I got up around 8 a.m., and left the hostel at 9. Then I walked to the Palace of Culture and Science to buy a bus ticket on the Modlin Bus to take me to the airport. I found the building and the booth, but I had to wait for them to open. I had planned on taking the 10:30 bus, but it was already full so I paid for the 10:55 bus. I had time to kill, so I went to KFC and had a chicken sandwich and fries. I can't get that in Rome. It was good. I enjoyed it, then went to the bus stop and got on the bus. I got to Modlin, and got through Security. Then I had 2 hours of free time. I still had some zlotsky left, so I went to the Duty Free shop and bought some water and 2 Snickers bars. Then I waited for the plane. The plane was delayed again, but it was only about 10 minutes late.
I got on and flew back to Rome. When I got to Rome I bought a Terravision bus ticket and waited for it to come. It was supposed to come in 20 minutes, but it was 15 minutes late. It finally arrived, and we went to Termini. At Termini I hopped on a bus to my apartment. I got to the street, but I had to go to the Guarini Campus first to scan the required reading for my Art History class. That didn't take long, and I walked back to my apartment. My only thought was to get something to eat, take a shower, do my homework for tomorrow, and then go to bed. I get to the apartment and Liv and her friend Marella was there. So then I had to be sociable, so no shower or homework. Marella seemed nice, but she was very hyper. We talked for a while, and then she went back to her hotel. Also, Liv cut off all of her hair! She chopped off 15 inches! It looks great!
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I have more panaramics of the inside, but Weebly says the files are too big. Darn!
After seeing the church I just wanted to go back to my hostel and rest, but I realized that I had yet to buy any souvenirs from Warsaw. There were no souvenir shops around, so I walked back to Old Town (1.5 miles), bought 2 souvenirs and then walked back to my hostel. Then I laid in bed and recuperated. The Asian girl had left, so I was stuck with the conspiracy nut that night. She didn't talk to me, which I was okay with. I wonder if she thought I was a member of the New World Order and I would come after her?
So last night I went to the Halloween party. I was the first and only one there. The only thing to eat were some chips and some cupcakes. The cupcakes didn't have any frosting on them, and they were not very good, so I only had one. Then I went back to my room. Another girl showed up to take the last bed in the room. I don't know who she is because she didn't introduce herself, but she is Asian.
We started our tour at Sigismund's Column. Sigismund was an important king, especially in Warsaw. In Poland, the king is elected. Sigismund lost the Swedish throne because of his Catholic policies, but he was able to claim the Polish throne. Sigismund was a Catholic, and he wanted everyone to be Catholic. Most of Sweden is Protestant, and didn't agree with him. He fought many wars to reclaim Sweden, but never succeeded. He was the one that moved the capital of Poland from Krakow to Warsaw in order to be closer to Sweden to fight, and that is the reason why people from Krakow hate Warsaw.
Then we walked to see the bell. The bell has a big crack in it, which is why it is not in use. When they made the bell they let it cool too fast, so it cracked. There is a legend attached to the bell. If you hold onto to the bell and walk clockwise around it while making a wish, your wish will come true. If it is a small wish, you should walk around once, but if it is a large wish you should walk around 3 times. However, you can not tell anyone your wish until it comes true. Two guys from our group decided to make a wish, the first one was a small wish and the last one was a large wish. I think I will go back and make a wish tomorrow at the bell.
This is a famous Polish poet. The reason he is famous is because he wrote Anti-Russian poetry while the country was occupied by Russians. The poetry was outlawed in Poland, so it was smuggled in through Austria-Hungary. Czar Nicholas allowed the Polish people to build a statue to this guy in the hopes of gaining some popularity, but added the limitation that the Polish people had to fund it themselves. Czar Nicholas didn't think they would be able to raise enough money. They raised double the amount needed. However, people are not supposed to ask what happened to the leftover money, because no one knows.
We ended the tour at 12:10, so I tipped our guide and then ran back to Sigismund's Column in the hope of spotting the Alternative Warsaw tour before they left. The Alternative Warsaw tour goes to the Praga District, which has a lot of beautiful street art. The Free Walking Tour had changed their schedule starting November 1st, so I when I planned the trip I was still using the October schedule. The only time I would have to go on the Alternative Warsaw trip would be Saturday (today) at noon, but I was too late and I missed them. I thought about going to the Praga district to tour it by myself, but my Old Town Warsaw tour guide mentioned that it was dangerous to be in the Praga District at night, but the day tour was completely safe. Still, I didn't know which parts were dangerous, so I decided not to go.
