Day 1 - Welcome to Krakow!

After a comfortable flight filled with music and endless views of blue sky we arrived in Krakow 9am local time. Oh yeh before take off there was a fire at the airport and we had to be hussled out through Fire Exits. I have never used fire exits before and always thought they where a waste of time. It was so cool though coz it was pouring down outside and crazy polish women where going crazy at the airline staff.

Anyways the first thing I noticed about Poland was that EVERYONE smokes. I walked outside and there was just a huge haze of grey smog from where everyone had been sitting around smoking. I proceeded to go through and buy a 30 pack Marlboro Lights to fit in. Nah just jokes... would have been FULLY SICK if I had done though.

People always say to watch out to being ripped of. Especially when you cannot speak the local language nor know the law/customs. I learnt it pretty much straight away which was probably for the best as it was only for .50 Zlottys. When I got on the bus the driver charged me 3Zlottys instead of 2.50. Me not knowing the difference and still wondering what the heck a Zlotty was went a long with it and gladly parted with my money. I dont think it really matters that much especially when there currency is so poor it would probably buy me a rice grain back in the UK. That brings me onto the food hear. All day I have been snacking on these bread rolls which are like a hollow disk. They cost 1ZL, equivelent to about 30 pence and ohh they feed the hunger so well. Everything is very very cheap here for tourists, obviously not for the locals. A huge kebab costs 6ZL, which is just over 1 POUND... you can probably imagine that I've been pretty much full up through out the whole of the day.

Anyways I came across my first dilemma. I was meeting up with a Polish girl who was going to show me around the city and I hadn't showered since I left for football the morning before, and sleeping in your clothes makes you not the most presentable. I had forgot to pack a towel. 2 hours of ranting around Krakow in search of a towel got me no where. In the whole of the city there is not 1 Tescos, Sainsburys, IKEA or any sort of store that may stock a cheap Polish towel. I was out of luck and thought about using an old t-shirt when the lady at the hostel kindly said she would dig me one out. Mission Accomplished.

After a nice warm shower, and 30minutes late I arrived to meet my tour guide for the day. The whole arvo was spent visiting various Polish pubs, checking out the big tourist sights and taking a walk around the Jewish Quarter. The quarter was used by Jews during the war where they all mainly lived. A very dangerous place at the time. By about 4ish we decided to call it a day as I was extremely tired from the lack of sleep and we where meeting up again later on so I wanted to get some rest. When we departed I went and gotta kebab and as the rain poured down I sat on a door step, scoffing down my Polish bargain watching the world pass by. Before I knew it I found myself laying on my bed exhausted and fell asleep for an hour.

A few hours later I was showered and kitted up ready for a night out on the Polish town. The bars here are so funky and chilled it is so so incredibly awesome. They are setup to be very very homely. For instance this 1 bar was lit up by just candles, with those smelley candles burning and u sit on these low seated cushions... it was sucha cool setup. In another 1 the kitchen was the place where you sit around. Candles burning with the dinner table and various kitchen utensils scattered around making up a traditional poland kitchen to drink your night away in.

After a few pints of the local brew we ended up at this awesome bar that had the coolest 'suites' as I would put it. There was just cushions in a big circle and u could just lounge around in such a sociable atmosphere. After a walk through the empty streets of Krakow we called it a night and of my tour guide went... into thee night. Adios Anna!! (i know ure reading :) )

I hit the sack at about 3am... exhausted and not feeling the best. I probably woke the whole room up with my tossing and turning. I hadn't bothered to make the bed up with sheets etc.

Overall an awesome start to my trip... tons to do and see and beatiful people to meet.

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