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On the Road with Fast Eddie
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On the Road with Fast Eddie |
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August 26, 2000 Arrived here in Krakow, Poland last night and have settled into my flat. After the train pulled in, I stopped at the school I'll be working at to pick up my house keys and they gave me a lift to my home. I've really lucked out, since I'm apparently the only student being supplied with a private flat. I'm living about a twenty-minute walk from the old town. I have a kitchen with washing machine, a bathroom with large tub, and a combo living room/bedroom/study, and a balcony overlooking a small park. In the large room is a huge bookcase filled with hardback books; unfortunately most of them are in Polish, but there're nice pictures in some of them. This morning I took the tram into town and this weekend am exploring as much as I could before school starts on Monday. So far I love it here. Krakow has a great feel to it - very unique and enchanting! Backtracking just a bit, I left Stockholm Tuesday morning and took the train to Lubeck Germany where I met up with my dear friend Betina who treated me to a home-cooked meal with champagne. I walked through the city and realized why many believe that this is the most beautiful city in the northern part of Germany. It's worth a visit for a day or two, though you'll have to arrange your own home-cooked meal, I'm afraid! From there I traveled to Berlin where I stayed with a woman friend who picked me up when I was hitchhiking in Ireland and invited me to Berlin. Heide was an excellent host and tour guide and I was very glad to have had the opportunity to spend this time in a great city. Berlin is a fascinating - and I'd say more interesting than it is attractive, though it's filled with trees and parks. It's very rich in history and culture and has a vibrancy and real cutting-edge energy. It has chic and it has seedy and they keep each other close company, generating a complex personality. It's also a city in transition and signs of that are everywhere with scaffolds and cranes ever present. A good way to get an overview is to take the #100 Bus from the zoo, which goes through the heart of Berlin. I found the Reichstag compelling, what with all the history surrounding it, though the outside is more interesting than the inside. The Brandenburg Gate is worth seeing and you probably will on the way from what was the West to the East. I stopped at the Wall, of course, and like so many others I chipped off a tiny piece for prosperity. It's chilling to think of what life was like during those times, and when you see the bleak architecture in the Eastern side of Berlin it's even more a reminder of Soviet influence. They have brightly painted many of the dreadfully boring looking buildings in an effort to liven them up. But that's akin to giving Roseanne Barr a nose job... too little too late, I'm afraid! I left Berlin via train, but as I moved into Poland I experienced the reality of Eastern Europe... a deterioration of quality and efficiency. I noticed as I boarded my last train from Warsaw the fire extinguisher bracket was empty. The train was slower and more crowded, but the people were warmer and even more helpful. When I arrived at the station in Krakow I asked a Polish woman if I would need a phone card, since I needed to call my school to arrange a pickup. She informed me that I could have hers after she finished her call. By the way… it's nice to be somewhere where people seem to not care about wearing designer clothes and driving the latest status car. I am finding the language to be more of a challenge than others I've strived to learn, but everyone's very encouraging and there are many who speak some English here. |
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-------------Fast Eddie
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With
much love and gratitude for my blessings!
