Day 4: Krakow Poland; Salt Mines

Monday morning we got ourselves to the train station and found our train to Krakow. Things got a little crazy because we assumed we’d left in plenty of time thinking that our train was leaving at 9:45am so we were going to grab some breakfast and then get on the train. I suggested we find the train first before getting food. Good thing we looked because it turns out our train was actually at 9:15 in the morning and not 9:44am and it was 9:10am already! (The 9:44am train was in fact our second train that was from Krakow to Prague.) So we very quickly found out train and ended up having a great train ride, very comfortable, quiet in the train car and nice and air conditioning. Thank goodness for my snack bag (or as Joe likes to call it my feed bag) though because we didn’t have any breakfast so it was very helpful to have some snacks! :)

So we arrived at the train station and went over to the mall for some lunch before starting our Krakow adventures. This time we picked KFC for lunch and ate quick then worked on finding out how to get to the Salt Mine which was the plan for the day. Here’s where I didn’t do so well in the planning. I knew we needed to take a bus but that was as far as I got. So we walked around the bus stations and train station in search of some information. At this point I got kind of frustrated with myself for not planning so well but we finally found someone to give us information and learned that we needed to take the 304 bus right to the mine. We locked up our luggage and found the bus. The ride took about 45 minutes but we finally arrived at the Salt Mine and were just in time for the next English tour.


So the Salt Mines of Wieliczka have been in operation since the 13th century. Currently the mine isn't producing but it's one of the oldest mines in the world and one that operated for the longest time. It's not as efficient to mine here anymore so it's not done. The total mine goes 327 meters underground and is 3000 kilometers long, the tour only shows you about 1% of the total mine and takes you down about 140 meters underground. Since the mine is so old there’s only so many places that can be visited because some parts just aren’t safe anymore. The total amount of steps we took were over 800 stairs, almost 400 to get down into the mine! Thank god for a lift to take us back up! It was pretty crazy to be so far down underground! So everything in the mine is made out of salt, which makes complete sense considering it’s in the salt mine so we got to see all kinds of cool sculptures that were made by some of the miners.

The most amazing part of the mine was the huge chapel of the Blessed Kinga. It was so beautiful in the chapel. There were these amazing chandeliers made out of salt as well. They had many religious sculptures in there including the Last Supper and Nativity. It was really beautiful. You can actually get married in the chapel and they have a big room at the end of the tour that they use for receptions and other parties!



Apparently the air quality in the mine is excellent for people who have asthma and helps people breath better. It was so cool to be so far underground and see some of the places the miners worker. There were many famous people who came and visited the mine, including some Popes and Chopin himself. It was really great to think about such famous people walking the areas of the mine. Since some of my ancestors also lived in the Krakow area it was fun for me to think that maybe some of my relatives worked in the mine. We learned that many of the people who worked in the mines in the early years were paid in salt and that salary and soldier come from the word for salt because these people were paid with salt. I really enjoyed being in the mines and learning how things worked down there. During the tour we even got to pull some salt off the wall and eat it and taste some salt water. It was really cool! :)


After the Salt Mine we went back to the bus station, got our luggage and headed to our hotel in the old Jewish district. We checked in to a pretty comfortable room and asked the receptionist where we should have dinner in the area. She suggested a place call Avocado so we walked down to the restaurant, sat outside and had some polish food. I ordered a breaded chicken breast with potatoes and Joe got some Perogies and a pork chop. The food was delicious and it was fun to sit outside. After dinner we walked over to the Wawel castle. We weren’t able to go into the castle grounds because it was closed at that point so I don’t know much about the castle but from the outside it was beautiful. We stopped at a little market and got some snack and headed back to the hotel to relax. Our first day in Krakow was a lot of fun and the Salt Mine was really amazing! Special thanks to my friend Anna who suggested it!!! :)

Side Note: European Fashion

So this doesn’t have a whole lot to do with our trip but it’s something that struck me during out travels. European Fashion is so different compared to American fashion. Since we had the opportunity to sit outside a lot and eat we also got to people watch. I was really amazed at how well put together everyone always looked and just how dressed up everyone was. I actually felt very under dressed sometimes in my jeans and t-shirts! I was especially impressed by the way the women dress and how they all looked so nice! I don’t think I saw one person who would have been nominated for Stacy and Clint’s “What Not to Wear” show the whole time we were traveling. The other thing that impressed me so much was the fact that no matter what these women were doing they all had GREAT shoes, big tall heels that looked wonderful with their outfits! I was kind of jealous! It really seemed like everyone took such pride in the way they look and it was something I was very impressed by!

