still on the hunt for white chocolate bueno bars...

I have made a discovery - I am in love with steaming hot mulled mead. If I had my bear skin rug to curl up on next to a blazing fire in my mountain lodge, my life would be complete (well, a gorgeous Irishman is also a necessity). To those who don't know what mulled mead is - google that, the definition should go a little something like this, "sent directly from heaven."


Well, I have arrived - and I was welcomed to Krakow (pronounced krakoV) to a blanket of snow and some brisk, fresh air. Nothing I can't handle, Northern Michigan has more than prepared me, but I can't help but miss those 70 degree days I was enjoying my last week in VA.

Because it is - to be frank - the dead of winter, the city itself is not overly hustling and bustling - but I have still enjoyed my walks on the cobbled streets (oh how I missed the cobbled streets) and the many (hours) I have already spent people watching at the mall. Oh dear, did I just say that? I'm rather embarrassed. Woke up on Sunday - hungry and still jet-lagged, we all wandered out to look for food, and where did we end up? The five story shopping center (you'll be happy to know mum that there are actually clothing stores in Poland, ha). It is apparant that Old Town Krakow (where I am staying for my two weeks during training) is quite the breathtaking scene. There is a lot of history here - obviously good and bad - apparant from the WWII bullet holes that are covering the outside of my apartment building. This is what I have missed, standing, living, and walking in places where historic events took place. I have already travelled to the castle in hopes of finding the dragon, but alas, I was unsuccessful in that attempt (one day pictures will go up). I am desperate to go wander and get lost in this city, but I haven't even had the time - how strange, I don't have the time to go and get lost! The two week training is incredibly intensive, lasting every day from 10-6ish, that does not leave many daylight hours to work with. So far, the training is, long, I am already crossing off the days until the end - however it is incredibly helpful.

I am currently shacking up in an apartment with 6 other people - one American, two Scots, one Brit, one Aussie, and a Polock - quite the mixture - and one shower that is somehow missing a shower curtain (trust me, you don't want to know, but I can guarantee a picture of that will go up as well). I can't quite figure that math out myself, but seeing as how we basically only sleep (and occasionally shower if there is an opening) there, it hasn't been too terrible. There are 9 of us total being trained right now in Krakow and at the end of the two weeks we will move to our 'new homes', mine being Bielsko-Biala in the mountains. Yes, I did bring my boarding stuff - already planning on some gnarly shredding (wow, that sounded absurd).

So, basically my life will be pretty monotonous for the next two weeks - training training training. Thank goodness there is a weekend in between, because there will be some memories made -pictures optional :) There are actually a lot of great restuarants and nightclubs right in the Old Town, there is nothing better than being right smack dab in the middle of all the hub-bub (the center square quickly became my favorite place in the city - I have already scoped out what I want to buy from the vendors) There is talk of planning a day trip to Auschwitz on Saturday with the group - not a trip that I am looking forward to, per say, but a trip that will be well worth it.

Pub quiz on Thursday at an Irish Bar, it almost feels like I am back in the 'Noke, almost...