Crazy how time flies and within a blink of an eye, you are in a new country..

 We went from Denmark to Malmo in Sweden for one night, and walked around this very pleasant town with delightful squares and shops and magnficant parks complete with windmalls, gardens and canals.  From here, we caught our flight to Warsaw, Poland.

Warsaw was quite the experience.  Seeing as how my grandma was Polish, I was excited to finally visit the country!  Warsaw was very different than anywhere I have been before.  It is the capital city of Poland, and I did feel at times like I jumped back in time. The street cars were from the 1950's, and many of the buildings were quite old and dark.  It is important to realize how the war and Communism affected not only this country, but this city in particular.  After the war, seeing as how the city was entirely destroyed and people had no place to live, buildings were erected as fast as possible to get the city going again.  Each time I was in awe or wondered why something the way it was, I realized it is because the way history has shaped the area.

Maja had her good friend Baeta and her boyfriend show us around the city for a couple days.  The old town square was beautiful, and we ate at quite the restaurants.  One highlight was visiting the 4 floors of the Polish resistance museum.  Again, it gave me an appreciation of what it might have been like to go through the war, and what it might be like to live here afterwards.

Another day was spent visiting Maja's great aunt and some family.  I knew this would be challenging.  We took a tram to the outskirts of the city and saw her aunt.  Of course I don't speak Polish, and spent the next few hours smiling and nodding.  Even though her great Aunt who is 86 knew i didn't speak Polish, she kept looking at me and speaking it anyways.  I spent the time rather nervous, with little to contribute.  Cookies and sweets were constantly forced upon me!..In the end, I had seen photo albums, trinkets, and got some translations.  It was one of the first times I felt pretty useless!  It was great to meet Maja's family though..

 We left Warsaw on the second class train as it was much cheaper. We will now take first class...If you have ever been on a European train, its common to have within one train car, seatings areas where you open a door, and there are 6 or 8 seats in one little room, facing eachother.  There is a small portion of the car where you can squeeze down this narrow hall to get from car to car.  We were crammed, not comfortable, and had a 7 hour train ride.  At one point, I sat on this tiny little seat that folds out from the wall of the train outside the car.  Every time someone wanted to get by, you have to move as there isn't enough room for them to get by.  I was out there for a good 30 minutes.  This intimidating guy went by a few times, brushing against me to get by.  Finally I went back to the car and a few minutes later we heard screaming and yelling.  I guess one guy that was just sitting in the hall like i had been, and just been jumped by the big guy, and was getting the crap kicked out of him.  We were all terrified as the big drunk guy just decided to start havoc.  I guess the girlfriend finally stopped it but the screams were loud.  We all stayed in the car and thankfully at the next stop the police boarded the train and took care of it..

 We arrived in Sopot, a wonderful town on the coast on a wonderful beach.  There are so many shops to go to, festivals and endless amounts of restaurants or patios to buy really cheap food from.  It is so relaxing here! We are spending our days eating, shopping, eating again, going to the beach, etc.  Now this is the Poland I enjoy!  From here we will head to Maja's hometown before flying to Stockholm next week.

 As the journey continues, and we experience all this, Maja reminded me of a quote that can sum of some of these adventures...

"The best adventure is one that while you are in it, you wish you were not"...