So later that morning the three of us flew from Krakow to Warsaw.

Once the plane was in the air, on the way to Warsaw, airline attendants walked up and down taking every passenger’s temperature. On the plane, I had to fill out a health form stating my name, who I was traveling with, where I was staying, and my contact information. When I landed in Warsaw, government officials, wearing gloves and face masks, took every passengers’ temperature again and wrote it on the health form that they collected. When that was over, I could get off the plane. I took a video of the Warsaw temperature screening, I’ll upload it to the YouTube page. 

During the 4 hour layover in Warsaw, I ate and took a nap on the floor. A few days before, my sinuses were congested and I was still getting over it. I had to cough every once in a while and I always made sure to cover my cough fully. The one time I coughed in the Warsaw airport I got the nastiest look from a young man wearing a face mask. Finally, the time came to board the plane for Frankfurt. 90 minutes and another health screening later, the three of us arrived in Frankfurt…we MADE IT OUT OF POLAND.

At the Krakow airport, I only booked a ticket out of Poland and to Germany. I didn’t book a flight to the US. The plan was: get out of Poland and to Germany, stay in a hostel for one night, leave for the US the next day. So that’s what I did. I booked a direct flight from Frankfurt to Chicago for early Sunday morning and a hostel for Saturday night. I don’t live in Chicago but I wanted to stick with Bree and Brian in case anything crazy happened. Thankfully my mom was willing to drive to Chicago to get me.

Before I could get to the hostel, I had to get my bags. That was easy money. The problem came when Bree, Brian and I tried to check into our flight early so we had one less thing to do in the morning. When it was Bree’s turn to use the kiosk to check in she noticed her passport was missing. She went through all of her bags three times and found nothing. She asked the help/information desk and the lady there “called” the plane to ask if they had found anything cleaning. No one did. Bree tried the foreign border police but they “don’t deal with passports” which is a lie. She retraced her steps back to baggage claim, nothing. Our last hope was the American Embassy in Frankfurt. The Embassy doesn’t have weekend hours so we called the emergency line since there were no other options. The Embassy said that Bree’s passport doesn’t count as an emergency since it wasn’t a hospitalization or death. 

I have never felt so helpless in my life. NO ONE at the airport could help us and it felt like they didn’t even try. The Embassy, who is supposed to help with this kind of stuff, didn’t do anything for us. Bree, Brian and I are in a foreign country with a pandemic running wild and only 2 out of 3 of us have passports, how is that NOT an emergency?

For life saving help, I texted my Uncle Chris who works at the American Embassy in Bogota, Colombia. If anyone knows what to do, it’s Uncle Chris. He and my Aunt Jessie were using their connections to find out what Bree could do. And the answer was not good. Uncle Chris told Bree that she was going to have to stay in Germany until Monday (at least) and schedule an urgent appointment with the Consulate to get a new passport. With that news, we left the airport and went to the hostel to set up her meeting.

The earliest appointment Bree could get was at the end of April. But with email pleading an earlier appointment and Uncle Chris’ connections she was hoping to get in on Monday. Bree did the most that she could and we went to sleep. That was the first sleep I had gotten in 40(!!!!) hours. The two nights before, I had gotten 4 hours of sleep. I don’t know how I was functioning. 

After a sad 4 hours of sleep, we all woke up and headed back to the airport, even Bree. The hope was that at some point during the night Bree’s passport showed up at the help desk and she would be able to cancel her consulate appointment and fly home with Brian and I. The passport did not show up, but we all stood in line to check-in anyway.

When Bree got to the front of the line she explained to the check-in lady that she had lost her passport but had a photocopy and was hoping that somehow that would work (even though we knew it wouldn’t). The check-in lady had to stand to the side and called some tall man in a gray suit from immigration over. I don’t know what authority this man had or who he was, but he checked out Bree’s passport copy and cleared her to fly. There were tears, good ones.

Bree got stopped at German immigration and security and every stop that needed your passport but with an explanation, extra questioning, and the guy in the gray suit, she made it to the gate. Bree, Brian and I made it on the plane to Chicago. I never thought that moment would come.

