Day 66 and 67 Out of Turkey and Into the Breach

Well I´m off, I have reached Poland, and Krakow starts my sprint to the finish - literally sprint. I am hitting about 25 cities in just over 50 days, wawawewah!

I arrived from Bodrum to the Old City Esme hostel at around 10 am, pretty tired, but happy to be received with open arms. Even though I had no booking there, they welcomed me back in and gave me breakfast, offering me the use of their luggage room for the day. My flight isn´t until 4:10 am, so I had lots of time to kill in the city. Of course, this isn´t hard, there´s a ton to do, and Dodo had promised to take me around to the wholesalers to collect some Turkish wares. We met up before noon and set off.

I was in awe of how much I got with so little. For $80 I got over a dozen pashminas, tiles for a home decor project I´ve been thinking up, some jewellry and a gorgeous lamp of the variety that I had admired from the moment I set eyes on them. Apple tea and an evil eye pendant finished off my haul, and I started worrying about how I´m going to transfer all of my scores to the next spot! We stopped in a few places along the way, and I sampled a Turkish delicacy - intestines done doner style! Dodo took me to a local coffee shop and we ordered two of the Turkish variety, as he had promised earlier in the week to tell me my fortune. I got a lot of postitive information, and though I don´t believe (too much) in all the talk, it was sort of reassuring to know that even if he was making it all up, he wants me to succeed. I´m going to have a fulfilling and interesting life full of travel and wonderful relationships, Yippee!

The (admittedly super blurry) shot of the Istanbul night skyline.

Back at the hostel there was a meeting of minds in the common area, as the rainy weather made exploring a little tough. I sat with a few Americans, some Aussies and some German folk talking about our jobs (or lack thereof in my case) and our travels. I got some great hints for the rest of my trip, and was able to give some of my own regarding flight booking sites and whatnot. Always check skyscanner.com people, it´s amazing seriously. I had arranged through the hostel to catch a shuttle bus to the Sabiha Gokcen airport, which is generally not my style being of the mind that most things should be reached by public transportation, but with the flight so early in the morning and the airport so far away I bit the bullet and made my life a little easier. It was arriving at 10, and a cute German couple who were also catching an early plane were on it as well. We all grabbed a last kebab before the van arrived, and I made sure to pick up a badge of the flag to sew onto my pack at a later date. I had mixed feelings leaving Turkey, as I watched the lights of the skyline. On the one hand I am really excited to get moving on the rest of my journey, and on the other, I´ve had a great time here and met some pretty inspiring people, who have told me lots about themselves and given me plenty to mull over as I take on whatever comes next.

St. Florian´s Gate - 13th C. Main City Gate

Once at the airport, backpack literally full to the brim with all my haul and my handbag holding the lamp, we all settled in to wait for the opportunity to check in. I was able to pick up wifi, and had a great conversation with my Mom for the first time in a while (hi Mom...), though the dying battery cut us a little short. I had my passport and boarding pass with me the whole time I swear, but somehow as I reached the gate I had only my ID left! They were kind enough to issue me another pass, but if it had been ryanair I´d have been in real trouble! As far as budget airlines go, Germanwings is really quite good! I had a ticket that allowed for a checked piece of baggage, and scored me a seat with extra leg room! The flight to Stuttgart passed uneventfully, and having missed two good nights of sleep with the bus and the waiting at the airport, I was OUT. I had a long time to wait for my connection, so I thought I´d simply take a quick nap on the benches at my gate... I woke up to the ENTIRE planeful of people around me, actually boarding! I hadn´t noticed a thing I´d been so asleep, and everyone was looking at me with some pretty hilarious faces. I was also taking up 4 chairs of the waiting area, which had been empty prior to my passing out, and I felt pretty bad about being a space hog. Guess I really needed the shut eye! I also slept on the plane to Krakow, so hopefully I´ve caught enough little catnaps to right me again!

Flying into Poland was beautiful. It´s all so green, and the countryside was partitioned up into a patchwork of different coloured crops. I´ve not been in a climate similar to Canada for a while, and it made me a little homesick! I was dressed in a long skirt and thin shawl with a pair of flipflops, so I was NOT prepared for the weather on the ground, though luckily I arrived when it had already heated up a little. As we taxied down the runway I saw all the Polish military aircrafts, seems they share the airport. It was like a camo coloured museum! I caught the 12:30 bus into the city centre, where my hostel is located. The public transit system here is amazing - the buses all have interactive maps that show everyone where the bus is at any particular time, and the upcoming stops. I was glad for this, as it always helps to know where you are and where you´re headed in a new city... actually in any city! Once I´d disembarked, people took very little notice of me, especially once I´d dropped my pack and headed back out. It´s so nice to be just another body again, instead of an anomaly as I had been in Kenya and Turkey. They are all blonde and white here, so I frequently got asked things in Polish. It´s a nice change to mistaken for a local! I supposed I´ll get used to it as I did the other extreme... they all are pretty aryan up here in Eastern Europe!

Mama´s hostel is everything advertised, close to the Market Square and Old Town, as well as friendly and clean. I settled into my room and unpacked my bag, as I´m here for three days and I´d  like to be able to see all my belongings at once for a little while. One of my teacup saucers had broken, but I was kind of betting I´d lose something in the shuffle of getting my stuff here... I set out at once to the nearby mall to supply myself with food for the next three days, and to scour the town for an inexpensive autumn coat.

Town Hall Tower - 14th century.

The Church of St. Mary - 13th century.

I had great success on both counts, and I was able to familiarize myself with the tourist attractions of the Main Square. The old buildings are remarkably well maintained, and honestly could be new reconstructions for all that they look architecturally historical. There is a great tower from which a member of the fire brigade bugles out every hour, which is a quaint call back to historical watch signals. There are many pidgeons around too, and everything sort of reminds me of Old Montreal. I know I say this about every country, but I think I might be in love with Poland... Krakow at least! I picked up some ground beef and veggies along with a can of tomatoes and put together a rough sort of stirfry/chilli thing and I can tell you it was really nice to feed myself again! I also picked up some vodka... but it´s POLAND, can you blame me? I found a coat for $40 at H&M, and I´m going to go closed-toe shoe shopping soon... I wish I´d had more foresight when i though of hitting up this part of the world in this season... ah well, I´ll just be sure to get things I´ll use at home as well!

Adam Mickiewicz Monument - to Polish Poetry and Spirit

One of the main streets into the Square.

St. Adalbert´s Church - 10th century.

Tonight at the hostel many people have just arrived, and I´m hoping that means we´ll all get to know each other quickly and have a fun time. Tomorrow I´m going to wander around the Jewish Quarter and potentially suss out a good local market to buy handicrafts in, though it might blow my budget again, in which case I should probably lay off... I´ve determined that I´m going to have to up it to about $10,000 for the whole trip, everything included, wihch to be honest is still pretty good considering the amount of time I´ll be gone and the amount of intercity travel I´ll have done by the end! I´ll just find myself a great job when I get back and chalk it up to a good time!

Lots of Love from Vodka Land!