Monday, July 19, 2010

June 9th, 2010 Warsaw and Krakow, Poland


7AM I arrived at Warsaw.  I first asked people where the city center is and they told me it is where I was standing.  Having very low expectations for this city, I was perhaps just a little disappointed because it had nothing.  But I insisted on going to a couple of pedestrain streets and people pointed out a few that were a couple of kms away.
Train Tracks at Warsaw

9AM I changed money with a couple of nice ladies and got around 25 PLNs.   I got to their old town, whi ch I discovered to be an old war site, where President Eisenhower walked before.  It was pretty and it did turn out better than expected.


10AM I planned to leave but could not resist on going up this iconic building bestowed by the Soviets.  There are musems and cinemas inside.  I went to the 30th floor and a musem on the 6th and 1st floor about earth (15 PLNs).
 Wedding at Old Town, Warsaw

 View from the Top

11:29AM I left on a train to Krakow.  I am not sure if there is supposed to be a tarriff but let us hope not because I have only got 2 PLNs left.
3PM I met this nice girl on the train who changed 21 PLNs for 5 EURs with me as I realized that 2 PLNs was not going to be enough for the rest of the day.  The train sat on the countryside for 1 hour.  Delayed, I did not get to Krakow until 4 in the afternoon.

4PM Krakow was especially nice, with a square that is very reminescent of St. Marco’s Square in Venice.  While it also has a castle, whose view is not impressive.  I met this other nice girl Beata who recommended me Pierog, which is Polish dumplings,  for dinner.

7PM I met up with Michal and had Pierogi for dinner (8.4 PLNs or <2 EURs).  I just gave him 2 EURs.  Afterward, he treated me to an ice cream (I gave him 1 PLN, which is all I had left).
9PM It is getting very hot in Europe and I needed liquid.  I found another nice Serbian couple to change 2 EURs into 10 PLNs with me.  That seems to be the pattern here. Next,  I had another liter of Pepsi for 3.89 PLNs.  I then got back to the train station and took about 10 minutes to change rest of my money into EURs with a Japanese guy.  We finally finished dealing and got juices for each of us.
 Wedding in Old Town, Krakow
Polish Pizza

10:11PM My train left for Prague.  Now is really when we need air conditioning and it is non-existent in Eastern Europe.  Tip to self, do not travel to Europe in July and August.  It is like Vietnam.

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