Your universal traveler is back on the road, dear reader, resuming his wanderlust quest. This particular stint is set to last 124 days, just a little over four months, and 42 days longer than the previous stint. The overall loosely designed program kicked off in Krakow, Poland and will continue through Prague, London, various cities in the UK, Ireland, and then Croatia, the Balkans, Bulgaria, Romania, back to Munich for Oktoberfest, Austria, Slovakia, Northern Germany and perhaps Denmark and finally the Netherlands, Belgium, northern France and a return to Paris before it's all said and done. All told I think I'm planning to hit something like 20 countries in the next four months- a daunting task considering I could only muster five during stint one.
But before getting myself waist deep in this next stint I first had to make my way back to Europe. And as you are about to find out, that was a way more challenging task than it should have been. Initially I was slated to fly from Greensboro to Washington DC then to Frankfurt, Germany and then on to Krakow. When I arrived at my gate at the airport my expected departure time for the first leg immediately jumped from 3:30 to 6:30. Not a good start. But that was fine, there are plenty of ways to get to Frankfurt in time for my flight to Krakow.
Back at the check-in counter I'm informed there are no later flights from DC so they book me on a flight to Newark and a new flight on to Frankfurt. Obviously since all of these delays are due to massive lightning storms across the east coast I inquire as to whether the Newark flight is destined for similar delays. I am assured it is not. 20 minutes later Newark goes into a ground stop program. So then I try to be rerouted through Chicago only to discover that there are no seats on any of the flights that could make my connection possible. Moderately defeated, I made the election to try and get to Newark at whatever time and then if I got stuck there I would just spend the night hanging out with my old pals in NYC and try to get to Europe the following day.
Meanwhile the Washington DC flight I was originally on starts a rapid immediate boarding. Just then a lightning bolt of curiosity strikes and I rush over to the agent at the gate to inquire if there really is a later flight from DC to Frankfurt that I could get on... only to find out there actually is! The woman at the check-in counter must have seen that it was full at the time and told me the option was not available which is absurd considering how many people were missing connections. Obviously the odds were high that I would be able to squeeze a seat once I got to DC. Because I had to wait until she was done with the boarding before I can ask the woman at the gate this, however, she couldn't hold the plane long enough to reroute me. Balls!
Feeling terrible that bad intel had cost me a chance to make it out to Krakow Thursday morning this nice woman, Mitsi, took it as a personal quest to find a way to get me there sometime Thursday. The only apparent route was to fly to Newark then to London then to Frankfurt then to Krakow. Holy moly. Also, during this process I was informed that my bag was never rerouted onto the Newark flight and was likely midair on its way to DC. Awesome. Meanwhile, as she was doing all this rerouting, the ground stop in Newark was lifted and they started immediate boarding of that plane. Chaos! Because she was rerouting me with an additional segment she had to clear me through the international desk, which as you may imagine was jammed up with all of these changes, and thereby couldn't issue me boarding passes.
So a confused, haggard, bagless me darted across the terminal and boarded the flight to Newark with no boarding passes for continuing flights to ANYWHERE and just a promise that Misti would sort it out while I was en route and call me and let me know what to do. The last thing I said as I dashed down the jetway was "oh- and see what you can do about finding that bag!" It was like a scene from a movie. Anyway, to make a long story longer, she sorted it all out with the boarding passes and I printed them out at a kiosk in Newark, made my flights, and arrived in Krakow Thursday night. My bag, however, was no where to be found but the nice people at LOT Polish Airlines assured me it would arrive the next day, which thankfully it did.
The one bright side of this whole ordeal was that I made a new friend, Emily from Newcastle, who was stuck in a similar quagmire of rerouting trying to get home. We both ended up on the flights to Newark and London and soundly destroyed some much deserved McDonald's in the Newark airport at 11pm after not having eaten since noon. Hopefully when I get up to Newcastle I can pay her a visit and even more hopefully, I wont encounter a similar transit nightmare.
Now that we have that fun little tale out of the way, I can get on with it about Krakow. The genesis of my travel to Krakow was that I was planning on an Eastern Europe kickoff to Stint 2 and discovered that two of my work friends Mark and Joe were going to be in Krakow for business right around the time I was planning to start. So we coordinated and all decided to meet in Krakow. The best part of this, of course, is that I was graciously allowed to crash with them in their rooms at the Sheraton, which from my prior international travels, are significantly nicer than the Sheratons scattered across the US. Score!
