Poland…. WOW what a place! In the last few days here in Krakow Poland I have witnessed with my own two eyes the true horrors that the human species can inflict upon each other and also the beauty in life. This city has not been all about death, it has actually been the complete opposite. The Polish people have been some of the most friendly, warm and loveable bunch I have ever met. The women here are drop dead gorgeous and they seem to out number the guys 5 to 1. Krakow itself is a beautiful city very much like Prague but filled with nicer people and less tourist. The food is great and the beer gardens are by far my favorite. I’m not sure if the fact that I’m 50% polish is making a difference in my love for this city or maybe it’s just truly is an amazing place.
I have also been spending some time trying to research my family tree. It seems that my dad’s side is %100 polish or at least that’s what we think. I have my grandmother’s birth certificate, which shows that her parents “My great grandparents” were born in Poland. Unfortatally it doesn’t say where they were born so it is making it difficult to find any info. It seems when people came over from Europe to the US via els Island, last names seemed to have been screwed up and the proper spelling and translation was lost. Some of the first bit of advice I got was that maybe they were Jewish, but after deeper research I might now come from a noble background with the surname of “Odrowaz”. The Odrowaz name dates back to the 10th century and comes from the area now known as the Czech Republic. Finding my roots is proving harder then I thought, but I feel I will leave here with some sort of idea… they might not be big deep roots but it something.
Most people don’t leave Krakow without visiting the famous Nazi death camps of Auschwitz. Learning about World War II in a history book is one thing, visiting the concentration camps is another. It truly is hard to express the feeling of being at the camps. It almost makes you lose hope in humanity, and the sad fact is that unspeakable things like what happened here 60 years ago are still happening in parts of the world today, like Sudan! I don’t want to end this on a down note but out of respect for the millions of people that lost their lives.. here are some picture from Auschwitz so you’ll never forget!
Freedom - ‘The state of being physically unrestricted and able to move easily’, ‘the quality of being independent of fate or necessity’.
I flexed my freedom muscles today and did absolutely nothing! That’s right… I know I am in Prague and on vacation and I should be out seeing the sights etc… but the truth is even writing this blog entry was almost too much. I read in a book somewhere that said if you feel lazy don’t fight it, be 100% lazy, be the laziest person in the world, be good at it, enjoy your laziness… cause like everything in life… it will soon pass and you will be motivated again to go explore and see new things. Today was a day of rest, kind of like the last 3 or 4 days, but who’s counting.
Being lazy is all part of the plan. I found when traveling for long periods of time you need to learn to take days off. It’s a lot different then a 1 or 2 week vacation where you cram it all in and go as fast as you can and see as much as you can because its going to end in a few days. The last 3 weeks have been go go go, and I am now in need of a break. Prague is a sleepy little town that makes you feel calm and what do you know… sleepy!
Today I laid around, ate lunch, slept, read a book and slept some more… but it couldn’t have been a better time to relax because now I’m off to a dance club with some friends… so all this rest will come in handy tonight!
Eiffel tower, the Louvre, parks, sun and lots of hip people best describes my last few days in Paris. I didn’t think I would care too much for Paris… but I must say I really like this city. I hope someday soon I can come back and spend more time.
I met up with my friends Allison and Eric, which I met in Tibet 4 years ago. They took me out to dinner and I had some of the best Italian food I have ever had… yeah I know… Italian in France… but it was awesome.
It truly is amazing the connections you can form with people. Over the last 2 weeks I have met up with a few friends of mine that I have met over the years traveling, I met some of these friends 4 years ago and others only 6 months ago. I feel if two people have that connection… whatever it may be… romantic or just friends… that connection will always be there, even if you haven’t seen each other in 20 years. You don’t have to try to make things work, or adjust who you are or what you want to get along… things just flow with ease… there can be long moments of silence without worrying what the person is thinking or what should I say next… the connection goes beyond words… and that is the true beauty of the human bond.
Trying to figure out how to sum up Ireland in a few paragraphs… just seems unjust. The last week in Ireland has been hands down one of the best times I’ve had in a long time and by far the best kick off for my trip.
It seems the luck of the Irish has been on my side since I have been here. So far Dublin has been full of sunny crisp blue skies, green lush hillsides, endless beers and dancing until the sun comes up… which clearly means the Summer of Love has officially kicked off.
The Irish are known for their remarkable drinking abilities, and I would have to agree with that. They get started here about 5pm and don’t finish until around 4 or 5am. As a lightweight American I have been having a hard time keeping up. But it hasn’t all just been about drinking; there has been loads of good food and beautiful friendly people. It’s amazing how sometimes you go into a place or country with a preconceived notion about how it will be or how the people will be… and then it turns out soo completely different. I pictured having a few beers with friends in a bar while outside it was cold, drizzling and gray skies. But if anything there has been more sun here then I can handle. I guess since we ‘re so far north, the sun doesn’t go down till around 11:30pm and then comes back up around 5am. It can really mess with you when you’re trying to sleep.
I am learning more and more about how it’s all about the local people showing you around then the place itself. I’m leaving now for London, and I must say I really don’t want to leave. Dublin has now become one of my favorite cities in the world (when it’s sunny) so I know I will be back here again sometime soon.
Poland…. WOW what a place! In the last few days here in Krakow Poland I have witnessed with my own two eyes the true horrors that the human species can inflict upon each other and also the beauty in life. This city has not been all about death, it has actually been the complete opposite. The Polish people have been some of the most friendly, warm and loveable bunch I have ever met. The women here are drop dead gorgeous and they seem to out number the guys 5 to 1. Krakow itself is a beautiful city very much like Prague but filled with nicer people and less tourist. The food is great and the beer gardens are by far my favorite. I’m not sure if the fact that I’m 50% polish is making a difference in my love for this city or maybe it’s just truly is an amazing place.
