This post comes a bit late, but I think later is better than never.
So, here we go!
Before my departure to Uganda, I decided to give myself a well-deserved short holiday. Poland has been in my mind for quite a while, especially knowing how easy (read cheap) it is to get there.
Even during my first hour there I realized how kind and polite Polish people can be.
Straight after the arrival at the airport, I had to catch a shuttle bus and a train to get to the town; it didn’t even cross my mind to think about getting some local currency (złoty). I realized that while being on the train and feeling completely dumb.
Another passenger, a Polish guy, noticing my problem, payed for me the fare. We then started talking and he entertained me during the trip, after acknowledging my further issue (the couchsurfer who was supposed to host, due to miscommunication, changed plans and couldn’t host me anymore) went all the way to bring me to the nearest place with Wi-Fi, gave me his contacts and told me that in case of emergency (me not finding any other host) I could call him and he would come up with something; he didn’t even want to accept me paying back for the fare; after meeting up with his girlfriend they wished me good luck and went on with their lives.
Luckily, I managed to find some amazing people who hosted me during my stay (1 week).
During my time in Poland, I had the chance to visit Kraków, including doing a very interesting and long free guided tour of the Jewish ghetto. I really have to openly suggest this tour to anyone who will ever go to Kraków, they give free tours and only ask for donations at the end of the tour; it was a 4 hour tour, under the sun and the rain with a very charismatic guy who brought us from the main market square to the Schindler’s factory, passing by the infamous Jewish ghetto.
I definitely loved Kraków, both for the people and the places, without forgetting some really good food (on top of them the Zapiekanka) and the nightlife (here people are seriously good at partying: this guy just came with something like 30 shots and put them in front of us, you can understand by yourself how that went).