I got up at 5 a.m. today, to make sure I would have plenty of time to make my flight to Warsaw. I packed, got ready, ate breakfast, and was out of the door by 6 a.m. I walked to the bus stop and waited about 20 minutes for the bus. Then I took the bus to Termini and walked to the Terravision office. I got there and waited in line. It was a long wait because people that buy their ticket online get to go to the front of the line to get it authorized, and most people had bought their ticket online. Finally I got my ticket and went out to the bus. Their were people waiting in line, so I joined them. People started getting onto the bus, and I noticed the ticket taker turning people away. I saw one guy run back into the Terravision office, I guess to get the correct ticket. I didn't know why she was doing that. I figured the people who bought their ticket online got to get on first, and then everyone else. So I stood to the side, and then the ticket taker waved me forward to get on. So I have no idea why I was allowed to get on, but other people were turned away. Either way, the bus took me to Ciampino Airport. I got through the Visa Check and Security. Then I had to wait for 3 hours until it was time to board my flight. My flight leaves at 11, so I thought I would go ahead and get lunch. The issue is that the only place to eat lunch is a sandwich shop, and they charge a lot for their sandwiches. So instead I bought a ream of Pringles and snacked on that. I figure once I get to Warsaw I can get something to eat. Finally it was time to board my plane, and people started to line up so I joined them. We waited and waited. Finally, 30 minutes pass the time we were supposed to board, they finally started taking tickets. I was supposed to have the window seat by one of the emergency exit, but when I got there someone was in my seat. I just took the aisle seat because I didn't care that much. That was a mistake. I think it was the first time the girls next to me where flying alone, because they were constantly getting up. They must have gotten out of their seats at least 10 times in the 1.5 hour flight. I'm just glad we were buy the emergency exit so I didn't have to keep getting up, I just had to move me feet out of their way. We finally landed, and I was able to leave the airport. This is when all of my plans fell apart. I went to the ATM and got Polish money. Then I tried to get on the Modlin bus to Warsaw (the airport I flew into is located outside of the city), the guy told me the next bus doesn't leave until 5 p.m. It was 3 p.m. So I went to another line, which was the public transportation line. I bought a ticket for a bus that will take me to the train station, and the train will take me to Warsaw. I don't know where in Warsaw, but it is in Warsaw. I mostly just followed other passengers when we got off the bus, because I had no idea where I was going. I tried to look at the train listing, but it was all in Polish and I understood none of it. A train pulled up and everyone that was on my bus lined up to get on, so I got on as well.
Luckily, my hostel is celebrating Halloween tonight at 7 p.m., and there is supposed to be food, so I hope it is good. Free food! The receptionist said that there was no one booked for my room tonight, so I might have it alone, but when I came in there was a suitcase so I think someone is staying here. I was going to go on a free walking tour at 6, but it is dark outside so I think I will postpone it for tomorrow. I am also tired, so tomorrow I will be fresh and ready to explore. Which is a good thing, because I have 2 other tours to do tomorrow so I will be doing a lot of walking.
I met one of my new roommates. It started out good, with us introducing ourselves. Then I send I was from the U.S., big mistake. Every time I say I'm from the U.S. something bad happens. In this case, she started asking me how I felt about the New World Order. I had no idea what she was talking about, and I told her so. She explained that it is the idea of their being one government and one religion, and how it is already happening in the U.S. She also asked me about the 30,000 guillotines that the U.S. government purchased in order to behead Christians. I had no idea what she was talking about so I googled it. The New World Order is a conspiracy theory. I looked up the guillotine thing and it was disproved by Snopes.com. I introduced her to Snopes, so hopefully she doesn't believe everything she reads on the Internet. She is also hearing it from a family (dad is a doctor) who left everything behind in the U.S. to come live in Norway (where she lives). She showed me a YouTube video about a place in Georgia where a guy stores thousands of casket liners for the U.S. government, because they think a lot of people are going to die soon. I looked on Snopes about that, it is a storage place for a private citizen funeral home. The casket goes in the casket liner when there is a risk of harm to the ground, like being close to the water supply. She also talked about how people are getting slips of paper: one red and one blue. The red slip of paper tells people how to get to underground safety bunker, while the blue one tells them nothing. The old, sick, infirm people get the blue slip. She also showed me pictures of half animal half human that they are creating in the UK. She also talked about people in Mexico are getting chips implanted in them, and how the former director of the CIA was murdered because he started telling secrets about the government. I told her I have never heard of any of this before. She was really surprised that I have never heard of any of these things, because it is apparently all they talk about in Norway. Why does this always happen to me? Why can't I have a nice, boring, uneventful trip somewhere? I am never getting a 3 person dorm again, people think they should talk to their roommates because of it. I like the bigger anonymous dorms a lot better. |
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June 2022
AuthorThese are details from my adventures around the world. |