Vienna 2006

Onwards to Vienna. Actually, we did make a couple days pitstop at Brno, mainly because we could, it was right in between our journey route and it really didnt cost much to have a stop over there.

Pitstop at Brno 2006

Here, i stop and apologise to EK for having spent her birthday in the most nondescript, barren and featureless place that we had been throughout the vacation. Now i look in the cherry soaked guidebook (carelessly chucked into the bag full of cherries when we were in Poland) and it does say Brno is one of those hidden gems, and granted the stuff is cheap and some of the buildings are genuinely pretty. But really there isnt too much there, and the city centre was looking to be completely demolished, what with the orgy of Caterpillar tractors around. And just to prove it, heres a pic!

Our hotel was situated in one of the suburbs, with one eaterie nearby where no english was at hand, though thankfully one of the waitresses helped us out.
In Brno, there didnt seem much to do apart from pool, which shamelessly, we did, and on EK's birthday too. We also attempted to celebrate by going by this 'Italian' restaurent with a fantastic view of the road. Man, maybe a wilder person would find something to do in this derelict place but I'M SORRY!!!

If there was one thing to take from Brno, its a photo of a funny pizza shaped dude trying to sell Big Issue type magazines. Ya see, thats why we dont buy them from our streetsellers. They dont have a unique selling point - they refuse to don the spandex like our czech friends do.

Vienna 2006

Anyway, we move onto Vienna. Austria and its capital is only a matter of a couple hours or so from Brno, so the ride was uncomplicated, and anyway we were quite captivated by a fifty something old man in our carriage who despite his years, was rather good looking and slightly macho, (he had a moustache) and had stripped from his shirt into a tight white vest which revealed his bulging biceps. By the time he had got out his apple and proceeded to slice them up with his pocketknife, depositing the slices nonchalently into his mouth, we were both most impressed.

Really, I have to say I like Vienna a lot. Its a very grand place, without it being too in yer face like I felt in Prague at times. You can really feel the royalty in the air. There are a lot of really majestic buildings, dispersed pleasantly across the city. The photo below was taken in front of Parliament, the looks which put our own dirty Westminster building to shame. Where I am shamelessly posing, there is a beautiful crystal clear fountain (I'm reminded of the fountain in Bath which is regularly spiked with Fairy washing up liquid). You can also see along the walls of the platform, there are green tinted lights which also run across a waterway stretching from one side to the other.

Though I spent way too much time gazing up at this place in the warm night air (warm - but not too hot, thank god), and EK was getting a little impatient because, afterall Vienna did consist of other attractions, just the way they designed this site was impressive to me. It smacked of 'We're Viennese and we're better than you", and I couldnt disagree on this evidence.

I decided i rather wanted to see the Museum of Natural History, cos there were like, dinosaurs in there. It was located in Maria-Theresien-Platz, which is essentially a great big park with walkways and gargantuan shrubs and fountains. (They love their fountains, and I love them for loving their fountains.)

Outside the musuem was a brass baby elephant, which was rather cute and needed a picture. You can also see the park from this picture and the shrub obssession. But what is that I'm doing with the elephant?

The most famous exhibit in the musuem was the Venus of Willendorf - see left for a painstakingly half decent picture of it.

(Its tiny too - smaller than the length of your index figure) The figure of Venus has been reproduced time and time

again. I even remember it being featured in the Simpsons when Homer ate the famous Venus Gummy. Hehe. No historian has actually figured out why Venus was so important - many tribes carried a miniature Venus with them around their necks - but that hasnt stopped them venturing guesses. According to legend, and the little information plaque by the display, this oldest ancient figurine in the world, with its rather prominent hips, stomach and breasts embodies femininity and is thought to be a symbol of fertility. The fact that there is no face, arms or feet just exaggerates the features that do appear. Additionally, and for a reason i cant remember, the finding of Venus is connected to the foundations and origins of Vienna itself.

