Bussing it through Poland

Just when I was beginning to think that I was getting pretty good at the whole travel-through-Europe thing, the Polish bus system brought me back down to size.  In a perfect world, I would have boarded a bus in Prague this morning and then would have arrived in Krakow, Poland, 9 hours later, well-rested and with luggage in hand.

Alas, that’s not exactly how things went down.  The journey started out well…I woke up on time, I had my passport in hand (after a brief and frantic search at 4:45 in the morning), and I didn’t get lost on the way to the bus station.  I boarded the bus, which was only a harmless 15 minutes late, and settled into a seat in the back between two plump women in big puffy coats.  It was like being wrapped up in a big, cozy quilt, so with the comforting sound of the wheels rolling below me, I fell asleep (it was 5:30 in the morning, after all).

Fast forward 3 hours, and I’m being tapped awake by the ticket-checker.  The conversation that followed went something like this:

Ticket-checker asks me something in Polish, none of which I understand.

Woman on my right says something that I heard as, “Werasdnnfe aosdoiwer Eeen-glaaay-zeee,” which I assume was her telling Ticket-checker that I speak English, not Polish.

Ticket-checker pulls out the ticket I had given him upon boarding, pointing at my name with a questioning look on his face.

I nod, say yes, and repeat my name…just to be sure he knows that yes, that is indeed my ticket.

Ticket-checker shakes his head with a slight air of pity, says another incomprehensible phrase in Polish, and walks back to the front of the bus.

So at this point I was quite confused, especially because I had just woken up from a very deep sleep.  Why had I been singled out in this bus of 30+ people? Had we passed Krakow? Did he want to see my passport?  I would have asked for some more details on what the encounter was all about, but the woman on my right couldn’t offer much assistance, as she didn’t speak any English.  The woman on my left did speak some English, but was sleeping so hard she was beginning to snore, so I didn’t want to disturb her.  In any case, the bus was rolling on, so I figured I would reassess the situation at the next stop.

The next stop turned out to be Wroclaw.  As the bus pulled into the station, the driver said a few things over the loudspeaker, but the words were once again incomprehensible to my ears.  But then, in the mix of unfamiliar phrases, I thought I heard my name.  “That’s me!” I said, as if I had won a prize.  Fortunately, the English-speaking woman to my left had woken up to disembark, so she explained that I needed to change buses here.  Okay…that wasn’t listed on my ticket anywhere, but I could go with it.  I disembarked and went to fetch my luggage from the lower compartment, only to be greeted with another pitying shake of the head and the somewhat horrifying words, “No bag.”  Ummm...what? Fortunately, yet another English-speaking woman was around to clarify things, and she explained that I was apparently supposed to switch buses a while back (guess I slept through that…).  While I hadn’t successfully made the transfer, my luggage had, so it was somewhere en route to Krakow, leaving me in the dust.  At this point I could have chosen to panic a little bit, but I stopped myself.  I reminded myself that it was only a bag full of clothes.  I had the things that really matter…passport, money, and camera.  And who has time to panic when the bus driver is shoving you onto the next bus, comforting you with a big smile and the words, “No worry! Krakow!”

A few hours later, we rolled into some unknown town to pick up a few more passengers.  I jumped off the bus for a bathroom break, and by the time I had returned from the restroom, the bus driver was saying “Madame, bag! Bag!” He pointed into the compartment of a nearby bus, and lo and behold, there was my suitcase!  Somehow we had caught up with the bus I was supposed to have been on all along.  So I hopped on, feeling peaceful in the knowledge that I had all my possessions with me, and I was on my way to Krakow.  I just had to marvel at how the world can throw some kinks in your plans, but if you take it all in stride, you will probably still get you to your destination.

Berlin Part II

(From 2/23/2011)

As I write, it is 7:20 am, and I am in a bus that will soon start the 4.5 hour journey to Prague.  The temperature display reads -7°C (around 19°F).  I wish I could say I were going somewhere with warm temperatures and sunshine, but I don’t think it will be much better where I’m headed.  Fortunately, I think some of that Berlin toughness wore off on me.  I’m ready to face whatever the Czech Republic’s version of Mother Nature may throw at me (as long as multiple daily hot chocolate breaks are still an option, that is).

