Warsaw and Krakow

Last month my friend Sam came to see me. Sam is studying in Turkey this semester and like me, loves to travel. Sam had one caveat when coming to see me, that we go to another country, so I managed to convince her to go to Poland for six days.

I had been to Poland a few years ago, while on a class trip with my classmates from Slovakia. We visited Krakow, and saw the beautiful old city and Auschwitz concentration camp, which is not very faw from Krakow. But I always wanted to go back and to see Warsaw and lucky for me, my friend Sam was game. 

I met Sam in Kyiv on Easter Sunday and we took an overnight train to Warsaw. In Warsaw we stayed with a really nice guy named Pawel, who like me is an English Teacher. Pawel was really great and showed us the town and introduced us to his friends. We saw the very beautifully restored old town, the famous Palace of Culture that was "a gift" to the people of Warsaw from Stalin, and a really cool poster museum. Sam and I also throughly enjoyed the mall and had some very good perogies. 

The Palace of Culture in Warsaw

We then travled to Krakow, which is only a four hour train ride from Warsaw. Krakow is the old capital of the Polish empire and is famous for its architecture, salt mine, and Venetian market where you can buy lots of amber, which we did. Unbeknowst to Sam and I , we were in Krakow at the same time as the Beautification of John Paul II, the former archbishop of Krakow. Although the ceremony took place in Vatican City, thecity of Krakow had flags and pictures of John Paul everywhere in honor of his canidacy to sainthood.

The Venetian Market in Krakow, where they have lots and lots of amber

This time in Krakow, I saw the famous Wieliczka Salt Mines, which includes a very beautfiul underground cathedral. We ledt Krakow and headed back to Ukraine, to see Kyiv for a day before Sam went back to Turkey and I went back to Konstantinovka. It was rallly great of Sam to come and see me and I hope that many more of you do.