07 March 2009

European Adventures


I have returned from a most amazing adventure across the ocean. I took all my pto and flew to Krakow, Poland to spend time with Johanna. We decided to take a side trip to Milan, Italy -- because we could. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and interesting cuisine...

The trip there was long...probably the longest two days of my life -- until the trip back. I wasn't able to sleep on the plane at all, so by the time I arrived, I felt like I had been run over by a truck (or a train). I was overly concerned that I wouldn't make it there, or airport security would discover all the food I had stashed in my suitcase, or I wouldn't be able to find Johanna, but everything turned out okay. My luggage made it safely and we hopped on a bus and headed to her apt. We took it easy the first night and packed for our trip to Italy.

The next morning we got up early (5am) and walked to the bus stop to catch a bus to the train station. There we had breakfast and waited for the shuttle to take us to Katowice to catch our plane. Unfortunately our flight was delayed, but not for long. Soon we were on our way to Bergamo, Italy. We flew over the Swiss alps which were beautiful. When we arrived in Milan, we had no map...so no idea where our hostel actually was located. We decided that finding food was more important and we would worry about finding our hostel later. We came upon an Indian doner kebap place that had interesting decor. After dragging our luggage in and claiming a corner table, I got the honors of ordering our food. We ate our food, and I returned the tray to the counter. The young man who worked there was very interested in whether we enjoyed ourselves and asked a series of questions: "Are you finished? Did you like it? Was it good?" (despite the fact that I was studiously ignoring him) We found our hostel after wandering for a while longer and decided to walk to the center of the city. There were outdoor cafes everywhere, and an indoor/outdoor shopping mall of sorts. In the square was Il Duomo one of the largest gothic cathedrals in Europe. The square was lovely at night, and they even had a big screen TV! The next two days we explored, walking everywhere we went. Even though we had sore feet, we could justify eating gelato whenever we wanted. :) We also enjoyed pizzas the size of our torsos and hot crepes at a 'gelacreparia' in the canal district. The city was beautiful and the weather just perfect, but we had to head back to Poland before too long. More to come soon!



**Johanna and Me at the airport in Bergamo, Italy**


**cappuccinos are the best!**


**Me in Milan, Italy**