Dancing Shoes

The ballet of 'Cinderella' was great [http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/Default.aspx?jz=cz&dk=predstaveni.aspx&sz=299&sb=3&ic=5535]. The dancing, dancers, music, story, and theatre were all wonderful. I liked the costumes more seeing 'Anna Karenina,' but this performance had great dancing, acting, and I knew the story better, of course (but it was changed a bit in interesting ways, such as the use of a fairy that was really Cinderella's dead mother, rather than a fairy godmother; the father and mother were a lot more involved, and so was the fairy for that matter. Cinderella knew her future before she left for the ball and there was a lot more mourning for her mother. There was a search for a foot using a picture rather than using a lost slipper. Cinderella's parents were heavily involved in the storyline and the prince did a lot more work - more traveling and temptations - to find his love again). And tons of glitter, but no mice or pumpkin carriage or glass slippers (only glittery feet and her mother's dress). I was happy to go since the location was so beautiful and this has been one of my favorite performances since coming to Europe. Pictures of the theatre will be added soon... Tomorrow we head to Germany!

The End Has No End

Quick note since I have sunshine outside I need to enjoy and some packing, so I just wanted to jot down some quick points of the last day or so. I took the Polish exam and then went out for a bit. I checked out the Warsaw University Library (garden and rooftop). Not only gorgeous, but amazing views. After that, I went to the cytadel area before heading back to the dorm for a few minutes. A little after 5PM, I went to Old Town, where we all met for dinner at POLKA [http://www.restauracjapolka.pl/en]. I had some broth soup with noodles (rosol) and a salad with neat tomato sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and the famous Zakopane OSCYPEK (smoked cheese), which was grilled on some small pieces of bread. This was my first time having the cheese since I was a bit nervous based on the testimonials of others. :-P It was not terrible, but WAY too salty and the smokiness was not too bad; I had the main issue that our director has with it: the salt. We gave our program directors flowers and cards. In exchange, we were given tote bags with gifts inside (krowki - Polish butter caramel candies - in a tin and SGH pin and pen and yo-yo), in addition to a whole several course dinner with champagne toast. After a long dinner, the whole group when to the SGH student club, PARK. (Terrible beer comes with the entry free... the beer was worse than I remember when I had a few sips a couple of months ago...) Today I am about the head out for lunch and I receive guests very soon! :-D

Some photos added to Photobucket. :)

Source Code

Have not written since Tuesday, so I have some bits to fill in from the last few days in Krakow. On Wednesday, we went on a trip around Wawel Castle - the royal tombs, rooms full of weaponry (I was pretty interested in the weapons, especially the swords...), the castle itself (where, in one room, people wore period clothes and sang or used archaic instruments to perform a song), and the cathedral. It was really nice, but sadly no pictures were allowed of most of it. :-/ After the tour, I had my first Krakowian pretzel (obwarzanek; it had a mixture of seeds and such on it) and a vegetarian kebab (basically a regular kebab without meat or cheese or falafel - so lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, tahini-like sauce in a roll). I walked around the city a bit (including going back to a famous store for my family - a deli in the rynek that has candies on one wall and alcohol on the other). For dinner, I went to a place called MOMO (it is an eco vegetarian bar), where I had a miso soup with mixed vegetables and a plate with rice, beans and onions in a sauce, spinach and tofu, and zucchini and broccoli in a sauce (the best of the three; I liked it a lot). After dinner, we all met up for a string concert at a church near the hotel. The music included pieces by Handel, Vivaldi, Chopin, and Mozart. It was really nice. On Thursday, I went out for a walk and saw a monument for a famous Polish battle and then walked a bit at a mall and around the city before taking our group bus to Oswiecim/Auschwitz. This second time at the death camp, for me, was interesting since last time I did not watch the video shown to tourists. We also had two great guides - the one from the museum and our program director (who had previously worked as a guide at the camp years ago as a summer job when still at university). I learned a lot more and had another chance to look at the camp. I did not mind going again to experience it with different people and to learn some new or additional information. Thursday night included a little going out at night to dance and to see the city when it's dark. :-P On Friday, we went on a tour of Kazimierz, the Jewish area of Krakow. The tour included a few synagogues and a cemetery (I also saw a more recent Jewish cemetery later on after I went to the nearby mall). After the mall, we all met up at the restaurant at our hotel (http://www.podwawelem.eu/), where I had some barszcz with dumplings and an oriental salad with shrimp, before catching a train ride back to Warsaw. Since then I have been relaxing since I have more "travel lag" with fatigue and aching muscles. This has led to 24 hours of nothing. I have some schoolwork to accomplish and I am in the middle of catching up on TV shows and movies I have been meaning to see or missed recently. The weather today and tomorrow are not the best for going outside a lot, so at least I do not have to feel very guilty about not leaving much. School starts again on Monday for our final two weeks!

