Other than that, they came out beautifully!  My cousin and his new wife are both gorgeous and were having so much fun that it was almost too easy to get good action shots.  I have a handful of them up for viewing on the Picasa link below, so feel free to take a peek.

https://picasaweb.google.com/115350760555664506944/MarikaAndLawrence?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKX35pagqfDYFA&feat=directlink

While the beach was gorgeous, it definitely wasn’t a South Florida experience…instead of sun-shielding umbrellas, the beach-goers hid behind wind-guards. And for good reason, too. But a beach is a beach, and, despite the sweaters Mother Nature forced us to put on, we had a wonderful relaxing afternoon, breaking the moments of sun-bathing silence with random stories that came to mind. I even stuck my toes in the water, which was suprisingly tolerable. I have to say, from experience, that San Francisco area beaches and water were MUCH more frigid.

We caught an afternoon train back, with a 4-hour layover in the port town of Gdinia, where my parents used to set sail from during their college/ courtship years. My dad had instructed my mom to kiss the port (which I held her to… air-kiss, of course, but still.) For dinner, we ended up in a fish-and-chips bar, where I concluded that while American bars have better music (this place was blaring the worst possible late 80′s and early 90′s dance noise…I specifically remember “let’s talk about sex” shouting at me from the overhead speaker. shoot me…), Polish bars have better bar food. The food wasn’t half bad, and afterwards, we grabbed some ice cream cones from a nearby booth before the hooligan clubbers completely took over the sidewalks.

I think I slept a tad better on the train last night, but still feel like someone beat me with a bat.

Tomorrow is the big wedding that brought my brother and I here in the first place, so we’re all getting into preperation mode. I’m shooting stills (which I just found out about a month ago), and my brother discovered a couple hours ago that he’ll be playing the role of videographer…yup, it’s going to be an interesting final day in Poland…

We took an overnight train from Krakow to the port t0wn of Gdansk Wednesday night, arriving mid-day on Thursday. The old part of the town is absolutely whimscal, with its history and vivid colors. It looks like something out of Willy Wonka’s imagination. We ate at tourist-y but still local dives–we actually found a vegetarian restaurant for lunch, which suited me quite nicely — and took a river tour on the ‘Black Pearl’ with the ‘pirate’ staff performing traditional sailing/ drinking songs. There was even a bar on board… not that I took advantage of it, but totally would have if I had been with different company.

My mom outdid herself when it came to lodgings. She found us this fairy-tale villa a few miles outside of town, on top of a hill, and we happened to have the topmost room, which included a common area and sprial staircase to the bedroom. Not only was the room whimsical, the neighborhood was peaceful and the view lovely! We closed out the night by watching ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’, all huddled together in front of brother’s laptop. I slept well that night.

I spent the weekend at my aunt and uncle’s house, and on the 2-hour train ride there and back, I had a lot of time to think about some cultural differences I’ve noticed and admired from an outsider’s point of view. They’re not anything mind-blowing, or things I didn’t notice every other time I’ve been here, but I feel they’re worth mentioning, and pondering.

Beds: beds, if they exist soley as beds here, are much narrower than American beds. A single bed is skinnier than even a dorm bed. More often than not, beds are often pull-out sofas and futons, so you can actually use them when you’re not sleeping in them. This is due to the fact that there is much less space here, and people’s houses are generally smaller, but still.

Windows: besides the fact that I LOVE not ever having to use any kind of central air conditioning (I don’t even think too many people have it here…) because the weather is perfect—even on a hot day, there’s enough of a breeze to keep the house cool, the window design is ingenious. They are mostly ‘french-door’ style windows. When the handle is down, the window is locked. Halfway up, it opens all the way, like a door. Flipped all the way up, and the window tilts out, so you still get a breeze, but the window isn’t all the way open. Good for cooler or windier days. Some balcony doors are designed like this too. Nice to be somewhere where bugs aren’t a problem, and you don’t need screens…

Public transport: almost goes without saying, but everyone uses it, so it’s insanely convenient and reliable. Watching from the train window, every tiny rural community has a train stop, even if it’s no more than a concrete slab at the end of a dirt road. Have no idea where you would BUY tickets for said train, though, because here in town I’m used to going to the central station a few blocks from our house.

Farming: I LOVE going through the rural communities and seeing people actually working their own land. There are still relatively few tractors. Most people either use a blade, or occassionally I’ll even see a horse-drawn plow. The countrysides are therefore much more peaceful, and I’m sure the air and water quality are well beyond what they would be in Georgia, seeing as how’s there’s less fuel and exhaust being pumped out.

