Warsaw--getting there

Yesterday, Ania and I woke up early, around 9 am and prepared to head out of Krakow and travel to Warsaw. After packing the last of our things, cleaning up the kitchen and bathroom, and moving the furniture back where it was, Ania and I left our Krakow apartment. Struggling down the two floors of stairs to the main level with our suitcases was not fun but needed to be done. We walked through the park one last time as we headed toward the train station. Once there, we checked the departure board to see which platform our train would be one before heading to that platform. We had to carry out suitcases up two flights of stair to get to the platform before waiting ten minutes for our train to arrive.

Ania and I had tickets for car 7, seats 54 & 56 on the train. After climbing aboard our car, we made our way to the little cabin area where our seats were. The area was completely full already, I barely could fit my new, larger suitcase up on the rack. Ania had to take her bag and leave it out near the bathroom where there was room. She stood out there the entire time while I sat in our seats with the rest of our luggage. We left Krakow at noon and headed for Warsaw.

It was a long train ride to new my home for the next three days. The passenger car I was travelling in was small, cramped, and full. Baggage was placed on the racks above our heads with little room for any more. I had my backpack on my lap and Ania's on the seat next to me, her seat. With still an hour to go, my knees were protesting the position they had been stuck in for the last two hours and my bottom was going numb. It didn't help to move in the seat to find a better position because there was none to be had. Vacillating between too warm and warm, the temperature in the car was non-conducive for anything but dozing.

Having completed four Sudoku puzzles ranging from easy to tough I had no inclination to start a fifth but I did so anyway to try and pass the time. Giving up halfway through the game I stared out the window at the passing scenery. Plowed and planted fields, farmhouses, roads going here and there dotted the landscape; trees, power lines and the occasional automobile interspersed throughout. It reminded me of the countryside back home, of my family's house set off from the road, trees surrounding it on three sides, farmland surrounding them. It's springtime here, no snow in sight, everything is green and growing. Flowers are colorfully blooming, it is a time of rebirth.

I wrote that last little bit while on the train. When we got into Warsaw, Ania and I struggled off the train with our luggage and started walking towards our hostel. It was a half-hour walk to our hostel. We braved the Warsaw traffic and pedestrian walk-ways armed with our map and written Google directions. When we finally reached our hostel we were ready to just crash. After paying the remainder of our bill, we were given the key to room 10 and headed for it. Upon entering the room, Ania and I dropped everything to the floor, retrieved our laptops from their traveling locations and proceeded to log onto wireless internet for the first time since Villa Bonelli really. In Follonica, Orvieto, and Rome we had to pay for internet, it's included here. We spent a good 2-3 hours checking email, making phone calls, and surfing the net.

Around 7pm we walked to this American Bar style restaurant for dinner. There we ordered some non-Polish food and ate with gusto. The background music, unfortunately, was only Beyonce and her newest songs. When we got there "All My Single Ladies" was playing. We decided it was time to leave when it started playing for the third time. Fortunately for us we were done with our meal. On our way back to the hostel we found a grocery store where we picked up drinks and ice cream for dessert. Later that night I braved the bathroom to take a shower. It was an experience, but I wasn't interrupted thankfully. We stayed up late even though we were tired.

Around 1 am, music started blasting from the main floor of our hostel. Ania and I didn't know what to do, thinking it would stop soon. After dozing until 4 am we had enough. Not only did the music not stop playing, it continued to blast throughout the hostel. Ania went downstairs and confronted the person working the desk downstairs. Turns out, she was having a party with a bunch of her friends, drinking and listening to blasting music. Ania told her to turn it off as we were trying to sleep. This morning we complained to the man at the desk. He said he would talk with the manager and we might get our money back for that first night but we'll see.