Kaunas, Easter, Poland and The Netherlands Oh My!!!

            Well Charlie and I have been at it again, running around and causing trouble as usual!! Yahoo!! After reading this blog you may question weather I am even in school at all, BUT I AM! I SWEAR!! Speaking of which, school is going very well here and I must say although Monday’s and Tuesday’s are long long long, I enjoy it very much. However, in between class days I am able to get out for some alternative enjoyment.

            A few weeks ago some colleagues and I had ourselves a little road trip to the nearby city of Kaunas. We stayed in the house of a professor of ours, which was wonderful and spent all day Saturday wandering the city, eating yummy food and soaking up the sunshine. Kaunas used to be the capital of Lithuania back in the day and the two cities are very similar. Old classic buildings clash with their modern shiny neighbors in a battle of the generations and the streets are filled with a mish-mash of smooth and torn-up sections. It was refreshing to get out of Vilnius and see another part of the country for a few days while I am here so thanks guys for such a nice weekend trip!! We should all have a redo of the event soon in Klaipeda! : D

            Of course the fun didn’t stop there and the week after we returned we had a little Easter get together at my place. Six of us crammed into my tiny kitchen to have a potluck pre-Easter dinner and dye Easter eggs together. At the end of the evening, the result was a huge pile of colorful eggs, six full bellies and twelve dye-stained hands. It was so nice and cozy and we all had a great time chatting and spilling dye everywhere….my kitchen still slightly smells of vinegar! What fun! J

            The next week after classes were let out for the holiday week, Charlie and I packed up the ol’ suite case (again!) and headed of to Poland where I arrived in Warsaw and was met by Ewa, my roommate’s girlfriend. She kindly showed me to my hostel and treated me to a delicious late night dinner at a near-by Mediterranean dinner. Ewa you are such savior and it was so nice meeting you in your home country even just for an evening!!! See you soon dear!!! 

            Unfortunately I spent only one day in Warsaw where Charlie and I walked down to the old town to have a look around. It was really lovely and the weather was amazing!! That afternoon we boarded another bus bound for Krakow where we stayed in the cutest little studio apartment you’ve ever seen near the city center. I also would just like to take a moment to mention how incredibly CHEAP Poland is! It’s incredible and makes me wish I lived close to the Polish boarder so I could pop over from time to time and stock up on groceries!! Wow! So great!

That Friday I took a day trip to Auschwitz and oh my, what an experience. The whole place was so entirely overwhelming that I didn’t take many photos apart from this one of the iconic entry gate to the camp. The words read, “Work shall set you free” in German…. no words can account for the atrocities committed there and no amount of emotion to compensate for it. While there, I got a taste of the misery which still hangs in the air of the camp in the form of the most atrocious weather imaginable. It was mercilessly pouring freezing blowing rain without relief for hours and hours and by the end of my visit I was soaked to the bone and cold as an ice. My feet were numb and my face red and raw from the stinging rain not to mention I had the chills for hours after retuning home. All of this….in late March…. I cannot imagine the conditions in the winter…what a miserable place indeed.

            For the next two days I had the unique experience of participating in a Spinning Instructor Certification course with 11 other people. All day Saturday and Sunday we gathered at a local gym with a fabulous trainer and learned how to be Spinning teachers. It was really a great experience and although I returned home to Mr. Charlie Pants utterly exhausted both days, I learned so much and am really looking forward to trying out my new skills in the future! Thank you Iwa for your amazing guidance and to my little Polish spinning family who so patiently translated and helped me be part of the group! You are all wonderful people!

            After the weekend Charlie and I headed to the Krakow airport where the most horrific traveling situation of our lives ensued! I am so dramatic I know. But seriously, after 1 canceled flight, 4 delays, 2 rerouting and rebooking, recollecting luggage multiple times and running like crazy to make connections I finally arrived at the Groningen train station, where I was met by a very anxious and patient boyfriend at 2am, only 12 hours late!!   Luckily, the whole trip I had the company of these two lovely ladies who were in the same boat, and of course the ever-persevering Charlie Brown. Thanks girls for being the hardiest traveling companions around!! We made it! Haha

            Anyhow after the airport nightmare was over, I spent a full week in Groningen relaxing, baking and meeting up with old friends. I even got to do some swimming and Gerben and I took Charlie to the park every sliver of a sunny day we could, usually followed by coffee at my favorite over-priced over-hanging café. What a relaxing time. It was so great to be back in Holland for a bit and made me realize how much I miss it there. Melanie, Lydia and Dania thanks for your great company and I hope to see you in a few months!! 

            So here I am back in Vilnius for more school and serious business ;) On a non-travel related note; I was asked to write an article for the teaching organization I used to work for about transitioning from English teacher to grad student. They posted it on their website and I will put the link here in case any of you are interested in reading it.

Whew, kind of a long one! I think that is all for now!! Stay tuned for more! Love and miss you all as always!! xoxo