My Euro Work Trip – Part One, London and Krakow

I’m in Budapest right now, grappling with my emotions. Wait…Let me back up a few days.

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was going on a work trip, but I was going to sneak some fun into it as well. I started in London, which despite the rainy, cold weather, I still freaking love. This time I stayed in the East End in Spitalsfield, an area I hadn’t checked out yet in previous London adventures. I landed on Sunday morning and as soon as I could check into my aparthotel flat, I threw my bags down and took off exploring. I wandered through the Spitalsfield Market, then up into Shoreditch, and back down on Brick Lane. There’s a ton of really cool street art everywhere in the area in addition to a bunch of shopping, restaurants and bars. I was a bit hesitant to stay in the area, mostly because I wasn’t sure how I would connect with that part of the city. I mean, I’m fun and all; but I’m definitely not cool and hip. Maybe living in Austin is good for me though, because I really did enjoy checking out the neighborhoods and didn’t feel completely out of place. The bright young things walking around might have thought differently but no one said it out loud.

Monday, I was in the office all day with meetings but in the evening, a small group of colleagues and I went to dinner in Shoreditch – at a place that despite being billed as a pizza place was actually a modern, industrial setting for all kinds of food. After dinner, we wandered to the Ace Hotel bar and had a few more rounds of drinks before half the group called it a night. The remaining two guys and I were up for one more drink and ended up in a basement cocktail bar with a demented circus theme that was weird and awesome all at the same time. We were treated to a full-on makeout session by the couple seated right behind us. I mean, the dude was aggressively checking out the woman’s tonsils with his tongue. I was flabbergasted because here I thought the British were all proper (at least out in public). The Polish bartender found out I was heading to Krakow next and in honor of my impending visit, bought me a shot of something I still don’t know the name of. She claimed that I needed to learn how to drink strong stuff to fit in there. I was like – look sweetheart, I live in Austin, I know how to drink. And threw the shot down like a pro. She was so impressed that I didn’t gasp or even make a face after the shot went down that she wanted to buy me another (which I politely declined because dear God that was some nasty turpentine and while I like drinking, I’m not an alcoholic or in desperate need of organ failure). Despite everyone claiming I was going to wake up hungover, I was at work bright-eyed the next morning. See, the weird thing is that I don’t get hungover. I never have that throwing up, head pounding, I-hate-the-world thing the next day that apparently everyone else gets. In college, I was legendary for waking up the day after a major party and acting like a normal person.

Tuesday, I worked all day and thought we were supposed to go out for a farewell send-off for someone but then I saw all of the other marketing people sneaking out. I made a break for it too so I could have some more Nicole-time to wander around on my own. I walked down to check out St. Paul’s Cathedral. And let me tell you, the shopping in London is absurd. How anyone can afford to go to all of these posh shops after paying the prices to live in London is beyond me. And I desperately wish I could figure out how people do it so I could too! I walked back up to Shoreditch to grab dinner at a local fish-and-chips place before calling it a night.

The next morning, I had to get up at a god-awful early time to catch my train up to Stansted Airport for my Ryanair flight to Krakow. I am not a morning person even on a good day and I have no idea why I continually book flights that leave before noon. Anyway, Ryanair gets a bad rap, but I honestly didn’t think it was all that different from the service on domestic U.S. carriers and they actually were less aggressive in up-selling stuff than American Airlines or United. And the fares are actually so low on Ryanair that it’s not a big deal to pay a little more for a checked bag, seat assignment, whatever (unlike those greedy U.S. airlines who have those Basic Economy fares which are sometimes higher than the standard fare, but don’t even get me started on that because I will be here all day ranting). I did pay like $10 extra to use the Fast Track security line, which was the smartest $10 I think I have ever spent. I was through the line in less than 5 minutes instead of the 45-60 minutes that was posted for the regular security line.

