Warsaw

There is so much to say, and I don't think I'll be able to accurately convey how great the past couple of weeks have been.

Swan Lake was such a gorgeous ballet and the opera house was just as beautiful. We ended up buying tickets for the opera, La Boheme, the next week. The glassblowing trip was also fun- we were able to make our own vases and watch the artists at work for a while.

Glassblowing

Classes flew by last week because I was so excited for our trip to Poland. Six of us left Thursday on a night bus from Prague and 12 hours later arrived in Warsaw. It was only 9 AM and we couldn't check into our hostel until 3 so we spent the first day wandering. We got doughnuts at a cafe on Nowy Swiat street, which, as multiple people told us while we were there, is the "most representative street of Warsaw." From there, we walked until we reached Old Town and then explored that area. Snow was coming down lightly all day and made Warsaw look even more beautiful. We couldn't go the whole first day in Poland without pierogi so we stopped in a restaurant to have some for lunch. By 5 or so we were exhausted- none of us had gotten much sleep on the bus ride there- so we headed to our hostel. I had made plans earlier to meet Peter's (my boyfriend's) cousins who live in Warsaw that night. Dominika, Zuza, and Filip, who are all around my age, picked us up from the hostel at 9 and took us to a cute bar/cafe on Nowy Swiat. We had a really great time with them, and they invited us to a party at their friend's house the next night. So after a few beers and a lot of good conversation, we headed back to Hostel Krokodyl for a short night's sleep.

Old Town

Our first stop the next day was Palace on the Water which is a wonderful park/palace complex with the friendliest wildlife you will ever meet. At one point, a squirrel was sitting so close to us and staring at us so we started to inch closer to take pictures. Then, the prettiest bird perched on a branch right next to us at eye level. We were distracted for a brief second by the bird when the squirrel took a flying leap on to my friend's thigh. We were not prepared for that, nor for the multiplicity of peacocks strolling around so closely to people. It was really quite strange. The palace itself was a romanesque building situated on a lake with bridges and outbuildings all around. I'd love to go back in the summer. After the park, we had lunch at another small cafe (more pierogi), and then went to the Warsaw Uprising Museum. The museum was extremely well put together, and just as depressing as you can imagine. There was a short 3D film that showed an aerial view of Warsaw after it was demolished in World War II. Over half of the population was wiped out, and the entire city center was destroyed. The amount of work put into rebuilding Warsaw is absolutely incredible.

Palace on the Water

Later that night, Peter's cousins picked us up again from the hostel and drove us to their friends house. The party was in the basement, which was actually a Lamaze studio that his parents owned. It was pretty strange to see pictures of babies everywhere and dance on a cushion floor surrounded by beanbag chairs and bouncy balls and shelves lined with baby dolls, but hilariously fitting in comparison to all the other odd things that happened during this trip (i.e. Snow White-esque wildlife experience). All of our new friends at the party welcomed us with Polish vodka shots and the rest of the night was filled with dancing and lively conversation. And not American club style dancing, but Samba ballroom style. Everyone knew how to dance and everyone was amazing at it. It was one of the best nights I have had in the past month abroad.

We were so sad to leave Warsaw the next day. Everyone we had met in the city had been so kind to us- the waiters, strangers on the street, everyone at the party. It was a huge contrast to the way people seem in Prague. We visited the Wilanow Palace on Sunday, which is known as the Polish Versailles. Then we headed to catch the Polskibus back to Prague.

One last story to complete the trip:
The bus had no bathroom, so it would stop every 3 or 4 hours for a break. The first stop on the way home however, 4 hours in, had no bathroom. So everyone is filing off the bus, scattering to corners of this truck stop parking lot at midnight, and everyone knows what everyone else is doing. (Why would a bus with no bathroom stop at a rest stop with no bathroom??!) I find a dark place behind a semi with 2 of my friends, and a Polish woman comes around the truck, looks at us, we look back awkwardly, and she says, "Ok, I will join." And that was that, she squatted down right next to me and we all finished and never saw each other again.

Until next time, Poland.