Podoba mi się...

"I like..."

As the previous post notes, I had an amazing time in Wroclaw. Podoba mi się tego miasta. It was my meetup with the sons of my mother's childhood friend in Poland. I left Warsaw on Friday morning for a train trip that was about 6 hours long. I had a very nice ticket clerk fellow who told me that I paid too much for a ticket because it was only reduced by age group and could be even cheaper for student price. He also told me to sit in the pregnant/child/baby cabin again. :-P Because of this, I had an interesting experience with a strange family that spoke Polish and some other weird language. There were two parents and one baby, which called me "Ga" more than once. She even said some "words" that were almost English-sounding words, but only through baby gibberish. She was not so well-behaved and had a bad habit of kicking bags, people, and other objects; she (well, could have been a he...) nearly broke her father's phone more than once. At one point the girl (?) dropped part of the phone under the seat and the father seemed a bit short tempered. It was a strange family to be with during the trip, but it could be worse. I had a seat. There was one man with us for a little while and later two militaristic-looking fellows came in for the remainder of the trip. I received a text from one of the people I was meeting and did not have enough money on my cell phone to reply. I used my "witch powers" to summon my mother to call me, even though I had spoken to her the day before and she said she would not call again until Sunday, and she did! Because of that, she was able to be a conduit of sorts between me and the people I was meeting. I made it to Wroclaw Glowny around 715 (I was supposed to be there at maybe almost 7 :-/). I was called shortly before making it there to hear that my "princes" (my word, not theirs) were waiting for me at the station. This station, similar to the main one in Warsaw from which I had come, is under a lot of construction. This makes finding the right platform difficult. I found my friends waiting for me on the platform and we headed to their apartment. There, I was given a bed to sleep in and gave gifts before we headed to the movie theatre at the nearby mall for "Sucker Punch" (it was OK) and then we walked around Wroclaw some (saw some neat sites: the rynek, some of the university buildings, etc.) before stopping at a little pub/cafe for mulled beer: warm, spiced with cinnamon. When we finished the drinks and chatting, we headed back to their apartment around 2am. The next day we had breakfast and decided to go to the National Museum there since it was raining (original plan was to see the zoo). Most of the museum's exhibits are free on Saturday, so we walked around and saw some great art and treasures. We took some pictures outside the museum and around the city; there were interesting churches, buildings, monuments, and even a bridge that has a romantic tradition: people in relationships can put locks on the bridge as a sign of importance to their relationship. It was cute and very original. We went out to lunch at a cute little cafe/restaurant that one of the guys recommended. I had a salad with chicken, hard-boiled egg, dressing, potato wedges, and assorted salad vegetables (lettuce, tomato, etc.) It was good. The guys had barszcz soup with dumplings and meals that included fried fish for one, fried chicken for the other that came with fries and coleslaw, sliced carrots, and beets. After that, we headed back to their apartment to chat while two of us had coffee. Later on, we went to see "The King's Speech" (it was very good and we agreed Colin Firth deserved his Oscar) and then stopped at a grocery store for some items. We then went off to our rooms for some computer time and then bed. Sunday we pretty much had breakfast and talked until we had to go to the train station around 3:30pm for my 4pm train. It was nice how one of them handled my pulling suitcase (packing with my backpack failed, sadly) on both occasions of going to and from the station and then they both wanted to come on the train to bring my luggage on and find me a seat. It was rushed at the end because the train was about to leave and they both had to hurry off so that they did not end up riding the train for a bit. They waved to me from the window and I was off for a long train ride. I was SO sad to go and I did not expect this strong reaction. Maybe it was lady hormones, who knows. I did not do much on the train other than look out the window and listen to music. I made it back at almost 11pm and took a tram and walk back to my dorm before telling my mother and the guys I made it back to Warsaw okay. Unfortunately, I also came home to an email for a reading assignment. :-/ I also felt the effects of "train lag" (what form of travel does not have it? I have had it from planes, cars, boats...)

Today (weather being sunny and only a bit chilly and windy) I had three classes (stopped by the vegetarian quick service restaurant VEGA for some tomato soup (with other vegetables) and salads (one cabbage with pumpkin and sunflower seeds, one with green beans, red peppers (blah), tofu, peas, chickpeas, and sauce, and a third with red cabbage and raisins) in between Polish and history) and then did some laundry (only had one machine open, so I still have dirty clothes leftover... but as long as I did some I can always do more another day this week). I skyped with my sister and now I have some reading before bed. Ballet on Wednesday! Our Jewish class may take a trip to tour the Jewish cemetery next Tuesday.