Magical Wroclaw Weekend- June 25/26

Off to start my nine day holiday :) 

This was my first experience where I went on a pre-planned weekend with IAESTE (the internship program I am part of). Unfortunately, I had planned on a full day of work and decided to book a train leaving at 7:25pm which meant that I got in at midnight. Thankfully someone from the committee met me and helped me navigate the night buses. But because they run so infrequent, and we took the wrong one initially, we didn’t get back to the hostel until 1:30am…Then we had a packed full Saturday of sight-seeing and bonding. We were woken up (army style) bright and early—:>8am (earlier than I wake for work! And my roommates didn’t get back from the club until 4am, so I guess I got the easy way out by deciding not to go out and get a “head-start” on some sleep. haha After some breakfast we were off for sight seeing around town. We saw the old town area and what used to be Wroclaw University and what is now a museum, and then took a quick break in a park for lunch. One of the girls I met was from Hong Kong and this was the first time she had seen a “forest of trees” since there were quite a lot of trees throughout the park we are letting her still call the park a forest! Hong Kong being so industrialized and populous there isn’t open land reserved for natural things like forests unless you count the skyscraper buildings that make up a “building forest”. After lunch we walked to the Jump Hall (a huge jumping room). I’m not 100% sure why, but it was still kind of fun to jump a little (obviously, I didn’t jump much) and mostly watch the others on the big screen which was great entertainment. It was surprisingly difficult to get yourself out of the foam pits you can jump into, so you’d see people jump into them and then spend 2-5 minutes stumbling and trying to get up and out of it! Today was also an extremely hot day, so it was nice to be in the AC jumping area before heading back to our non-AC hostel… Yes, not much sleep happened in-part due to being out late from transportation and parties, but also because the hostel was so hot. But Saturday night we were out and enjoyed a beautiful light show at the fountains. 

They have these little gnomes all around the city like AA fairy doors!

Doors to the University Museum

University Museum

Views 

Playing in the water. Too hot to skip today! 

I hope you also have a sense of humor...

Old Town area 

Tired from jumping

Fountain Lights

Part of the show

Sunday morning was essentially a free day. There was time for us to get ready in the morning and decide what we wanted to explore on our own a few more things in the city. We went back to old town and saw some other architecture and cathedrals in a small group. I connected with six other interns from łódź, Poland (pronounced w-ooch). We had lunch together, beer and hot chocolate, and then explored more before going our separate ways back to łódź, or for me—Berlin. Two of the other interns from łódź and I are now planning on a weekend in Krakow- June 15-17! 

Can you guess the girl to guy ratio here?? lol

Never be lost! 

Fellow IAESTE committee members and trainees together for the weekend

I took a Polski bus from Wroclaw to Berlin that night. I am happy to say, I met one of the sweetest women I have ever met. As we awaited our bus, we spoke. She was a student at a nearby university studying nursing so she could one day take care of her family financially and in general. As the academic term finished, she was finally on her way home to Turkey (leaving from Berlin) for the holiday of two months. She was constantly conscious of her English and often apologized for it not being perfect. While it wasn’t, she never stopped smiling, trying, and curiously asking questions as we learned of each other’s families, culture, and more. She even taught me how to say a few words in Turkish—> Hi = Selam! (careful on the pronunciation or you may say ham instead); and water = su. While our bus was late and our journey long (just to get to Berlin), it was a pleasant one, and I am thankful for meeting such a kind hear to travel with. <3