Wandering the Jewish Quarter--Kazimierz (26. May)

May 26 was a holiday this year: Corpus Christi (celebrated on the last Thursday of May). We had no CELTA today, so I decided to go exploring and find Kazimierz--the Jewish Quarter.

Half-lost, half-intentionally, I found Kazimierz. Now, to explore . . .

The Old Synagogue

One of many guided-tour golf carts.

HEBREW!!! (this makes me really excited)

Oh, you don't understand how excited this makes me . . .

WHAT?!?!?!?!  WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, IN THE JEWISH QUARTER?!?!?!?!

My family doesn't drink, but they'd be excited about this place too.

I kid you not. Look at how close this Cuban bar is to the Jewish Community Center!

Running into the things you never expect to find: yet another reason why I love exploring.

1st Sabbath in Kraków (21. May)

Thanks to a friend, I found a church I could go to while in Kraków. Too bad he and another friend were going to bike to Italy . . . or so I thought.

Imagine my surprise when I get to church and see the very same guys there at church too! I thought they had already left! Well, alright, this suits me perfectly. The 3 of us hung out the entire day. It was great.

 

The SDA church is the 1st door you get to as soon as you enter.

Close-up of the door.

Close-up of the sign.

In the afternoon, there was a baptism. Twin (identical) sisters were baptized that Sabbath afternoon behind the church. I don't know them (other than their names are Monika & Karolina--very common names in Poland).

It was a nice day.

Some of the church members watching from the church.

The baptism.

Thanks guys, for walking me most of the way to my place. You guys really made my 1st Sabbath in Kraków a blessing. Thanks Marcin for being willing to interpret for me all the time. Thank you, Andres, for interpreting in Spanish when Marcin needed a break! It was indeed a blessing. Enjoy peddling through Italy!

Marcin, Andres, and yours truly.

Off to Kraków (17.May)

It's about time I publish this post. It's been 12 days since I left Kołobrzeg for Kraków. I'm well underway in my CELTA course (for more details on how it's going for me, click here).

My journey started at Kołobrzeg Główny at around 5:30 am.

My seat. Hi Danielle!

My kind escorts to the train station.

The luggage rack where I had 2 pieces of luggage.

The itinerary.

It was easy for me to know when to get off: at the last station!

More luggage racks between the rail-cars.

See the light between the seats? Half for each.

I took advantage of this for my laptop.

Yay for multilingualism!

After 8.5 hours on the pendolino train (fast Polish train), I arrived to Kraków! After unpacking and settling in my new home for the next 4 weeks, I needed to find my way to the British Council from my apartment.

I got to see some interesting sights, such as:

Ruins near a major highway intersection.

Cuban cigar shop.

The things buskers will do to get money.

My dinner: fried noodles. It took care of the job!

When you're in the main square (Rynek Główny), go to the building right beside that enormous cathedral (there should be an outdoor eating area if you're there in warmer weather). Going through an alley (that leads to a bar called "Buddha"), you'll see a door on your left. That's it!

Here's the door. Now, step inside.

A botched-up job of the interior, but now you have the idea.

Go to this door.

That's right, this is the door you want.

I just thought the ceiling was cool.

3 floors between the bottom floor and the ceiling.

So here it is! I'm back in Kraków. . . and I need to get back to my lesson plan for my next class on Tuesday!

Last days in Kołobrzeg (until 16. May)

Yeah, I should start working on my CELTA assignments, but let me publish this post with my last pictures in Kołobrzeg. Sometime later (hopefully not too much later), I'll post my pictures while in Kraków. My CELTA course will be documented on my mother blog, whereas I'll post my pictures of Kraków here.

To keep things rolling, let's continue with the title of this post: My last days in Kołobrzeg . . . 

I knew this day would come, but of course, not like it did.

Even though I didn't leave the apartment much, I did take a few last-time walks around Kołobrzeg. I also took a few pics for my memories.

From the "Empty Beach" and park that runs parallel to it:

Empty beach, lighthouse side.

Empty beach, the infinite side.

An old German cemetery from before the war.

From the "American Embassy":

 (I can't believe I haven't taken a picture of this until now. I've visited a few times. For my Złoty (PLN)-earning-self, this place was too expensive for me.

If you've never traveled abroad, you don't know how nice and elegant McDonalds can be. 

Not all have Drive-thrus!

Front-ish view

This recycling system is actually quite simple.

My favorite feature of this McDonalds:

You can order and/or pay here! In English too!

How does this menu compare with your local McDonalds?

Finally trying out some of the local food that I've wanted to try all year long and haven't--until now!:

Zapiekanka! See it's size? And it's cheap! (7 PLN!)

Where I got said zapiekanka.

Chili (spicy) kebab. It was legit Korean+level spicy! I was impressed!

Where I got the legit-spicy kebab.

The "Touristy Beach":

Swans on waves

A park beside one part of said beach

Two roads diverged in a green wood .  . .

The church family in Kołobrzeg:

It was truly sad saying "goodbye" to this church. Oh the day, when we'll all be reunited in Heaven, never to separate again . . .

Bittersweet. I must return and visit.

Last trip outside of Kołobrzeg: to Ustronie Morskie, to have lunch with a student & her family and say goodbye to them too. I taught the girl and Danielle taught her little brother. Hence, both of us went.

Wow, the yellow Rape-seed flowers, reminds me of Korea a bit.

Being blown away at the beach/pier at Ustronie Morskie.

Restaurant/cafe at the end of an extremely short pier in Ustronie Morskie.

"Penguin swimmers", as I call them. This water is cold all-year-round.

And finally, the many huskies of Kołobrzeg:

Finally got a better picture! I love these dogs!

That's it.
Thank you Kołobrzeg for being my home in Poland for over 8 months. Thanks for all the memories and the lessons--both given and received. This is a place I'm already planning to visit. Kołobrzeg has a small piece of my heart. Like in every stage of life, it's time to move on . . .

. . . on to Kraków.