If you push a button on the wall, a strobe light basks the figurine in an eerie red light and the display rotates,

accompanied by some really odd spooky music. Well whatever gives em their kicks.

The dinosaurs were quite cool, but for some reason they had several rooms dedicated to stuffed birds of all shapes and sizes, which even if you havent seen the movie or have gained a phobia, is quite scary, as they were all crammed into display cases, staring you down. Those musuem folk were also quite intent on going through the entire cycle of evolution - starting with worms, insects and other icky things. It is a little interesting to watch squiggly things move underneath a microscope but you do get a bit itchy after a while. Still, as you can see, we still had a bit of silly fun.

What else apart from the musuem. Down the road, we ambled on by to the royal Hofburg palace. Now, as you

would expect (because its me and i'm on vacation), part of the palace was under construction. Yeah, i really should get used to it, in fact i do get a little sad if there isnt a small piece of scaffolding or a 100ft crane nearby a historic landmark i visit. As expected from any architectural feat from the Viennese, it was very grand, and in a way looked like the Royal Crescent in Bath. I sort of wish I had went there in the evening because I can imagine it would be spectacular in lights. Instead we had the mandatory scaffolding and crane, various automobiles scattered around, dozens of horse and carriages complete with manure droppings and obscene smell and the gaggle of tourists. But it wasn't so bad really - i just really like this country :-)

Here on the left, we have some more magnificant scaffolding, with a hint of the Stephansdom, a huge, bad ass gothic cathedral smack in the middle of Vienna. Wanna take a good picture? Sure. See me embrace those awesome metal poles. Want to see the cathedral? No need. Instead, gawp at a piece of sheeting advertising Austrian life insurance.

We also went wandering around a Viennese market, which was packed with a helluva lot of sweet goodies, olives, pasta, cakes and a whole lot more. We bought a tub of mixed olives from the friendly, obviously tourist-accustomed shop keeper, and lingered around, thinking how awesome it would to live here and shop at his place everyday. It was sweltering, so thought we'd pop into a coffee shop and 'do the viennesse coffee' thing, which is taken rather seriously. The expression on my face reads - yeah its alright. Like regular coffee, but the lady who serves it has an Austrian accent. I also had to try a piece of Sachertorte - the single most popular slice of chocolate delight in Austria. It consists of a chocolate sponge cake cut into three layers, between which apricot jam is thickly spread between the layers, and on the top and sides of the cake. The whole cake is then iced with a velvet-like chocolate. Really just is a very sickly chocolate cake with apricot jam wedged in between layers. I had to try it to believe it was that plain. And the slice i had had obviously been in the counter for a good while - rather rock-hard. It was ok, but I was a not very big cake lover (Sian - where were you when i needed you??) so alas, had to leave some of it behind!

My final tourist picture of Vienna. Me in front of the Opera House. As expected, it was absolutely momentous. Like Budapest, it could even afford its own metro stop. How i might have afforded to go in there and watch a proper Viennese orchestra. With my Energie cap, pink vest and rolled up jeans. I remember how this was in the middle of a busy street with many (dissinterested) people waiting for the bus or driving in their cars. Here, i'm either thinking:

a.) Theres nowhere to place my hands so lets wave them in the air frantically

b.) Look at me, I'm Mozart!

c.) Hurry up and TAKE THE DARN PICTURE, I LOOK STUPID!

Now finally, i've taken a makeshift panoramic picture, because i think its a neat way of showing people what its like in a normal street of a foreign country and i swear every place i've been is different. This sort of view shows things from a more everyday point of view rather than your 6 x 4 tourist shots. There are many, many tourists here, but Vienna struck me as one that is both very proud of its elegant heritage, but very modern and taking everyday life in its stride. Basically, it all goes back to what i said previously - they're good, and they know it, and they're cool with milking it. Definitely a great place for anyone to visit. Cakes, music, architecture, shops, scaffolding - what more could you want?