The plane ride to Chicago was rough, I could not fall asleep to save my life. I was hoping that after my sleep deprivation I would pass out for the full 9 hours but that was not the case. Instead, I watched a couple movies. I had my last legal drink on the plane, red wine. And I ate some mediocre food. Brian and I were given the meal that belonged to the couple next to us. The couple was upset with the airline attendants and not us thankfully. After a LONG 9 hour plane ride, we touched down in Chicago. 

BUT we still were not in the clear. The three of us (with only 2 passports) had to get through the CBP officers. I wasn’t nervous for Bree. Uncle Chris said CBP would give Bree difficulty. He said CBP would have to prove that Bree isn’t a citizen to deny her entry, but that’s impossible because Bree IS a US citizen. Bree had extra questions to answer for CBP but they couldn’t disprove her citizenship so she made it through. She said CBP was actually pretty chill about the situation. 

Brian and I got through CBP painlessly. The line was long but moved quickly. I was worried I would be stuck in line for a few hours based on tweets from O’Hare the day before, but that wasn’t the case. The only questions CBP asked were “How are you doing?” and “What countries did you visit?”. Then I was led to another line for a health screening. The people, wearing face masks and face shields, asked what countries I visited in the past 14 days and once I said the Czech Republic the lady took me to another table for further screening. At the second table, a woman took my 3rd health form that I filled out throughout my journey, took my temp and wrote it down. She talked to me about the symptoms, who to call if I get sick, gave me papers about the virus and my health form back. My health form was my ticket out of the baggage claim area. I grabbed my bag and headed for the exit, my last step.

The moment I had been waiting for finally came. Bree, Brian and I pushed the doors and I saw my mom. I would have run to her if I wasn’t carrying all of my bags. I can’t think of a time I was happier to see my mom. She gave me the biggest hug and all I felt was relief. I even cried a little bit. I had FINALLY made it to the United States.

Uncle Chris said it was a miracle that Bree made it back to the US without her passport. It should not have happened but it did. I think it was God giving us a break after the past 24 hours. And shoutout to my tall guy in the gray suit in Frankfurt: whoever you are thank you so, so much. You are a lifesaver. I love you.

Bree’s parents greeted her outside of the baggage claim doors. And Brian had another flight to catch to get to Kansas. But we stood around and talked for a few minutes about getting through CBP and how Bree miraculously made it home. A CNN reporter overheard us and I jokingly said that I would sell him my story for $20. Omar Jiminez interviewed Bree, Brian and I. He asked how it was getting through customs and immigration and about the health screenings. If I can find the video I will attach it to the YouTube page. David said his great aunt saw our interview so I know I was on TV even if I didn’t see it.

On day 2 of quarantine, I interviewed with WTOL 11! Uncle Tim asked me questions about coming home, emotions during the trip and what it’s like to be home and in quarantine. I got up at 5:30am for this interview, so please go check it out! (I did go back to sleep after, obviously.)

Bree, Brian and I said our goodbyes. I was so focused on getting to Chicago I forgot I had to say goodbye. I could not be more thankful for Bree and Brian. There is no way I would have made it home without them. They were both the best support system I could have asked for in those 48 hours. @Bree and Brian: Thank you for laughing and smiling with me and for the comfort when I was crying. I formed such a special bond with them just by studying abroad, but the last 48 hours bonded us in a way that nothing else could. Here’s to trauma bonding!

After our goodbyes, my mom and I washed our hands one last time and got in the car to drive 4 hours back home where it would just be us for the next 14 days.

I cried as soon as I walked into my room. It was 2% because of relief and 98% because it was not my dorm in Krakow. Stepping foot in my room meant I was home for good and my European life was over. That night I slept for 15 hours.

I have been in quarantine for 10 days now and it sucks. BUT, I’m turning it into a joke. I take video of every temperature check and post it on my snapchat bragging that I am getting A’s because my temperatures are in the 97-98 range. I wish I had more to say about quarantine but it’s been extremely boring, I have very little to write about it.

I miss my Poland friends so much. I was doing things with them for the last time and I didn’t know it. I will forever cry that my time with them got cut short. Thankfully most of my friends from Krakow live in the US so I can easily visit them. Visiting my friends in Spain, Turkey, and Poland is a great excuse to go back to Europe.

I am not done in Europe. Poland has not seen the last of me. I will be back.

P.S. Look at my YouTube page for a video titled “Country Roads or Krakow Bus” 🙂

If in doubt, travel.

