"Cause this is THRILLER"

Thanks to freezing temperatures and an abnormal amount of snow in Paris, we have been forced to remain indoors.  As any of you parents know, staying inside all day means one of two things: kids are calm all day and then can't sleep at night, or the kids go crazy all day and leave the house in shambles.  Neither of these options are acceptable to me because I am in charge of bedtime and damage control, so it has forced me to be extra creative all week.  Luckily, daddy just came home from 9 days in China bearing many gifts, all in the form of games (Nico-3 points)!  When they got bored of games, we painted, when they got bored of painting, we had dance parties to Michael Jackson in the kitchen.  This has led to an odd fascination of Michael Jackson by Alice and Lucien.  They are requesting daily that we listen to MJ, and have actually begun memorizing the words!  So yesterday, I thought a fun activity for us would be to watch the Thriller dance, and then learn it.  I gave up quite quickly (it's harder than it looks!) but LuLu persevered and managed to complete the entire dance 3 times!  Lucky me, I was able to sneak a video of his smooth moves...(dang, I tried to insert the video, but it's too big!!)


Other fun things keeping us busy include:

~Alice's ballet "performance"

~Gingerbread house-making with Ally's kids:

Notice Lucien's house, err, pile of candy...

~More random dance parties, but this time with their new friends:

~ And of course, movies and DS occasionally:

All to stay out of this:

And then Ally and I celebrate like this:

That's our week in a nutshell!!  My family is on their way to Paris as we speak so I'm not sure how many blog posts I will get to in the next 2 weeks!  If I don't see you before then, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Tis the Season to be...Sick.

Yep.  I'm sick.  I knew it was coming for about a week, but it finally hit me on Friday, and boy did it hit me hard.  I have been in bed for 2 days straight now with not even enough energy to make it outside or even eat.  I am beginning to feel a little bit better, so this blog is the product of me not being able to sleep for a second longer, and being bored to tears.

There's something comforting about being able to skype with my parents whenever I want, but especially when I feel like this, I just want the comforts of home that much closer.  Today, I was lucky to catch my parents on skype just as they were heading out to catch a movie and shop for Paris clothes together (and they say they don't like being empty nesters...HA!).  While my mom is computer savvy (enough) to be able to understand how things work, my dad is still kind of in that baby phase where he's fascinated by computers.  So whenever I skype them and he happens to be home, he likes to put his face right up to the camera and say "can you see me?.....can you see me now?" and make silly faces just to see himself on camera.  While I originally laughed out of embarrassment (even though no one else is watching, except maybe the government), I now find it endearing because it is just another cute little thing about my dad that I love.  He probably won't like that I just called him "cute", but it's ok, Dad, at least I didn't tell them you cried in The Notebook!...oops!  So, needless to say, as crappy as I have been feeling all weekend, it brought me great joy to be able to skype my parents and get excited with them for their impending visit (10 days!!).

Nico is currently in China on business until Friday, so the kids have been replacing him with me it seems.  They have been overly loving, calm, cute, and just so sweet to me the last few days.  Yesterday I babysat for a couple hours in the morning while Val did some Xmas shopping, and for the whole 3 hours, we just sat at the kitchen table painting pictures and listening to Michael Jackson.  They are also both beginning to get sick (oops!) so they were perfectly content sitting there calmly and quietly and painting beautiful masterpieces.  So today, they begged me to come eat dinner with them.  While I didn't have much of an appetite from being sick, who could say no to those precious kids!  So I went down and ate with them some pumpkin curry soup, salad, goat cheese, and duck gizzards.  Yep, you read that right.  Here I was thinking the gizzards are only useful for gravy, leave it to France to make something out of nothing!  They weren't my favorite (by any means), and they were especially not appetizing when I already don't feel great, but they really weren't THAT bad, or at least how I imagined they would be.  As we are sitting at the table though, Lucien turns to me and says "Cory, why do so many people hate brussel sharts?" (for those of you who don't know what a shart is, Read This, but to spare yourself, only read the first definition).   So, my instant reaction is to completely bust out laughing, but because no one else knew what that actually was, I had to refrain as much as I could, so the only response I could manage was "I think you just answered your own question", and then proceeded to change the topic.

Not much knew to report from this week.  Lots of snow, freezing temperatures, and snow fights.  Wednesday Lu's soccer was canceled because of snow, so we ventured out to have a snowball fight!  While the snow doesn't really stick to the ground here with all the people walking around, it does stick to benches and stumps, so we had more of a makeshift snow fight, and the kids loved it!

