Poland

We went to two different cities in Poland, Krakow and Warsaw. Krakow was a day trip, literally less than 12 hours. The main goal of going there was to see Auschwitz and it's sister camp, Berkinau. I really don't know how to describe our time in Auschwitz, other than amazing and awesome. I don't mean awesome in the "cool" way, either. It was just amazing that people lived through (and died in) such a terrible camp, and all because of their religious background. It was a gloomy day, which just gave it a more surreal feeling. I am SO glad that we went, and would recommend it to anyone traveling in that area of the world.

On to Warsaw and happier times! We got to Warsaw around 9 PM Friday and just relaxed on Saturday before the wedding. I think we would have done more on Saturday, but it was cold and rainy, and I just couldn't make myself go out and enjoy myself. I HATE cold weather, and I think our time that day once again made Erik realize that I will never be able to move up north with him! Of course, I'm sure it would have been better if I had more proper clothing, but don't remind Erik of that fact! :)

A Polish wedding is an all night affair. Let's start with the church where our friends, Matt and Karina, got married. It's a church that was built sometime during the 1300s, and on the weekends, it does nothing but weddings. Every 30 minutes, a new wedding party comes and goes. The entire ceremony was in Polish, except when Matt answered with a "yes". We kept teasing him later that he committed to something other than our American vows, but he doesn't care since they'll have to get married again here in the USA, and he'll understand the proceedings. (America doesn't recognize Polish marriages...Well, I'm sure they do, but not in this case. Trust me on that one if I've lost you.) Moving on...The ceremony was nice, and afterward, we walked a couple of blocks to an old fort for the reception. Polish weddings are "supposed to" last for 12 hours, so you know all of the Americans that showed up--if you tell them they have to stay and drink that long, they'll do it just to show that they can! Since this post is long enough already, I won't tell any embarrassing stories. I will say that it was uncomfortable sharing a unisex bathroom! There were 5 stalls, and sometimes open stalls were actually being used by a man who didn't think it necessary to close the door. We left the party around 3:30 and slept in until 11.

On Sunday, Karina's parents had a dinner in her hometown at a restaurant near their house. There were probably 30-40 people there, half who spoke Polish and the other half speaking English. The food was good, although another girl and I just split a pizza. Polish food didn't seem to sit very well with me. After dinner, we went to Karina's parents' house for a quick dessert and then our trip back to Warsaw. We got home around 11 and had to finish packing up for our trip home!!!

We were so thankful to have gotten to Tampa on time, especially after our flight being delayed in Warsaw and having to run to our connection in Denmark. We made the flight with minutes to spare. Unfortunately, our luggage didn't. On the plus side, it's being delivered to our house today! The bag only had dirty clothes and our toiletries, so it wasn't a huge deal. We had a couple of clean things at my parents' house, so we were safe. Kayleigh was excited to see us, much to our relief. I was afraid that she would be shy, but she came right up to us and said, "I miss you!" I still don't think that she fully understands that phrase, but we'll take what we can get!

Tuesday morning we drove home and were very excitedly greeted by our dogs. Ginger even tried to give Kayleigh a hug, which surprised her as much as it did us! Our lovely floors were covered with a layer of dog hair, so I swept up some so that I could take my shoes off and walk around comfortably. We were happy that Kayleigh took to her usual bedtime routine quickly. I knew she must have been tired when she started to tell me she wanted to go night-night. I think we're going to have to really work on the potty training again. She was doing really good for my parents, but after we got back, she didn't want to go on the potty. I know she can do it, and I'm not letting her off the hook that easily! Let's hope she gets back into the swing of things as easily as she adjusted to life with my parents.