For Easter weekend I knew I wanted to go somewhere that was a little less traveled. Somehow I came across on the Rick Steve's website that Krakow had an annual Easter Market much like the ones during Christmas. Surprisingly finding people to go wasn't hard either! My roommate Sarah is Polish, and her mom even speaks a little bit of polish. Then my friend from home was 100% in and another girl Michelle who studies in Prague. So it was the four of us and we had 5 days in Poland! We all honestly had no idea what to expect having never been or heard much about the country in general. Unknowingly we all booked our flights and embarked on our journey to Krakow Poland. I had quite a smooth flight experience and even slept through both landings. Probably because I woke up at 4:45 am to catch the bus to the airport, so my day had started very early. I touched down in Poland and caught a cab to the hostel I was staying in, Pink Panther. Again I had no idea what to expect. Well the entire staff was more then helpful and showed me to my room which was completely empty at that point. Slowly girls trickled in all of which were traveling by themselves which was sorta shocking to me. I was of course hungry so I went in search of these famous cafeterias I had been reading about in Poland. They came about because of communism, as a way to feed people in a cheap way. So when I went I expected it would be mediocre food. Well first off- major language barrier. At least in Italy I can sorta translate every other word or get the jist of what people are trying to convey to me. Here in Poland...... I didn't stand a chance. Thankfully the man behind me knew English and helped translate. Regardless of this difficulty, I managed to get a heaping amount of food and the cost? 4$ ....... Four dollars in America doesn't even buy you a movie theater popcorn let alone this feast that lay in front of me. After I had ate my weight in food I explored the Easter Market for a little bit! It was lined with stalls of food and trinkets and home made goods. But more importantly the food... Little did I know how much food I would be eating in the next 5 days, so I headed back to the hostel to relax a little before Allie arrived and to escape the blizzard rain that had started to fall. Like hello cold weather. Allie arrived a little later that night and we headed to the common area. This is what set this hostel apart from the others that I have stayed in. Every night at 8 PM or 9PM they have a different event. This night was Sangria tasting. They had Spanish Sangria and Polish Sangria. Well in the Polish drinking spirit we went for the Polish one and with our beers sat down and played drinking games with the other hostel guests. It was crazy how far everyone had traveled. At our table alone we had us two from America, 1 Canada, 1 NY, 1 New Zealand, and 2 Australia. Over the course of the weekend we found that most people were from Australia like wow those Aussies sure do know how to travel. After a few games Allie and I were starving so we went to a traditional Polish place and again I ate my weight in food. The next morning we woke up very early for our Auschwitz and Birkenau tour. It was one of the most surreal experiences I've ever experienced... To think that 1.5 million people were cycled through that camp and killed was insane. We also got to see the last remaining gas chamber which was small compared to the other ones. The one we saw could hold up to 800 people, where as some could hold thousands. Also to see all the living quarters they lived in was crazy. Definitely a visit I will keep with me forever. The rest of the day was ours to explore the city and we needed a little happiness in our life after such a sad and gloomy morning. So it was back to the Easter Market where I got a hot dog in this bun/ baguette the size of my head. I had promised myself I wouldn't finish it but sure enough.... gone. The rest of Friday we relaxed and people watched in the Main Market Square and met Michelle and Sarah at a revolving sushi bar that was surprisingly good! That night we decided to go out and it definitely lived up to our expectations! There was countless bachelor parties there as well. I guess it's a popular spot for people from England to come because its cheap and fun! The next day we grabbed some breakfast to start our day at another one of the Milk Bars. This one was Milkbar Tomasza and wow was it good. I got the irish plate breakfast...... So much yummy food on one plate. Then we set out to explore the city! We went to the Wawel Castle, Planty Park, Church of Virgin Mary and the colorful Franciscan Church. One thing we did notice was that people of all ages had easter baskets. Their tradition is on Easter Eve to make baskets and bring them to the church to be blessed and when I say everyone had them EVERYONE. Then finally the next morning was Easter!!! We decided to treat ourselves at the Cafe Camelot and got some green smoothies that tasted exactly like the drinks I have at home at Nektar! So.Good. Then I had a yogurt parfait with fresh kiwi, oranges, granola, almonds, and honey. Then when we left they gave every woman a bundle of Daffodils. So with our Daffodils in tow we headed to the bustling Easter Market! Every one even the locals were there enjoying the sunshine and curbing their chocolate cravings including me. That night we then opted for the haunted ghost walk and even went on the pub crawl with our hostel. I think the staff was quite shocked to see we were still guests at the hostel but equally as excited. I honestly think we outstayed everyone with our record 5 nights in krakow. Then the following morning we woke up still a little tired from the pub crawl we had done easter evening, because why not celebrate? So we headed to get some food at Pod Wawelem, which is right near the the castle walls, and the name literally means under the castle. So after some perogies and schnitzel it was off to our salt mine tour! The Wieliczka Salt Mines were unlike anything I had every seen. Everything was actually made of salt so we had no shame in licking the walls at any point in the tour. Which we actually did much more then I expected, and hey tasted just like salt. Our tour guide did point out that if you were to see all the caves in the mine it would take over 4 months. So we saw only a fraction of the mine which was still so cool. The main room which was so tall even had chandeliers made of salt crystals and carvings of paintings like the last supper. