Majówka

Majówka: May holidays (1st, 2nd and 3 May) are called in Polish "Majówka", a pun made from the May month name (it can be translated as May-day picnic). 


During this first week of May nearly everyone in Poland takes off.  It makes sense.  Request 2 days off and get 9 - I think YES!  Unfortunately, the airlines know about this wonderful May break, and they hike all their prices up if you leave anywhere from Poland.  So, instead Michal & I decided to buy InterRail passes.  They are similar to EuRail passes, the only difference is that EuRail is for Non-EU Residents & InterRail is for EU Residents.  Since I am officially a "resident" of Poland... I qualified for this deal.  They are great deals.  The pass that we bought was: Travel 5 days by rail within a 10 day period. It cost about 1,000 zloty which is equivalent to approximately $300 per person. (Special Shout Out to the US Government for our Tax Return which came in time and funded our trip for us!) That is a STEAL because train tickets (especially in Germany) are extremely expensive. 


The next question was... where to go.  9 1/2 days of traveling is a lot of planning including Hotels, what to see, car, etc.  We knew that we wanted to spend some time in Croatia, but my lovely husband has the idea that we would just "jump on a train and go." Which is very idealistic, but not realistic.  We went two nights before our "big trip" to get tickets, and guess what?  They were all booked.  Not a single ticket was available.  Even though we bought these killer passes, we still needed to make reservations because trains only have so many seats to specific places.  That set us into Panic Mode.  And in our family, Panic Mode = lots of praying.  Which is exactly what we did.  We prayed that we would be able to come back the next day and buy a ticket (anywhere) where someone had cancelled.  It happens, but it's very unlikely.  So the next day for lunch, I met Michal & we headed to the Train Station.  When we got up to the ticket booth we asked if anyone had cancelled their reservations leaving from Warsaw - we didn't care whereto, we just wanted to get out.  She said that we must have been living right because about 2 minutes before we got there a couple cancelled their tickets, deciding to go somewhere else.  So we jumped all over it.  We had reservations to go to Budapest Hungary via an overnight train leaving the very next night.  With that in mind, we started our journey and leg one took us to Budapest.

BUDAPEST

We arrived in Budapest, and learning our lesson, decided to book tickets right away for the next overnight train leaving to Zagreb, Croatia.  Well... we ran into a little speed bump again because we found out that the particular overnight train we were going to get on no longer was an overnight train.  So we had to replan things and quickly.  The lady at the ticket counter told us that only ONE train left to Zagreb from Budapest and it was in 2 hours - but it was at the other train station.  So we started heading to "the other train station".  Error - Budapest has 3 train stations.  So after correcting our mistake - we headed to the 3rd train station in Budapest to leave to go to Zagreb.  We arrived about an hour early and decided that we had enough time to go grab a bite to eat and walk around a little bit.

These are the only pictures that we got before we jumped on our  next train.  We grabbed a bite to eat at KFC - and I am sporting my ICE from there.  I was really bummed because I planned what Michal & I could do in Budapest in 10 hours.  We were supposed to see all these cool sites and take all these amazing jumping pictures, but alas - we will have to go again because seeing a park and eating at KFC does count, but doesn't really count, as visiting Hungary.

Regardless, the train ride was really enjoyable and went by rather quickly because we met a super nice fellow there who talked to us most of the way.

CROATIA

ZAGREB

When we arrived in Zagreb, we immediately booked our next reservation tickets and decided to head to the airport.  I didn't know what the heck the currency conversion was for this country, so when our taxi cab driver said it would cost about 70 kuna to get to our hotel (which is only about $12 - I later figured out)... I freaked out and decided that we would walk there instead.  I looked up instructions via googlemaps on how to get to our hotel.  It said that we could make it there in 45 minutes by walking, and it was wonderful weather - so I figured we would walk.  Well - 2 hours 30 minutes later + meeting lots of EXTREMELY nice Croatians (who helped us with directions) - we made it to our hotel room.  Yes, I made a mistake.  Yes, Michal was "a little" upset that we had just spend forever walking to our hotel.  I don't blame him - it ended up being about a 5 mile walk.  But he was really good at trying to look at the positive side over things - that we got to meet a lot of nice people.  One thing that we have decided is that Croatia is full of really wonderful people.  They see you looking at a map and instantly just jump in and ask if they can help - IN ENGLISH!  So, what could have been disastrous, was actually really pleasant because of the people from this country.  We also decided that from now on, we were taking a cab - it was worth the cost!

