noiamnotaladyboy: Loving Poland

Frida enjoying the view from her throne

She's got this crazed look on her face

all day err day

Picnic in the park

.. with mom and Veronika

Mom getting the sudden need to demonstrate the

heimlich maneuver on my sister

- you never know when it'll come in handy!

Veronika and I had planned to go on a sister trip to Poland for a couple of days.

When we were helping our dad moving house in the beginning of summer, she mentioned that she wanted to go and visit Auschwitz, the concentration camp where one and a half million people where viciously killed by the Nazis during the second world war.

In Norway it is pretty common for school trips to visit Auschwitz to be organized in either junior or senior high school, but for some reason neither me, nor my sister got the chance to participate in a trip like this.

Anyway, I think it's much better to go to a place like this on your own terms, when your mature enough and fully motivated, so that you'll be able to fully appreciate the experience.

So, at the ages of namely 18 and 24, my sister and I went to Poland, first and foremost to visit Auschwitz.

I think the tour to Auschwitz deserves its own blog post, so this will be about our trip to Poland in general!

At the airport

in Norway

Veronika enjoying

the food that we packed

- buying food at the airport is

hella expensive

This was our first time in Poland, and we stayed in the city called Cracow, as it is near Auschwitz.

We had booked a room at a hostel that had gotten good reviews on Tripadvisor, called Mosquito Hostel.

A private room with twin beds

and a private bathroom

(approximately 400 NOK per night)

The hostel seemed very popular, and it was fully booked during our stay. The staff were young and outgoing, and the environment at the hostel was very social and friendly: free dinner being cooked every day and different free activities being arranged to encourage socializing among the guests.

Every night one of the staff would take a group of any of the guests who wanted to go out and have fun out to town and show them different pubs and clubs.

Too bad Veronika and I were

staying there for such a short time,

or else I would have joined in

on the fun

But for the two days,

we kept mostly to ourselves

They probably thought we

were good Christian girls, or something

*snigger*

The place appeared clean and new,

and the atmosphere was homey and friendly

- if I was a backpacker I would

easily stay at one of their

6- or 8-bed dorms

Breakfast included

Of course I wanted to try some traditional

Polish food

Pierogi - dumplings, first boiled and then fried,

stuffed with various fillings,

such as sauerkraut, ground meat

and cheese

Now that I've had it once - from a restaurant recommended

by a local - I don't need to try it again.

Veronika was so happy

about being in Cracow..

.. she suddenly grew a mustache:

As proper tourists,

we joined the free walking tour

to the Jewish quarter in Cracow

Me, the tourist, touring

A tree

During the tour, we came across the best part of the trip (if you don't count the life-altering trip to Auschwitz, that is), oh gosh, this is going to sound so shallow.

We came across a Yankee Candle store!! (My sister did not share my enthusiasm)

People who know me pretty well also know that I live vicariously through YouTube. And whatever the YouTube Beauty Gurus rave about - I want.

I've always wanted to go to a Yankee Candle store in person and religiously smell every god damn candle in the store. For hours.