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone in Krakow!! But beware the stairs down were quite daunting and getting back up was quite interesting but I'll leave that part a surprise :) This activity was the last on the agenda so when we got back to Krakow we went to a traditional perogi place, enjoyed our last bit of polish food and even stopped for an ice cream sundae and bid farewell to our new home away from home. I will say tuesday morning it was hard for me to leave because I had come to know Krakow so well and can honestly say it was one of my favorite trips I was able to go on this crazy packed semester! So thank you Poland, I will definitely be back some day :)
HOLA BARCELONA!!!! We got to Barcelona had time to check in, eat breakfast, and shower for the day and went out on another walking tour. This time it was a British girl that had moved to Barcelona 12 years ago and she was full of stories. One of my favorites had nothing to do with Barcelona but was instead the question" why don't you see any baby pigeons anywhere?" We all got to thinking why don't you .... She said she would answer that at the end of the tour. She brought us all through the Gothic quarter and old city. We saw the cathedral by the sea, Orwells park, Barcelona cathedral, and the only public work of Pablo Picasso. I also learned why Isabella, Ferdinand, Columbus and the pope all died of syphilis.... Let's just say Isabella was quite promiscuous queue Nelly Fertado promiscuous. The tour let off at the park down from the arc and we went straight to the beach just to say we had seen it that day. Then we found a restaurant to accommodate all 6 of us outside because it was so nice out and all we wanted was to sit outside. I ordered the paella special That came with salad and a yummy grilled pineapple glazed in honey desert and of course sangria! The weirdest part was that when we were beginning to pay they brought out free shots and we think they stole 20$ of ours because we were 20$ short on the bill.... So turned into a little more expensive meal for all of us. We then made our way to the metro where I had the most memorable and possibly traumatic thing happen to me. We had all been informed pickpocketing was a huge issue in Barcelona but I've been to so many European countries and never had trouble with it. Regardless I'm always very careful and hold my purse in front of me with my death grip on public transportation. So we get on this packed metro and I'm shuffled to the doors on the other side. Me being the germaphobe I am I opt for the balance game on subways instead of touching any surface or pole. So I'm standing there minding my own balancing business and this woman comes up and pushes me and of course I let go of my purse to grab the pole. We'll meanwhile as I'm grabbing on to said pole this middle aged woman's friend is quite close to me as well and there's all of a sudden a grocery bag being hovered over my purse. I then proceed to push her away from me and yell get the bleep off of me. I had felt her try and touch my purse and I knew what she was doing. But then I looked down and saw my purse was still zipped but the tassels I loop and tie around the end we're not looped. So I open my purse and sure enough my wallet is gone. I start yelling to my 5 friends, "guys she took my wallet she took it". I look up and this middle aged woman is staring back at me dumbfounded and I look her square in the eyes and yell you just stole my bleeping wallet. So she starts running- not so fast because it's packed on the metro. Then all 6 of us follow her and she is somehow stopped by the crowds of people. Some nice local man grabs it and threw it to where I was standing. All I could do was sit on the metro floor. Yes germaphobe me sat on the metro floor because my legs were shaking so bad I could barely stand. All of this happened within a matter of about 30 seconds I kid you not. The odds of ever getting pick-pocketed things back is almost never and I was extremely thankful for that Spanish man. As for the middle aged grannie and her purple eyebrow accomplice YOU'RE TACKY AND I HATE YOU. So after this episode we made it to Sagrada Familia but all of us were on high alert and were guarding our belongings with our lives. Barcelona don't worry I still love you but hate those women. As for the cathedral it was beautiful! I love all the elaborate stain glass windows that almost create this kaleidoscope effect inside it's absolutely breathtaking! It's definitely one of my favorite cathedrals in all of Europe! Later that night I got dinner with Olivia who was in town and rushed back to the hostel and got ready in record time 8 minutes I was pretty impressed with myself. As for my purse it was safe in the hostel and all I brought out was cash and that's it. I wasn't going to try at my luck again. Our first stop was the room which was in essence free shots the entire time. Some fared better then others cough cough Carol. We then went around the corner to dancettoria. This club is three levels with a different music genre on each floor it was such a cool idea! Only downside is the average age was around 16-17 no joke but still a great first night with no pickpocketing drama in Barcelona!
