Now that I've been in Europe for a while (going on 11 weeks!), I think it's best to do short stays in each city because you need to keep yourself busy when everything is sort of starting to all look very similar, and the initial infatuation is fading slightly. You also manage by getting excited for seeing people who are also excited to see you. I am so ridiculously excited for Spain! Just a few hours. Anyway I've spent the last two nights in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Staying right at the heart of the city and seeing tall, skyscraper buildings of a modern Eastern European city brought me slightly back to life. It's not bustling with tourists - by now I think they've mostly gone home. But it had the more familiar, lively city feel that I realised I had sort of missed. It was different doing it all by myself too. I actually loved it and was exactly how I'd envisioned the "traveling Europe feel". I went shopping. I didn't skimp on food (it's freaking cheap here). I went out at night, explored the streets and alleyways of the city and didn't care so much about where it led to, or about being lost. I'd be the only person who would know it if I was.
Warsaw. Such an appropriate name. There is an older part of the city that still showcases the wounds left from both world wars, the Nazi bombs that completely ravaged the place. You can see its history in the city walls, and has now been declared a UNESCO World Heritage listed site. I've found that my favourite way to explore Europe has been by bike. A lot of locals use them, and you can hire them from just about anywhere and for the whole day, and I never realised how awesome and efficient bikes were till I got here. For me, it makes parks even more beautiful. With bikes, you also become wary of going into shops or buildings because you don't want to leave the bike outside, so it's strictly for outdoor exploration, which has its pros and cons. At times the cobblestones just get too bumpy and I've had to jump off the bike and continue the journey by walking it along with me, ice-cream in hand, but I don't mind. I love it all.
I did some random small talk with fellow travellers at my hostel. They're not so bad and reminded me a lot of Scotland and Ireland tourist days. They're actually kind of interesting, if not a bit mind-boggling. People who have quit jobs, deferred uni just to get here. Taking it one night at a time; not even booking the next night's hostel. Do you ever have real-time dreams though? Like the event is happening at that moment, and you sort of fall asleep halfway and imagine the ending yourself? Then waking up wondering if it was real?
Fellow travellers give you tips too, and I discovered new capabilities of my iPhone for traveling and navigating. I also discovered that I hadn't been wearing my backpack at its most comfortable position (there are so many little straps that I hadn't bothered to work out the use for all of them). Both these things are minor details, but would probably have prevented a lot of arguments before. Backpack + me + navigating + heat (triangle sign) = worst combination ever. Traveling by myself also forced me also to do my homework. I looked up a bit of the information the night before and played it smart getting to and from cities. It really does make a difference. You can't just assign someone else to do most of the work, and then get angry when they do it wrong. Do it yourself. Being lost, and with all your annoying luggage is not something you want to do in foreign countries.
Nonetheless it's inevitable to have some hiccups. Somebody tells you the wrong location to take your changeover coach, and you're sitting there for an hour before realising you should ask someone. I finally asked some teenage girls ten minutes before mine was due to depart from Kielce, Poland. Turns out I was in the wrong place and so what did they do? Lead me there themselves! It was literally ten minutes of absolute sprinting, with over 25kg of weight strapped to your body. It was such a close call and I got there at the very last milli-second. Don't know what I would have done without them. True angels.
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