Hi! So guess what? Made it to Warsaw, Poland. Here's how my day went:
I arrived at 5AM. An hour early. The bus station was pretty nice, though. It had lots of food stops, and stores inside. We didn't want to go out until at least 9 or so, because nothing usually opens until then. So we napped, played 20 questions, pondered. I got some currency (which are called zlotys) and bought some breakfast at this convenience store. Get this. This is why I LOVE Poland. It's so cheap! I got a banana, a huge yogurt smoothie, and a peach pastry for......$1.98!! And it was all sooo good tasting. Even the banana was just so big and fresh. Everything we bought in Warsaw was soo cheap. Okay so, when it got light outside, about 9AM. We went outside and just started walking. So when we bought our bus tickets, we decided we would skip out on Poland for ourn10 day vacation and then go back to it for out 4 day vacation in November. But in order to get the Austria, Czech Republic & Hungary, we had to pass through Poland. So, we booked a ticket from Vilnius to Poland from 10:30PM-6AM and then would hop on the next bus to Czech Republic at 6PM. So we had about 12 hours to see Warsaw. We had our huge 40 pound backpacks that had to stay with us, which was the only horrible part. Obviously, since it was during the day, we couldn't get a hostel or anything. So we settled on the fact that we would have to go slow everywhere so we wouldn't kill ourself with these heavy packs. Well we headed in a random direction, and stumbled upon a very nice part of town! We found a MASSIVE mall. we went inside looking like homeless people, and found a place to sit. Well, we ended up sitting in that place alllllll day. We just sort of set up camp in the mall. This mall was like 6 stories tall, and had tons of American shops and restaurants in it. I had some ice cream and subway! Gosh I just always have to get subway when I see it nits just the best ever! And it's one of the only places in Eastern Europe where you can get free refills, I swear. We check out the movie theater in there, and though we might catch a movie to pass the time. But none were interesting, really :/ so again we sat. Forever. About an hour before we had to leave, we went to a grocery store which was super nice! I wanted to get stuff for this long bus ride ahead of us. They had so many American things in there so it was comfy! Again, these prices are insane. I got a blue powerade (HELLZ YES), 3 granola bars, a huge, fresh soft pretzel, an asiago cheese roll, and an apple for a bit under $4!! Can you believe that? We go back through on our way home from this vacation so ill be sure to get a pic of this cool mall. The design of it is incredible. We walked back to the bus station, and then caught a city bus to the next bus station that would take us to Prague. Well, thei bus system is a little different than Vilnius, where you scan your card inside the bus or go up the the driver and buy a ticket. Well, on these buses, you have to buy a ticket at ticket booths...how were we supposed to know! So our ride to the bus station was going to be 40 minutes long Ann's there are random bus checks by police officers. When they come on, if you don't have a ticket, you could get fined or arrested. So during that whole 40 minutes, I was scared out of my mind! At every stop we came to, I held my breath and prayed I wouldn't see any of those bright yellow uniforms. Luckily, we made it. I felt bad for taking a free bus ride, but decided I would give those 6 zlotys or $2 in another currency to a homeless person or street performer. We finally made it to the station and waited for our bus. I was sad to have neglected the beauties of Poland. It seems so wrong to just sit inside a building in a European city that you've never been to before, even if you do have to pass back through it to get home. It was strange, but I wasn't about to carry that backpack around. I'm excited to go back though. It was a nice place! Well, onto the 13 hour ride! Wish me luck. Sending love back home <3
-Shelb xx
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