This isn't the best picture but it gives you some idea. The most impressive looks where on Saturday and Sunday evening when people we going out for dinner and drinks, etc.

Day 3: Warsaw Poland; Chopin Day!

Our first Sunday of the trip was extremely relaxing! We decided to take things a little easy for the day and take part in the some musical sights and enjoy the fact that Chopin is so popular in Warsaw. We got up and got ready and then got some donuts at a little shop just outside our hotel. It always smelled SO good while they were baking them! Then we walked over to the park where the Chopin monument is located. Chopin is of course a big deal in Warsaw since it’s where he was born and raised. He did not live there his whole life though but also spent some time in Paris; however, Warsaw loves Chopin and he’s very popular there.

Side note: On the way to the park we found the US Embassy...how funny we are as Americas! All the other embassies were so nice and classic looking and then ours was all protected with huge gates and video equipment. I took a picture of it and then noticed I wasn’t suppose to because there was a no photography sign on the building, are we really that paranoid?

So every Sunday in the summer they have Chopin concerts at the base of the monument at noon and 4pm. We decided to go to the noon concert and found ourselves a nice spot on the lawn and listened to a young pianist play some Chopin music. The pianist was very talented and we were told that he had been a finalist in the Chopin competition last year. He’s currently preparing for this years competition and they community is hoping he’ll win. It was so nice to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful music. Sunday was absolutely beautiful outside and in fact we both got some nice sun sitting outside for so long! :) It was a great way to start the day!

After the concert we decided to walk through the park and continue to enjoy the beautiful day! We shortly discovered many hidden treasures in the park and came upon a beautiful Palace with an outdoor theater and two peacocks living there! I later read that the grounds of the palace had at some point been a zoo for the royalty in the area but one king decided to make the grounds into a big garden instead and its been that way ever since. We got some ice cream on the way back towards the city and headed over to the Chopin Museum to continue out musical day.

While Joe was here two years ago he was unable to visit the museum because they were remodeling it so we were glad to make it there this time. The museum was very interesting and provided a lot of information about Chopin’s life but the layout was kind of strange. Every display had a screen next to it and you could watch little bits about each display. Great idea, expect the museum was busy and so it took a long time to get to the screens to be able to watch things. We eventually gave up and just looked around and read the descriptions and if something caught out eye we went to the screen. The coolest things were the last piano Chopin used before his death and the lock of his hair and death mask from when he died. It turns out that Chopin was actually pretty sick most of his life and was kind of a complainer. It was a lot of fun to learn more about his life and music though. All in all a good experience and cool to see some of the artifacts from his life.


By this point we decided we were hungry so we stopped at an outdoor cafe and got some pizza and salad. Again, it was enjoyable to people watch and just be outside. After our late lunch we wandered back towards Old Town because on Saturday we saw that there would be a big fashion show on Sunday. Now I don’t know much about fashion aside from the one time I actually watched Project Runway so I wasn’t really interested in the whole experience but it was cool to see some of the designs and all the people gathered for the show. After walking around some more we decided we were hungry again so we went to a Turkish restaurant and of course picked an outdoor table. The food was really good and since it was cooling off a little it was very pleasant to sit outside. I was sad to think that our time in Warsaw was already over because I really enjoyed the city!

It was such a great experience to be in Warsaw and think about my ancestors who used to live here. I enjoyed thinking that maybe they went to some of the churches we visited or walked the same streets I walked. It was a great way to feel connected to my family history and enjoy being where my family came from. I was excited to visit Krakow as well since some of my ancestors also came from that area of Poland, in general it was just a great experience to be in Poland and feel that connection with my family history!

Day 2: Warsaw Poland; Old Town and some Zombies(?)....

Day 2 of our trip found us traveling by plane to Warsaw Poland. This flight was one of the few flights actually taken on this trip considering that the rest of the trip until coming back to Denmark would be via train. So we got to the airport, got out tickets and headed to the plane. Somehow on our very full flight Joe and I were not sitting next to each other but did both have window seats, until Joe discovered he was in the very LAST seat of the plane with no window, sadness! The flight was quick and easy and we landed without any problems. :) I had been a good planner and knew exactly what bus we needed to take in order to get to the city center and so we got some money and bus tickets and headed for the city. (Go me for being well prepared for this part of the trip, this did not prove to be the case on Day 4 our first day in Krakow, but more to come on that). We got to the main train station in the city center, got out train tickets to go from Warsaw to Krakow and then Krakow to Prague and headed over to the mall. Like good Americans we decided to have some Burger King for lunch. This being one of several fast food meals on our trip which is kind of funny considering that I never eat fast food in the States but it’s quick and easy and you know what to expect. So after ingesting some calories we were ready to walk and find out hotel then start our adventures.