Photos added: http://photobucket.com/kab1221

Time

Some quick info about what my program did on May 2, Polish Flag Day. Yesterday was a neat tour of Krakow. I was especially happy to visit places I had never visited including parts of Jagiellionian University and a couple of really nice churches. After the touring, most of us went to an English-language bookstore. I was very tempted to pick up a couple of books in English by Polish authors... but decided against it to save money and because of future issues with packing. It was after this shop that I headed to Cupcake Corner [http://cupcakecorner.pl/en/] with a few others and I had a carrot cake cupcake. I followed this with some snacks at the room, where I relaxed, did yoga, and went on the Internet for a bit before we all met up to go to dinner at Wesele [http://www.weselerestauracja.pl/]. I had some borscht soup with meat "little ear" dumplings in it, a little of the table bread (not horrible, but not the best of breads), a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, orange slices, duck, pistachios, and dressing, and a bit of two sorbets (lemon and raspberry) with hot tea on the side. After dinner, I hung around with the other students in a room two of them share (we all stayed in the living room area to be together and celebrate "America," as some of them announced, upon hearing news of Osama's demise... even listening to patriotic music, which include "America, F*** Yeah!" that had already been somewhat in my head from the other students talking about the news and their excitement) and then we went to a few clubs. Right now I am preparing for breakfast and then we are off to tour Wieliczka Salt Mine before free time and then dinner (at Miod Malina: http://www.miodmalina.pl/) in the evening. Tomorrow we will be back to touring Krakow when we see different parts of Wawel Castle. (Thursday includes Auschwitz and a performance of classical string music at a church near our hotel; Friday is touring a historically Jewish part of the city before departing).

Lublin Tour has been updated to Friday-Saturday May 13-14. We all visit the Presidential Palace that Monday (May 16).

Photos soon.

Kim i Kraków

Enjoying being back in Kraków. :) Forgot how much I really like it here. Yesterday, we had a train ride that was about 3 hours, so it went by very quickly. We checked in to our hotel (it is very close to the Wawel castle; I am sharing a pretty big room with a sitting area, TV, desk, two double beds, and balcony with view of adjacent walkway. Unfortunately I now smell a weird smell... so my only issue may be my bed. :-P There is also a very awkward "maze" to make it to the rooms and there is construction going on inside the hotel.) Yesterday, we had an Italian dinner at Da Pietro: http://www.dapietro.pl/ I had fish soup, a salad with capers, smoked salmon, hard-boiled eggs, olives, lettuce, and tomatoes, and a dessert of ice cream, strawberry sauce, fruit, and whipped cream (that I tried to skip around :-/ ).

After dinner, I walked around the rynek here (including taking photos or looking at stages, and several other displays and decorations for Constitution day on May 3 and for Pope Jan Pawel's II beatification; a lot of people and celebration here in the city for the long weekend and Pope): some streets, the Sukiennice, and area between the Old Town and the hotel. I went back to my room when the sun went down and hung around my room and other people's rooms before we went out for a bit (dancing and such). Now I am resting before going to breakfast and our first tour session of Collegium Maius (never been), back to the Sukiennice and Main Square (LOVE), and a couple of churches (also never been inside). Later on we have dinner at (I believe) a Polish restaurant named Wesele: http://www.weselerestauracja.pl/

Tomorrow is Wieliczka salt mine. I also started taking pictures yesterday and will take more today, to be added soon to probably Photobucket. :-D Weather is much cooler than what I experienced last week... but still not bad as we welcome MAY. We have a map and a guide to the city, plus free time to go with the scheduled tours. I also have some homework to do: readings for literature class, a couple of final papers to begin (since those are the two with set topics and due dates; any others I lack enough information to work on), possibly watching a movie for a class, and some Polish book and workbook exercises. I know that I have been doing at least some practice and studying of the Polish language in the last week, in preparation for the exam the final week of classes. :-P

