FROM KRAKOW, POLAND

So Eric headed off to the airport VERY early this morning bound for (eventually) Hoboken, NJ. My flight to Prague leaves in about four hours. Jenn, flying in from Philadelphia, was supposed to arrive at the airport in Prague before me, but I see that her US Air flight (shocking) was delayed and she surely missed her connection in Manchester. So it looks like she'll be arriving later tonight. Long day of travel for her.

Anyway....it was great having Eric to travel with for the past week. Aside from everything related to having a friend with you obviously, it's just nice to have a second set of seasoned eyes watching for mistakes you might make in hopping a train in the wrong direction, leaving luggage behind, etc. After 14 years of travel together, we have it down pretty good at this point.

Of the three cities (Budapest/Bratislava/Krakow) we hit together I'd say Budapest was my favorite. Krakow still has that eastern European drab look/feel to it in my opinion. Bratislava seems to be, perhaps, too far in the OTHER direction as everything looks new and shiny and re-done. Budapest seemed like a happy medium. I'd hit all three again though.

The past week's activities have included:

-a trip to the 800-year old Wieliczka Salt Mine outside Krakow. This World Heritage site is filled with salt sculptures of every sort including Pope JP II. The underground chapel that they perform weddings in was particularly cool.

-Day Trip to Auschwitz/Birkenau. Having been to Dachau before, I can say Auschwitz was much more "impressive" (?) and surely sobering. Hard to get one's head around 1.5 million people being killed there in 5 or 6 years time. Bit of trivia that I picked up: only prisoners at Auschwitz were tattooed...not in the other camps for some reason.

-Wawel Hill Castle in Krakow -- you know the drill...castle on a hill...lots of old, pretty stuff

-Bratislava Castle -- See above

-Devin Castle outside Bratislava -- See above, but old with better ruins...and in the scenic countryside

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Lots of meals along the way of course. Sometimes feels like I'm just filling the time in between meals with sightseeing! Had some awful "meatloaf" in Budapest, two good meals at Menza (thanks for the recommendation Lauren & Ben) two tasty pasta dinners at Paparazzi in Bratislava (http://www.paparazzi.sk/en/), pierogees (of course) in Krakow, lovely venison last night and four different trips to one of my favorite restaurants so far, Metropolitan, here in Krakow.

Just as an aside, I'm now prepared to nudge the women of Bratislava ahead of those in Dubrovnik as the most beautiful in the world.