Wroclaw to Krakow, Poland

Hi from Ukraine!

First of all, my mom (who is technologically challenged) was very confused about how to comment on this blog, so I did some looking around and I have a solution that everybody can use. If you have a gmail, wordpress or aim (or a few other) account, you can easily enter that information when you comment. If you don't, you can use a gmail account I just created. The email is katiewsimonblog@gmail.com, and the password is "whereskatie". I don't think it's going to ask you, but the security question is What is Katie's hometown? The answer is Newton. Just remember to sign your name in your comment, because otherwise we won't know your identity!

Now...
At the beginning of the week I was in Wroclaw, a small city in the southwest of Poland. It seemed like it would be a cool place to live for a while- there were a lot of students and good places to eat, and old buildings and park to walk around in- but there wasn't much to do other than walk around the city, which can be a bit disheartening when you've traveled for hours to get there. But I found a very good Polish vegetarian fast food chain, Green Way! I was in Wroclaw for two nights, and paid about $9.50 for a bed in a dorm that was over half empty. Two German guys taking leave of university were biking from Berlin to Kiev and beyond, and had a really cool speaker that was about the size of a ping pong ball with excellent sound quality. They usually camped out in farmers' fields so being at a hostel was a bit of a luxury. We swapped a lot of travel stories, which reminded me of this report I've been reading on trains and buses through my blackberry about the social hierarchy of the backpacking subculture. I came across it randomly one day while looking about salsa lessons in Mexico or something along those lines. It's really entertaining to read because a lot of the author's "findings" are very legitimately valid! Check it out here: http://www.anthrobase.com/Txt/A/Anderskov_C_01.htm

Also in Wroclaw I found the Soul Cafe, a more upscale place that served excellent cakes, tea, and delicious dessert wine. I went there both nights I was in Wroclaw and just sat and read my book, I Capture the Castle.



I went to Wroclaw, which I refer to as "gnomeland" amongst my friends from Poland, partially on the recommendation of Meri, Hunna and Meri's brother David who had a great time hunting for little metal gnomes scattered throughout the city as a monument to the city's history of protest, for which the gnome was a symbol.


I'm going to cut myself off here as it has been about 60 hours since I last slept, and I can feel my brain struggling. This is both what I currently look like, and how I feel.


More tomorrow, hopefully, before I head off to either Odessa or Yalta, or maybe both. This week will either have 5 overnights on transportation or four, in eight days.

Love,

Katie

PS Thank you Jane Levitt for my collapsible water bottle! It's really good.