Pets: are fewer, and on a mission. Most won’t come up to you, no matter how much you coo at them. And they’re allowed on the public transport, no questions asked and no pre-requisits. Makes me miss my pup that much more…except I can’t imagine her sitting on the floor. She would insist on sitting her 57-pound ass in my lap, no doubt. Also, the current breed trend is yorkshire terriers. I swear, 90% of the dogs I’ve seen are yorkies.  A close second are french bulldogs.  And actually, I’ve been surprised to see quite a few pits…

Clothes: Obviously, no one walks around in Nike shorts and T-shirts, but overall, I feel like the fashion has loosened up since the last time I was here—there’s fewer people trying WAY too hard to be the next Chanel ad. The general style  is hipster-ish: skinny jeans, high-tops or ballet flats, layered shirts, choppy hair, little makeup.  Basically something I’d see at the 40-Watt back home.

Food: you buy less, but more often (usually you’re walking home with it, not piling a billion plastic bags into the back of your Suburban…). A lot of stores will charge you for bags if you don’t have your own. (They could make a KILLING on that in the states!) Fridges are the size of a typical kitchen cabinet, so even the containers are about half the size, which means you use less to make it last longer…  Plus, most things are fresher and are mostly local (as in, within the country.) My favorite part of groceries, by far,  is the bread. If it’s over a day old, it’s almost considered unetible, and you go to the nearest bakery and buy what you need for the day. I can’t ever get enough of that fresh-bread smell!

I’m not anti-American, but man, Europe does it right on so many levels!

My aunt and uncle's storybook-worthy house and garden

We brought my aunt a bucket of berries...and she turned them into amazing delicious-ness!

Yesterday, we caught several buses and made it to the park , where we began our adventure by taking a two-hour raft-ride on a traditional wooden boat down the river and in between the main ridges. The river, Dunajca, partially straddles the Poland/ Sllovakia border. It would have been completely relaxing had I not been sitting next to a grandma who was clearly Captain Obvious, and she just looooved hearing herself talk. But the weather was gorgeous, the river gurgled and echoed throughout the valleys, so that the only other sound (besides obnoxious grandma) were songbirds and ducks. Occasionally, the mountaineer river guide would throw in some geographical facts and jokes, but for the most part, we drank in the tranquility of the river.

Later in the day, my mom found us a cute rental room in the town of Szczawnica, which is known for its therapeutic mineral waters. It lays right along the bank of the river, and is a quiet but picturesque little mountain town. We walked into town, bought a few groceries and ate at a diner ( the trout that I ordered came complete with head, tail, and fins… I had a lot of trouble cutting off that poor guy’s head…), sampled several different mineral waters (my brother’s face was PRICE-less! he was clearly NOT a fan..)and basically passed out for a few hours once we got back in our room. Side note, mineral waters are anywhere from tasting like plain water to really salty and sulfuric. The ones we tasted were pretty faint, just slightly salty. But not like ocean-level saltiness… More like tears. The lady at the tasting room had faucets that were hooked up to different underground streams. It was fascinating!

We took an evening stroll down to the water before we went to bed, and absolutely could not get enough of the peace and serentity of the place!

Today, we tested our physical abilities by taking a 7 hour hike, much of it (as in, at least 5hours worth) steeply uphill…along the way, we got caught in two thunderstorms, so that by the end of it all, when we were walking down to the town of Kroscienko, we were soaked and our legs were trembling beneath us…and I had this monster of a backpack that had served me well as a rolling carry-on on the plane ride, but weighed a ton and dug into my shoulders all day…but the hike was AMAZING! We made it to the highest peak in the mountin range (Trzy Korony, or Three Crowns), hid from the rain in a cave with an altarpiece next to the ruins of a 12th century castle, and saw a couple of gorgeous salamanders bigger than my hand. Not to mention came upon beautiful scenery and bought a roll of smoked sheep cheese (probably one of my favorite parts of coming back to Poland!) and a cup of punch from a eldery local lady who had her table set up next to the trail. The weather cleared up by the time we made it into town, and we lucked out and immediately caught a mini-bus, then a charter bus back to Krakow. By the time we got home tonight, we couldn’t even make it up the stairs to the floor we live on…had to take the ancient elevator (which I usually avoid taking, partially because I’d rather walk up the stairs and partially because it seems like it’s been hanging on the end of its rope for the last 20 years…)

Now, as I sit here in bed, showered and in my jammies, listening to the chatter and music of Friday nightlife down on the street, and occasionally the tired click-clacking of horses’ hooves as the tourist-y carriages turn in for the night, I have absolutely no wish to be down there…I haven’t been this tired–but content–in a long time.

Near the end of the 7-hour hike, overlooking the town of Kroscienko

While it looks peaceful, I’m still getting . accustomed to the sounds of the city.  It’s not even the trolleys, buses, and ambulances, which eventually turn into a hum, that keep me up occassionally. Nor is it the lonely clanging of the clock tower in the town square, or the grandfather clock  that chimes every half hour in my room. There’s a group of guys that get T-rashed down in the greenspace below, just about every night, and after discussing politics and life and death (according to my cousin. I never pay quite THAT much attention to their conversations), they sing. No joke, they belt out Polish drinking songs. I picture them down there, hugging each others’ shoulders, and having their manly bonding time, and don’t know whether to laugh or close the window…I have no idea when they finally pass out or leave, but it’s well after 4 or so in the morning.