As for the rest of my time in Berlin, the city continued to grow on me during my last couple of days.  I started the second full day with a visit to the “Topography of Terror.” The place is, in my opinion, a must-see.  For one, it’s free.  Secondly, the indoor part of the exhibition, which showcases photographs, documents, and stories relating to the Holocaust, is fascinating.  Third, the exhibit is another excellent manifestation of Berlin’s interweaving of grim past and optimistic future.  The brand-new, über-modern building housing the indoor exhibition makes for a really interesting contrast to the extensive documentation of past atrocities which are housed inside.  And outdoors, I couldn’t help but be struck by the irony of the fact that as I walked along the foundation of the former Gestapo and SS Headquarters, staring up at a remaining portion of the Berlin Wall, the silence of the place was broken by the constant sound of a swinging hammer in a nearby building in the process of being constructed.  Berlin’s progress continues…

I could have spent practically all day at the Topography of Terror exhibit, but I was determined to visit the Jewish Museum.  And I’m glad I did, because it, too, was really interesting.  It was impossible to check out every part of it, as it covered almost the entirety of Jewish history, but I accomplished what I could and learned a lot. 

On my third and final day in Berlin, I spent the morning exploring the Turkish Market in the morning, drinking a delicious cappuccino, and visiting the East Side Gallery.  The latter part of the day was spent accomplishing my clichéd goal of eating a cheese pretzel (not as yummy as I had hoped, but pretty good), seeing the 3000-year-old bust of Nefertiti at the Neues Museum and the Pergamon Alter at the Pergamon museum, and finally finishing up with a delicious dinner and wine at the Einstein Café. 

So what can I say about Berlin to sum it all up?  It is a strange, unique, and fascinating place.  A girl I met in my hostel made an interesting observation …she said that it was as if the entire city was an apology.  That statement may be a bit extreme, but I would say that Berlin is a place in which you are continually confronted with reminders of the oppression that took place little more than 20 years ago.  With this painful history being so recent, it still has a bite, but nobody seems to be trying to wash it down too quickly.  I find it pretty admirable that Berlin is a city that is making efforts to progress into the future without forgetting the past.  

I, for one, am really grateful for the fact that this past being preserved.  It is a really valuable experience to see the evidence of what can happen when people choose to see the differences between themselves more than the similarities.  To me, Berlin is a gigantic, sprawling reminder of just how cautious we must be to prevent the continuance of these disastrous periods of history.

Berlin: Part I

Arriving in Berlin, my first thought was, “What the hell was I thinking coming to Berlin in February?”  As I stepped out of the airplane onto the tarmac, a few snowflakes fell from the gray, overcast sky and were blown around by a cruelly stinging wind.

I have to confess…I wasn’t immediately wowed by the city.  The first order of business was to find my hostel, which is located in Mitte, an area of East Berlin.  Despite the fact that Mitte is said to be the new “hipster” area of Berlin, adjectives like “artsy” and “youthful” weren’t coming to mind during the walk to the hostel.  The area felt a bit empty and lifeless.  Instead of the cobbled, pedestrian-friendly streets of France (to which I have grown quite accustomed), the area’s broad, treeless sidewalks are traversed by tram tracks.  Instead of the curving lines of the Eiffel Tower emerging out of the tree line, a spire-like television tower juts out above a scattering of severe-looking buildings.  The sphere at the top of the tower made me think of a gigantic eye harshly surveying the city, reminiscent of something from 1984.

