after getting the hell out of prague, i headed to krakow, home of the bagel and my first official couch surf. no more australians, plenty of doughy goodness. krakow appealed to me immediately; on a chilly, foggy morning i was greeted by bagel (obwarzanki) stands on every corner, a beautiful town square and smokey student cafes. did you know the bagel was invented in krakow? these are so my people.
i mostly wandered in krakow: the main square with its old churches and the cloth hall, the old jewish quarter (no longer very jewish but full of great cafes) and wawel castle. i´ve been pacing myself on the church/castle sightseeing front so far, so they still have an air of grandeur for me. wawel castle looks like a mixed up jigsaw puzzle of a castle. it seems to have every era of architecture represented in its various towers and courtyards. apparently that´s what you get from hundreds of years of invasions and political unrest. every invader leaves their mark.
then on to warsaw. now, warsaw, she may not be the prettiest girl at the party, but she certainly knows how to show you a good time. the city itself is pretty much as bleak and grey as i had expected, but i stayed with great people (total strangers, i was introduced to justyna through a girl i met for, like, half an evening in prague) who fed me and entertained me all weekend long. best memories (mostly food memories. of course): the view from the university library rooftop garden, discovering oskypek (smoked and then grilled chunks of goat cheese with cranberry sauce) in the old town square, doughnuts (rose jam filled heaven), radek´s feasts around the small kitchen table, and a night out of vodka and pickled herring, beer in an old-timers smokey bar and shisha. great times had by all.
now i´m in budapest, and it´s sunny and beautiful and i don´t want to leave. my god this city is fantastic. i´m sure it will become one of my favourites.
egészségedre! (that means cheers! in hungarian. so far it´s the only thing i can say).
-sammi
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