I had picked a cute little B&B for us to stay in while in Warsaw. The only problem was that we had to check in at a hostel owned by the same people around the corner. This proved to be worth it however because this hotel was by far the best accommodations we had our entire trip. We were staying in the San Francisco room which was extremely comfortable and all around very nice. The other great part about our hotel was we were literally right off the main street so we were close to everything we wanted to see.

After getting settle we got ready to wander around the town and headed off to Old Town. Prior to getting to Old Town we stopped at the Presidents house. Since the President was recently killed in a plane crash there was a big memorial outside the house to honor him and the other people who were killed in this crash. It was very touching to see people remember the President and sad to think about the utter tragedy this was for the county.



We finally made it to the center of Old Town and started to explore. I think Old Town Warsaw was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Most of this area of the city was destroyed during WWII (We certainly saw a lot of the devastation this war caused Europe on this trip) but when the war was over the people of Warsaw decided to rebuild the area to make it look like it was before the war. Everything about the area is so classic looking and just beautiful! We walked around and saw the walls of the Old Town area and the Warsaw Uprising monument as well as the Young Soldier monument. Warsaw really struggled against the Nazi powers but they were a strong country and were able to maintain their nationality despite many trials. We also went to the Church of the Holy Cross where Chopin’s heart is buried, apparently in a jar of Cognac. We had a traditional Polish dinner of Perogies and Pancakes which was really delicious. We stopped at one of the outdoor cafes for some refreshing drinks and then headed back to the room for a while.



While we were relaxing in the room we heard all kinds of screaming and yelling outside. We looked out the window and saw several soldiers shooting at something (but couldn’t see what) and nothing else. I honestly thought some kind of crazy attack was happening outside our window until I happened to notice that there was a mob of people following these soldiers and they were all dressed as Zombies! This is also when I noticed that the guns the soldiers were shooting had the orange caps on them so they weren’t real. There were so many people though. Joe and I decided it must have been some kind of flash mob or something but they looked like they were having fun.



After the Zombies cleared we decided to go back out and enjoy some of the social life Warsaw had to offer. We picked another restaurant and sat outside people watching. It was so much for us to watch people wander around the streets and see how everyone was dressed and ready for the night. It was also great to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful evening. All in all a great first day in Warsaw!

Holiday 1: Day 1: Copenhagen and a Birthday Celebration

I know you’ve all just been dying on the edge of your seats wondering what on earth Joe and I have been up to for the last 10 days, well have no fear there are many stories to tell and adventures to report on as we were crazy enough to visit 5 cities in 10 days! So the full blogging for the Holiday 1 will likely take me the rest of the week and at some point I’ll manage to organize all 800 plus pictures taken between our two cameras into some Picasa web albums for you all to enjoy. But to get your started let’s begin with Day 1 of our adventures: Copenhagen, Denmark.

Joe and I took an early train to Copenhagen and arrived shortly after 11:00am. The train ride was pretty relaxing and easy. We checked into our hotel which thankfully had a room ready for us even though we were earlier than check in and headed out to explore the city. Since I’ve never been to Copenhagen there was a lot for me to see! We decided to wander around near the shops and enjoy the nice weather. We went into the Carl Jensen shop. He's famous for his work with silver and I was extremely impressed. I found a nice Christmas tree ornament that I’m planning on buying when we go back (ornaments are the things I like to collect from the places I visit) but didn’t want to have too much to carry with me during the trip. We know at some point we’re going back to Copenhagen because we certainly weren’t able to fit everything in in one day.

Throughout the day we noticed several trucks with many teens on them celebrating. We had learned that they had just graduated from high school and were out celebrating for the day. It was fun to watch the trucks go by with all the kids in them having a good time. Here’s one of the groups of teens celebrating.


So we made our way to the famous Nyhavns harbor area to have some lunch. We picked an outdoor cafe that Joe ate at with his parents when they were visiting in April and enjoyed a wonderful lunch of burgers and fries. While we were eating there were two street musicians playing violins along the harbor. They were so talented! It was nice to sit and relax with the wonderful classical music in the background. The area was really beautiful and has some great houses.