So after all this sight seeing and shopping we went to a restaurant Sarah had been too a few years back. It was called Boullion Chartier and somehow they guy let us cut the entire line of people waiting to eat. So for dinner Danielle and I shared escargot and both got beef borgenion? Sarah and Danielle got a tomato salad that was actually just sliced tomatoes with some weird sauce .... We also had quite a bit of difficulty explaining we wanted tap water like no I don't want to pay for water- Europeans all drink the water that is served in glass bottles. No we're broke college kids give us the other water is pretty much what we want to say Everywhere we go. Tuesday night we got to paris and got to the St. Christopher's hostel which was one of the nicest I've stayed in but sorta far from the center of everything! That night we went and saw the twinkling Eiffel Tower and it was breathtaking! The next day was our extreme sightseeing day and we actually didn't stop. We started off with love lock bridge, which unfortunately is having locks cut off of every day because it damaging the bridge. Then to Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle, Luxembourg palace and the gardens. Then we made it our mission to get to Chipotle. I've never been so happy to over pay for food in my entire life so it was definitely worth the wait. Then it was off to the Eiffel Tower! Some how Carol convinced us to climb up to the top.... 670 stairs total. We all definitely felt every step the next day that's for sure but we rewarded our selves at the bottom with some delicious crepes. I had Nutella and banana and i barely tasted it I inhaled it so fast. Afterwards we went to the champs élysées and saw the arc de Triomphe and did some shopping. The best shopping purchase personally was my macaroons from Laduree . Such overpriced goodness but they never said Paris was going to be cheap. So after all this sight seeing and shopping we went to a restaurant Sarah had been too a few years back. It was called Boullion Chartier and somehow the guy let us cut the entire line of people waiting to eat. So for dinner Danielle and I shared escargot and both got beef bourguignon. Sarah and Danielle got a tomato salad that was actually just sliced tomatoes with some weird sauce .... We also had quite a bit of difficulty explaining we wanted tap water like no I don't want to pay for water- Europeans all drink the water that is served in glass bottles. No we're broke college kids give us the other water is pretty much what we want to say Everywhere we go. After our yummy dinner we all started getting ready for our night out! My friend Aubrey got us a table at a place called VIP room in Paris and gave us her promoters number. Needless to say I felt very a-lister when he met us at the door and brought us to the table. It was grey goose and Dom perignon all night free of charge. Well the trend continued and yet again Danielle and I were the last ones of our friends to leave at around 5 am. I don't get how Europeans do it. Ole miss bars close at 12 or 1 and here you can leave somewhere at 7 am and it's still packed like when do they sleep or recover? Still have yet to find out this answer, but maybe once I leave I'll learn their secret. The next day everyone had nice headaches and were exhausted because we woke up early to go to Versailles.... Well the line C was closed. Yes completely closed. This is the main line that takes you from Paris to Versailles. So after asking 5 people how to get there and being underground for over an hour and a half we ran into the bus2alps people that were just as confused. Honestly it was abandon ship time so instead we tried our luck at the Louvre which was packed because it was raining! But we still got to see the famous Mona and wander through the endless collections. It's always art overload in there but still beautiful. After the educational Louvre visit some of us went back to the arc de triomphe and decided to take a pedicab ride to the Eiffel tour. Yes we're tourists and yes it was fun. But as I stepped in I thought to myself what if I die in a pedicab accident. Well don't worry we survived and when we were dropped off in front of the Eiffel Tower we saw something much more beautiful boarding a large bus. A European soccer team. They started waving probably because we were staring worse then any Italian man would so we watched them leave and it was crepe time. We all got two, a savory and a sweet. We really give the spring break diet a whole new meaning with our food overload. We constantly were reassuring ourselves though that all the walking we do counteracts it. And I mean when your walking 12 miles a day that has to count for something, right? So after soaking up the last bit of France we boarded our bus again for the last stop BARCELONA!!!!!! Amsterdam was the place I was most excited to go back to the entire trip. And we actually made great time which all of us were very thankful for considering the last bus ride. We were able to check in freshen up and eat breakfast before the walking tour! We