Poland Edition, Part 1

So much has happened that I felt an early issue warranted to cover the last three days.

Friday, Jan. 30th
Pretty typical day in Wiesbaden, ALTHOUGH, some of my female buddies decided it was time to treat ourselves to the local bad (meaning bath - where the "bad" in Wiesbaden comes from) while our spouses were at work. Met Debbie at the Hotel and took the shuttle to meet our other two friends on base where we walked over to the Aukammtal Thermalbad. Thermalbad means (I believe) warm or heated mineral bath or waters.

Were we in for a treat! This is a large complex which houses a combination indoor/outdoor public bath, in addition to other therapeutical and fitness services, and a wonderful cafe which you can access directy from the pool or at the entrance of the facility. I think one of the greatest luxuries in life is to swim in a warm bath OUTDOORS in the winter. It feels devine!

Saturday, Jan. 31st
So I'm still in a flurry getting ready for my flight to Poland and not being able to locate any Polish currency (zloty's). Finally located a Western Union at the train station that sold me $100 worth and ended up costing about $16 for the exchange. Peace of mind. I wouldn't be arriving into Krakow until late and needed enough dough for the train into town and the bus ride to Zamosc the next morning. Not to mention meals.

Stayed at a nice place in Krakow called "Hotel Polonia" right across the street from the bus and train stations. Very easy to find. My room had high ceilings and two single beds pushed together.

Tried to fall asleep to the only English channel I could find on TV - 'Euronews' - some kind of recorded news program that is on a continuous loop. No wonder I didn't get much sleep, although turning it off didn't make any difference. Too concerned, I guess, with waking up early enough to catch a 7:30am bus to Krakow and having to actually find the bus station first.

Oh! Forgot to mention a thank you note is very much in order to Sara's friend in Krakow - Kuba. Kuba went out of his way to reserve a seat for me on the bus. In addition, he went ahead and paid for it and then left it with the front desk at the hotel waiting for me when I arrived. I can't tell you how much that increased my comfort level after arriving in so late from Frankfurt!

Sunday, Jan. 31st.
Loooooooooong bus ride to Zamosc. The bus was full. Kuba must have bought me the last seat! It was a six hour ride to Zamosc. Next time I will fly into Warsaw cause it's only a 4 hour ride from there. That is mostly because there are more major and direct routes from Warsaw to Zamosc than from Krakow.

So hell bent on finding the bus station and catching it on time that I skipped breakfast and never got off for any of the breaks on the bus ride. My eyes were glued to the window the entire time! I was happy to get there at 1:30, though, and to be greeted by Sara's smiling face. Visiting her here makes me feel like I'm with family.

Her apartment is only a short walk from the bus station so we headed there directly. I was pretty hungry for lunch by then (no breakfast or dinner the night before, basically). Then a badly needed shower and we just hung out and talked the rest of the day.

Sara has a wonderful little apartment on the top floor of a building that overlooks parks and the town. She has a very busy schedule teaching english and doing translations. She has several translations at the moment and may not be able to return with me to see Krakow before I leave, but I can tell we have more than enough to do here in Zamosc!

Bye for now, Jaime