Ok, ignore the lopsided parts where i joined up photos, and the obvious lighting differences, and the mysterious disappearing limbs etc, and look for Mozart!

I do have one regret. I didnt sell out and buy those Mozart Balls.. some more famous chocolates, apparently endorsed by Mozart, or at least his cardboard twin. Someone get me some!

Prague 2006 Part 2

Right, so what else did I go see in Prague?
Aside from taking very many shoddy pictures of the landscape like the one left of Charles Bridge.. (honest, tis!)

Well, if anyone paid attention to the previous post, you may remember that I didnt want to pay for anything that the guidebook recommended that i really didnt much like, so the attractions were really reduced to the free stuff. Yeah, thats right, im cheap, and proud!




Walking around, we did see a few very pretty buildings like the one on the left here, having walked past it many times without knowing what the hell it was. It really was rather out of place, surrounded by drab grey buildings down the street from Hladni Nadrazi, at first glance it looked like something from Arabian Nights.Big, grand and colourful, we saw some people take some pictures in front of it, so my attitude was, being a fellow tourist, screw it if they're doing it, then i should do. I still don't know what it is, so answers on a postcard please.

One can't walk around the centre without passing Municipal house,right, the biggest Art Nouveau building in the city and with a big fat concert hall inside. Aside from the bloody cars parked right outside, it was very aesthetically pleasing and really quite massive.

Just behind Municipal house, we found a credible looking restaurent, which was obviously tailored towards tourists (they had ENGLISH menus), but what the hey we were hungry. I ordered something distinctly Czech and decided, no i didn't really like czech food much. Look at this - now, looks quite tasty to a hungry horse, but the sauce was a bit iffy, the greens rather soggy and the meat had something done to it that i didnt much like. The dumplings, very traditional, i mostly found amusing and novel. The texture was chewy and soft, didnt tase of much to be fair. All in all, it was edible, but I can't say it was one of my best culinary experiences...


Lets take a break from this. I'll show you this picture. Its a picture of the sort of stuff we did spend our money on. Black Light theatre? Not worth it man. Lets spend it on Olives, pate and cheese party cubes! Man those were good times.

On perhaps one of the sweltiest, sweatiest days of our trip, we decided we better and go see Prague Castle cos we ought to, and castles are pretty cool anyway. Despite being the single most prominent attraction in Prague, i still managed to get us lost before we got found it, but lets not go there.

We arrived at the castle from a distinctly different route from much of the tourist traffic, but you know, i wouldnt want to be orthodox. I looked around and asked 'erm, so is this the castle'? I suppose i was expecting massive tall steeples and spires, with goblins and gargoyles, but the building i saw was majestic in size and stature, and it looked more like an estate for very rich people. The views were amazing though - perched, like all good castles, on top of a hill, you could see so much of the city just outside the castle gates. It was so amazing, i completely forgot to take any pictures of it.



I did take plenty inside the castle though - and i have to say it was very impressive. It was like an entire microcosm of society housed inside the castle - including the very grand (trust me, i've seen enough of them) Saint Vitus cathedral that would have been a standalone attraction outside of the castle grounds, no question. EK remarked it was like medieval Disneyland, which was surprisingly accurate.

I think unwittingly, we strolled right through Golden Lane without paying the admission. (At the point of taking the photo, left, EK was convinced it was just some street) Actually, we were arguing whilst walking through it, 'is this Golden Lane?' 'no of course not' 'but that door says GOLDEN LANE!' etc etc. To be fair, i wasn't entirely impressed, it was a charming little alleyway, like living quarters for dwarves, but maybe we were rather incredulous that it was the famous Golden Lane because we didnt think one needed to pay admission to walk through an alleyway. It was cute and all, but apart from the fact it was contained within a castle, t'wasnt all that unique.
After watching the changing of the guard at one of the side gates, ("hehe, look at that one, he's trying not laugh") we followed the crowd and realised we were walking right out of the castle grounds. Oh well, we thought. Again, the views were fantastic so thought it was time for a bit of a pose. I quite like this poto not just for the view but cos I'm striking a pose as if I own the bloody castle. Hee, that would be cool.


