Krakow, Poland

Krakow is everything that Warsaw is not, namely it is a city full of life and vitality. Transit time from Riga to Krakow was approximately eighteen hours. I was in a sour mood, but it wasn't really because of the long bus ride. To be honest, I wasn't quite ready to leave the Baltics. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, and I think I shall be back for another visit in part deux of my trip.

I am typically not a person to shy away from bad weather. (Coming out of the movie theater in Riga, a raindrop landed on my lower lip, causing me to impulsively abandon all plans in favor of an afternoon of puddle jumping.) However, the weather for half of my stay in Krakow as been fairly cold and nasty.

On account of this poor weather, I decided not to go to Auschwitz. Should anyone jump to a hasty conclusion and accuse me of social or moral negligence, I would like to state that I have visited a concentration camp two years prior, and believe it to be the sort of places that permeates the mind sufficiently, so that a repeated experience is rendered unnecessary.

I had the good fortune to go on a tour of the salt mines, made much more interesting by my slightly eccentric guide. In the course of the tour she peppered her speech with sexual innuendos, and continuously asked us to refrain from licking the statues carved of salt. All in all, it reminded me of my freshman year geology lab. My lab partner always called halite (rock salt) the "slut rock" because some people would lick it during lab praticals, even though it had been fondled and licked by untold numbers of undergraduates before it found its way to our desks.

On Thursday I scurried out into the rain to a bookstore, where I must have been overcome by a fit of delirium, as I purchased three novels--all of a substantial length. The number of books I committed to read numbered five, though I annihilated one last night. (Very fortunate as I cannot fathom how all five would fit into my pack.)

I was walking through the square a short while ago, and a mother was teaching her child how to throw crumbs in the air for the birds to eat, sending the birds swarming in the air above us. I know it's her deal if she wants to feed the pigeons. Personally, I would not. I have recently decided that they are the rodents of the sky, because there is something unnerving about a bird that refuses to be frightened of humans. Anyway, I was in kind of a bad mood because of my camera (see next paragraph) and I wanted to say to her, "thank you dear lady, for increasing the statistical probability that I will get crapped on." Of course I did not say this because I am not rude and I do not speak Polish.

On a tragic note--my camera has stopped working. I think it may be because of the rain and the humidity. I took the batteries out (supposedly it resets itself after 24 hours) and I have decided not to worry about it until I reach Budapest. Okay, so maybe I won't be able to not worry, but I'm trying not to freak out. And if you didn't catch it from the preceding sentences, I am planning to head to Budapest tomorrow.