Thyra Travels: Polish in Poland

Wooooo, we have arrived to the Motherland, the birthplace of the Wysocki half of my life, Poland. I am half-Polish with my last name actually meaning “high” (appropriate since that side of the family is TALL). For the first time in my life, I felt like an elite traveler, as hostels would see my last name and treat me as a lost sister, people would smile warmly when they found out my heritage, and restaurants gave me free beer as a “welcome to Poland”. I loved it here and found similarities with the culture I have in the United States, which makes sense considering the Midwest has the highest amount of Poles in the world (besides Poland). I spent three weeks traveling around and still missed so many places! Travel, man, what are ya to do?

Krakow

I came into the country on a train from Ukraine, transferring in a small Polish border town missing my train to Krakow by 3 minutes. Once I arrived in Krakow I had to walk 30 minutes from the train station to my hostel. I tend to walk anywhere if it’s less than an hour. Walking is the best way to orient yourself in a new city and also to see some of the sights and things you may want to do or see. Arriving in my hostel, I was in a room full of great people from all over Europe. They invited me out and we spent the rest of the night eating street food and bar hopping the city (a must-do in Krakow!). The next day I explored the city with a new Canadian friend and we visited the famous old town, castle, and Schindler’s Factory. October was still very pleasant in Poland and we were in t-shirts during the sunny days but bundled up at night when the temperature dropped.

A necessary thing to do when you visit Poland and especially Krakow is take a trip to tour the Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp. I had booked mine a month earlier and went with the 6-hour study group. The normal tours are only 4 hours and I couldn’t imagine how you fit it all in that time. Even 6 hours felt short. Haunting and informative, it was a very somber day.

Zakopane

Feeling a little pudgy after a few weeks of eating dumplings in Ukraine and Poland, I decided to head to the mountains in the South for a few days. The weather in the mountains was just arriving to my “cold breaking point” but luckily it was sunny. I spent a few days hiking to beautiful mountain lakes and drinking mulled beer. I stayed at a hostel in the cute tourist town and was alone in the whole dorm! It was glorious and I played my music out loud, slept wonderfully, and made dinner every night.

Warsaw

After the mountains I headed to the capital city, Warsaw. Here I stayed in the weirdest hostel in the middle of everything. Warsaw is HUGE and I did a lot of things and a lot of walking. I visited the Warsaw Uprising Museum (a must), the palace on the lake, and strolled around the old town. The fall colors were coming in and I started getting a bit of a sniffle. I ate a lot of soup and had vitamin C every night.

Poznan

The last place I visited in Poland was a small town called Poznan. I decided to come here because of the stunningly beautiful old town, nice people, and the lack of tourists. I met some cool people in my hostel, got a haircut, and walked the WHOLE city multiple times. It was a very relaxing end to my trip in Poland.

I loved Poland and would be overjoyed to go back anytime. I didn’t even hit the far North where my family is from. Next time!

T