Wow! Europe is awesome! We have been in Krakow since Wednesday and soon we are going to depart for our host villages (mine will be Tarnow - about an hour away by train). After landing at the small Krakow airport, I walked to my hostel and was pleased to find that we had an entire floor all to ourselves! No sleeping with creepy strangers this week! It was a little bit frightening, however, to see the check-in/security desk being manned by two young teenagers (probably 15 at most).
Krakow is a great city; people here are very friendly and we have all gotten along very well. The food here has been awesome, too! On our first night, I tried some delicious lamb sausage and kapusta. We have also had pierogies, nalysnyky, and Polish pizza.
The weather has been fantastic as well! Although it was supposed to rain for most of the weekend, the skies were fairly clear and we got very lucky! Krakow is a big college town (over 200,000 students here) and we spent most of our night checking out the popular clubs and pubs in the area. The town square is always bustling; it's the biggest in Europe, and its medieval, baroque architecture makes it a fine tourist destination. During our tour of the city, we visited the giant castle that was the home of many Polish kings.
On Friday, we also toured Auschwitz, an experience that is hard to put into words. On Saturday, we also got an orientation on Polish customs and culture, and brainstormed lesson ideas and strategies.
For 5 days we have been tourists. Now the real work in the classroom begins tomorrow!
PHOTOS OF KRAKOW:
PHOTOS OF AUSCHWITZ:
