Everything has been ticked off.Houston, we have lift off.Inch of Snow Brings London to a StandstillRiga For A DayWe made it to RussiaRussiaAndy V, we thought you might like this!University: Learning Amidst HistoryWedding AnniversarySunday stroll in the sunZa Zdorovie! (Cheers!)Today's explorationsCathedral CentralThe week continued...by JodiBIG Weekend!Russian experiencesLast week in St Pete's(Mis)AdventuresMoscow - Some fun answers to prayerOrphanage visitKremlin+15C!Warning: Rambling AheadSpecial Birthday CelebrationsEaster partyAn afternoon in town.VNDKhOur last visit at the babies home10 girls and snow come to stayAuschwitzWieliczka, PolandZakopane, PolandLwowek Slaski, PolandPrague in SpringFour countries in one day.4 countries cont.Ancient Sea-side CityThe View From the Ferry Split - DubrovnikNothing to do by the seasideRainRome was seen in a dayThe 300km homestretch!Leon, SpainDay OneBloody Hard Work!Up the MountainSnow!Cacabelos Albergue is the best one we have seen yetBrazilian AlberguePerserverence has its rewardsFantastic Lonely ForestsLoooong DayWalking With WalterWet DayPerserverence pays againThe Final Stage
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Krakow, Poland
Krakow, Poland
#? (lost track a while ago)
Tim: Since our last entry in which we made our last trip to the babies' home, two significant things have occured: ten girls from one of the orphanages came to stay for a week where we were living, and we left Russia.
On Sunday the 9th we celebrated Easter at a Russian Protestant Church that one of our hosts, Natasha, attends. Afterwards we had lunch with her family again. You may recall this is similar to previous adeventures we had with them, except that this time we had lunch at their house instead of Pizza Hut. And that made all the difference. Jodi commented afterwards that one of the few experiences she definitely wanted to have before leaving Russia, was to have a meal at home with a Russian family and it was granted to her on our last Sunday in Russia.
On Monday Jodi, Natasha and Vivi went to pick up ten girls from an orphanage to bring them home to stay for a week. We, luckily or unluckily I don't know, were only there for two days of their stay. They did each others' hair and nails, played cards, watched movies etc. I took a few outside to kick a ball around for a while, largely because I was going stir crazy inside.
On Tuesday we caught a train at 10pm in Moscow bound for Warsaw. We had a three berth cabin all to ourselves. That made the trip very comfortable and pleasant. At the Belarussian/Polish border we carried two cartons of cigarettes with us for one of the train staff who was evidently importing cigarettes and vodka into the EU. We same him carrying a few things backwards and forwards between the cabins. You may recall I mentioned how cheap cigs and alcohol were in Russia. Presumably it is the same in Belarus. The train staff are not allowed to carry duty free things across the border so they give them to the passengers instead. My main regret is that I was too cheap to bribe: a single block of chocolate which probably cost a dollar.
Our first stop in Poland is in Krakow (kra -KOOV) staying with friends of Jodi's, the Chachulskys. The have been wonderful hosts to us so far. We got to their place fairly late on Wednesday night and spent Thursday looking around downtown Krakow. The difference between Krakow and the Russian cities we visited, Moscow and St Petersburg, cannot be overstated! I was looking at the map on this site when I put in Krakow as the location, and thought to myself how far west it is. It feels like it too! This brings up very profound and perplexing conundrums for me peronally which I might elaborate on at another time, patience permitting. We had a great day downtown with the oldest daughter of our hosts, Sandra. We participated in consumerism so successful, for us that is, as to be unimaginable in Russia: we had good, well priced coffee in the first cafe we walked into, and I bought a book that I was looking for (A Brief History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson) in the first bookstore I went into for the normal price, AU$15.
Today we went to Auschwitz and had a good time. More on that later probably. One highlight was the bus trip home. I went and asked the guide of a tour group ( we were there on our own) if any of the rank of buses waiting nearby were shuttle buses back to the bus stop back to Krakow. He said not to worry about it and that we could get a lift back to Krakow in his tour bus and didn't even ask us to pay a bus fair. Thanks mate!
Tomorrow we are off to 'The Salt Mines' which another, much more Polish name that I can't remember. One visitor compared the global vist-worthiness of the salt mines as equal to the pyramids in Egypt. That sounds exciting! I'll let you know how it goes.
That's all for the time being. Please send us some mail. Word from home has been sparse!
lots of love
Tim and Jodi
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