Poland

Hello my lovely family!

Sorry about that whole not giving my itinerary thing! I wasnt exactly thinking clearly in the run up to my departure. After nearly 24 hours of traveling I safely arrived in Warsaw last Friday around noon. The voyage was uneventful, I do love the overseas flights and their nice treats and fun video displays. The worst part was in London when my flight to Warsaw got delayed due to stupidity. In Warsaw there was a joyful reunion, in which we both manage to almost puke from nervousness :) Agata's mom took my giant suitcase back to Lodz on bus and Agata and I went off on vacation with Marta, one of Agata's best friends since chidlhood, and Claudi, her boyfriend from Spain who is currently working for the EU in Sierra Leone. We drove through the polish country side. which was quite lovely and still green, due to the abnormally warm winter, for a couple of hours , stopping only to pee and eat sausage in a shopping mall (see picture). and getting a little lost due to bad directions from a mall cop. We finally arrived in Bardo, our destination, a small village in Polish Sudetenland near the Czech border. It was a very charming village with a nice church and a bridge, and our hotel was charming and eternally odd- the walls were covered with paintings of crying children and our beds had Alf sheets. We met Piotrek, Agata's best childhood friend who currently is working Northern Ireland, and Maciek and Luisa, two of Marta's friends, who turned out to be a ton of fun.


The next day we went to Table Mountain, the highest point in those parts. The view was beautiful and the mountains lovely (The rock formations were really amazing, they formed slot canyons akin to southern utah), but treacherous, as we had to climb tons of stairs all covered in ice. Afterwards we stopped in a small spa town and sampled some of its waters, which are certified to cure all things, including obesity.













On New Years Eve we went to Prague and
toured around. A very pretty town, but too many tourists, which made for an exhausting day. We came back and had a small party in our hotel.

All along we ate like kings, as everyone's mothers had loaded them up with cheesecake, kielbasa, kompot, salted herrings, cheese, bread, ham, tuna, and all other sorts of goodies.

On New Years Day we drove home, stopping in a village which calls itself the "Polish Carcassone" due to its medieval ruins and walls and churches. It was quite charming, but the best part was our 13 year old guide, who said he is in a history club and offered to show us around. He knew the history and importance of everything in the town, and even said hello in English and Italian. Later we stopped at Czestochowa, which houses the Black Madonna, which got slashed but some swedish dude and apparently is an incredibly sacred site for poles. Thousands of people were there for the New Years holiday, attending Mass or touring the nativity scene with live animals. I didnt get any pictures, unfortunately; Ill have to steal some from Maciek or Piotrek.

Now were back in Lodz, in our appartment, which is incredibly lovely except for a few quirks, like the bomb shelter-esque door, the unpainted living room, the black table, and some extremely ugly chairs. But the bathroom is amazingly lovely and Agata and her mom have done a phenomonal job redecorating the place. We have everything we need, including a completely stocked refrigerator. I am continually amazed by the hospitality of the people here and their willingness to help in everything. I feel like Im living in total luxury, we even have a microwave and a washing machine!!, and it only costs around 250 dollars a month, everything included.

Ive given Agata some of her presents but were spacing them out, becaus its more fun that way. She really liked her Cookie Monster as well as her book of films. Agata's mom knitted me an amazing hoody, it should be really warm, and Agata gave me a lovely sweater and a button-up shirt. Im going to be warm and sexy, yay!

I am incredibly happy and looking forward to an amazing three months. Its such a joy to be with Agata again and I am just amazed at how well everything is working out here. I do miss you all very much and hope to hear from you often,

TC