Polar in Poland

So we're on the go again and they s time both the destination and scope of our trip are more modest. Or annual inter-semester break has brought us to Poland's cultural capital, Kraków.

As you might expect, Poland in January is not warm, in fact it's currently minus 10, snowing and thus more than a little chilly outside.  Still, the city has impressed. It strikes us as a cross between Prague and Bath, with a little flavour of St. Petersburg, although slightly more medieval.

The days have been spent enjoying the views whilst darting between heated buildings. That is aside from the two hour walking tour which our fingers and toes were not pleased to be a part of. In all this we have discovered functional and incredibly filling polish food, amazing hot chocolate (served in grams not ml and really just warm fluid chocolate in a cup), and polish jazz.

Tomorrow is set to be difficult. Not the early morning, not the hour and a half bus ride and not even the continuing sub-zero temperatures. No, tomorrow takes us to one of mankind's greates shames: Auschwitz.

A look back at the Trans Mongolian Railway

So, its been a few months since we returned from the east.  Lots of things have happened, we've been on a train and been disappointed, realised that reading road signs doesn't have to take 30 seconds and been asked many, many times "Was it good?".

Yes, yes it was.

We knew we were having an a truly brilliant time when we were being whisked through central Europe, central Asia, eastern Asia; crossing tundra, desert and small walls; all in a awed daze.  Now we're back, the feeling which we get thinking back to the trip is nostalgia (yes, nostalgia after this short a time) and amazement that we did such a huge trip and just how special it was to be able to do it.

For looking back photos are excellent and we took a few whilst we were away.  In fact we probably took hundreds every day.  Of all these photos, however, we tried to make sure we took one particular photo every day, just an A4 sign, with the day of the trip and where we were.  By day 31 we had quite a collection:

 I hope you've enjoyed sharing it with us it.  I know we have.