In A World A Pure Imagination

Recent peculiar sightings include an icicle almost the entire length of a building roof-to-ground; might be the longest one I have ever seen and it was quite pointy-looking. I also saw some people who started a fire in what I think was a garbarge can by a Metro stop. I am also a terrible abuser of the express self-checkout at groceries. The DIY registers are more for people with 15 items or fewer, but I quite enjoy scanning my items. I do this in the US, too, but I have only been stopped once when I went shopping last weekend, haha. :-P Lucikly, I was not stopped yesterday. ;)

Last night was a special celebration for someone on the program celebrating her big 21st. It began with a trip to an E. Wedel chocolate lounge (http://www.wedelpijalnie.pl/english/home/204). Some girls bought leis and those ribbon-things you blow at birthday parties; the birthday girl wore a tiara and a bead necklace with a plastic cup on it that said "birthday girl." There also was a wand that was abused (lost at least one plastic gem) - used for "magic," blessing, and spanking. A bit S&M. :-P I had Willy Wonka songs and visions on my way to the lounge, even though we didn't go near the factory (it's on the other side of the river and, like Wonka, does not have tours, just a factory store I have been recommended to go to. This has led me to make numerous "golden ticket" jokes. When that day comes, my Mom will be gifted several Ptasie Mleczko and I may try Pawelek and other Wedel treats. :-P)
This won't embed: :(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ-uV72pQKI

This one does embed: :-D

I learned that I may be the only person on the program who likes water "gazowana" (carbonated) - but I didn't really drink it last time I was in Poland. There were a lot of interesting selections from the menu chosen by the group. Most people ordered the hot drinking chocolates of various varieties and flavors, while others ordered chocolate fondues with dippers; a kid dessert with a cup and spoon made of chocolate while the cup is filled with whipped cream, raspberries, and raspberry syrup; sundaes; turkey sandwiches; fruit-filled chocolate crepes; and I had a scoop of raspberry sorbet with fruit (kiwi, cherries, melon balls), whipped cream, chocolate shavings, a waffle cookie, and a square of chocolate.

My dessert and water, gazowana

"Proof of Love" or "In Evidence of Love"

Vintage! Notice the Ptasie Mleczko and the fact that I turned on my flash. ;)

A bigger shot, for my Mamo :-D

The specific lounge we went to was very cute. It was big and the waiting staff wore Victorian outfits; the girls looked similar to English maids. There were portraits and chandeliers; it was as if we were in a candy shop mixed with a parlor. It has been super cold outside, but nice and warm in there. ;)

We hung out at the lounge for a while and then headed to SGH's student club, PARK: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klub_Park
On the way there, I was nearly eaten by tram doors and could potentially have tumbled down to unknown demise and pain, but landed on my feet with the only harm being my foot was grabbed (not painfully) as the doors were prematurely shut (they were open all of ten seconds... so I was exiting and people with me were trying to exit as well, so it must have been the trams fault). I was so glad that there was no harm done, I crossed myself and was so shocked. The club had free beer (Krolewskie - basically dirty faucet water with no flavor and then not a great one once it does taste of something; it is very watery and people drink it only since it is free and they want to be drunk; people spend money on others drinks or to add raspberry syrup to it). I had some sips of beer since I was pushed to do so and I had one shot of a round someone bought since I didn't have to pay for it (it was actually a pretty color blue, had a light and decent scent, and a pretty good taste). I don't think I have had much alcohol nor have I paid for any really (unless you count the entrance fee to this club). There were a ton of people and a lot of smoking, so I smelled GREAT when I left. :-P It was fun being with some program people and buddies and other students. It was slightly too loud to do too much conversing, which is one of my issues with talking at clubs; if music is loud, dance and drink. Want to chat? I'd rather be elsewhere, thanks. I guess I am not too much of a club person, but it could also be other factors - people, place, music, etc. It is especially tough going out when it is so cold. :-/ I always end up with "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths in my head... if you know the lyrics, then you can figure it out if so desired. It is also fun going back to the dorm after the front door is locked and you have to call in and I asked the woman answerer to please open the door in Polish. By that time my nose was running and my extremities were stinging, which means they were shortly before the point of loss of feeling. :-/

This morning some of the group went on a tour of the library - it is really nice and extensive content-wise. Now I am doing... laundry. :-/ Just one class later then WEEKEND. ;)