After lunch we walked over to the four palaces and the cathedral. We started in the Cathedral with was very beautiful inside. I love going into these old churches and seeing all the beautiful artwork and the details in the structure. It’s amazing. Then we walked over to the palaces which we later learned were originally built for four nobles. Each palace is exactly the same, we decided not to go inside because it was pretty expensive but we enjoyed looking at them from the outside.

The next adventure was a 60 minute boat tour of Copenhagen. It was a fantastic way to see so much of the city. We sat in the back of the boat and had a great view. My only complaint was the two girls sitting behind us who kept talking the ENTIRE time we were on the cruise, and not just talking quietly either but loud enough to make it hard to hear the tour guide. Why even get on if you’re not going to pay attention? But, I digress, the boat tour was really excellent. We got to see a lot of the city which was really cool. We saw the Opera House and the palaces from the water, the old stock exchange building and the sight where the Little Mermaid is SUPPOSED to be, but she’s currently on loan to China for the Worlds Fair or something like that, pretty disappointing to not see her though! While we were on the cruise we went past a HUGE Yacht. The tour guide informed us that this yacht belongs to one of the guys who wrote Microsoft excel and that every summer he comes to Denmark because his girlfriend is Danish. I forget where he’s actually from, Norway maybe, but it was pretty crazy! The boat tour also took us through Christina which is a cool part of the city as well. I really enjoyed the trip.



Next stop: TREATS! We all know how much I love my treats and especially Birthday treats. Joe took me to this great bakery where we picked out two different fruit tarts, I picked strawberry and Joe picked a mixed berry. They were SOOOOOO YUMMY! I was in Heaven! Excellent birthday treat choice! :) After our treat we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening activities.


Joe took me to Tivoli Garden’s for my birthday. We got there around 6pm and enjoyed a chamber music concert just inside the park. Following this concert we headed over to the larger music hall to purchase tickets for the Symphony concert that evening. Joe and I happened to be some of the youngest people in the line but we didn’t care because we both really enjoying going to the symphony. Three different pieces were being played including a Schumann piece for 4 horns, a Mozart clarinet concerto and a Brahms symphony. The Mozart concerto was our favorite. The guy who played the clarinet was amazing! It made me miss playing my clarinet! But that piece was one of the highlights of the night! :)


After the concert Joe purchased tickets for us to ride the Star Flyer, really high up swing chairs. So we found a place for our stuff (nothing was allowed on the ride and I later realized why) and headed to the ride. The ride takes you up 80 meters (about 263 feet) into the air and swings you around. The view from the chairs was AMAZING! You could see the whole entire city which was so cool! That night there was also an out door rock concert so we got to see all the people there for it as well. It was really so crazy to be so high up but it was an awesome experience! Even though I was a little nervous to go on the ride it was so completely worth it and absolutely breath taking. (Now the reason why they don’t want you to have anything with you is because you’re so high up and you go around pretty fast so if something came out of your pockets it could do some serious damage!)


Anyway, after the ride we got some pizza which wasn’t the greatest and then got some delicious hot chocolate (pictured above) and went to the lake to watch the water and lights show. The show was pretty cool with lots of neat water fountains and lights mixed in. It was a perfect way to end the first day of our trip and an excellent celebration. Around 12:30am we finally headed back to our hotel room to get some rest before traveling to Warsaw for Day 2 and city 2.

Midsummer's Eve

Hello Everyone!

One final update before we head off for our first European Holiday adventure! :) I’m really getting excited about our traveling and can’t wait to see new places! :) The weather in all of the cities is looking really good, nice and warm, mostly sunny and just all around perfect! I really can’t wait! I think I’m the most excited for Poland since it’s a place I’ve always wanted to go to. Most of my family immigrated from Poland back in the late 1800s and so I’m looking forward to seeing the towns where those people were born! I think it’s going to be so amazing and very tempting to not want to buy a million things there. I will admit that even though I really want to go to Auschwitz I’m very nervous about it. I have a really difficult time with that historical event and that people could be so cruel to others. I know its very intense from what Joe told me already so I’m trying to prepare myself! We shall see, either way I feel like it’s something that if you have the chance to see it you must. How people can think this didn’t happen is beyond me! I’m sure I’ll have tales to tell when we get back.

