Small World!

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We were cooking dinner in the hostel on the first night when we bumped into Richard Parr, a fellow Howard-ite, who had stumbled into the hostel whilst looking for Tom Bentley, another Howard-ite. They invited us for drinks and we went to a small jazz bar in the centre of the Old Town. It was amazing to see the Old Town in the dark, especially the Cloth Hall in the Old Town Square. We had a short night because it was a Sunday, but arranged to meet up the next evening.

The next day we wandered into the Old Town and up Wawel Hill to see the castle and cathedral. We then walked into the Jewish Quarter and ate some delicious free apple cake from a traditional Jewish bakery. The whole city was covered in fog, which made it look even more beautiful. That evening Claire and Ciara got ready for a night out while Michelle went to bed early feeling ill - a sideaffect from spending too much time with these two!! Claire and Ciara met the boys in the hostel reception then jumped into a taxi and headed for dinner in a traditional Jewish restaurant. Richard bantered with the waiter and ended up with a traditional Jewish dish of "vom on a plate" and had to share Bentleys meal instead! The waiter then drew us a map of the best bars in the area which we followed in circles for a while before finding some of our own. The first one we found had a darts tournament going on and a barman with the longest ginger beard in the world! Another bar had a really friendly bar maid which reminded us of our Terri (currently in South Africa!) We ended the night in Prozac, a club in the centre of the Old Town which was playing European dance music! We spent all our money but had a realy great night. Thank god for communal moneY

The next day was spent (by some) recovering from the night before! We headed into the Old Town and bought some Polish pretzels and postcards that were sneezed all over by the seller! That evening we met up with the boys again who introduced us to some of the locals of Krakow, including an American photographer called Geo who was ony in Krakow because he lost a bet with a friend and decided to stay. We also met a Polish guy who owned two bars in Krakow. We went to a really trendy bar in the Old Town before heading to a hiphop club called "minister 2". We learned that Poles are VERY enthusiastic dancers and know how to have a lot of fun!

The next day we caught a train to Auschwitz. It was a very harrowing but important experience. We cannot do it justice here but is an experience that everybody should have.

That evening we left Poland on a overnight train to Bratislava, dispelling the myth that tourists get gassed on Polish trains! We met some really friensly Poles along the way who only disclosed that they spoke English after we had insulted each other for a good five minutes!

Krakow is our last city in Poland and we are very sad to leave, having had so many wonderful experiences.

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