So I have arrived in Krakow safe and sound, although at a couple of points in the journey I thought I was going to die in a blaze of glory, or be found in a ditch somewhere, so the actual outcome was quite pleasant.

Yesterday it was all still a bit surreal. We didn’t set off for the airport until 6pm so it was pretty much a day of sitting and waiting around. We got to Doncaster airport without many hiccups, so I was pretty early and the airport was DEAD! Literally 4 or 5 other people waiting. I said goodbye to ma and pa, no tears! And waited for check in to open. I was literally the only non Polish person on the flight, which was strange but cool.

Typically I buzzed going through the security gate, and got frisked quite thoroughly (ooh er!), I wouldn’t have minded if it was a hot bloke, but no it was a woman! Then as I was getting redressed and putting my boots back on they told me they wanted to check my liquids, I must have looked dodgier than I realised! Ha imagine me a drug kingpin! I laughed it off though and carried on to the departure lounge. But not before being stopped at the police desk! He wanted to know what my business was in Poland, he was a big scary bloke with a fierce looking scar halfway down his face but when I told him I was doing the CELTA we had a nice chat about it, he was surprisingly knowledgeable about the world of TEFL.

After that little episode I figured I deserved a drink, so went to the (dead) Wetherspoons and had a glass of Rose, medium you’ll be pleased to hear,  I resisted the large! Ooh and I had a BLT too, and settled down to which a bit of the Runaway Bride.

Getting onto the plane was pretty uneventful, it arrived about 20 mins late but nothing major happened... until I NEARLY DIED of course!! Ok, so maybe that’s a little bit melodramatic but it was pretty darn scary. There was a bit of turbulence all through the flight, but for about the last 40 minutes on the descent I felt like I was in the Pilot episode of Lost, the plane was shaking, the lights were flickering, everything was rattling and at times it felt like we were free falling through the sky. So I was sat there breathing deeply, trying not to throw up, and at one point I resigned myself to certain death and tried to remember the Lords prayer, even though I’m not the least bit Christian =s, I think I did pretty well under the circumstances!! When we finally touched down everyone started clapping, so I don’t think I was the only one who feared for their life!

On the plane I actually watched a pretty good film called Breakdown Palace with Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale. It’s about two girls who finish high school and go on a trip to Thailand. They meet a charming guy who turns them into unwitting drug mules and they end up in a Thai prison. It was really sad and I recommend it, so I won’t spoil the ending for everybody!

Anyhoo, I got my suitcase and found the shuttle bus without too much hassle and settled down for the 2 hour journey from Katowice to Krakow. It went a lot faster than I thought and I arrived at Krakow bus station on time, at 3.20am. Next I had the fun task of finding my way to the hostel with a 22.5kg suitcase and a 8.5kg carry-on bag in tow. A friendly taxi driver pointed me in the right direction. That direction just happened to be through the train station’s long and empty, and kind of scary underground arrival hall. I probably would have been more scared if it wasn’t for the fact that the skin on my hands felt like it was being ripped off. I have blisters on my palms, ew, not attractive and pretty painful, especially when lugging said suitcase up 4 flights of stairs.

When I get to the hostel I decided I deserved a good sleep so upgraded to a double room which was lush , I asked for a double for all 3 nights but the guy said there were not left, so I had to be up at 9 to check in to my next room. The receptionist was lovely though, he got me a cup of tea and carried my suitcase to my room for me, despite the glaring orange ‘heavy’ sticker on it!

The room was lovely and big and I went to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow at about 3.45. I woke up again at half 7 though and just lazed in bed until I could be bothered to move. I was still pretty tired so I decided to see if they had any doubles available at one of their other locations, and they did! So I went and booked myself a double room for another two nights. I had a few hours to kill so I had a wander around the Galeria, which is like a huge 3 floor shopping centre, 270 shops!!! I had to carry my carry-on bag around though so couldn’t really buy anything but I’m going back later.  I’m actually just waiting for the guy to come and take me to the 2^nd location at the moment. I hope it isn’t too far away, I don’t think my hands can handle pulling the case too far, and I’m not subjecting an unwitting victim to the job...

...ok so I’m lying on my comfy bed at Greg and Tom 2 now, the very nice chap, who actually took me and Laura to out apartment last time, insisted on carrying my suitcase bless him, I felt guilty and relieved haha, he was really friendly and interested about my course. It was only a 5 min walk  so it wasn’t too bad.

The hostels lovely, got my own double room and there’s a kitchen, dining room, shower room and living room shared between 6 of us. No wifi here though so I won’t be surfing the net tonight, but Galeria Krakowska is only a couple of minutes away and I can use their Maccy Ds wi-fi to post this, and photos of my room on facebook.

Now I’m just going to freshen up before an afternoon of exploring. I’m thinking of finding my apartment I move into on Wednesday and looking around the old town. Then later I’ll go back to the Galeria, post this, buy some food and pampering goodies for tonight and the plan is to lie in bed and watch a film on my netbook. And have an early night to recoup from my lack of sleep.

View from my window

I’ve booked the Salt Mines tour tomorrow afternoon which I’m looking forward to. Right enough from me for today, I hope I’ll be able to keep updating but I’m always really good for the first couple of days and then lose interest. Looking back this is rather a long, boring post anyway so no great loss lol xxx