So last night was Midsummer’s Eve. This is a celebration associated with the longest day of the year (Which in Kolding happened to be 21 June). This tradition dates back to pre-Christian times and was originally a fertility festival which had different customs and traditions done in hopes of a good harvest and to celebrate nature. In addition to this the Vikings celebrated the holiday by visiting healing water wells and burning fires to ward off evil. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer) The holiday is also a way to remember the witch burnings that took place in the 16th and 17th century. The tradition now is to burn a straw witch that you can see at the top of the bonfire. The third reason why Midsummer’s Eve is celebrated is to commemorate the birth of St. John the Baptist who is said to have been born 6 months before Jesus Christ. (http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/annualeventstraditions/a/midsummerseve.htm). With a little history under my belt I was looking forward to celebrating something that we don’t do in the states.



During the day I stopped at the tourist office and asked the girls about the celebration. I was told that the lake at Koldinghus would have a free celebration and that there would be music, activities for the children and the bon fire. Joe and I decided to go over around 745pm and get a spot. There were so many people there! I was amazed at the amount of people who had come out to celebrate considering that you normally don’t see that many Danes out and about, unless there’s something good going on. When we got there they were playing music and everyone was having a good time. We found a good spot to see and waited for a while then they set the fire. The witch burned away quickly so hopefully no evil will come to Kolding this summer. :) After the witch burning we went closer to the stage and got our blanket out and listened to the music for a while. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and Joe and I had a good time relaxing on the blanket and enjoying the beautiful night! :) We took a walk around the lake before heading home.




Now you’re all going to have to sit on the edge of your seats while Joe and I travel since there won’t be any updates until we get back. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and continues to enjoy the summer months! I’ll look forward to updating when we get back!

Love from Amanda

Oh the Danes...and the swans....

Some random bits of news to share for an amusing update.

Danish advertising. The Danes, they’re funny people when it comes to advertising. I though that America had some pretty sexualized ads often involving sexy women with little or nothing on selling something completely unrelated to the woman as a person. Well here in Denmark they also use women in advertising. A lot of ads have come in the mail the past week because this week most of the stores are having big sales, I think because it’s midsummers eve on Wednesday, so I was flipping through the ad for Føtex (the grocery store) the other day and happened upon these two ads. Now the first one I just find amusing, a good way to advertise pillows I guess.


The second ad I was dying of laughter when I saw. Now what you might ask does the advertisement say? Translation: This week we have great sweet melons. I was dying! So I thought it would be amusing to share that. I apologize to anyone who may take offense to this but I really thought it was entertaining and it certainly got your attention. Now, not because of the ad, but we did buy a watermelon tonight. Nothing says summer little watermelon! (It was pretty delicious too!)



In other news, Joe and I have been enjoying long walks around the lake the past several days. We enjoy (ok well really I enjoy but Joe allows me to amuse myself with it) visiting the baby ducks and swans who live at the lake. Well we noticed one of the swan families the other night and decided to go see what they were up to (on the other side of the lake of course and we had just walked around from there!) so we walked over and the mom and dad swan and one baby were hanging out on the edge of the grass next to the bike path and street. This little baby, he was really cute, but LAZY, every time he would eat something he just plopped himself down on the ground and ate what he wanted. Well finally daddy swan decided that it would be a good idea to wander across the street. Thankfully this isn’t a super busy street but none the less there’s cars. So daddy swan wanders out into the street followed by mommy swan and baby. About half way across the first section (the road is divided by a median) daddy swan decided that was where he wanted to stop and baby swan plopped himself right back down again! Mommy swan just hung out looking around. Two cars came down the road. The first, a taxi, started honking to try to get the swans to move with no luck and finally had to stop. Since there were no bikes on the path he went up onto the curb and drove around. The swans didn’t like that very much. The second car also had to go up on the bike path to go around but for some reason the swans really weren’t too happy about this. They started to hiss at the car and puff up their wings. They were MAD! Joe and I commented that they claimed the road as theirs and that was that! The car made it around and the swans eventually wandered back to the grass by the lake but we were completely amused for some time while watching them. I realize the swans really have no idea, but the car would have won! So needless to say the swans came back safe and sound and when we went for a walk today we saw the family swimming in the lake so all is well for now.

With midsummers eve approaching Joe and I are hoping to celebrate in some Danish fashion. They will be setting bon fires in different parts of the city as a midsummer tradition. We’re either going to go to the lake or the geographical gardens to enjoy the festivities. I’ll blog more about that later and explain more about what it is.

We’re off on our first European Holiday on Friday starting with a birthday celebration in Copenhagen! So more to come and then a slight break while we travel (no computers while traveling so I’ll probably have several posts when we get back). Anyway hope everyone is well in the States. Miss you all.

Love from Amanda