Slowing down 4 thoughts

Sher:
Have been zooming around lots... maybe to fewer places than weiming, but quite definitely, a substantial period of time had been spent outside Warsaw... so much so that we kinda havent explored Warsaw as a tourist yet. ahaha Life in Warsaw is really about school, keeping the home like a home, cooking, groceries.. living life like regular people... =)

Stopping to ponder about the take aways of each trip:

Budapest, Wien, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Frankfurt
2 inexperienced backpackers. That's what we were on that trip. We didn't know a single thing about using rail passes, or hostel rules.. or linen or orientation or where to start & how much to prepare. I guess I was just expecting to be wow-ed and just as well we started in Budapest.

I think that trip taught us a great deal... to be wiser, more discerning, more prepared, less in a fumble, expect less and experience more. heh Just to think about the things that happened to us - being caught for skipping metro tix, lying to the metro guard, forgetting to validate rail passes, taking trains, making reservations, sharing cabins, having cabins to ourselves, sleeping on trains, locating grocery stores wherever we go, finding the cheapest way to have a most satisfying meal, happily declaring that we're students at each tourist attraction, compromising of interests, getting waylaid by friendly people who appear threatening (to wide-eyed inexperienced girls in foreign lands), absorbing information like sponges to realize that those information don't keep in the head, unless passed on asap. haha I think twin can come up with a lot more... but that's the most prominent stuff I remember...

Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden
Slightly more prepared, armed with more information and a little more wisdom from the last trip, we set off again.

This time, we found a free (commission-based) walking tour, got better with directions and locating tourist offices, spouting minimal German to help us get by, looking less lost, battled with strong vicious winds using weak, brittle umbrellas, slept at train stations, ate tons and tons, managed time better, saw what we're interested in, forgone stuff we didn't think we'd like... getting a little more out of Berlin than the other places. Learnt that... each place has its own charm, that Leipzig and Dresden are as different as can be, learnt that eurail pass can be used to get a discount for a train tix from the country included in the pass - to the country that's not included. &... 1/2 day is really short for a place if you want to see it properly...

Krakow
3rd trip? A lil more seasoned... we were set to have a slightly more relaxing trip at a hostel that provides free many things...

Learnt that... deals closed when we are overly keen to get things over and done with are never the best, you could pay 30zl for a 8-bunk rm & have it all to yourself while you might pay 40zl for a 6-bunk rm and share it with 4 others during non-peak seasons... Then again, you run the risk of being in the same room as 3 men who sleep in their underwear and prance around in them whichever room type you choose...

Experienced... eating half a slice of extremely creamy cake, being terrorised by men who's just being friendly, anxiety from wondering if you missed the train stop, a little polish can earn you many a smile and sometimes even better service, being a tourist on a rainy day is extremely trying, sometimes conscience dictates you pay for some things even though you know you can get away with not paying, that just sometimes you try to ignore someone trying to get you to be charitable and meet that same person who recognizes you on your way back hours later... that tv & kids are universal entertainment, that hot chocolate is welcomed anytime, that hazelnut is not as nice as coconut HIT biscuit, that a little cheese can brighten twin's day, that ice-cream is cheaper in Poland, that we can actually overspend rather easily, that tourism is thriving in Krakow, that everywhere has an entrance fee... that ...

That I have to break this train of thought and get to posting photo memories soon... hehs

3 trips. 4 concerts. We're doing good! =) kies... hopefully we get the blogging done b4 our next trip to Romania in 1 wk or so...