Day one
Lucy and I havearrived in Krakow! And it all started at the ungodly hour of 2.30am…I hadjust enjoyed approximately 4 hours of cosy sleep at hotel Hebbo (in my parentsnew sofa bed might I add!) when my dad came to alert me it was time to leave.
Dragging myselfout of bed, I drank a quick glass of water, threw on some clothes and got inthe car as we made our way to Chez Lucy. Here we were greeted with a v smileyLucy as she popped her suitcase in the car and we got set for Gatwick. Half waydown the road there was a slight panic when Lucy thought she had forgotten herinhaler. A set her mind at ease check later, all was calm again and wecontinued on our journey.
Driving down thea3 we discussed many a topic, covering everything from monkey brains to dogcloning to Michael gove. Before long we were at our destination of gatwick andwere making our goodbyes. A quick security check later and we were in need ofhydration so we made a pit stop at wetherspoons. Feeling slightly more awake wehad a little mooch around the airport shops, got some plane supplies andtrotted along to our gate.
A hop skip, a twohour plane flight and a much needed nap later we landed in Krakow. Thankfully,as we only had hand luggage we didn’t face have to play the normal ‘they’velost my suitcase’ roulette. However, we did have a slight fright when wecouldn’t see anyone with a card with our name on to pick us up. Luckily, thoughafter some hunting by Lucy we did eventually find our guy who also luckilydidn’t look too much like a serial murderer – phew! He was actually v cute,explaining how his name was the Polish version of jack, telling us what the Polishwas for thank you and how he had lots of friends who lived in England – I couldhave told him that, every second person in Southsea alone is Polish!
When we got to ourhotel to check in we had a bit of a chuckle as the receptionist asked in themost diplomatic way basically if we were lesbians or not as our room hadn’tspecified if we wanted double or twin beds. To my disappointment Lucy said wewanted twin beds – don’t worry I’ve still got a few days to win her over ;-)!
As our room wasn’tquite ready yet we then decided to go into town for some lunch. On our travelswe stopped by the tourist information to get our tickets for the Salt Mines andAuschwitz and we were pleased to find we qualified for student discount -score!
We then had some vnice lunch in a cute lil cafe in the square before heading back to the room fora quick freshen up 😉 Lucy then had a face time with Matthew, her mum and evenget dad (all the way from China!) I meanwhile sent a few emails and caught upon Facebook – shows where my priorities are! Close to falling asleep we thoughtwe should head out to keep us going so we made our way to Schindler’s Factory.After a twenty minute stroll and some clever Lucy map reading we were at themuseum. This was v interesting although after the fourth or fifth exhibitionour energy levels were starting to wain so we decided to make tracks.Unfortunately, after some misdirection by two v unhelpful police officers wegot a bit lost and it took it slightly longer than it should have to get home.However, this did give us more of an appetite for dinner and following a vrefreshing shower we got a taxi back into town for dinner – just realized thatsounds a bit wrong… the showers were separate, haven’t got that lucky yet 😉 Wethen both munched our way through two delicious chicken dishes at a ratherwell known restaurant in the Krakow square before getting a short taxi tripback to the hotel. Thankfully, the driver was again not a murderer and we gothome in one piece! We are now tucked up cozily back in bed (again not together)watching the Pistorious trial. Tomo we are going to the Salt Mines and we arethinking about getting a horse and carriage trip to the castle – I know vromantic 😉 night night xx
Day two
So it’s day twowith Lucy Lou…the day started with Lucy’s harmonic alarm going off at 730,8,830 and 845 until we finally decided to get out of bed. A quick shower andchange later (once again I must clarify not together!) we went downstairs forbreakfast. Here, we enjoyed a selection of delights including croissants,scrambled eggs, salmon, bacon, fruit…I could go on but let’s just say we gotour money’s worth! After breakfast we returned to the room to finishprettyfying ourselves before we were picked up by a small mustached gentlemanwho drove is to the Salt Mines. Unfortunately the car he drove us in had adistinct smell of vomit. Fortunately the journey was v short so we didn’t haveto put up with it for that long. We then faced a walk down no less than 380steps to the Salt Mines! However, this was definitely worth it as not only werethe mines beautiful (I know who would think salt could be beautiful?) but thetour was v informative – Lucy and I are feeling much cleverer already from thisholiday!
After the tour wehad another short smelly journey back to the hotel where we had some eatsbefore heading back into town. Here we had a v romantic ride in a horse andcarriage then a v deep coffee conversation in a cute cafe. With the worlds putto rights we decided we better have some dinner so we began our hunt for arestaurant.
Not fancying the Polishdelights, we stumbled upon this BBQ restaurant where we both again enjoyed somecheery chicken – I know we are so wild!
Feeling ratherfull, we made the short walk home – only getting lost sort of once- beforehaving a quick cocktail in the hotel bar. We are now back at the room – Lucy ishaving a much needed shower (seriously I could barely take the smell: -p) andI’m just bout to get in my jimmy jams – again we are so wild :-p
Tomo we arelooking forward to some concentration camp fun at Auschwitz ciao for now xx
Day three
Day three withLucy lee! So today started like yesterday with Lucy’s musical alarm clockfollowed by some eggcellent breakfast. I went for scrambled again, with somesucculent salmon while Lucy went for an omelette and a rather tasty lookingchocolate muffin.
After ourbreakfast our coach was MEANT to pick us up at 10.10am However, it didn’tactually turn up until 1040am, resulting in lots of nervous wees from Lucy.Luckily, the journey went v quickly – mainly due to us both enjoying anothermuch needed nap. Arriving at Auschwitz we had time for another quick wee beforewe were split into groups to start our tour. This started with a trip round Auschwitz1 (apparently the nicer camp if there is such a thing!) where we learnt abouthow prisoners would get all their belongings taken from them and even theirhair cut off which they then showed us – this made Lucy and I both feel a bitsick, especially when loads of random tourists were taking pics – despite allthe don’t take pics signs!
After Auschwitz camp1 we had a quick break before getting another bus to Auschwitz camp 2. This waswhere we got to see the horrible conditions they lived in. Again lots of randomtourists were taking lots of pics, which was a bit disturbing. Allconcentration camped out it was time to get the bus back home. This was niceand quick because yet again Lucy and I soon nodded off – seriously this holidayis great but we are always bloody knackered!
Back at the hotelwe got some money and eats before heading into town. Today, we had a fun mosyround the market before returning to yesterday’s cute coffee shop. Lucy went foranother hot chocolate and I decided to go crazy and have this milky strawberryvanilla coffee thing which was most delightful.
Buzzing withcoffee we went on the daily hunt for dinner. This took a lil longer than usualas everywhere seemed to be offering a lot of random meat delights which neitherLucy or I particularly fancied. After much searching Lucy and I settled on acute Italian, where I had sea bream and Lucy went for calzone. – both of whichwere v tasty 🙂
A short walk homeand trip to the sweet shop later (yet again illustrating our sheer wildness!)we are back at the room. We are just finishing off packing now getting readyfor our 6Am start tomo, bringing to an end a truly lovely Krakow get away xx
alanaburnett 