met in dam square and right off the bat we could tell our tour guide was going to be hilarious. She was one of those blunt humor kind of people and again a very happy person- still going with the tour guide trend. She brought us all through Amsterdam to see all the historical spots and even gave us some inside info on dating a dutch man. They are very cheap. Not like the typical American oh can we go to Applebee's for the date special like the oh your meal was this much so can you pay your half. Yes this is real life. She even told us her friend went on a date and a few days later received a text from her date, informing her she owed him blank amount of money..... Well she gave him the amount of the entire bill and said never call me again- so easy to say most people don't put up with this. But hey I would pay for my meal if it meant I could date one of those athlete tall, model, blonde dutch men. Once our tour ended we grabbed some food and I had french onion soup :) then my friends went on a coffee shop tour but I was recently in amsterdam so I wanted to see something different. So I bought a ticket to go to the Keukenhof tulip gardens! It was a botanists heaven and was breathtaking. I've never seen so many flowers in such beautiful colors I could of stayed forever. The sun was starting to set so I hopped back on the bus that takes you from the gardens to the airport where you have to take the train to amsterdam centrale. Yes quite a process. But this very nice man gave me his two day train pass and I got home for free, totally made my day! I made my way back to the hostel and grabbed some walk to wok on my way back. It was so good all my roommates went and got it too. Guess I have good taste in food :) again we decided to embrace the night and go down to leidseplein for the bars. Somehow we ended up following the pub crawl and at the last club I think Danielle and I were the only people left from this impromptu pub crawl. The pub crawl leaders took us in despite the fact we didn't pay for anything- gotta love Amsterdam. The next morning we got sorta a slow start and took a little stroll through the flower district and sampled some cheese. Then went to eat at bagels and beans. YUM YUM YUM - oh how I've missed american bagels. I got one topped with mozerrella, pesto, chickpeas, ham, and sun dried tomatoes.... They also had the tea served with fresh mint leaves which brought us back to life after the night before. Then we went to the Rijkmuseum. I had a near death experience when I decided I was coordinated enough to climb the e, but really was trying to get on the r but realized that was too ambitious half way through. Don't worry we all survived climbing the letters and all and then it was Heineken experience time!!!! This is honestly one of the coolest museums and tours around. Not to mention its all about beer. The first time I went there this last summer I was so obsessed i starting looking at Heineken careers. Well turns out they have a graduate program that Im 100% applying to next December so fingers crossed!! But back to the tour. So we went through the museum, tasted the beer through the steps, did the simulation and took all our green screen pics. And made it down stairs to the beer tasting. One thing we had all noticed the entire time was how incredibly good looking every single person was that worked there. Like even the guy that waves you in the right direction - all models. So im convinced you have to submit a picture when applying for a job there. So with the admission price you get two free beers at the end, and some how in the tasting room Id already had 2. Then these 2. Then Ashley is allergic to hops, some people left early and then 3 guys came over that were gluten free or allergic to hops who knows I was more focused on the fact they were giving us their tokens. I ended up drinking 8 beers so I definitely got my money's worth to say the least. Me Sarah and Danielle skipped out on the Van Gogh museum and went back to the hostel in search of munchies. Sure enough a French fries store right by our hostel. I got some fries with the mayo and Sarah and Danielle literally inhaled two hotdogs in less then 10 seconds. I turned to take a pic of my fries per usual and she was already done. Pretty sure the two men working thought we were insane loud Americans. Europe hasn't changed us in that area. We got back to the hostel and prepared for our pub crawl. Don't worry we actually paid and signed up for this one. It was the red light district pub crawl we even had an older couple with us that somehow kept up. So two nights in Amsterdam and two pub crawls later made for a super fun bus ride from Amsterdam to Brussels Tuesday morning..... Not. In Brussels we saw this famous statue the size of my arm, it's the little boy peeling- but more importantly we had a delicious Belgium waffle!!! So after our we are our waffles we went to delirium which is a famous bar in Brussels because it has the most beers available! I had a Barbour beer which was very good and it was back on the bus for paris!