But I tried to keep an open mind.  My travel buddy, Colbern, and I decided to venture out that night and try to find the Friedrichshain neighborhood, an area reported to have quite a few good bars and cafes.  We decided to walk there from our hostel, with the hopes that we might happen upon something interesting along the way. No dice. The 40+ minute walk was along a wide, almost highway-like road that was heavy on cars and short on people.  It wasn’t looking promising…

But finally we made it there, and finally Berlin started to win me over.  The area was lively, bustling with young folks, and lined with an eclectic mix of bars & cafes.  After strolling around for a while, we finally settled on stopping in at Feuermelder, a bar my guidebook mentioned.  The place was like a materialization of my preconceived notions of Berlin…it was perfectly grungy, with a heavily-pierced staff, smoky air, and a décor theme that looked like it could have been pulled from Tim Burton film.  Just being in the place was enough to make you feel a little more like a badass.

The next day, we embarked on a lengthy but free tour of the city.  It was pretty exhausting, but a great way to cram a huge amount of sightseeing & learning into a relatively short amount of time.  Stops along the way included some of the more visually-pleasing parts of Berlin (Brandenburg Gate, Pariser Platz, & Museum Island), as well as historically significant sites like Bebelplatz (site of a 1933 Nazi-organized book burning), Checkpoint Charlie, one of the few remaining portions of the Berlin Wall, and the thought-provoking Holocaust Memorial.  The more I saw, the more I warmed up to Berlin.  It is a city that is still in an observable state of flux, a city that is still trying to move on from a very difficult part of its history.  And I think this has given the city an impressive resilience, visible in everything from the buildings marked with bullet holes to Berliners’ punk rock street fashion.

I’m still (and probably always will be) a Paris-lover at heart.  I’m not sure I’m quite tough enough to be a perfect match for Berlin ….as Colbern explained it, “Paris is for daintier people.”  But I do have a sudden urge to go buy some vintage combat boots…

Frites with Sauce

This evening, I’ll be departing for a 13-day adventure across 4 countries.  The destinations include:

Brussels, Belgium (sadly, only for 1 night)

Berlin, Germany (4 nights)

Prague, Czech Republic (4 nights)

Krakow, Poland (3 nights)

My goals are to see as much as possible and have a good time, of course, but also to spend more than 650€, including all travel, lodging, food, etc.  That equals exactly 50€ a day.  I don't think it will be all that difficult, considering that Eastern Europe is ridiculously cheap.  For instance, I’ll be staying in a hostel in Poland that offers free breakfast, dinner, and beer tastings for….are you ready for this?…15€ a night. Reee-diculous.  Secondly, I have sought out the cheapest means of transport.  The journey from Prague to Krakow, for example, will be a 9.5-hour bus ride, departing at 5:30 am. I’m strangely excited about it.  Lastly, I’ll economiser by passing up the finer cuisine of the places I’m visiting.  I definitely want to taste some of the local flavor, but said flavor will most likely be more of the street vendor variety than that of nice restaurants.  Fortunately, my friend and fellow assistant Colbern, who is travelling to Brussels and Berlin with me, is on the same page.  In planning for our upcoming adventure last night, I had the following Skype conversation with her…

C:  So are you cool with having frites (french fries) for dinner tomorrow night?

Me:  Yeah! Just curious…why frites?

C:  Brussels is famous for them!

Me:  So literally just french fries?

C:  You can choose what sauce you want.

So, for the next 13 days, my version of fancy eating will include choosing between the mysterious pink sauce and the mysterious white sauce.  Bring on the frites!

I love a fresh start...

Hello hello!

So I’m moving my blog from tumblr to blogspot. Sorry tumblr.  Why the change?  For one, all the people who have blogs I want to read are on blogspot.  Secondly, my initial blog was intended to be specifically about my life as an English Teaching Assistant in France, but as I travel quite a bit and hope to continue to do so, I wanted something a bit more open-ended.  Lastly, I am making a resolution to keep up with my blogging more.  I’m the type of person who cleans her room before packing her suitcase…I need a clean slate before starting a new project.  Hopefully this new blog will be the start of a much better blogging habit!

As mentioned, I didn’t do a lot of posting on tumblr (I’m still getting the hang of this whole blogging thing), but if you want to read about my first 5 months in France, you can go here: erin-en-france.tumblr.com

More posts coming soon!