The flight to Krakow took about 2.5 hours. We finally took off after about an hour delay and I read on my Kindle the entire time so it passed by quickly. There’s a train that runs from the Krakow airport to the main train station near where my next accommodation was located. I bought a ticket at the machine with my credit card; but onboard, the woman checking tickets claimed that my transaction didn’t go through and I needed to buy another ticket and since I didn’t have cash, I needed to do it when we got to the main train station. I was ashamed and embarrassed because I’m not the type to try to get away with riding for free. But in the crush of all the people getting off the train, I lost sight of the ticket checker lady and after the train pulled away and I didn’t see her on the platform, I finally gave up and went downstairs. On my way to actually go buy another ticket to soothe my conscience, I connected to the wifi – and got an email notification from my credit card about a foreign transaction. My payment actually DID go through. I have no idea what the deal was, whether she honestly thought I didn’t have a valid ticket or if she thought she could get me to give her cash (which I didn’t have on me yet because I hadn’t been able to find an ATM at that point that took my card) or what. But needless to say, I did not cheat the system out of 10 zlotys.

Anyway, the cute little place I stayed at in Krakow was right in the heart of Old Town, which was gorgeous. I enjoyed roaming the streets and park paths between the Main Market and the Wawel Castle grounds. I stumbled onto a locals market that had everything from fresh fruit to clothing to kitchen utensils for purchase. I sorely wanted a hat that one elderly gentleman was selling from his kiosk but my lack of Polish language skills hindered me from asking the price. I walked away berating myself for a few blocks for not learning more than please, thank you, and one in Polish. Damn it, I still want that hat!

I also found myself down a little passage into a secret courtyard for a wine bar. There, I chatted with an older Australian couple, Margaret and Brian. Brian drank more wine than he needed but Margaret was interesting to talk to. They are both school teachers on break traveling around. They also own a cottage in a small English town where apparently there lives a couple from Texas and another one from Ohio! What a weird coincidence. I think I need to go visit there just because of those two connections. Brian proceeded to drink two more glasses of wine (that he really, really didn’t need) and then tell me how brave I am for traveling around by myself. I hate when people say this. Would you say that to a man? Margaret was like, I’m so embarrassed of him but I told her not to worry. But then he came back down the little alley after I thought they left to tell me AGAIN how brave he thought I was. Part of me was like, OK old man, I get it. But then he starts saying that a pretty woman like myself (Brian apparently has failing eyesight or had wine goggles) has to know that there are pervy men around and then started doing some creepy thing with his tongue. I was completely dumbfounded. Was this 70-year-old guy hitting on me? And in a totally gross way? Ewwww. And then the thought that he’s a school teacher. Dear God, please don’t let this dude around young women, please have him teaching at an all-boys school… On the plus side, the Polish white wine the server recommended was pretty good (for a white wine).

The next day, I walked all over in an effort to get myself completely exhausted. I had a sleeper berth for the night train to Prague that evening. I even went into the very modern and sleek shopping mall attached to the train station to take a look. And let me tell you, those Polish women are spoiled for choice with stores that carry makeup and skin care. Every other shop was either Sephora or a knock-off of one. I have this weird urge to acquire makeup despite the fact that I have absolutely no idea how to apply it properly; so I had to force myself to not even glance into the stores anymore. I ended up wandering back towards the Main Market and walked around the entire square perusing the menus. I opted for a ringside (squareside?) seat and sat for an hour and a half trying to choke down this horrible red wine (that was not Polish but sure as hell wasn’t the Italian variety the menu claimed) and watching the world go by. All in all, even with the bad wine, it was a very agreeable way to spend a beautiful spring evening.

Then I made my way over to the train station to wait for my sleeper to Prague. I was excited to try the Polish rail system and see if the train cars were as antiquated as some blogs led me to believe. Finally the platform for my train was posted and I went upstairs to find my compartment. The attendant for my carriage was a German who was actually very nice and kind, even though he never smiled – not once, even though I smiled at him every time. I got my bags into the compartment and realized that I had scored in a big way. Even though I bought a ticket in a 2-berth compartment, they didn’t sell the other berth. Meaning, I had gotten a compartment all to myself! I was super stoked about this because I agonized over spending the additional $100 that it would have cost me to get a single. So I saved $100 and still got a single in the end. I think that was the universe’s way of apologizing for Brian…

OK, this post is getting awfully long… I’ll pick up the rest in the next post. And yes, like a cliffhanger TV show, I am making you wait to hear about why I’m grappling with feelings. Y’all know I’m know I’m no good with those things and I’m hoping writing things down will give me some much needed perspective…but that’ll be the next post.