And so the adventure began. Me along with 6 of my other friends had booked a trip for 11 days 10 nights to five countries. yes 5 countries in 10 days. So call us crazy we got on the first bus that was embarking for Berlin. What I along with many people tend to overlook is that a bus is the grandma of all vehicles and adds instant hours to your already long trip. So it was supposed to take about 12 ish hours. Only a few hours in it felt like the bus was off-roading/ we were all about to die or the bus was about to blow up. Well none of these were in fact what were happening but we had pulled over because lucky us we popped a tire but don't worry AAA was on the way. Well a few hours we all wake up and we are informed we are getting to berlin around 3 pm ..... If you do the math that is a 17 HOUR BUS RIDE. I felt like the first man stepping on the moon when I stood up and walked to our hostel. Regardless of the rough start we headed out on our walking tour. Our guide was so informative and cool which I've found to be a trend among tour guides- honestly they may be some of the happiest people. Our tour started at the brandenburg gates and he also showed us the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled a baby outside the window, he explained the nazi regime and all about the Berlin Wall and when it came down. We even saw the holocaust memorial and the site of Hitlers bunker. Our tour left off at Checkpoint Charlie and to say we were hungry would be an understatement. We wandered over to a place I knew had a great burger but it was full so we found one down the street and I enjoyed the typical curry wurst sausage and Some very German sized beers. We then made our way back to the hostel and some People had mixed feelings on whether or not to go out but when in Germany- drink like the Germans do. So some of us rallied got ready and hit the bar scene. Our hostel front desk man was more hen happy to show us where the street with all the bars and clubs were so that's where we planned to go! First we got some roadies- another awesome part about Europe which I will forever miss. Once we got downtown it was party central. People were everywhere just enjoying the nightlife and we decided to just go for it. We went to a pub first and got some beers. Then he had told us of this club and I have never seen anything like it. Lights were everywhere and what was even funnier was that the bartenders were in bikinis. Well it gets better. They then hopped onto the bar and proceeded to dance. At first we thought it was a short performance. Uh no they did this non stop till about 2-3 am. We all swore they were on drugs because we all would of passed out with that much constant movement. Overall it was a great first night of spring break and definitely set the mood for how the rest of the week was going to go. The next morning we all went to the east side gallery. Now I've seen the lemon wall in Prague but this was 100x better and so big we didn't even see it all. I probably took a hundred pictures the murals were endless and so amazing. So shocker after we had our photo op we were again in search of food. This time to Burgermeister. Holy wow. Im quite the burger connoisseur and this one will definitely make the list of top 10. It's situated under the train tracks but believe me people were still flocking to this little Burger joint. I got the Meister burger and I probably could of eaten two. Once we had curbed our we have a tape worm appetites we went to the holocaust museum. It was a great museum with a collection of last letters people wrote in concentration camps which really tug at your heart strings. Then we just explored he city and checked out museum island etc and before Ya know it- DINNER TIME. It's actually sad how much my life revolves around food but hey I won't complain. Finally we got to eat at The Pub. This pub has beer taps at your table, so already winning in my book. And cherry on top of the cake is there are pictures of pugs all over the walls, like nothing can scream my kind of burger joint like beer taps and pugs. And now for the more important matter the food. Danielle and I shared the burger. BEST BURGER IVE EVER EATEN. I know I say this every time but this one actually ranks number one and they even had sweet potato fries so double whammy. After we had our full tummies and beers we went back to the hostel to get on the bus again. Next stop Amsterdam! We woke up the next morning and it was BEACH DAY!!! We got ready and walked down Las Ramblas and checked out St Mercat Josep. This place gives Florence a run for its money with markets. So much fresh fruits, fish, veggies, juices- actually has everything you could ever want !! I picked up some dried mango and had a delicious coconut and banana smoothie.... it was like I could taste the beach already. Then we walked along the marina to the beach grabbed some cervesas and made ourselves at home. We were all so content just enjoying the rolling waves and beating sun. It was exactly what the doctor ordered. What he didn't order was the insane sunburns we all got but hey we got some color right? And we even all got some hair wraps. Yes like the Conair wrap magic hair wraps with string. We felt pretty cool to say the least. After some much needed relaxation Danielle and I headed back to the hostel while the others went to park guell. Then I brought her to Bilboa Berria which in my opinion is the best tapas and she had to agree. We had delicious sangria and a wide range of tapas. Then we grabbed our stuff and it was back to the Room for more free shots! Then to the infamous Opium club. When they say beach club they really mean it we actually left and walked on the beach and came right back in! The music was amazing and when I say we danced the night away we actually did. #teamnosleep. We got back packed our things and got on the bus. We looked a little rough but happy spring break and great end to the best 10 days of my life. |
Megan Richter
University of Mississippi Graduate, Current Nursing student- studied abroad in Florence, Italy. I have a passion for art history, travel and most importantly food. follow my travels as I eat my way through Europe! Archives
May 2015
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