Peace, Love, and Lutefisk: Adventures i Norge

the music is thumping and the din of conversation between backpackers and people who travel even more randomly than me fills the air...good times at nathan's villa hostel in krakow! that's right! marjaana and i decided to use our extra time in poland for a whirlwind tour. we took an 8 hour train ride from gdansk poland south through warsaw, to krakow, near the southern border of poland. it is truly an amazing city and the entire experience has been even better because of the great place we're staying. (you can look up the website if you want to see it!)

yesterday we got in about 5pm and we're so happy to b e somewhere alive with people. we were in the kitchen only five minutes before we were meeting new friends and hearing stories from all over the world. it really gets you excited to travel! we headed out to check the town out and had some indian food, which i have been craving for months! then back to the hostel and into the catacombs. something really cool about krakow is that it is incredibly old! one of the only cities in poland to avoid destruction during wwii. anyways, this hostel like many places has an underground catacombs where the cool stuff really is. here they have a bar and a great 'movie theatre' with a big flat screen, speakers and a choice of dvds. you get to watch it while in a brick arched room that seems like something out of an old mystery movie. anyways, we went to the bar and met some more people and got the true krakow experience, going out with locals and meeting some fun british guys who i chatted with for hours while marjaana danced with a gay brazilian guy who was dating one of the brits. random and fun!

today was even more incredible. we were just looking around downtown and asked this nice looking polish lady how to get to the schindler factory as seen in schindler's list. telling us how to get there however was not enough. this lady, her husband, and two kids drove us there, came into the museum with us, gave the security guard a 'thank you present' for specially opening the museum for us (some may call it a bribe), and translated as much as they could for us . they were truly incredible people. the type that make you glad that you travel and that give you hope for the ultimate goodness in people. after a great afternoon with them, marjaana and i walked back to the hostel and settled in for a movie in the catacombs. it was a beautiful day here with the sun shining and probably 45 degrees farenheit out! perfect. add a castle here and there and you have a great recipe for fun!

we are headed to auswitch (sorry about the spelling) tomorrow and then taking a train to warsaw where we will spend the night. then we will get up early on tuesday and take the train the rest of the way to gdansk where we will fly back from. i'm really glad we came here and feel like i have a much better feel for poland, the country-side (which is remarkably like south dakota), and the people who thus far have been extremely warm and welcoming. have to get off the computer so someone else can use it. off to read a bit before some chinese food! yum!