Day 2 in Krakow

Well I finally arrived in Krakow!! The long trip over wasn't too bad. The 8 hour and 25 minute flight across the ocean went by relatively fast.. thanks to movies, magazines, and a little sleep. We did a little sight-seeing yesterday. We were able to see parts of the city on our walk from the train station to our hotel. Oh, and let me tell you.. this FLORIDA girl has NEVER seen so much SNOW!!!! But, thanks to those who bought me thermals, my BIG NorthFace jacket, gloves, and hat because they are keeping me nice and warm in this below freezing weather!

Yesterday, we had a couple hours to relax and unpack before we went to a 3 hour practice. It was fun to play again.. but I was a little "rusty". After practice we came back to the hotel and ate dinner in the lobby restaurant. We had salad, soup, and pierogi's- which basically are dumplings filled mashed potatoes. (that's the best way I can describe them!) They were pretty yummy! I've been impressed with the food so far.. looks like I won't be starving after all!

After a great night sleep last night we were up early this morning (8:30am) to eat breakfast in the hotel lobby and then head to practice. After practice they took us to Auschwitz! It was an experience of a lifetime.. a VERY depressing experience, but it was amazing to see the largest concentration/death camp in history. I know Oma will appreciate the history I learned today. We had a tour guide show us around and he told us all of the awful things that happened at Auschwitz.

After we got back to the hotel, some of us wanted to do more exploring of the city. Krakow is a beautiful city (even covered in snow!) with amazing architecture and history. We walked in and out of shops for about 3 hours and once we were beyond frozen we found a coffee shop and treated ourselves to white chocolate coffee.. which was AMAZING!!! Even better than Starbucks!

It's almost time to leave for dinner.. We'll talk again soon!

Until next time..

Elyse

T minus 39 hrs till Europe

It's Monday night and the bags are almost all packed. I might have to sit on the suitcase to be able to zip it closed! How do I pack 'light' for what could be a 2 week to 4 month trip.. and it's SNOWING everywhere I'm going!

I leave the 6th and will land in Krakow, Poland on the 7th. For those who don't know, I'm doing a 2 week tour. Stops on the tour include Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy. Hopefully by the end of the tour I will be picked up by a team and then I will go straight to where I'll be playing. So, wish me luck! And I'll keep blogging to keep y'all informed of my adventures!!

Until next time..

Elyse