The next morning we took a cab to the airport to pick up a rental car and then headed to church.  While in Church we recognized some familiar faces from Salt Lake City.  This cute couple was in our last ward and they were the "greeters".  They are always so happy and smiling and it was really fun to run into someone that we knew.  They served their missions here about 8 years ago and came back just to visit.  It was incredible because they both bore their testimonies and the gentleman remembered Croatian and gave his whole testimony in Croatian even though he hasn't used it for over 8 years.  I was very impressed. 

During Church the missionaries fell in love with Michal (who doesn't) and wanted their picture with him.  So we decided to take a jumping picture outside of the chapel (which by the way is brand new and very nice and makes me extremely jealous that we don't have one for our Branch in Warsaw).

My favorite part about this picture is that we were able to get a Member with us to take the jumping picture and that one of the missionaries was pointing to his tag while jumping.  Seriously, the jumping pictures that we get are priceless!

After Church Michal & I headed to the stunning national park: Plitvice Lakes.  It was breathtaking.  Absolutely beautiful and mystic and the perfect little detour to our next destination.  You buy a ticket and they take you up to the very top and then wind your way down through the national park depending on how much time you have.  Each pathway is marked A-H (corresponding to how many hours you want to spend there.  Michal & I took pathway E (or F?) because we wanted to spend about 3-4 hours there.  It was incredible.

Here are only (a few) of our absolute favorite pictures that we took there

They have these carefully planned out walkways and thousands of waterfalls.  There are hundreds of lakes and they are so crystal clear that you can see the middle of the lake and what lies out there.  The whole area is breathtaking and so magical.  It makes us really appreciate Nature and what it has to offer.  So often we go on trips and go sight-seeing, but - I guess - "nature" isn't every really included in our travel plans.  After seeing these stunning turquoise colored lakes, we have decided that maybe the Garden of Eden was located here.

Michal decided that this place also looked like it would be the perfect backdrop for the Hunger Games Arena.  Michal played Katniss and decided to climb up in the trees.  I just think that he is adorable and such a cute little boy.  

Another bonus is that this national park has several of these tranquil grottos.  The waterfalls come down at just the right speed to give you a little mist and cool you off as well.

As we left, we noticed this statue whose nose was rather shiny. I had no idea what its significance was (and I tried googling it and can't find it either)... but as we passed a group of older Polish ladies saw me rubbing his nose and getting my picture taken and they all had to have their picture taken, saying that they had no idea what the significance of this statue was, but that it had to be important if an "American" (me) was rubbing its nose. (Translation thanks to Michal).  We couldn't help but laugh over the "sensation" that we started because the next time we came around the bend, a group of 10 ladies turned into about a hundred getting their picture taken with this anonymous statue.

After our little detour we made the way to the rest of our journey.  We checked into our hotel and crashed asleep.

SPLIT
Our stay for the next 3 days/4 nights was in Split.  Right smack in the middle of Croatia.  With all the traveling that we had done prior to this, Michal & I just wanted to relax, and go explore Split.  We figured it would be a nice break from things.

 Split is a MAJOR port that services hundreds of Yachts, Boats, & Ferries.  There are ferries from here to just about everywhere in Croatia & Italy.  But because of this port it makes the city more lively with all the people coming and going.

Our first part of exploring was to take advantage of the outdoor markets. These people were selling anything and everything.  Letting us "taste-test" all their food in hopes that we would buy their produce.  And we even got some Christmas Shopping done here.  I can't WAIT to see my brothers & my dad open up their gifts on Christmas.  It will be so worth it!

