Polska

Poland is great! I'm absolutely loving the really different culture and home environment here. I really prefer the "living" in Europe as opposed to merely "traveling". The families are so happy to have us and there is always vodka in celebration. The food is absolutely fantastic. Everything I've tasted for lunch and dinner has been new and delicious to me, and they force you to eat at a more regular timetable, which is something to get used to after months of traveling. I'm slowly getting back into it. 

The funny thing is that if you decide to sleep in (which we usually do, given that we seem to celebrate every night), you have a late breakfast as usual, but you literally eat your two-course lunch at exactly the normal time, no matter how full you still are. It's the main meal over here. No whinging. Eat it all.

Yesterday we had a dish of raw mince meat and raw egg yolk with onions and gherkins. You mix it up on the plate, season it, and then serve it with bread. We've also had some pickled cucumbers and pickled mushrooms - they'd been pickled for three years! Not the normal mushrooms we have in Australia - these were big and slimy. And satisfying! I love trying new and exotic foods.

We went on a day trip to Krakow the other day. It's about two hours away via bus and I made a joke that we had to wake up "at the Krakow dawn" to get there. Haha. I Krak myself up. It's an awesome city. We went into the castle and got to see the armoury and weaponry section, as well as getting a guided tour of some of the private suites. It's all very interesting and so beautiful, given the fact that it's a side of Polish history we never really learn about. I didn't know it used to be a monarchy, and all we ever learnt about in school was the sad history of Auschwitz. The cathedral there was really beautiful of course. The crypt housed a memorial stone for Chopin, who I think is awesome, but never knew was actually Polish. His music actually incorporates Polish waltz themes.

The rest of the time we are chilling all day around the house. The other day I was at the door ready to go for a little walk about town. I made a joke to call the police if I was gone over two hours ha. It's hard to get out of the house if nobody understands English and think you're set to run away. But anyway I ended up getting some chaperoning by going with Agnieszka and Victoria to take the dog out. They're awesome, I swear we'd all get along really well if they spoke English. Alas, they didn't, but it was so interesting trying to communicate all the same! Lots of laughs, and failed attempts at interpretation whilst labelling restaurants and gymnasiums and shops.

I get along best with the dog, Mika. She doesn't bark at me. We're actually the same age, Mika and I. She's 3, so that makes her 21 in dog years. We're on the same level you know.