Historic buildings in Dresden
(Day four) I was wrong we did make it out of the hostel in record time. We were up and on our way by a whopping 7:30 in the morning to catch our Dresden train at 7:51. We arrived in Dresden a short train ride later and I must say it was one of my favorites thus far. While much of the town is new and modern it is still strikingly beautiful, while the old parts are captivating and rather moving from their beauty. Not to mention it was a sunny day which only made the town more joyful and memorable to us since we have dealt with more rain then necessary. From Dresden it was finally time to hit the high rise and go to Berlin. As Friday the thirteenth goes we had to run into some obstacles and we ran into an excess of it. The transit system in Berlin was somewhat trickier then usual as the different directions of the tube are not clearly marked or perhaps it was our lack of reading German but we decided to walk since our hostel was not far. However without a map we seemed to miss a turn and ended up walking way further then needed so that we had to use the tube to back track our way to the hostel. At last we arrived to our hostel only to discover that the place we had booked was unfit to stay in. The building was an old warehouse under construction with the ceiling falling down and the floor soft from age. I felt like we were the cast of Saw vii however after hastily getting our money back and bee lining out of there the fog of our bad luck lifted and we got to take in the history of Berlin which was very emotional and eye opening. To end our busy day we got to finally enjoy some German sausages and turn in early, perfect ending to our German adventure. Now only to get up at 3:30 tomorrow to start our Polish adventure. Yippee (about Poland, not our wake up call). Day five we were leaving Berlin while the streets were still alive with party goers from the night before. We got on our train and sailed off into the sun rise. After four hours on the train we were ready to get off however the heavy fog when arriving in Poznan cast a dreary and frightening glow over the city. The unfamiliarity of Poland made us question whether we should be walking around when we were unsure of the area so instead we got on another train heading further north to Gdansk hoping for a better start in Poland. The train we embarked on sent us back fifty years as it was so old and rickety and many people crowded the halls with no where to sit. We weaseled our way into a cabin with two Spanish boys who ended up being very helpful as the one boy was going to school in Gdansk. Luckily the fog cleared for our arrival and the town was very rustic and beautiful. It was a small town but had a ton of character, my favorite part though was just to listen to the older ladies talking to you in polish even though they knew I could not understand. It made you feel reassured and at home. Being such a small old town, although lovely, it did not offer much else so we were back to the train station to make our way closer to krakow and to stop in Warsaw for the night. We arrived quite late but at first glance Warsaw is out of place in Poland. While the rest of the country is still very vast and has little technology, such as farmers seeding by hand rather then using big machinery, Warsaw is a tiny Toronto replica. Its forty story buildings and flashy vegas-esk lights make you feel as though you're far from europe but then you look closer and can see hints of authenticity. Day six we took our time getting up since yesterday was so crazy and to our joy our hotel had a buffet breakfast with omelette and waffle making stations so we stuck around to fill up before hitting the streets of Warsaw. Although it is the most modern city thus far in Poland it's old town is quaint and full of history. We climbed the look out tower to get spectacular views of the city and then wandered around cute alleys filled with cafes and shops. When we were done walking around we were ready to make our way to krakow as it is where my great grandmother is from (or so we think) and we were excited to experience some of our roots. As it is a Sunday and everyone was headed home from the weekend the train was über crowded and we had to stand at the end of one of the train compartments the whole three hours to krakow. It went by rather fast so it wasn't all bad. We found our hostel right away, this time we made sure the building was still standing, and decided to have a quiet night since we haven't left fifth gear since starting out. Tomorrow we explore.
No comments:
Post a Comment