Lu plowing me in the face

Alice attempting to plow me in the face

I came out untainted!

All the snow on my roof!

Friday night, Ally and I made it over to the Avenue des Champs Elysees for the annual Christmas market.  My first visit to Paris 2 years ago I visited this market and it is what made me fall in love with Paris.  Hundreds of white chalet-type booths line both sides of the street selling crepes and other delicious goodies, as well as mulled wine, chocolates, cheeses, gifts, hats, etc.  They also have lots of fun activities for kids, so it is definitely a must-do for me and the kiddos!  Ally and I walked the entire length, both sides, before deciding on some yummy sausages for dinner.  I, of course, managed to get ketchup and mustard ALL over my white gloves.  We then topped it off with a nutella crepe for me and a chocolate waffle for Ally, so good!  At this point, we decided to call it a night, because our toes and fingers were frozen beyond feeling.

Champs Elysees market

Bad picture, but you get the idea how festive it is!  That's the Arc de Triomphe in the background!

Ally and her chocolate gaufre

nutella crepe!

This week, the Christmas shopping begins (and hopefully ends too)!  Alice performs in her choir at school, and in her dance class, so I get 2 wonderful shows to go to as well!  I will try and write back next weekend, but it's just getting busier and busier around here!  Have a fabulous week, love you all!!

Le Thanksgiving Parisien

While you all were off with your friends and families last Thursday, eating glorious, massive feasts, I was here in Paris, working, and eating pasta for dinner.  My wonderful feast day didn't arrive until Saturday, and what an anticipated day that was!  Aside from my friends and family visiting me here, this Thanksgiving was probably the most anticipated event during my time here.  Mainly because planning and preparations began in, ohhhh...September!  This event was mine and Ally's brain child, and everything from the preparations, to the cooking, to the prayer were handled by us.  Let me just say, I have loads of respect for anyone who has ever pulled off an entire Thanksgiving meal on their own because this was a tough job for even the two of us!  However, with it being the first time either of us has taken on Thanksgiving, we consider ourselves quite accomplished now. 

We began planning the menu, collecting ingredients, and researching where to get certain items about a month ago.  For Ally, it was finding her pickled beets and turkey bag, for me, finding pumpkin and some sort of pie crust.  Luckily, we were able to find nearly everything we needed, and managed to suffice without a few things.  Lucky for me, Ally handled the turkey all on her own, as in ordered it, picked it up (15 lbs!), stuffed it, seasoned it, cooked it, and didn't over/under cook it!  I call that a job well done!  On the menu for the night, besides the turkey, was stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, peas, and carrots.  And then for dessert we had a pumpkin pie, apple crumble pie, and carrot cake.  Ally handled the turkey, gravy, stuffing, peas, green beans, and carrot cake, I handled the sweet potato casserole and (with the help of Amanda) the pumpkin and apple crumble pies (which were 100% homemade, even the crust!), and then Ally and I together did the mashed potatoes and carrots.  It was quite a lot of work, but it made the meal THAT much better, having the satisfaction of making it all yourself. 

Friday after class, (after a pit stop at the Apple store to get the verdict on my computer that has been pooping out on me...it's OK, everyone, HUGE sigh of relief on my part!) Amanda and I made our way to her mansion (literally, a townhouse IN the city of Paris, unheard of) to bake the pies.  Her au family was in the UK for the weekend, which gave us free use of their amazing gourmet kitchen.  After preparing a lovely salmon, rice, and spinach lunch, with apple compote dessert, for ourselves, we proceeded to make the pies.  Pie crusts here are quite hard to come by, so we attempted to make our own.  A little flour, butter, and water later, we managed to have some pretty normal looking pie crusts!  Now the hard part was rolling them out and getting them into the pie tins (rather, tart dishes), but we managed, after a little piece work...  We were luckily able to find canned pumpkin, but we had to make our own seasoning for it, which meant grinding our own cloves and mixing nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, etc together with the pumpkin.  Pie #1 turned out to be fantastic!  Next up, the apple crumble pie, which originally wasn't on the menu, but a few days before I decided it just wasn't Thanksgiving without some sort of apple dessert, so the apple crumble pie it was!  This one was easy, just layer in the apple slices to the pie crust, top with cinnamon and sugar, and then spread mixture of oats, flour, brown sugar, and butter over the top!  Pie #2, huge success as well!  That night after picking the kids up from school, they had a friend come over, so they were able to settle on a movie, which essentially gave me the night off!  I used this time to make my sweet potato casserole, because Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving in my house without it!  Luckily, I was able to find marshmallows here (or, chamallows as they call them), which was the perfect topping for the casserole...and a nice treat for the kiddos as well! 

