Poland

I arrived at my hostel in Warsaw around 8pm on Tuesday after a long journey to the homeland. It began with an early morning ferry ride from Santorini to Athens (1am to 7am) that left me cold and sleep deprived. I had a friend from the island on the same ferry, so I had someone to talk to when we were kept up thanks to the fact that there was nowhere comfortable to sleep.

I made it from the port in Athens to the airport pretty easily, and quickly found a corner in the airport to fall awkwardly asleep. I don't know how, but that corner was more comfortable than the ferry and I was able clock about 3 hours of sleep (in 30 min increments of course)
Enough about that, let's talk about Warsaw. BORING. A police man gave me completely incorrect directions, even though I gave him my map to help him point me in the correct direction, so it took twice as long to find my hostel than it should have. Gives me great faith in their police. I went out to dinner (pierogies!!!) with a Madrid friend who happened to be catching a flight out of Warsaw the next day. After spending the next day quite uneventfully walking around Warsaw, I was ready to move on to the northern polish town of Gdansk. (another Madrid friend, Kasia, lives here and invited me to spend some time there with her as my tour guide)

When I showed up in Gdansk on Thursday, Kasia was waiting for me, map and tourist guide in hand. She walked me to my hostel then took me to an amazing little place nearby for dinner. (a huge baked potato with spinach and cheese) We had an early night with just a few beers at a local pub since Kasia had to work in the morning. I spent the next day walking around, drinking coffee and taking photos. (I got a new camera after my old one mysteriously broke) but seriously, I couldn't have gotten luckier with my tour guide!

Kasia's family invited me over for dinner on Friday night, and I spent the evening chatting in English with her father and brother, both trying to practice. After dinner we went to the neighboring town of Sopot, club hopping until 5am. I love that things start so late here, and that parties go all night!

Saturday was an amazing day, one of the best. I almost had to pinch myself. I'm in Poland, making pierogies with a polish family! Kasia's mom doesn't speak any English, so she would give me the directions in Polish, demonstrating the pierogies, while Kasia translated any questions that I had. (is it possible to over knead the dough, what happens when you

use mashed potatoes instead of plums, etc) it was really surreal. As if you haven't already guessed, the Pierogies were the best pierogies I've ever had :) I can't wait to make them at home, finding all sorts of things to put into them.

On Sunday I went sailing with Kasia's family, which was incredible! I know this will come as a shock to many, since I have a passionate love for anything nautical, but I had never been properly sailing before this!

(unless you count laying out on a boat in the middle of Lake Sammamish, which I don't) After sailing we went back to the house for an early dinner, and swear I've gained 10 pounds since staying with them. Seriously. There is always so much food at the table, and it's all so good!! It's a problem...

I'm back at the hostel now in the center of Gdansk until Tuesday. Since Kasia has work during the day Ill be spending the day walking around town and

hanging out. I'm exhausted after my action-packed weekend, and a lazy day like today is exactly what I needed.

Tomorrow morning at 9:30am I get on a train to Berlin! The train ride is 8 hours long and takes me south to Poznan, Poland before shooting over to Berlin. I'm meeting up with my Madrid friend, Genevieve, once I get to Berlin. We overlap in Berlin a couple nights so we'll be partying together before she moves on. My plan is to stay in the party hostel for only a couple nights, then move to a calm one for the remaining week. Since I don't go to Amsterdam until the 24th I'll be in Berlin for over a week. Even I cant sustain crazy Berlin nights for more than a week...Since I've already been there I don't feel the need to revisit everything, so my plan is to relax, maybe rent a bike for a couple days, and sit around reading. I'll need that week off to prepare for the crazy week that starts when I go to Amsterdam!! (for those of you who dont know, my parents, brother, and sister in law will be in Amsterdam, then we're all going to Munich where we will meet up with my other brother. The entire Sadowski family in Munich = chaos that I need to be well rested for) but I can't wait!

♥RG