Viva L'Italia!

Plans have changed slightly.

I spent a good 2 hours on the internet yesterday afternoon, first of all trying to sort out my school registration (not the most straightforward online registration system at McMaster) and second of all trying to arrange transportation to Poprad.

Poprad is right across a mountain range from Krakow, about 300 km away across the Slovakian border. And it would take me 9.5 hours to get there by train. No joke. When I did a search on the internet for bus schedules, it turned up nothing better. So I'd kind of resigned myself to a LONG journey.

But, then I started talking to someone who had just been in Zakopane. Zakopane is a very popular mountain town on the Polish side of the Tatras mountains (Poprad is on the other side). He said he'd seen a ton of buses with "Poprad" on the side of them while he was there. So, I talked to the girl who works at the hostel, who called the information people in Zakopane for me (they don't speak English) and we sorted out that it will be WAY faster for me to take the bus through Zakopane. Why I couldn't find that info on the web, I'm not sure. So, tomorrow morning, early, I'm going to take the bus to Zakopane (only 2 hours and it costs about $3 Canadian), spend a few hours wandering around (it's supposed to be beautiful) and then catch the bus to Poprad. I have no idea how long the second bus will take, but hopefully I'll arrive at Peter's place around dinner time.

I've also sort of changed my mind from staying with Peter's parents for only one night. The tatras are supposed to be breathtaking, and it's a waste to only be there for one day. So, I'm going to stay 2 nights with his parents (if they don't mind of course) and then head straight to Budapest.

I was orginally planning on going to Eger, Hungary, before Budapest, but I've changed my mind on that one too. It's supposed to be beautiful, and really fun there. They make the best wine in Eastern Europe (an iffy distinction) and they raise the Royal Lipazzener horses there. I would have loved to do some horseback riding there. But, they don't have hostels there, only private rooms, and it's unlikely I would meet people to hang out with there. And, while I'm enjoying travelling alone, that doesn't mean I want to spend 2 days not talking to anyone.

So straight to Budapest it is. I'm going to meet Chris and Antonia there (from England) and hopefully Jo (from Ireland) there and all stay at the same hostel. C & A are going to Bratislava first, and Jo is spending a couple of days in Zakopane. We've all gotten along so swimminly though, we want to keep hanging out together!

Speaking of good times, last night, after my frustrating internet marathon, we had a little Italian feast at our hostel. These two italian guys, Gregorio and Antonio, were getting so depressed by eastern european food, they were dying for some authentic italian pasta. So, they went out, got some groceries, and taught Jo and I how to make REAL Spaghetti Pomodore. It was amazing, and I learned so much! Like, that when you cook pasta you should put one tablespoon of salt per serving in the water. It doesn't make it taste salty, just AMAZING. So almost the entire hostel feasted on pasta made by genuine italians last night. The best part? Antonio wrote out the recipe in my scrapbook, in italian, complete with illustrations! What a good memento.

After supper, a bunch of us went to this cheesy hawiian bar where we drank fun drinks. At each table there was a telephone that you could use to call other tables, so you can just imagine the fun we had with that. :)

Today I'm heading out for my last day in Kracow, doing some sightseeing I hadn't gotten around to yet. There's supposed to be an amazing photographic exhibition about Jewish culture in Kracow, so I'll probably check that out. I might also go and see the big museum here that had a Di Vinci painting. I can't believe this is my last day here. *sniff sniff*

Gail: How cool is it that Dani's mom is reading my blog! I'm glad you're enjoying it. *hugs*