It's 8:30pm on Christmas Eve and we're currently sitting in the lounge of our (surprisingly nice) hostel in Krakow. You might want to know why we are sitting in the hostel at such an early hour on Christmas Eve, but truth be told, Krakow is not the most metropolitan place we've ever been and the city completely shut down around 5:00pm. That's ok with us though, as the historic city's charm that we came for is present at every corner.
So far I've been dragging Grace from Christmas market to Christmas market. It works out well as she gets to browse through the handmade Christmas ornaments and I get to eat. And I am glad to say that there is as much to eat as there is to look at, which makes me a very happy traveller.
The food is very hearty, consisting mainly of meat (duck, pork or sausage), stewed cabbage, and potatoes. For this reason it is a perfect remedy from the chilly weather and one of the reasons why I think travelling to this part of the world at Christmas was such a great choice. And if the food doesn't warm you up, there is a never ending supply of hot mulled wine to be consumed, which makes me an even happier traveller. Oh, and then there's my new favourite drink, hot rum, or Grog as it is called in Czech culture.
Enough about food. We arrived in Krakow early this morning after an overnight train from Prague where we spent the first three full days of our trip. Prague is even more beautiful than it is made out to be, and at Christmas time the entire old center is packed with christmas markets. As well, for a city that is commonly said to be frustratingly over-touristed, the cooler weather seemed to keep a majority of visitors away and at times we felt like we had the whole city to ourselves.
The weather has also been better than expected, with temperatures hovering around zero and no snow (though, I secretely wished to see Prague covered in it).
In two days we're off to Budapest then to Vienna for the remaining three days of our trip. One of my classmates has booked a flight to meet us in Vienna for New-Years which will be a nice treat.
Hopefully everyone at home is enjoying themselves. It's certainly a different Christmas for us, but one that we hope to hold on to for years to come.
Merry Christmas!
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2 comments:
Merry Christmas Grace and Ross! Happy to hear you two are having a great time. Claire and I sent you two a post card from London, which you might not have seen yet, but it will be there hopefully when you two come back home. Have a great rest of the trip! Look forward to talking to you guys soon.
Tyler
Hi Ross and Grace
Glad that you can have computer access to keep us upto date on how your travels are going. Yes you are having a different christmas than the rest of us. We can send snow your way as we are getting enough of it here and wish the snow making gods would quit for a bit so every one can catch up on the shoveling oh well it is winter. Merry christmas love from kathie and jake
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