Photo of the day however, is right. EK, having identified trendy, possibly gay Italian dude, dared me to get a photo of his tight tight jeans. They were definitely more snug looking in the flesh. Lordly, how his buttocks must have been smothered good with denims like that. Just what is it with Italians and tight jeans?

Prague 2006 part 1

And so, onto Prague! See me standing here, awkwardly, not sure exactly what to do, in Wenceslas Square!

Might I just say that I'd be glad never to take a sleeper train like that ever again. 20 minutes into the journey, which began at around 10pm at night, the whole carriage went entirely pitch black. Alarming enough, what with the Polish train conductor stomping around with his night light muttering and probably swearing under his breath around the corridors, but add to this the well-documented stories of sleeper trains being a favourite spot for thieves and pickpockets, and you get one freaked out Katie. A minor technical difficulty it ain't. Since the conductor didnt seem all that bothered, and thieves had yet to break into our cabin and sieze all our goodies, EK thought the whole thing was 'normal procedure' because it was night time and people wanted to sleep.. or something.. well procedure or not, there wasn't much we could do except for sit alert and stare into darkness, clutching our bags with death grips. Eventually, when the train halted to a stop and the barmy polish conducter flung open our cabin door, gesturing to us crazily to (when the helpful tourist behind him translated), 'get out', pretty much realised it wasnt normal procedure. So we dragged our luggage across the platform at 1am at night where another train was waiting, one which supposedly wouldnt put the fear of god into me 20minutes into the journey. After the train reversed, then advanced, then paused, reversed some more, inched forward, stopped for a ciggie, and played about with its passengers some more, we were on our way bright n early to Prague Hladni Nadrazi, the most BO sodden train station in the western world.

Having arrived from Krakow, might I just say that I was a little bit underwhelmed by Prague. Sure its nice but so was Krakow - its cheap, but I think Poland was cheaper. Still, i didn't regret going there as everyone knows Prague is one of those must-see places in Europe. Apparently. One of the first things we did after dumping our luggage at the hostel (a challenge to get to, even though it was above the train station, as one must encounter stairs lightly fragranced with Eau De L'Urine to get there), was find a place to eat. We found a nice pub sorta place at Namesti Republicky, and being absolutely famished and parched, i had some of that Czech Pilsner (left, voila) as well as a not so czech steak and chips. My, they certainly know how to do steak and chips. EK thought she'd try the 'Czech coke'. which basically tastes like coke but after someone had casually dipped their dirty socks in it.

I should say i'm slightly biased against my experience of Prague because it was so incredibly hot sticky and humid when we got there. I hadn't experienced anything so stifling this side of the world, so it rather dampened my spirits for the first couple of days.

I honestly can't remember what we went to do for each of the five days we were there, so this is all in some random order. We made sure we saw all the sights that needed seeing, and most importantly, were FREE :)

Firstly, that astronomical clock business. Now just what is that about? A nice pretty clock, granted, but hoardes of tourist arching their neck upwards every hour to catch some little wooden figure pop their heads out, jiggle about a bit and then head back into the clock? Honestly, was that it? I think the wonder of the clock is that so many people still wait patiently to see that abysmal show, despite its rather poor offering.

The main square itself seemed nice, apart from the World Cup was on so they erected a jumbovision screen there, and we had dozens of people sitting on the floors, many of them beggers with carrier bags for shoes enjoying the free show. Such a shame that such gothic magnificence is overshadowed by paunches and beer bellies and lads out on stag nights.

We wanted to catch a black light show, but nothing really caught our eye that was worth our money as it wasnt massively cheap, so unless we went just to see some bloke in a luminous spandex costume prance around, we thought we'd better spend our money elsewhere.