I arrived around 8pm Thursday and feeling like the Biggest Boss I hailed a cab and rolled into the Sheraton lobby with nothing but a laptop, passport, wallet, the clothes on my back, and handsomeness. I wasn't there 5 minutes when I ran into Joe who indicated that he and Mark were in the lobby bar having a beer and preparing to take an evening stroll around the city. I quickly threw the little stuff I had in the room and suggested we check out this old bar called Alchemia in the Kazimierz area. It's a really solid bar with a strong candlelit vibe and a basement where that night there was a live jazz concert. In addition to Mark and Joe, we acquired a fourth pal, Rudy Stein from Chicago who was on his maiden voyage to Europe. So the four of us headed out to Alchemia.
After a couple beers we took a stroll around the square in which the bar was located only to discover nearly the entire square is blanketed with bars and in the middle it was filled with food-stands selling various sandwiches and sausages. What a great set up! We were all fairly exhausted at this point from our long travels so the decision was made to call it a night especially considering the guys had meetings the next day.
As you probably imagine the next day mandated a late arising to fully restore my wanderlust touring powers to their necessary levels. After finally dragging myself out of an exceptionally comfy bed, I took a stroll by the riverfront where I happened upon the option for a riverboat cruise for a reasonable 20 zlotys (about 6 bucks). The cruise was about an hour and provided a great shot of the Wawel Castle.
Afterward I headed up to the castle and walked around the grounds. Unfortunately it was too late to enter the Cathedral but I did get a great shot of the outside of it. Personally I love the non-uniformity of the various towers, domes and alcoves making up the exterior.
I walked around for a bit longer and then met up with Rudy at an interesting bar near the hotel that I can only describe as a multifaceted complex of wood. Beams are crisscrossing everywhere and there were staggered levels with various seating areas. It kind of reminded me of something you would see in Wilderness Land at Disney World. Also, they were pumping some serious unedited American rap music which I thought was pretty funny considering where we were and the number of families eating and drinking nearby. I doubt many understood what was being said so it's probably fine.
Afterward, Rudy and I changed and headed to the Grande Grill to meet Mark and Joe for dinner. Look at these two guys! So great to see old work buddies again. The meal was so-so but the company was outstanding.
At night they light up the market square which looks outstanding. On our way back to the hotel we ran into this girl wearing a black and white striped shirt who we instantly deemed the Hamburglar. She was trying to recruit people to come to a bar but we kept insisting that we would only go if mass quantities of hamburgers were made available, to the point where she became too frustrated to continue talking to us. Just like old time antics, ha.
Saturday Joe and Mark had the afternoon off so the four of us went back to the castle and took a walk through the Cathedral. Very impressive, especially the crypt below containing one of the great Polish kings. While we were trying to figure out who it was, we were loudly shushed by a large Polish grandma. So FYI- apparently the crypt in the Cathedral is a no talking area. After that we headed back to the market square for a late lunch.
At lunch this bum somehow wandered into where we were sitting and began accosting Mark for money. When the hostesses/waitresses didn't do anything after probably 10 minutes, Mark politely removed the man from our table. Below is the hilarious photo sequence with Joe (and the rest of us) cracking up.
That night we had dinner in a Polish brewpub. I had a chicken schnitzel dish with potatoes which was fantastic. Overall I have to admit I'm a big fan of Polish food. Only the steakhouse the second night wasn't excellent, but it wasn't bad either. Included with our dinner was also obviously a tower of one of their beer choices of the evening: the weizen. It was very light without the overly sweet wheaty kick of a Blue Moon. It reminded me of a Hoegaarden, which is pound for pound probably my favorite weiss.
The next morning found us on an early train to Prague. Again, I decided to tag along especially since I've been to Prague before and could show them around, and secretly because I'm in love with that city. It is definitely one of my favorites in Europe. Winging it, Rudy purchased a ticket and accompanied us as well. Here is a nice shot of us looking very tired about to board the train.
