Poznan, Poland

Poznan is only a three hour train ride from Berlin which was pretty much the deciding factor in my choice to go there over other cities in Poland. I asked one of the three polish girls I met in Barcelona where I should go in Poland and she listed three cities. I looked at the map and chose the closest one, Poznan. I got to Poznan and had no trouble finding the hostel, which was super, awsome, fantastic, star number one. If you’ve read any of my former travels, like December you will know I don’t always hit the nail on the head when it comes to left and right etc. in the streets. Good location and friendly staff. I dropped off my stuff and went out for a walk around to see what I could see and found myself in the town square. This place is pretty historic, but I don’t know the history, I could just tell by looking around. Poznan is nice, and you can buy a Kabob for 8-10 zlot which is around 3 Canadian dollars. I love the exchange here. ___________________________________________________________________________ The next day was my birthday which I spent walking around Poznan. I walked for about 8 hours up through a big park, then down around a 5km lake where there is a fake ski hill. It’s one of those ski rugs. I didn’t bother to try it out but watched two people on it. From there I went to the mall, and then back to the hostel. I was going to buy some pierogies but I noticed that once you palce your order you then have to wait for it to be called out and I felt like I wouldn’t know if it was my turn or not. I had bought a few things from people that didn’t know any english so I didn’t want to venture into this situation. I grabbed a burger which looks a whole lot different than at home. It’s made with ham covered in crums in a grilled bun with cole slaw, and veg avec hot sauce. After that I was still in the mood to eat so I bought a kabob and an apple flavored bottle of water before heading back up to the hostel to chill out and chat with people in the main room. I was talking to this girl on front desk who took me to a BBQ after she got off work where I had a real polish sausage cooked by a real polish person. It doesn’t get much more authentic than that. I spent the night listening to conversations I didn’t understand and laughing with my new friends about my pronunciation of Polish words. Good times were had by all. ________________________________________________________________________ The next day I went to the zoo and chilled out with a Donkey and some sheep. They had monkeys and stuff there too, but you couldn’t get close to touching them. I guess they might run away or bite your face off if ever given the chance. Donkey’s aren’t so keen on face, rather, they are more into the buds of greenery that sprout up around them. One of them sniffed my neck though. _______________________________________________________________________ I went back to the hostel and chilled out before some german guys showed up. They were going to a Polish cup football match so I tagged along. The stadium was pretty full, and on the way you saew plenty of police in cars, vans, foot and horseback. Everyone in the stadium was dressed in blue and white and chanting their chants all game long. Poznan won 2-0 so there was no bloodshed that day. On the walk home you could see the tram packed full of chanting fans who were bursting out of the windows. It was a good experience of culture for sure, and the ticket was like $10 canadian. __________________________________________________________________________ After that I went back to the hostel and chilled out in the main area until late at night, watching as people came hoem from the bars. There were these three guys from Norway who came back one at a time. The first guy was looking good, the second guy drunk, and the third guy was having a hard time getting his limbic system to cooperate. __________________________________________________________________________ I went to bed and completely slept through my alarm so I ended up taking the 12:30pm train, rather than the 8:20am train from Poznan to Cracow. I checked out the platform and got on the train, however, my negligence to ask someone about the trip would cost me as I got on the train on the wrong side of the platform heading in the wrong direction. _________________________________________________________________________ I went an hour in the wrong direction, then waited 1.5 hours to take a train back to Poznan where I waited at the station for 6 hours before the 11pm train left. I spoke to a guy this time who confirmed that I was on the right train, and when I got on the train was packed so tight that I ended up next to the washroom at the end of the car. There were 3 of us standing there and several people would come and go as this was the place to come for smokes. I spent 7 hours in this smokey smelly little spot where two guys almost got in a fight, and several other gentlemen would stumble out to pee, smoke and talk to me in Polish. I told them I speak english but this didn’t seem to hinder them any. Some spoke a bit of english, but others just smiled and shook my hand. It was fun to watch the interaction and try to communicate with this language barrier, and even though I didn’t get more than 3 minutes sleep I know I’ll always remember that train ride. I smiled and laughed and was thankful that it was only 7 hours. Travel is gorgeous in that way. ________________________________________________________________________ I arrived in Cracow hostel at 7:30am running on fumes so they told me to take some rest ad then come check in. Some rest turned out to be 9 hours as I woke up at 4:30pm. High fives to the staff because they just pushed my reservation ahead a day so that I didn’t have to pay for the night I spent on the train. It’s something like 7€ per night anyways. _________________________________________________________________________ I’m killed. I’ll tell you more later. Time for bed out of it.