Charles Bridge, which although infested with snap-happy tourists, is actually quite nice and gives great views of the city. In my view, its always good to get there around sunset or night, where its cooler, less infested and the bridge lights up. The other side of Charles Bridge is also nice too, with narrow cobbled streets, pubs, eateries and little tourist stalls, which, lets face, it, is quite reassuring in some way.

Though i have no photo for proof, EK and I were stopped by an Italian and his buddies who kneeled before us, told us he was getting married in Prague this week and whether we could scribble some messages on his arms to wish him luck. EK took his pen and wrote something like 'Congratulations on your wedding - stay loyal - good for girls..', and we both gave him a kiss on the cheek to send him off.

Somewhere on the bridge, there was a statue which everybody seemed to stop at, gawk at, turn their heads at a funny angle at, and watch as somebody stepped up to touch or rub the base. Well, since it looked like everybody was having such a good time doing so, we decided to join in. Nobody knew why everyone else was doing it, seemingly. I've just googled it and turns out people rub it for.. good luck. What a riveting story.

On the other side of Charles Bridge, we stopped at a place for a drink and rest. It was dingy, slightly hidden and the toilet was an outhouse that reeked of pee and had no ceiling light, but it was cosy and we liked it. Thought we would try the absinthe there, (60-70% alcohol depending on what type) since for EK its illegal in Singapore, it was cheap, and its pretty hard to get in UK.

Displaying quite a lot of ignorance, we took up the bartenders offer of exactly how to drink the stuff. So, evidently what you do is tip some sugar into your spoon, and dip it into the absinthe so it soaks up. Take your lighter and burn that sugar gooood, til it caramelises and then light up that absinthe. Stare in awe at how cool the whole thing is, then blow out the flame, stir and enjoy. (Just kept reminding me of that Simpsons Episode with the 'flaming moe' drink) And even though it tastes like poor alcohol, its not actually too bad, and i didnt even get drunk at the end of it! Showing more wuss than bravery though, we did order a cup of tea to go with it.

Still got one more Prague blog in me to cover czech food and Prague Castle, but will leave it to another night :)

Europe: 33% conquered

Evidence that despite my travels, there is still 66.6% of europe to go, much of which i think i shan't bother with. Still, a third is rather credible.. quite pleased with myself :-) now to conquer more ambitious territories..
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Polska 2006 (part II: Krakow and Auschswitz)

Krakow, Poland


Arriving into Krakow, it was very refreshing and different from Warsaw, as one would imagine. Everything here seemed a little more rustic and medieval. Left is the main square 'Rynek Glowny' - the biggest medieval square left in Europe. Although there were tourists around, I didnt think it was at all as crowded and annoying as the prague crowds. Rather, it was relaxing and inviting. There were musicians around, adding some nice chirpy central european tunes to the atmosphere. The square was lined with cafes and bars as well as high street stores. Away from Rynek, there were still boutiques and shops around on cobbled streets, but with definitely more kebab shops and hell for those prices we werent complaining. (We had around four or five kebabs during our time there, they cost roughly £1 and tasted delish..)

I like the polish locals. Theyre not rude towards foreigners, they just get on with it and help you out if you ask for it. Whilst this is obviously vague and rather generalised, I spent a little over a week in Poland and got a great impression of the Poles during this time and Poland actually has a little space in my heart now for the time i spent there :)

On the right is me smirking and showcasing my Flying Trips to Central Europe book, which was in effect my bible for the journey. The backdrop is Rynek Glowny market, inside the central corridor of the great big building you see in the first picture. Quite interesting inside though they do sell the basic tourist stuff - souvenirs, rugs, embroidery and jewellery. I'm told Polish amber is not bad either, and there's plenty of that stuff here too.

EK here is checking out the mass of jewellery this ole lady has compiled for herself at her shop, looking for something for her mama. EK told me specifically to get the authentic polish person in the picture.

