Preview: Europe '05-'06
Just a little over a week until my next adventure! Well, it's not the craziest of trips. I wouldn't say that I'm going outside my comfort zone (as I'm comfy in Germany and Poland.) But, I picked the itinerary in terms of what I think I would like without breaking the bank. (I had originally included Croatia, but it didn't work in terms of time and money.)

At a high level, the first week will be a nice private weekend with my German host family. Last year, I did not get to spend enough time with them, so this will be a treat. On the second Christmas day, I'll take a night train to Poland and soon meet up with Chase, ("Scrawny Little Bitch",) a close friend, who, in the past month fled Cincinnati and took a job on Wall Street. Despite his month in the big Apple, he has still managed to retain semblance of a human being, which is hopeful.

Lest I digress. Zamosc is the first Polish city. It's known for its historic renaissance architecture and is low key. Next stop is Krakow is my favorite Polish city and we'll be there for 5 nights, including New Year's Eve. Next comes Wroclaw, a city between Krakow and Berlin that's known for its nightlife and vibrant student scene. I fly out of Berlin while Chase will fly out of Frankfurt.

These cities are kinda hard to pronounce. But I dig Poland and I'm excited to practice it.

So what have I done to prepare? All plane/train/hotel reserving/planning is done. From a linguistic perspective, I've not been practicing my German or Polish enough (I'll speak a lot of German the first week.) Still, I've doubled my Polish vocabulary in the last year. Polish just gets easier, even the pronunciation.

For the first time, I'm NOT having to buy a new suitcase this year. My one investment was a solid Casio wrist watch. Inexpensive, reasonably attractive, lightweight, waterproof with a trustworthy alarm that will alert me before waking up in some rural station in the Ukraine (I will be pretty close!)

My expectations? Quality time with friends. Relaxation. Seeing Poland fresh and new through Chase's eyes. Scrawny little bitch has never been to Central Europe.
- posted by Matt @ 10:25 PM