Small town Mountain Man

Well, I am currently sitting in a tiny little town called Zakopane at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains that stretch between Poland and Slovakia in the south. As a matter of fact, today I was concquering some of my biggest fears and took a cable car trip up to one of the peaks in this range. It is one of the tallest in Poland, but pales in comparison to many others. It still was very sweet, about 2000km or so to Kasprowy Weirch. I had a hard time maintaining control of my fear as we climbed the mountain in this little metal box stuffed over capacity with 20 people, swaying and knowing that I am dangling over this massive forest of pines and cliffs below. Though I struggled, I think I'm stronger for it. The views from the top were amazing for a while with the sun out and loads of slick snow on the ground. Then the fog set in, so I had a bowl of soup before gathering my courage and making the descent in that tin can box.
To back up a bit, Warsaw ended very well. Dominika and Hubert the two folks I stayed with there were hard to leave. Over my three night stay they were so kind to me and did so much to make sure I was comfortable. Each night after school or work they would call me on the cell they gave me and either both or one of them would meet up with me and we would go grab a bite to eat or go get a drink. The second night was fancy cocktails after a grand driving tour of the outer edges of the city that I wouldn't see on foot. The third night, Hubert picked me up and he and I had supper in a nice little Polish resturant in the Old Town. Getting home we had some Polish Beer, and looked through pictures and talked for a few hours about his experiences in the States. Both of them were so eager to talk, I think just to use English a bit and keep it fresh in their minds. They are amazing people,a nd I can't talk them up enough. It's been a long time since i've recieved that much genuine kindness and charity.
They saw me off at the station to Krakow. I was sad to say goodbye, but new things were to come. I hoped Krakow would be decent and my living accomodations would be half as good as what I was leaving. Krakow surpassed all my expectations,a nd through a great hostel, interesting and entertaining city, and meeting some interesting and inspiring travellers like myself it made my trip to Poland worth it all. Warsaw is the Capital, and thus the largest city in Poland, and Krakow would have to be the one that draws the most tourists. It helps that just outside the city are two of Poland's biggest tourist attractions: Auschwitz, and the Wielicka? Salt Mines. I never had time in my two days there to see the Salt mines, though they are the only ones like it in the world complete with underground chapel and grand rooms carved into the salt. I knew that Auschwitz/Birkenau would be more important. It was about an 1.5 hour bus ride and I was prepared for a grim and moving day. Auschwitz/Birkenau for those who don't know is the largest extermination camp created by the Nazis in the world during WWII. There were many others, but this one played the biggest part in so many lives. To see the buildings that the people who suffered there had to live in and not just know but truly see all the devastation and killing that occurred was surreal and at times too much for your mind to believe. I couldn't and still can't fathom 8,000 EVERY DAY passing through the doors of the massive gas chambers and then to be incinerated! I get chills still trying to understand that. If I still have the numbers right about 1.5 million people whether they were Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, or any number of targeted races were killed in this camp alone. I saw the original buildings renovated to exhibit a room full of more than 40,000 pairs of shoes. Or another room full of mounds of female hair that was shaved off the women after the gas chambers and packed into bags and stored in warehouses to be sent to germany to make rugs and other textiles. Tons and tons of hair. How horrible. Clothing in another. A large pile of spectacles the germans saved, and another case full of crutches and prosthetic limbs taken from the dead. The Nazis saved everything. It's unbelievable! That is all I will say, though there is so much more like the torture and the wretched conditions, but this is something that a person, every person should experience at some point in their lives. It will forever hang with you. I have never seen so much brutality and also resiliance of the human spirit to live all at once.
On the ride back, I talked to a girl for the whole hour named Rachel from Virginia, doing her masters in Brighton England and travelling before going home. She is working with some environmentalist program, but has done some amazing things herself. I was impressed to hear she had lived in Kajikastan for a year and also Moscow. I was impressed, and then I met her two travel friends Chloe, an Australian who was on her second month of backpacking around the world! Can you imagine. This was definetely eye opening. I never knew people actually did this. Their third friend Stuart was from England and was finishing up his year long stint travelling the world. 12 Months! Think about that. That is so much time to never see home, never stay in the same place, always have the same set of clothes and whatever else you can fit in your backpack. Incredible. Here I was talking to a guy who had been in the forests of Central america, floated down the rivers in south america, talked to natives in africa, walked the wall, and did so many other things that most people would never dream of in their lives. I asked him if he was anxious to see home again for the first time in a year, and he honestly answered that he didn't want to go back to a real and normal life. Travel becomes adicting, and his world has been a constant adventure full of new things and people to meet everyday, it will be hard to settle down. Chloe agreed. I just stared at these people and asked tons of excited questions. We had a good time going out for supper, splitting a bottle of wine and chatting for a few hours. I loved these people even after a few hours and it was tough to say goodbye.
I also made two closer friends in my hostel. lMy roomates both happened to speak english. A girl named GEorge from Australia, and Chris from Wales. It was fun getting to know them, and both my nights there were spent out on the town with them. The first night we had a few .5 liters in a crazy metal pub with organ pipes above the bar, and metal music complete with screaming pumping out of the speakers. It was a neat atmosphere nonetheless and we had a good time chatting and getting to know each other. The second night we hung around the hostel for a while watching music videos in the eveing and then ventured out to a pub that is one of the last private brewers in the country, and managed to find it enjoying different varieties of this CK Browner beer, we then proceeded to a vodka bar and became acquainted with Polish Vodka. These two are very outgoing folks and lots of fun. Chris teaches English in Japan for the last 7 years. He is 31, but seriously looks like he is mine and acts like he is 8. Funny guy, your typical drunken Welshman. When I first met him, he had been drinking at different pubs in the city since 11 in the morning that day, and I met him after about 8 different pints and shots throughout the day. He knows about tons of differnent beers and ales from all over the world and that is his basic goal as a traveller. He goes to different places, even researching before he leaves all about that country and each cities particular brews and such. He even takes notes sometimes. He knows his stuff. I don't want to paint a bad picture of him. He is a good guy with a pretty decent head on his shoulders, but with some interesting habits. don't worry, they haven't rubbed off on me. Drinking like that would drive me poor so quickly! Oh, yeah, and George is a horse trainer, particularily show jumping, and has worked in both Germany and England for a year doing so. Spunky girl, and easy to make conversation with. The three of us were a good trio.
Well, I do believe I'd be impressed if your still reading this right now. There is so much more to tell, and so many details I am leaving out, but I need to get away and make more of them instead of spending this time in front of a computer screen. Hope gift-buying and house decorating is finally complete for everyone, and we can all find ourselves in that relaxing, lazy downward slide into the holiday week!
Dohveetsehnah!!