Me outside Krakow Castle on the right. Since we're cheap, and not entirely interested, we didnt actually go in. More put off by the big bloody hill one has to climb before reaching the entrance, and even then you have to enquire to see how many tickets are available for the day. So yup, cheap pic it is.

You can't go to poland and not talk about the vodka. Hence turn your attention to the left and say hello to Wyborowa, a dry pure vodka invention that is 100% polish and nice and crisp too. I've since found out i'm not as lightweight as some, so ok it makes me tipsy but diluting with juices and such to make cocktails makes it better.

Basically, i really really liked krakow. I had a relaxing time there, things were cheap and delicious, its rather beautiful and and Poles are cool.



Auschswitz , Poland
Since we were so near, and i really wanted to go, we reserved half a day to visit Auschswitz, which was about an hour west of Krakow as I recall. I was fascinated about what was in the guidebook - in Birkenau (the larger camp near Auschswitz) for instance, the 70% of arrivals who were deemed unfit for labour were gassed amost immediately, whilst the 'lucky' 30% were worked to death in labour camps, wearing uniforms with badges that illustrated their 'crime' (e.g. a pink triangle indicated homosexuality),with ID numbers tattooed on their arms. Any chance a guard got to punish or kill a prisoner, they took quite readily, and sometimes with false assumptions. The plaque you see on the left says: The corpses of prisoners shot while trying to escape were displayed here as warning to others.



If someone told a guard you had stolen an apple, you'd be shot at the Wall of Death. When the camp was liberated, the soldiers did what they could to burn buildings that housed gassing chambers and destroyed the wall. Today, a small section of the wall has been rebuilt in honour of the hundreds who were made to march there and wait for the bullet to hit the back of their head.


The entrance to the camp below is marked by a gate that bore the words Arbeit Macht Frei - work makes you free - which was of course, a big load of pap but anyway. Its strange to imagine the thousands of prisoners who were forced through those gates, gazing up at those very words as if they believed them.






Literally the entire camp was open to us, a block of red brick buildings that housed different purposes, a corridor by Block 11 (the Death Block) which contained the wall of death, the prisoner cells (pitch black, with the worse ones where it was too narrow to even sit) and the crematorium (a small concrete block with a chimney). Inside there, you could walk amongst the furnaces and if crude enough, peer inside to see dark ashes. There were pulleys on the floor to help quicken the process of transferring corpses into the fire. On the pic above, is just me, walking through the camp, where you couldnt believe, especially on a sunny day that this place was once the epitomy of cruel inhuman sadism that you read about.

I had many more pictures but not on this camera, of the displays in the buildings. Housed in sections were collections of spectacles, shoes, suitcases (surreal to read the name and addresses of all these people scrawled on the fronts of the suitcases) pots and pans, combs, and even wooden legs, all bundled separately into window displays. The soldiers took all these things from the prisoners upon arrival, tattooed them, shaved their heads and 'disinfected' them for work. In several buildings, the corridors were eearily lined with framed mug shot photographs of all the known prisoners including names. All of their expressions were emotionless, though some even managed a small smile i thought. Its not half creepy to have so many eyes on you, knowing what happened to them.

By the time I had finished with the Auschswitz camp, i felt so depressed, sombre and quite frankly, itchy, that I reaaly couldnt hack taking a look at the bigger Birkenau camp. So instead we just caught the bus back to Krakow, sheesh.

Having said all of that, it really is fascinating and amazing, especially considering how much access they let tourists have to the camp. The camp is free to enter, basically out of respect to the prisoners who suffered so much there. Everything you see is so intensely morbid and, if you think about it more and more, rather sick, that it fills you with both disgust and a sense of incredulous surrealism that this all actually happened, the nazis actually did all of this, and it was for real. I highly highly recommend a visit here, if just to appreciate how good we have it in our everyday lives.