 Here is Michal modeling our strawberries.  I don't think that I've ever had strawberries THIS red, or THAT delicious.  They were so worth it, and so cheap. $2.

 The main "tourist" attraction in Split is Diocletian's Palace.  Actually, that's the ONLY tourist attraction in Split.  So, of course, Michal & I had to explore it. Michal took a picture to make fun of me since I like to read all the signs - so I got him back while he got stuck in a dead end tunnel and had to make his way back up.

The best part was hiking up the 180 stairs to the bell tower and overlooking the city.  It was so stunning up there with the sea of orange roofs and charming little neighborhoods.  

 My happy face after going to the top.  I for sure didn't inherit my dad's fear of heights because it is my favorite thing to climb up to the highest point and lookout over the cities we visit.

Afterwards, Michal got bored of the Palace, so we decided to go explore the city... I mean the parts of the city that tourists don't normally go to.  After our little exploration, we've decided that this city is a lot like Venice - just way cheaper - way cleaner - and undiscovered to tourism.  We love it!

We LOVED Split, if you ever go there, be sure to chat with us.  Parking is tricky & so are FREE public restrooms.  But, don't worry, we found both and know where to give you the hook up.

DUBROVNIK

The next morning we decided that Split was small and another day there would be unnecessary.  So we journeyed south to Dubrovnik.  (I only got us seriously lost once - pretty good when we had no tom-tom).  

 We geared up and made our way there - which included us going through (and getting our passports checked - but not stamped - 4 times) through Bosnia & Herrzegovina.  If I had to "re-plan" or change anything about our trip - it would definitely include an overnight stay in this country.  I think that they seriously DECKED OUT the 5 miles between the two sections of Croatia.  They made it so appetizing and so intriguing that you just WANTED to stay.  Almost like around every corner there was a new surprise and a new picturesque Hotel outlining the ocean view.

Alas, we made it to Dubrovnik and had another gratifying and enchanting day exploring this hidden tourist spot.

When we got there, Ice cream seemed to be the big "thing".  Of course we had to try.  Let me let you in on a little European Secret - Hazelnut Ice Cream beats them all.  Every time.  Hands Down.  Once you go Hazelnut, you'll never go back.  In Michal's words, "I'm tellin' ya man."

My Ice Cream was only so-so.  From now on, I'm taking my OWN advice!

Legend goes, if you can stand on this super tiny little platform (it's like the size of a brick which has been polished down) and take off your shirt - they you will have good-luck for a year.  You must return every year to renew your luck.  While Michal & I were both unlucky, we feel too terrible because we watched for about a half hour and no one else managed the feat either.  A few super athletic girls bragged about how last year they had all accomplished getting up on the ledge and taking their shirts off, and their spouses vouched for them, but they couldn't do it either.  Must have been one of those days.

After people watching the wall, we went people watching elsewhere.  All sorts of hidden talents are scattered all over this city.  We say a lady doing needlework.  And dozens of artists capturing their interpretation of the city on canvas via watercolor.

 While it was a little too hot, Michal & I didn't mind because this city wasn't bursting with people and wasn't crowded at all. We got to enjoy our time leisurely and peacefully instead of dealing with "other" annoying tourists.

 Trust me, us - you're not missing out if you decide to take a day trip to Dubrovnik.  It's worth it!

TROGIR

The last FULL day we had in Croatia, we wanted to see something else.  We took the journey to Trogir - which is about a half hour away from Split.  I call this town "Pirate Town" because I feel like it is the set of a movie where pirates just jump right off of the ship into the town.  

