Piercings, pierogies, and plenty of culture

Another weekend, another city, and yet another trip I won't soon forget. This time our destination was Kraków, Poland. It was a class trip which meant our entire group went and was also joined by our UNK professor and one of our Czech professors, who also doubled as our tour guide. We left fairly early Friday morning which meant no classes and simply a day full of travel and exploration. Our first stop: the Wieliczka salt mines. 

Just a little sample

I don't think any of us were quite sure what to expect for this portion of our trip so we were pleasantly surprised once we arrived. Our tour ended up being a total of about 2 hours but because the Salt Mines are so immense, we were only able to see about 1% of the total area the mines occupy. The tour consisted of 3 floors of the salt mine, over 500 steps, and an eventual depth of 130 meters underground. We were able to see examples of how the mine was run, learn its history, and see various types of the salt excavated there (and maybe do a few taste tests along the way). In my opinion, the salt mines were a very interesting, unexpected experience and a fun way to start off our weekend in Poland!

After our time at the salt mines, we settled in at our hostel and proceeded to head out in search for some traditional Polish pierogies, which ended up being a more difficult task than we expected. After several restaurants telling us they didn't have enough room for the 5 of us, we stumbled upon an outdoor restaurant and bar where I tried their 'Polish soup' and a mix of three different kinds of their pierogies: one with meat, one with potatoes, and the other with cabbage and mushrooms. The next day, Krakow continued to impress us with its cuisine. We stopped at their local markets and I sampled some Polish sausage and the best crepe yet. On our last day, we FINALLY found the American breakfast we all had been craving. A cute little restaurant that served pancakes, eggs, bacon, coffee, you name it. Basically, based on the food in Poland, I wouldn't have minded staying a little longer.

Our second day in the city was by far my favorite. It started with a tour of the Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków and led to an entire day of flea markets, a vintage market, and our fair share of souvenir shopping. We also stopped at a couple places Kraków is known for, including the church of John Paul II and his place of residence. A few of us also decided to explore a different aspect of the city and be a bit rebellious. We got piercings using the excuse that it will help us to "remember the city" (sorry, mom and dad). However, between the 7 tattoo parlors that told us 'no' and my not so great experience getting the piercing, it was definitely more of an adventure than we had planned.

Another stop on our field trip in Kraków was Schindler's Factory. Many of you may recognize this from the popular movie Schindler's List, but for those of you who haven't seen it (like me) here's a quick explanation. Oskar Schindler was a part of the Nazi party, but instead of partaking in the persecution of Jews like other soldiers, he came up with a way to help them. Schindler's Factory employed Polish Jews and provided them with a safe place to work without fear and persecution. Also, because Jews were unable to purchase food themselves, Schindler paid them in food to help them survive. Schindler and his factory helped save over 1,000 Jews from the Holocaust but because he had been a part of the Nazi party, he was hunted shortly after the war and eventually escaped to Jerusalem where he is buried today. Today, his factory has been turned into a museum in memory of the Holocaust and the many Jews he saved throughout the event. 

Entrance to Schindler's Factory

On a completely different note, with only 23 days left in my second home, I decided it was time to make a list of some of the things I've been missing from my real home:

BARISTA'S, Qdoba, Buffalo sauce, FREE water, half price apps at Applebee's, bacon, home cooked meals, Runza, pancakes, Heinz ketchup, free bathrooms in public places, French toast, ranch, salt and vinegar chips from Jimmy Johns, my queen size bed, Dr. Pepper, country music, Amigo's (especially their cheesies), American coffee in general (so much better), Nebraska beef, Gourmet House Japanese Cuisine in Kearney, mac n cheese.