My sweet potato casserole!

Mine and Amanda's yummy pumpkin pie

And our killer apple crumble pie

Unfortunately this weekend we had 2 cousins visiting, 2 year old Armand and 3 year old Mathilde, which meant extra work for me!  So Saturday morning I was up bright and early to help Nico tend to the children while Valerie went off to do a live interview on the radio about the conflict in Korea in the last week.  While I couldn't understand much of what she said, from the sounds of it, and from what Nico said, she rocked it!  As soon as I was done working, I headed over to Ally's to help her prepare the food and set the table.  Lucky for me, when I got there she had just pulled out the turkey, so I got to help her carve it and take out the stuffing!  We then set off to peel 2497359735 billion potatoes, chop them, boil them, mash them (more like whip them...with a milkshake blender no less!), and sample them...soo good!  We then peeled and chopped the carrots and cooked them as well.  By the time we finished, it was time for me to head home and help Val get the kids ready and bring them over.  Nico had friends from the US visiting, so he went to grab a drink with them earlier and met us at Ally's later. 

Perfectly cooked, HUGE turkey

Ally mutilating her masterpiece

After dressing up the kids, we walked back to Ally's, did all the introductions (fyi, our au family's had never met), and then we fed the kiddos...7 of them!  They all loved the food and ended up eating way more than expected!  After they finished, we put them in different rooms with movies.  Lucien and Mahe (both 8) watching Harry Potter in Ally's room, Alice and Baptiste (both 5) watching the Great Mouse Detective in the parents room, and the 3 little ones, Armand, Mathilde, and Gustave (2 and 3 yrs old), partly watching a movie and partly destroying the boys' bedroom.  Once they were settled, the adults enjoyed a lovely champagne toast, and then retreated to the table to begin the feast!  Seated at the table were me, Val, Nico, Ally and her "au parents" Sam and Marie, and then our friends Amanda, Ellie, and Lauren.  We passed around our plates and loaded them with food.  There was no way I could go back for seconds, but I was quite happy to see both Sam and Nico grab seconds of EVERYTHING, they really liked it all!  Nico also was raving about my sweet potato casserole, let's just say he was quite happy that those were OUR leftovers to bring home!  After dinner, we brought out the desserts, and somehow we all managed to try one of all 3 desserts (very small pieces, but it was an accomplishment!  Everyone loved the pies (including myself), even Sam and Ally who are not at all pumpkin pie fans said they really liked it!  Oh and I forgot to mention, we obviously paired our dinner with wine of course, and it was probably the best wine I have ever had/will ever have in my life.  I'm not even a huge red wine fan, but this was truly incredible!!  After chatting and eating (and chatting and eating) we finally called it a night around 11:30 pm.  We cleaned up, bundled up, loaded up the kids, and set home in the frigid icy temperatures.  Nico and Val thanked me over and over for including them in on the occasion, and cooking, and introducing them to Marie and Sam (who they totally hit it off with by the way)!  So I would say all in all, it was quite the successful night.  Not to mention ridiculously fun to have all the people I love (in this country) at the table with me. 

The kiddy table!

Alice (with a smile AND a mouthful of peas...WHAAAT?)

Lu Lu and his peace sign

Amanda and I

Yummm Champagne!

Beautiful set table

Lauren, Ellie, Ally, me, Amanda

SO GOOD!

Ally's cutie Gustave blowing out the candle

Of course it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the leftovers, so yesterday Ally and I reconvened to solve the leftover problem.  First we made ourselves Thanksgiving monte cristo's, with cranberry sauce, camembert cheese, turkey, and sweet potato casserole, all grilled on bread in a pan...sooo good!  Then we took the leftover carcass and made a HUGE pot of turkey soup with all the fixings inside.  Lucky me I got to take some home with me, but it wasn't enough, because Val, Nico, and I finished it off for dinner last night!  So the conclusion is that we are doing Thanksgiving again...maybe for Easter?

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am thankful for my wonderful family: Mom, Dad, Ian, Grandma's (and Nancy!), Grandpa's, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and of course the wonderful Chaudron family who has so lovingly taken me in this year!  As well as my neighbors from home, who have always been like family to me.