What are you supposed to do with your last 4-day weekend? Travel somewhere new obviously. I asked my Jewish studies professor, “If there is one city I absolutely HAVE to visit while I’m in Europe, which city is it?” She said Prague so on March 5th, Mae and I took an overnight bus to the Czech Republic.

Mae and I arrived in Prague at 6am and headed to our airbnb. We got the keys and made it through the first round of locks okay. But when we got to the main door we were stuck. We had 3 locks and 3 keys but two of the keys were the same. After struggling for an hour, Mae and I headed to the nearest hostel. While we were checking in we met Taylor, a girl from New Zealand who was working in Germany. We made plans to meet up with her later after we napped.

After our nap, Mae and I met Taylor and her hostel roommate at a restaurant. After lunch, we walked along the equivalent of Oxford street in Prague shopping for an outfit for a night out. I found two swimsuits that were perfect for Greece and Cyprus. Mae and I took another nap after shopping to prepare for a late night out. Then Taylor came to our room, we got ready together and headed out. On our ride home we saw the infamous dancing house!

The next morning, the airbnb host met Mae and I at the airbnb to help us with the key. Turns out, we’re just dumb. We had the right keys we just couldn’t turn the lock the way it needed to be turned. I blame it on the very little sleep we got on the bus.

Mae’s brother wasn’t feeling well back in Krakow so we had to change our bus ticket to leave that night. We had 10 hours to see all of Prague. We prioritized what we wanted to see: St. Nicholas Church, Lennon Wall, Prague Castle, and walk the Charles Bridge. And we decided to see Wenceslas Square, St. Vitus, the Jewish Quarter, and the famous Astronomical Tower the next time we visited, in two weeks.

The Charles Bridge was so beautiful but very crowded. The bridge connects Old Town and the Prague Castle. There are 30 statues along the bridge. Mae and I walked the whole bridge and took in all of the beautiful sights.

Next, Mae and I climbed 215 steps to the top of the Town Belfry. The Town Belfry was used as a fire lookout tower and a clock tower. It was built with the Church of St. Nicholas. On our climb to the top, we were able to walk into the rooms that were hidden in the tower. These rooms were once occupied by people that worked in/around the church. It would be cool to live in the tower, but it would be a major pain to climb 100+ stairs every time you wanted to leave or if you were bringing groceries back.

Then Mae and I walked inside St. Nicholas’s church. It is easily the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen. The church took a hundred years to build and three different generations worked to complete it. The church is baroque and rococo style. Rococo style has lots of colors included, St. Nicholas had a lot of light pink inside. I wish I was there for a Sunday service.

After St. Nicholas’s church, we walked to the Lennon Wall. I was super excited to see this wall because I love graffiti and street art. In the 1960s the Lennon Wall was full of messages against the regime. In 1980, John Lennon’s face was painted on the wall as a symbol of freedom. In November of 2019, the wall was declared a memorial place, 30 years after the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The wall was so colorful and so crowded with tourists. Besides John Lennon’s face, it had political messages on it. The wall was covered in messages in all kinds of languages showing that people from all over came to visit and leave their mark.

Next, we headed to Prague Castle. We hiked up a bunch of stairs and got another gorgeous view of the city. I found my favorite spot in Prague and I have to go back again before I die. Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world! It was absolutely beautiful on the outside! Sadly, Mae and I arrived after it closed so we weren’t able to go inside. The castle is absolutely massive and I wish I had been able to go inside and see St. Vitus’s Church that is attached. Mae and I took some photos, admired the building and headed out since the weather was starting to change.

We stayed at the top of the hill that we climbed to see Prague Castle and watched the sunset and saw the city at night. After, we headed back to the airbnb, ate dinner, packed our things and headed to our bus that would take us back to Krakow.

I could see myself living in Prague, easy. Czech is very similar to Polish, so I was able to learn “good day” and “thank you” which was very helpful. Plus, it is 25 Czech Korunas to 1 USD so my money went much further. I took $40 USD out of the ATM and was given a 1000 Koruna bill. I’ve never seen or held a bill higher than $100 USD.

Prague is my favorite European and non-Polish city. I really wish I could have had 2 more days in Prague. It was so, so gorgeous. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Prague. I will be going back in the future.