Warsaw To Krakow

We made to to Warsaw intact and departed our train and started the search for our train to Krakow. 

Warsaw Central Station was very busy, small and cramped. Low ceilings over tiny cramped shops sold everything from cell phones to ladies underwear to sandwiches. Having planty of ladies underwear, I went for the sandwich (kidding, I hardly have any ladies underwear).

Image Source: Wikipedia

 Trivia:

"The station was one of only a handful of public buildings in Warsaw which suffered a technical fault as a result of the millennium bug. The indicator board shut down for approximately 24 hours on 1 January 2000 while its timing chip was replaced. In the meantime, all departures were announced over the public-address system."

Source: Wikipedia.

I showed the lady working at the sandwich place a 5 Euro note and asked her if she took Euro's? "No, Kantor" she said, and pointed to a sign down the hall. I went that way, and saw she was pointing to a cash exchange or 'Kantor', I had just learned my first Polish word. There was a bank machine near by so I used that instead and withdrew cash, as it is less expensive than using a Kantor.

I went back to David and we saw that our train was now showing on the departures board and it was  on time, we went to the platform and boarded our train for Krakow.

We were expecting an older type of commuter train, which we've seen before and have travelled on and we got just what we expected. First class is nice. Second class is usually very comfortable too. The train is full, there are a few young people sitting on the floor. We are lucky to be in a strange room at the end which I think is meant for people to put their luggage. It is heated and there are three seats and two other benches, so it's fine.

There is another guy here with us who is friendly enough, but doesn't speak any English (or so I thought when I wrote that last sentence). He did speak great English and helped us on arrival, to find our way out to the street we needed to get to our hotel.

I went looking for the bathroom, or W/C (water closet) as they are referred to over here only to find three men waiting ahead of me. When it was finally my turn, I wedged myself into the closet like space, did what I had to do and pressed the foot pedal. To my surprise the flap at the bottom of the toilet flipped open and the contents were unceremoniously dumped onto the track flashing by below.I knew these toilets used to exsist, but I admit that I was surprised to see one in operation.

Countryside

The ride is quiet and uneventful. The landscape quite flat, with small family farms scattered around. I just saw a man in a large field by himself stacking loose hay into piles. The field next to him held several of these piles so I think he must have been at this for awhile today. 

Hannover, Germany To Warsaw, Poland

Poznan: It is now 10:00 am local time, or 4:00 am EST. This train is very late. We are still a couple of hours west of  Warsaw.

The ride thus far was uneventful, with the exception of the seemingly randomness of the lights turning on and off throughout the night. It was disruptive and not conducive to sleeping.

The old woman in front of me has the right idea. She is fully reclined, sleeping mask on, covered with a fluffy blanket and snoring a deep resonating snore that is full of sleep satisfaction.

The last time we had an overnight trip on a train we booked a couchette (a sleeping car that sleeps six in bunks) and didn't sleep well at all. This time around we booked regular seating with big upholstered seats and were looking forward to a comfortable ride.

When we boarded the train, our car was pleasantly dark and everyone seemed to be fast asleep.
The large seats recline so far back, with their attached footrest that they almost become beds. We quietly settled in, ready to depart. Then we waited some more.

Finally, we began to move.

Nobody was coming for our tickets so we decided to try and sleep, they could wake us if necessary. Sleep was more important now.

Suddenly the lights came on. I thought the ticket guy was coming for my ticket. I thought wrong. The lights were on for no apparent reason, they stayed on for awhile, then after several minutes, off they went.

Suddenly they were back on again.

This was getting ridiculous and being the only two who were awake, it seemed we were the only ones on board who were bothered, although I suspect others were getting annoyed too. I see a strongly worded letter (SWL) in the future.

I used my jacket sleeve to cover my eyes and I played Mozart on the ipod. Soon I was asleep. I was out cold until I felt David poking me in the side: His remedy for loud snoring.

I slept soundly until I awoke in Berlin.

When I woke up again around 8:30 am we were in Poland and many people had left our car. It is rainy and overcast outside, which is just the way I expected Poland would be.

11:45 am Finally, an update! We will be arriving at Warsaw Central Station at 12:20 pm. I just had the best cup of tea ever, and met a lovely young lady from the UK who is also going to Warsaw.

Frankfurt Again (or the Night of 1,000 Boys).

We made it back to Frankfurt in time to shower and check out. Now we have to wait until 9 pm tonight to catch the first train on our journey to Poland. It will be a three train trip taking all night and a big chunk of tomorrow.

We arrive in Warsaw around 8 am and our final destination Krakcow around ten. (I think, we need to check our tickets for the exact time). This won't be fun since we haven't slept yet, other than a nap in the hotel lounge earlier.  We are going to stay a day or two and get rested before we travel to Auchwitz.

Ist Stop: Hanover 

I was just advised by my fiance husband to think of something fun to do in a German train station in the middle of the night for two hours, that we won't get arrested for. Hmmmmm......

We are finally on our way to Poland after the Nuremberg/Frankfurt mixup.

Hanover: We arrived after sleeping for the entire two hour train ride. I fell asleep as soon as we started to move. Once in Hanover we had about two and a half hours to wait for our next train to take us to Warsaw.
The train station here is large with a two level shopping complex inside, which was packed with drunken young people.

The ratio was about one girl for every ten boys, and none of them seemed to be over thirty. We did a bit of investigating and saw that there are a few clubs around the station, and I don't think they close until... I have no idea, but fortunately there are lots of police and security people around. They kids are rowdy but seem pretty harmless.

(later) We are waiting on the platform, tired with sore feet from walking around for the past couple of hours. It is 3:00 am local time. We should arrive in Warsaw for 10:00 am and then we have another couple of hours on a different train to get to Krakow. I hope we get some sleep on the way and can get back on a normal schedule after this.