Bill and I had been praying for the two weeks before we left that the results of the Visas would be our answer from God as to what we should do; stay until July or go home in April. Not having the documents before going to Poland we knew that we were going home in April, so our to trip to Poland became a holiday. We have never been to Poland and we knew nothing about it, but the moment we got to the city center and saw all the activity, restaurants, the cleanliness, etc..., we extended our stay before we even unpacked. We have found out since being here that our friend of Grace Place, Karen Springs, was unable to obtain a Visa as well. She has been here for 7 years and this is the first time they did not give her an extension. The new Visa regulations are making it harder and harder to stay in Ukraine.
We landed in Katowice Poland early Sunday morning. We thought that we had booked a bus to Krakow (1 1/2 hours away). We got on our bus and realized that the bus only went to the train station in Katowice. There was a gentleman sitting in front of us on the bus that heard our concerns and offered his help when we got to the train station. As it turned out, at the train station there were mini-busses that could take us to Krakow, so the gentleman helped us change some money for tickets and we were off. It was amazing to see so many helpful, smiling faces. In Ukraine it is very rare to have someone approach you and offer their help.
The bus ride opened our eyes to Poland. We saw beautiful buildings that were not in disrepair. The streets were smooth, they even had white lines for lanes. And people were actually following the traffic rules! We saw green grass in yards, dogs as pets, laughter, and much more.
We arrived at the Krakow train station and got directions to our hotel, which was only supposed to be a 10 min. walk. Well, I thought I had the directions good enough to get us to where we were going, but as it turns out I did not. We were supposed to go out of the station and turn right, okay that was easy. Then we were supposed to come to some kind of circle. I assumed it was a round-a-bout; nope, that is not right. We were supposed to go under two tunnels. Well, we found a tunnel that was the tunnel for the trains, but it ended in an amazing underground mall. We started getting excited because we were seeing food that we recognized; signes for McDonalds, KFC, steak, mexican, WOW!!! WOW!!! WOW!!!
We knew we were lost so we asked another lady for directions. She said to go out of the mall, head straight and go under the tunnel and follow the signs for "Old Town". Okay we found the tunnel, but there were no signs that we saw for Old Town. We were walking through a beautiful park and in the middle was an information booth. Yep, we asked for directions again. He gave us a map and drew where we were supposed to go. Yeah! We got to the city center plaza; another WOW. There were people everywhere. The sun is shining, there are outdoor cafes everywhere, there are clowns on stilts doing balloon art. We see families playing, kids are running around chasing pigeons, we got to watch flocks of birds flying up into the air then swooping back down to the plaza. I felt like I was watching a movie.
At this point we knew the name of the street that our hotel was on so of course we asked for directions again. We had to walk through the plaza and continue on for a couple of blocks and there is our hotel. It is a nice quaint hotel. We have a porch where we can sit and watch all the activity. The only problem that we are having is the internet is very hit or miss, even if the computer is plugged in. So today we are moving to a different hotel for the last two nights.
After we checked in we went walking. Our main goal - EATING. I think Bill and I are going to weigh 10lbs more when we leave than when we got here. At our first cafe (outside of course) we drank a bottle of wine, ate beef carpaccio, vegetable soup, and pasta. Oh so yummy.
We walked around the plaza for a bit, but then exhaustion crept in. We had been awake since 2:00 a.m. so we walked back to the hotel for a quick nap; well Bill napped and I read. We left the hotel again and went walking around the plaza. We were trying to find a spot at a table in the sun to relax, have a drink, and people watch. All the restaurants were packed, but we got lucky and found a table, and sat facing the sun watching people. The most fun was watching the 10 or so horse drawn carriages taking people on rides around the plaza. When we got back to our hotel for the evening I realized that I got a little sunburned on my chest.
Tomorrow I will tell you about our excursions. For now, God Bless and happy dreams.
Karen
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