Polska 2006

What better way to celebrate the end of your degree, but by getting the hell outta there and flee to central europe. My fat friend EK is also finishing up her time in Europe, so in order to max out her time here before returning to her home country, she and I decided on the most student friendly travel route in europe to go on, as a nice way to finish off the year. When i say student friendly, i refer to EK's general passion for cheap things, hence central europe seemed a smart choice.

I just got back yesterday to Bath, very tired and wish to live life as a solitary but happy little hermit in my room, avoiding the godforsaken sun that has revelled joyfully in punishing me the last couple of weeks.

So of course i will blog about my travel. Right now im a little withered, very tanned (a lot of it against my will, watch my mum rant at me for my abnormally dark skin at graduation) but twas great fun, even though at times it was tiring and incredibly hot and stuffy over there. Don't regret any of it (apart from booking three different things for 'july' not 'june'...and also for deleting over one hundred of EK's pictures by accident..) so here I live to tell the tale and show off some pictures :-) first off, the wonderful and surprising place that is Poland!

Warsaw, Polska 2006

Warsaw was very surprising for me. EK even commented that it seemed even more modern than Singapore, and in some aspects it is. On the right is a pic of me in Stare Miasto which is the old town. its more touristy here than anywhere else, cos other areas are tall commercial buildings, department stores and shopping boulevards. Despite all that, everything remains dead cheap, more so than prague, and you get to eat like a queen on a good budget. Its strange considering that walking through some streets, it feels very upmarket and cosmopolitan, boutiques and cafes teeming everywhere.



The traditional staple food which all Poles cannot do without is Pierogi. Its a sort of dumpling with al kinds of filling insides, ranging from cheese, meat, to god knows what. As you can perhaps gather from the look on my face, its pretty nice as well, especially served with 'extra fat' which we can see in the fatboat on the left. On the right is a close up of the good stuff.. i think this one is crammed with meat, which is the heartiest and yummiest type of pierogi. With extra fat smothered on top of course.












Another thing that Poles love, is their space. By that i mean they love parks, green spots, places where they can chill and rollerblade or just sit and relax. This park here is one of the biggest in Warsaw if not the biggest, it has a fountain in middle and a walkway bordered by sculptures of people i've frankly never heard of.


When we were in Poland, we met and were shown round by EK's friend Ewa. She took us to the famous E.Wedel cafe, where they have a multitude of drinking chocolates to choose from. That place is crazy, death by chocolate can't be far away.

Ewa was very keen to show us a typical polish village, so we went to her boyfriend's place, who's family were very keen to acommodate us. The great thing about it is that they own a huuuuge cherry farm. Heaven that grows on trees. Unfortunately it was a few weeks too early for us to indulge but hey that didn't stop us. The family were even nice enough to pick a whole bag of cherries for us to take on our journey!

We finished off our trip to the cherry farm with some homemade cherry wine which we drunk in small shot glasses, sweet and strong but good and warm. Check out me and Ewa enjoying the drink right.



After our little glee on the cherry farm, Ewa let us crash at her place for a night in Radom, an hour or so from Warsaw in a nice little suburb. Her mother cooked us up a huge filling polish dinner with at least three different sorts of meats, which is v popular in those parts. On the left is Ewa, me and Suno, a Japanese visitor who was also a friend of Ewa.

I need to mention the dog. It was an adorable and very excitable dachshund, which thundered around the house on its little stumpy legs. EK, who is not the most eager fans of dogs, said you could hear it bolting across the floorboards towards you a mile away. And it scared her, haha.






Family pic on the right, just before we went to catch the Krakow train. EK especially wanted to stand next to Ewa's mum, because of the sheer cooking amazingness she conjured up the night before. Check out the sausage dog. Adorable, right?

So goodbyes all around and then off to catch our train to the south of poland, to Krakow, which I have to admit may have been my favourite city of the trip. So, another blog then..