 Before we left we decided to lay out in the sun for about 30 minutes at our hotel - which was beachside - to make the day more relaxing.  We made a bad call because we both got terribly sunburnt.  Michal had to wear a towel around his neck the whole day to keep it from getting worse.  By the time we made it back to our hotel, we were exhausted and so worried about how we would make it the rest of the trip with our terrible sunburns.  We didn't want it to spoil our trip.  But our prayers were answered.  We had the most AMAZING waitress at our hotel who saw our sunburns and ran home and gave us yogurt.  Told us to put it on at night and sleep with it on.  (We left it on for about 4 hours, but couldn't sleep with it on).  She told us that we would be tan the next day and not hurting at all from our time in the sun.  We took her advice... and it worked!  It really worked!  I had blisters on my nose and on the back of my neck, and the next morning - they were completely gone!  I was really skeptical - but I'm glad we took her advice.  This is just ANOTHER reason why we love the people of Croatia so much.  They really are such wonderful people!

ZAGREB

We made it back to Zagreb with about 90 minutes before our overnight train left.  We wanted to badly to explore the city, but we didn't get to see much.  We feel like Zagreb (and all of Croatia) is an undiscovered beauty - just waiting to blossom.  The place is extremely clean, the people are incredibly friendly, and the atmosphere is refreshing.  When Michal first told me that he wanted to to go Croatia, I was very hesitant.  I am the type of person that is a typical tourist - loves to sight see - get her picture taken in front of important artifacts.  But Michal is an explorer.  He loves finding undiscovered treasures.  I feel like even though this wasn't my typical "tourist" trip to come here, I loved it because it wasn't anything like what I expected it to be.  I feel like I saw what we wanted and we really made our time there worth it.

ZURICH

Our next stop included Zurich. Once we got here, we tried to book our next train - and again - the reservations were all full - so we had to do a little re-arranging and planning, but we still got to spend a full day in Zurich exploring this city.  

One of the reasons that I loved this city was because everything was so close and within walking distance - and SO WELL ORGANIZED!  They give you these exceptional maps where you can go on your own "guided" tour of Zurich - in 5 hours.  It was perfect.  Michal and I pretty much did the guided tour around the city back to the train station and then decided to do the tour again, but this time in reverse.   It was lovely being here.  Everyone spoke English, things were so nice.  Bathrooms were free, and plentiful, and clean! 

 Michal took a lot of amazing picturesque photos.  He has such a natural talent for finding things that burst with color and are captured so beautifully through a lens.

He also made sure to capture some of his favorite things on our camera: UPS (I don't know - don't ask) - and and Opera house (where he is leading music - his favorite).  

Along with that, another one of his "favorite things" is: CURRYWURST - (yuck!).

I was getting "pictured out" hence the sad face.

One thing I loved about Zurich was their national pride.  There were lots of Swiss flags everywhere, they sported the swiss army knife all over and they really made you very aware of how "proud" they were to be Swiss!

 Another aspect I loved about this city was the number of clocks that there were.  It was IMPOSSIBLE to not "know" what time it was. Every little street corner, every cafe, every building, every apartment, every facade had a Clock plastered on the wall. I loved it.  I decided to nick-name this city, "The clock town."  Even better was when the church bells would all go off and the bells would ring all over the city.  However, they are about 10 seconds off from one another.  I don't know if it's on purpose, or they just can't get them to line up right - but one of my favorite things about living in Europe are the Church Bells. I would make Michal wait every hour for about two minutes so that we could hear the bells go off.

 We also discovered how extremely EXPENSIVE this city is.  Everyone (and I mean everyone) drives a ritzy, plush car.  I hadn't ever heard of "Austin Martin" and "Mazzarati" cars until MIchal pointed them out to me - on every street!

 Overall, our time in Zurich was pleasant.  We wrapped up our day by eating Fondue (which was started here in Switzerland - so of course, we had to)... and eating some strawberries (which were not $2).  And making our train trip to our next destination.

COLOGNE, GERMANY

That's right.  When we went to go book tickets to Amsterdam through an overnight train - they were all taken.  We never took into account that it was a weekend and that people actually wanted to travel (?).  So we decided that the closest that we could get to Amsterdam was Cologne.  If we left Zurich at around 6 we'd get there about 10, and then the next day we could head to Amsterdam in the morning and we'd arrive around 1 o'clock.  Sounded fabulous.  Plus, we'd get to do some sight-seeing in Cologne in the morning before we left.

