Good news friends! After a grand total of about 21 hours spent en route for the much anticipated trip we've landed in Krakow and made it safely to Czorsztyn (pronounced CHORE-stin)! The only things aching are my neck and droopy eyelids. This is going to contain bits from our day of arrival and the second day. Time was taken out to get back on a normal sleep schedule. :)
We landed at about 10 am Sunday morning after an uneventful flight. I was seated next to a tiny elderly Polish woman on her way home from visiting family I imagine considering it was a nonstop flight from Chicago to Krakow. We didn't speak much, neither of us knowing much of each other's native tongue, but we smiled amiably. Hand gestures do wonders also!
Upon reaching Krakow, we met up with two of our host professors from Jagiellonian University who are guiding our stay in Poland. They accompanied us on the two hour bus ride south to the hostel we are claiming as home for a few days. We had our first lecture on the bus ride consisting of some of the geography and history of the particular area of the Carpathian mountains we are in. I had a particularly difficult time paying close attention to the professor, mostly due to looking out the window, but also from the jet lag.
Poland is beautiful!! At least the part we are experiencing! Working our way into the mountains and watching all the villages as we passed through them reminded me a lot the Black Forest when I went abroad to Germany in high school. The houses are almost exactly the same also, with the exception of sod roofs (have yet to see any of those yet)! They are situated very close together, most looking the same as the next one. Yards are also very similar, consisting of large vegetable gardens and containing many chickens, ducks, goats, sheep, or a few cows.
So far, we’ve been booked solid with lectures and field trips—four alone on the same afternoon after we made it to Czorsztyn! I feel horrible to say that I barely managed to stay focused for those lectures, since they were interesting! It’s very obvious the points where I began to nod off, since my writing became much sloppier and slanted. There were also random words inserted at various places. Today’s lectures went much better after a good night’s rest and filling breakfast. We went on a nice hike into the Gora National Park in the mountains for field exercises, surveying vegetation and invertebrate species. Tomorrow we are going to ID all of the bugs we caught!
Food is another topic altogether!! In addition to all the awesome experiences I was looking forward to when I came here, food was most definitely at the top of the list! I love food, love to eat, love all the smells associated with the whole dining experience! And so far, I have yet to be disappointed, and doubt I will be. Tonight we had a cook out behind our villa and huge bonfire afterward. There is nothing like supper cooked over the fire! And the bread! I could an entire loaf in one sitting. I should stop here, because I could go on and on forever about food! :D
Today we visited the Czorsztyn Castle and dam, both of which were awesome. We also has sun for the first time today! The castle was built in the 14th century by Kasimir the Great and on the other side of the reservoir it looks over is the Niedzica castle. When they were first built, the reservoir was the border between the old boundaries of Hungary and Poland so they served as a customs station of sorts. The Czorsztyn Dam is also a spectacular sight. It’s an earthen dam so one side of it is completely covered in trees and wildflowers.
Well, there will be more to come. Apologies for the late update. Internet at our villa is somewhat limited! Pictures to come soon!
Do widzenia!
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