berlin

Berlin was a good time. As soon as I got into the Hostel I met some Ausi guys in my room who were going out and invited me along. We walked the streets and found it was easy to tell where you were based on your location in relation to the TV tower, which is sort of like a low key version of the CN Tower. The prostitutes were more attractive here, but still not worth throwing my life away on. I always pictured prostitutes to be in their 40's and kind of like your bosses wife. You know, trying too hard and inappropriately forward. I didn’t think about it until after, but these girls could very easily be doing this against their will in an attempt to escape Russia or somewhere else. The first encounter with one was with the Ausi guys, and it went something like this. P= Prostitute and A=Ausi __________________________________________________________________________ P: “Hello, you want to do something tonight?” A: “Yeah me and my mates are heading to this place, you should come along.” P: “I can’t, I have to work, but we can still do something.” A: “Na come with us. Why where you working?” P: “Um, here?” A: “Here?.... You mean on the street?” P: “Uhh, yeah.” A: “You’re a prostitute?” P: “ Yes why else would I be wearing this? So you want to do something tonight?” A: “Ohh, no, I don’t do that sort of thing sorry.” __________________________________________________________________________ I don’t know how well this conversation translates but it was pretty hilarious to watch. Especially when I light went off in his head and he looked her in the eyes and said, “You’re a prostitute?” __________________________________________________________________________ We went to this bar where the boys were meeting up for a pub crawl. That’s not my thing so I just hung out with them for a while and when they left to go to another bar I got some chinese food and walked around a bit, just to get a feel for the city. __________________________________________________________________________ The next day I did a free walking tour and got to see a whole lot. I touched the berlin wall, saw the only remaining Natzi building, which is now loathed as the taxation centre. It was used a lot in the movie Valcuri. I learned a lot on that walking tour as it was about 5 horus or so I think. The next day as I was going to check out I ran into Grace and her friends. It worked out well because I was about to pay for a 26€ room and one of her friends was checking out of their room which was still booked for another night. I moved in with them and went around Berlin on Bike. ___________________________________________________________________________ Side note. I just overheard someone ask the front desk, “Where is a good place for someone around 30 years old?” and I thought, that’s me, I’m around 30 years old. Anyways, on with the show. _______________________________________________________________________ Saturday on bikes in Berlin was awesome. I had so much fun with my Kiwi friends checking out a market, seeing sights and eating good food. We went to a place that used to be a broom shop for blind Jews. The man who owned the place was partly blind and he highered Jews, even hiding some in his house and other places during WWII. We got to see the false room behind a book shelf where an entire family lived. There was lots to see and read, and often the stories ended with the death of each person. Berlin is a serious place to see, with plenty of history. I’m so glad I went there. __________________________________________________________________________ Later that night we went to a BBQ birthday party for the pastor of Berlin Hill Song. I had lots of fun, mostly eating plenty of good food. I ate more meat than you can shake a stick at, which is saying something, because meat is rarely mobile enough to avoid a stick shaking. After the BBQ we went to meet up with some friends and went to an American 60's diner. After that we walked a bit and went back to the hostel. On the way home we saw some of these bronze plaques in the ground that caught our attention. They are placed outside shops with descriptions of Jews who were either removed to be shot in the street or taken to a concentration camp and exterminated days later. It’s a powerful reminder as you walk Berlin and see these emblems encrypted in the concrete. Go to Berlin out of it, and eat a few Kabobs. ___________________________________________________________________________ That’s enough for now, I’ll write about Poland later, for now I will eat.

spainishness

No pics, they were taking too long and I'm hungry April 2nd Where do I begin? Where did I leave off? Oh yeah, I was talking about Barcelona and the last thing I said was that I was going to talk to the girl sitting behind me. She’s pretty cool. We’re friends now, and we hung out the next day before she left, then I made some more friends. ___________________________________________________________________________ If you ever walk down La Rambles at night in Barcelona, you will see a thing or two. There are always street performers lining the edge of this 30 foot wide walking lane that divides the two traffic lanes of the main shopping district. There are people dressed up in crazy costumes, and some in lame ones too, and everyone has something to sell, from plants to birds, to bodies. Yeah, there are a lot of prostitutes on the strip at night. They are these little black African girls who look between the ages of 16 and 22, dressed in jeans and hoodies. They don’t look promiscuous, but they don’t have to because they don’t need approaching. You’ll be walking and there she’ll be, in the corner of your eye, closing in on you. They lock onto you, literally. They put their arm around you and then ask you if you’re interested etc. One night I had three girls come up and talk to me. I chatted with one of them for a bit, and it always makes me wonder how often these girls get to talk to a guy who isn’t looking for something else. _________________________________________________________________________ Sunday I went around the city with some new friends checking out the Gaudi stuff. After that I went to Sevilla where you can pick oranges walking down the sidewalk. They are a bit tart but worth eating at least one for sure. _________________________________________________________________________ Man, Sevilla seems so long ago now. It’s one of those places to just chill out and walk around. I checked out a bull fighting arena on an off day, and everywhere you walk looks good. Had some Tapas and jet scene to Berlin.