I was actually shocked that we were able to stay alert enough at that hour of the morning to make our connecting train in Katowice. But somehow we made it. And, as always, after a few Budvars on the second train, we were ready to storm into Prague hot!
I arrived around 8pm Thursday and feeling like the Biggest Boss I hailed a cab and rolled into the Sheraton lobby with nothing but a laptop, passport, wallet, the clothes on my back, and handsomeness. I wasn't there 5 minutes when I ran into Joe who indicated that he and Mark were in the lobby bar having a beer and preparing to take an evening stroll around the city. I quickly threw the little stuff I had in the room and suggested we check out this old bar called Alchemia in the Kazimierz area. It's a really solid bar with a strong candlelit vibe and a basement where that night there was a live jazz concert. In addition to Mark and Joe, we acquired a fourth pal, Rudy Stein from Chicago who was on his maiden voyage to Europe. So the four of us headed out to Alchemia.
After a couple beers we took a stroll around the square in which the bar was located only to discover nearly the entire square is blanketed with bars and in the middle it was filled with food-stands selling various sandwiches and sausages. What a great set up! We were all fairly exhausted at this point from our long travels so the decision was made to call it a night especially considering the guys had meetings the next day.
As you probably imagine the next day mandated a late arising to fully restore my wanderlust touring powers to their necessary levels. After finally dragging myself out of an exceptionally comfy bed, I took a stroll by the riverfront where I happened upon the option for a riverboat cruise for a reasonable 20 zlotys (about 6 bucks). The cruise was about an hour and provided a great shot of the Wawel Castle.
Afterward I headed up to the castle and walked around the grounds. Unfortunately it was too late to enter the Cathedral but I did get a great shot of the outside of it. Personally I love the non-uniformity of the various towers, domes and alcoves making up the exterior.
I walked around for a bit longer and then met up with Rudy at an interesting bar near the hotel that I can only describe as a multifaceted complex of wood. Beams are crisscrossing everywhere and there were staggered levels with various seating areas. It kind of reminded me of something you would see in Wilderness Land at Disney World. Also, they were pumping some serious unedited American rap music which I thought was pretty funny considering where we were and the number of families eating and drinking nearby. I doubt many understood what was being said so it's probably fine.
Afterward, Rudy and I changed and headed to the Grande Grill to meet Mark and Joe for dinner. Look at these two guys! So great to see old work buddies again. The meal was so-so but the company was outstanding.
At night they light up the market square which looks outstanding. On our way back to the hotel we ran into this girl wearing a black and white striped shirt who we instantly deemed the Hamburglar. She was trying to recruit people to come to a bar but we kept insisting that we would only go if mass quantities of hamburgers were made available, to the point where she became too frustrated to continue talking to us. Just like old time antics, ha.
Saturday Joe and Mark had the afternoon off so the four of us went back to the castle and took a walk through the Cathedral. Very impressive, especially the crypt below containing one of the great Polish kings. While we were trying to figure out who it was, we were loudly shushed by a large Polish grandma. So FYI- apparently the crypt in the Cathedral is a no talking area. After that we headed back to the market square for a late lunch.
At lunch this bum somehow wandered into where we were sitting and began accosting Mark for money. When the hostesses/waitresses didn't do anything after probably 10 minutes, Mark politely removed the man from our table. Below is the hilarious photo sequence with Joe (and the rest of us) cracking up.
That night we had dinner in a Polish brewpub. I had a chicken schnitzel dish with potatoes which was fantastic. Overall I have to admit I'm a big fan of Polish food. Only the steakhouse the second night wasn't excellent, but it wasn't bad either. Included with our dinner was also obviously a tower of one of their beer choices of the evening: the weizen. It was very light without the overly sweet wheaty kick of a Blue Moon. It reminded me of a Hoegaarden, which is pound for pound probably my favorite weiss.
The next morning found us on an early train to Prague. Again, I decided to tag along especially since I've been to Prague before and could show them around, and secretly because I'm in love with that city. It is definitely one of my favorites in Europe. Winging it, Rudy purchased a ticket and accompanied us as well. Here is a nice shot of us looking very tired about to board the train.
I was actually shocked that we were able to stay alert enough at that hour of the morning to make our connecting train in Katowice. But somehow we made it. And, as always, after a few Budvars on the second train, we were ready to storm into Prague hot!
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