Krakow, Poland

In my last post I promised to dedicate a post strictly to mine and Jesse's trip to Poland.  I also believe that I said to check back in a few days for it. It's been more than a few days, but here is the post that I promised.

Ukraine is fortunate enough to be surrounded by some extremely beautiful countries.  One of them is Poland.  Since we began dating almost a year and half ago (yay!), Jesse and I had been planning on visiting Poland, specifically Krakow.  Because of a lack of vacation days on my part and an extremely difficult counterpart on his, we didn't know if this was going to be able to happen.  We were also having some difficulty figuring out the best/inexpensive way to get there.  Thanks to the New Year's holidays and a generous Christmas gift from my parents, we were able to make our Polish adventure happen.

We decided to book tickets on a fancy international train that would take us from Lviv (Western Ukraine) all the way to Krakow.  Of course this meant taking a trip from Kiev to Lviv (around 10 hours) first.  We arrived in Lviv with a day to kill, so we spent it wondering around the city and trying to see things that we didn't get a chance to see when we went last year.  This included the Harry Potter restaurant which is actually called "The Three Broomsticks".  We had heard that it was really expensive, so we only went in for a beer and a snack.   Later that evening, we ate at a Tex Mex bbq place owned by an American.  We filled up on decent (for Ukraine) enchiladas and burritos before heading back to the train station to catch our fancy pants international train.

My love and I in Lviv

It turns out that Lil' Sebastian isn't dead.  He's in Lviv!

The Three Broomsticks

 After having traveled in cramped buses and smelly soviet-era trains for two years, we felt like high class folks on the international train.  Beds with soft sheets and complimentary snacks?!?  We were in heaven.  Unfortunately that heaven was interrupted at around 1 a.m. when we were woken up by Ukrainian and Polish customs.  After an intense hour of customs, we were able to sleep for a few more hours before arriving to Krakow at six a.m..

It's sad that our train beds were more comfortable than our
beds at our apartments.

Jesse modeling our complimentary snacks

We got off the train tired, but excited.  Even in the dark, the city was beautiful.  Thanks to Jesse's keen sense of direction, we reached our hostel in no time.  We stayed at the retro and conveniently located Goodbye Lenin hostel.  We were greeted by friendly Polish 20 somethings and a complimentary breakfast.  Even though we were exhausted, we got ready and headed into the city.  Our hostel was only minutes from some of the most popular attractions including Market Square, Cloth Hall, and a lot of gorgeous churches.  Not only that, but everywhere we looked was some sort of delicious bakery or restaurant.  We were in heaven.

Cloth Hall

Jesse and a famous statue in Market Square

Beautiful church

Tasty Polish food

Enjoying his first Subway in two years

Jesse was convinced that these statues were dancing

Feasting on popcorn before seeing The Hobbit

Old Jewish Cemetery 

Outside of a church in the old Jewish quarters

Lovely steeples on a sunny day

Wawel Cathedral

We spent our short vacation (only 3 days) sightseeing, eating, and simply enjoying being away from the stresses and frustrations of life as volunteers in Ukraine.  Of course the trip couldn't last forever, and we headed back home with heavy bellies and happy hearts after a wonderful vacation.  If given the opportunity, I don't think either of us would say no to another trip to Krakow.  The sights were beautiful, the food was delicious, and the people were friendly.  Krakow, you get an A+ in our book.

-Jesse and I were fortunate enough to be able to take a tour of Auschwitz.  It being such a historical and heartbreaking place, I think it's worthy of it's own post.