My nights sleep on the train was okay at best but you really can't expect that much from a constantly moving bed. We got off at 9:26am, 4 minutes early, and walked to our hostel. It's in a great location. Lots of monuments and churches around. The architecture is efficient or extravagant, no in between. we left our bags at the hostel because we couldn't check in and went to a pub/cafe/restaurant place. I ordered a cola and meat perogies. Best perogies I have ever tasted. I tried Mike's spinach perogies, Pat's scrambled eggs, and Alex's Beef/Sour crout/ and Kielbasa, all awesome. The food on this trip is definitely been one of the best parts so far.
We also went to see a cathedral(St. Mary's Basilica), 6 zlotys, so 2 dollars. Almost worth it, huge, and everything was coated in gold. There was also an outdoor market which was cool but we didn't stay long because it was so cold outside. This is the coldest it's been; colder than Oslo, and that doesn't make sense.
Then we fed birds which was awesome. They were pigeons and I felt like I was 5 years old again. At one point I had around 10 pigeons climbing on me, and I also threw lots of seed at Pat so they swarmed him. Totally worth it.
Night 1 - Part 2
So, I'm drunk. After trying to go to Prozak unsuccessfully (it was closed) we ended up back at Alter Ego where we sat at the bar for two hours. Had 4 drinks, finished them off real fast. Zywieck was the first beer, Strong was the second, Warja, and a "hot beer", which Mike wrote down the recipe, it was amazing and I want it again....maybe tomorrow night. Before that we went to a restaurant that was called Bobci something. That means grandma in Polska, so...that's cool. Had perogies and cola light for the second time in one day - Even better this time, stuffed to the rafters, I was. We then went back to the market to kill time before Prozak opened (You know how that went) and that was cool once more, Pat brought a chess set and was looking for a ring, but the one he tried on didn't fit him. Sad Day.
When we got back to the Hostel, literally 100 feet from the bar (awesome) we went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for tomorrow. Earlier we had gone to a grocery store and bought bread, jelly, peanut butter, and nutella. So, we made some straight up PB and J's for tomorrow. We were told by someone who lives in Poland while in Stockholm to bring our own lunch to Auschwitz because the food isn't worth it. So, in the kitchen we made our sammys to the tunes of Polish progressive rock, Alex and I rocked our while doing so because we drank a bit faster than Mike and Pat. Alex actually just took a good night shot of Bacardi melon that pat bought back in Copenhagen. Funny SoB that kid...man...is.
We are waking up at 7am tomorrow to catch an early mini bus to Auschwitz. The fact that tomorrow might be one of the emotionally draining days of my life had barely sunk in yet. I want my eyes opened. I want to lose all faith in humanity tomorrow. I was to not believe, I want to not consider, true human kindness to be true. I want to be changed, for better or worse, I want this experience to change me forever. We shall see.
