I would also like to tell the Good family how sorry I am for their loss. Rodney was always so kind to me and I always saw him with a smile. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and I send my love to RJ, Bekah, and Lynn.
As for updates of the abroad life in Poland, things are normal. The weather this past week was gorgeous and warm with a beautiful blue sky. Unfortunately the temperature dropped and it's been a very rainy weekend. Yesterday we found the larger mall and the grocery store that's bigger than a walmart. My days have composed of going to the gym, cooking, class, and exploring, all the usual stuff. Next weekend we will be going to Schindler's Factory Museum! It will be a powerful trip, but in order to fully appreciate it's importance, I have to watch Schindler's list before we go.
Last weekend we spent two days in Zakopane! Zakopane is located in southern Poland and is part of the Tatras mountains that make up the Poland Solvakian boarder. We left Kraków early in the morning, and by early I mean 8am. The bus took about three hours or so. As soon as I stepped off the bus I could tell a difference in the air quality, the air was crisp and so fresh. You could see the snow capped mountains from the touristy part of town. We left the bus station and walked up the Main Street where all the shops and restaurants and vendors are. First we stopped at a restaurant for lunch, which was much needed. One of the main products of Zakopane is sheeps cheese! And you can find it in many of the dishes there. 
Zakopane day two!
Once we got back to the little town we had lots of time to explore and shop in the market. There were lots of cheese vendors, fur vendors, people selling jewelry, scarves, socks, slippers, carvings, toys, almost anything you could imagine. Scott and I walked up and down the street multiple times. At one point a man in a dog costume pulled me away and tried to make me buy wool sock despite me trying to get away and continuously saying "Nie" over and over again. I no longer like people in costumes. But aside from that the market was wonderful. I bought a beautiful scarf, wool slippers, some fried sheeps cheese, and presents for my wonderful family! At one point Scott and I stopped for lunch and I cheated and got dessert. It was the best blueberry cake I have ever had, not that I've had many blueberry cakes but this one, wow. Here's a picture so you can see how delicious it was 
The restaurant was cute and had traditional highlander foods, all being delicious. I had sauerkraut soup with pieces of meat (possibly lamb) and mushrooms.
For the main meal I had boiled potatoes and chicken stuffed with sheeps cheese and herbs. It was delicious, especially with the mysterious orange sauce.
After eating we checked into our little bed and breakfast hotel. The room Sam, Jen, and I stayed in
Once we dropped our stuff off, everyone except Hayley and Brian went for a hike. Haley and Brian opted not to hike and instead went to a big waterpark. The hike was vigorous but exciting and fun! The hike started with a steep road that lead into the woods, from the bottom you could see the looming snow capped mountains. Our first stop was a beautiful hill that looked into a little valley and up at the mountains.
From here we continued our hike. I didn't take pictures of the actual hike but it went a little like this: from the outpost we walked to the opening of a little path which just happened to be a short but steep slope downhill in the icy slush. This should have been the first hint that this wouldn't be an easy hike. The shade of the pines kept the snow covered in shadow and left it icy and slushy where other hikers have been. The train was fairly narrow, some parts two people could walk side by side and others only one by one. Some parts of the path were very easy while at other parts we were convinced we would lose someone off the side of the trail. Coincidentally the really slushy and steep icy parts of the part had a sharp rocky decline on one side and little roots or trees to hold onto on the other. My Sorel snow boots came in handy and helped me climb the slippery steep parts but weren't much help on the way down when I slipped and landed on my back. Thankfully it wasn't a bad fall. After much hiking and exhaustion we reached the end of our hike, which was also the bottom of a slope. We passed many skiers and ski-hikers on our way up and saw many more at the checkpoint stop. We had a nice view of the backside of the mountain. The trek down was easy but probably more dangerous than the way up. A lot of us slipped and fell but we all made it down without any outstanding injuries. We got back to the hotel in the evening and were given two hours to relax and change before going out to dinner at a traditional restaurant. Dinner was nice but I enjoyed the lunch much better. After dinner most of us went out for ice cream before falling asleep, completely exhausted from the hike.
It's Piotrek!
Photo credit to Jen
On the second day we took a tram straight to the top of the mountain. The tram took about 10-15 minutes with a stop in the middle for us to get onto the second tram. The tram was crowded with all the skiers and snowboarders and all of their equipment. The view at the top was absolutely stunning! You could walk along the mountain ridge and see for miles all around. We goofed off for a bit and took lots of pictures of the view and ourselves.
Poland side
Slovakian side
That fur hat
Victory jump!
Anchor dropping
Thinking of my wonderful Big, Twin, and sisters back home
Snow angel in Slovakia
API Poland 2014!
And here are my slippers!
We spent the rest of that day on the bus home to krakow. The weekend was exhausting and so much fun, despite falling on ice and slight sunburn. Zakopane is definitely a place I plan on going back to. And a place I highly recommend to anyone traveling to Poland.
On a side note, Sam's mom sent me a box of Kraft Mac and cheese and it was heaven.
Today is a very rainy and cold day in Kraków, perfect weather for staying inside with a cup of tea and a nice book. Lots of love to everyone back home!
Me
