Well.... we made it to Warsaw (barely) safely.
This day started at 6 a.m., after three hours of sleep due to last minute packing. All of our luggage had been dragged outside and we had paid for the four days in August that we stayed in our dorm, when the maid said she wanted to do an inspection... and then proceeded to make us get down on our hands in knees with Mr. Proper to scrub everything to a sparkling sheen. I'm not exactly sure WHY they have maids if we're the ones doing the cleaning.... but we had to furiously clean at top speed to get out the door on time to catch our train to Warsaw. She even thought we stole half a lamp. Half a lamp that wouldn't even work in America because of the current and European plugs. Yes, I find it likely.
The drive there turned into an ordeal in itself. There was construction everywhere, and traffic moved more than half the trip at a snail's pace. And considering that our babysitter, Zibi, got a speeding ticket last time he drove us around, he refused to go a kilometer over the limit... although I don't blame him.
To purchase train tickets, we had to wait 20 minutes behind an old lady yelling at the ticket attendant in the one window where they actually sold regional tickets, only to see her walk away without purchasing a thing. We were late already and had to rush our massive amounts of luggage onto the tiny door opening of our second class coach. Thank GOODNESS Zibi was there to be the brawn behind our efforts.
Ten hours on the train, which I slept through, thankfully, deposited us in Warsaw. The four girls had to come up with a plan to move all of our luggage from the train to the platform in a minimal amount of time because the train only stops for about two minutes in each station. Two stations before I knew we were slated to get off, we started a "baggage relay" line down the corrider and into the little compartment between coaches. Only we had a little bit too much luggage, and so it spilled over into the area by the disembarking platform, along with our four bodies. And of course, as fate always seems to love to taunt Courtney and I, every ornery, old lady who lives in the country of Poland decided to try to exit in our one doorway, and thought either that it would be helpful to yell at us relentlessly in Polish, or just found it satisfying. Either way, I was about to just open my mouth and retort back when Kristen pointed a strong finger at the other, very available, exit at the other end of the coach and shooed the old ladies on their way.
So we disembarked in Warzsawa Centralna and started the search for our hotel. It was 800 meters from the train station, which I quickly discovered is almost half a mile. We left the two girls sitting in the terminal, which a cell phone, to watch half the luggage while I tried to find our hotel. I had directions but I wasn't sure exactly how far it would be. And as I peered down a side street, a man in a car pulled up alongside me and said "Hey Beautiful, get in the car." I declined, quickly, but he kept talking to me in english and trying to convince me to get in the car with him.
After the harder 800 meters of my life (I must have been carrying at least 80 pounds), we spotted the wonderful green glow of the Hotel Camponile. We quickly checked in, because I was really worried about the safety of the two other girls, and found our room. There was literally a haphazard pile of our stuff strewn across the room as we each threw off our bags and grabbed a jacket to go find Sonda and Kristin.
Oh! I forgot to mention that we didn't realize there would be a food trolley on the train, so nobody ate ANYTHING from 7:45 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. this evening. When we finally made it back to Sonda and Kristin, Sonda stood up and almost passed out from a lack of nourishment and too much excitement. Thank goodness for McDonalds. I have never seen four girls eat hamburgers and french fries so quickly in my life.
But the fun didn't stop there. Sonda has a knife that she carries with her at all times just in case. And this evening, while they were alone waiting for us, a man grabbed Kristin's hand.... the hand which thank goodness had a knife in it... and it scared him off. And there was apparently a huge fight in front of them which ended in a man chasing a girl away while swinging a hammer at her.
I wasn't about to risk anything else happening to us, so we grabbed a taxi for the remaining luggage and finally arrived, all four, at the hotel. But check in for Kristin wasn't as smooth as for us... and they lost her reservation. It's not the first time the Polish have lost our reservations, including for a rented car, a hostel, and various hotels... but it doesn't make it any less stressful or downright annoying. That, and the fact that they never take credit cards and always ask for smaller bills or exact change. I'm just not used to carrying around 15 pounds of change in my butt pocket. But, after fighting with the hotel clerk and showing her the conformation number for the hotel booking, Kristin and Sonda finally got into their rooms too, and we are now all safely settled in. Let's hope there isn't a bombing tonight or a plane crash tomorrow.
There were more than a couple of times tonight that I felt uncomfortable. Thank goodness I'm a very well experienced traveler and Courtney has been to more than her fair share of exotic places because if we had been four novice travelers in this foreign environment, especially with the language barrier, it would have been insane. I can almost guarantee that something bad would have happened somewhere along the way.
But we come home tomorrow. All of us are in good moods and excited about the clean beds and plush towels. And to be all together, and in one piece.
It has been an insane day.
Goodnight darlings.
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