 WRONG!  It rained so hard.  We weren't able to see a thing.  We hesitated bringing pants on our trip because it was supposed to be warm - and we hesitated bringing jackets - but I am sure glad that we did... because they were worth every extra ounce we had to carry.  We took great advantage of them in Cologne and Amsterdam.

AMSTERDAM

We were so thrilled to come to Amsterdam.  We had all these plans to go see and do amazing things - and didn't do any of them because we had our VERY OWN TOUR GUIDE.  Dorotka Musial took us around.  Seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better day in Amsterdam.  She took us everywhere we wanted to do - in every little nook and cranny - and we saw things that the normal "tourist" wouldn't get to see.  

We started our "tour" by the I AMSTERDAM sign.  It was so overpopulated and crowded that Dorotka decided we needed to go somewhere else and see other things.

I was so excited to go exploring with her!  

 She took us to the "flower market"  which is full of flower bulbs - not live flowers, but their seeds instead.  It took me by surprise.  When I saw this market, I knew I had to get my mothers day gift here, it seemed only appropriate.  So Mom, I know that if you are reading this, I'm sorry I ruined your surprise - I was going to give it to you next week (NEXT WEEK - aaahhhh) when you come out to visit - but I loved this as a gift so - Happy Mothers Day.  Hope you like your very own...

REMBRANDT FLOWER BULBS.

They look amazing - wouldn't you agree?

Then Dorotka decided we needed to make sure that we ate all traditional food from Holland.  The first thing we tried was PEBOs.  I would say they are "okay".  Michal would say they are "GRRREAT!"

After the PEBOs we had these crispy fries (?) - they all come with their very own sauce.  I'm pretty sure that I chose the grossest sauce - cheddar cheese.  Michal got Ketchup - and Dorotka got this amazing something - I don't know what it was - but it was super delish!

Michal begged Dorotka to see something of Rembrandt (since he loves him as an artist).  So, what better than Rembrandt Square?  Michal was in love.  And took a jumping picture, but there were stupid people in the background, so I omitted it from this blog.

Apparently, they just celebrated "Queens Day" in Holland - and it was massive.  The "unofficial" National Color (and favorite Color of the Queen) is orange... so there is orange decor everywhere.  You know me and bright colors!  I fell in love!

On to some more unique things that Dorotka showed us on our very own unique tour...

Can you see the tilting building? It's there!

Seriously, I love this girl!  I had so much fun!  It is such a bonus traveling with three people, because you don't have to ask a random stranger to take your picture.  Speaking of... Michal got asked by a random stranger if he wanted to buy any Cocaine from him while in Amsterdam.  That was a first for him.  It was in the Red-light district.  Which is not that bad... promise.  I was also introduced to the smell of Marijuana here. It's legal folks.  And it smells awful.

 

We wrapped up the day by eating some StroopWafels - and finishing our day with the other "hidden" (hard to get to) I AMSTERDAM sign.  Luckily, we had a wonderful tour guide - who took some fabulous pictures and knew how to get us there.  

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Dorotka for a wonderful WONDERFUL time in Amsterdam and being such an incredible, amazing tour guide.  We love you so much! We can't wait for our next adventure with you!

HOME

We ended up traveling the whole day Sunday to get home.  It was wonderful - as usual we ran into some bumps along the way - namely that the train from Berlin to Warsaw was packed and even though we tried 4 times to get a reservation (and couldn't)... we ended up sitting in the Restaurant Car for 5 hours.  Luckily we were hungry.  Michal loved it, I was nervous they would kick us out.  But where?  There wasn't even a place to stand in the hallways - so I guess they just dealt with us there.

It was good to get home - but Michal & I had a fabulous trip.  We made our money out of that excursion and I feel like every time we travel we get to know each other so much better and almost fall-in-love... all. over. again.  It's incredible traveling with your best friend.  Because they make awkward situations fun, stressful situations seem like a piece of cake, and intense situations so much more alive.  I'm always looking forward to our next adventure.