I am also thankful for wonderful friends: Anna Banana, Shannon, Kelsey, Melissa, Ally, Amanda, Ellie, Katie, Ashley, Marisa, Erika Chris, Sark, John, Ben, and everyone else who I would take days to mention :)

I am thankful for this amazing opportunity to live in Paris and travel, I am thankful Cal Poly and for my college degree (and those who helped make it happen), I am thankful that I have (and always will have) a loving home to go back to, I am thankful for my health, I am thankful for Chi Omega, I am thankful for my beautiful little and friend Erika, I am thankful for the food on the table every night, I am thankful all the support I have, I am thankful for these 2 amazing children who make my life such a joy, I am thankful for the friends I have made in Paris, I am thankful for the relationship my parents have with each other, as well as with their kids, I am thankful for the possibility of snow here this week, and I am thankful for a warm bed and heater if that snow does appear! 


And Lastly, I am thankful for all of you.  You give me something to write about, and someone to tell my stories to, so thank you!  Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day to the fullest and remember to think about what you are Thankful for  :)

J'ai Deux Amours

What a perfect title. Not only is it the name of this song, but it is perfectly fitting for what I am about to write about. I stole this song from my friend Ally's new blog post (you can read it here!) because it just sounds like Paris to me.  When I first listened to it, all I could think of was my Grandpa Albert, it reminded me of something he would listen to or sing, one of the many songs in his daily repertoire.  It really is such a soothing and comforting song, and makes me so happy to call this place home for now.  So have a listen while you read the rest of this blog :)

Listen here (right click and open in new tab)

Saturday after I wrote last, Ally joined me over here to cook a nice dinner.  We ended up making maple glazed chicken and sweet potatoes with some grilled eggplant.  Possibly the best meal of my life.  SO so good, and healthy (kinda).  We had a great time eating and just hanging out, showing each other our hometowns and schools on google maps, and laughing at my idiocracy (I somehow managed to SHRINK my slippers in the wash...my right foot is about 4 sizes too small for me, while the left is only 2 sizes to small...crap).  However, tying this back into my title, this is one of my loves: food.  Being able to create such a variation of things, and then reaping the rewards from the hard work as you dig in to it, is one of my greatest pleasures.  Makes me really reevaluate what I want to do with my life...maybe something in the food industry is in store for me?

My second love is my family (well they're really my first, but this is just the order I am choosing to discuss things).  Today I set out to discover where this apartment is where my family will be staying when they come to Paris.  It's very close, only a 7 minute walk, so that is quite convenient!  I mapped out all the nearby stores and restaurants so that I know where we can go if we need things.  I also began discussing plans with Nico and Val pertaining to my parents visit.  They are being so accommodating with everything, and are even putting the kids in daycare during their break just so I can have time with my parents and not have to worry about the kids.  However, at least 2 of the days I asked to have the kids stay with me because my family is very excited to get to spend time with them, so we are going to go out and do fun things with them!  Also, one of the nights Nico will be taking my and my family on a night drive of Paris.  He is driving us around to see the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Notre Dame, etc while it is dark out because it is such a unique experience that not many tourists get to see.  I think I am more excited about this than my parents!

This is an easy week for me!  Still super excited (slash getting nervous about) Thanksgiving this weekend!  Once all the food is cooked and we don't ruin the turkey, then it will be fun!  Have a great week and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I Smell CHRISTMAS!

It is officially Christmas time in Paris, my favorite time of the year!  While I thoroughly enjoy Christmas at home in Sacramento, there is nothing, that is correct, NOTHING that can top Christmas in Paris!  It is only mid-November and stores are well into their decor masterpieces...I can only imagine what it will be like a month from now.  All the Christmas spirit has got me thinking about Christmas presents, both what I am asking for and what I am looking to give.  What are on my lists you might ask?  Nothing.  Not a clue.  The usual things I would ask for are not very applicable to my life here (cookware, gift cards, etc).  Not to mention, I do not expect ANY of you to ship anything over that ocean to me, so don't even think about it.  The cost of shipping things these days is just too absurd!  (sidenote: Any gifts shoved into my parents suitcases do not apply to this rule and are therefore more than welcome!)  Honestly though, being here and being able to travel and see the world is the greatest gift of all, so I think I have settled on my one Christmas list item: a travel fund.  As far as gifts for all of you go, I am stumped.  I as well will not be shipping anything back home, so whatever fits in my parents suitcases is what goes home...this means my "people to buy for" list also decreases, sorry :(  However, I am still interested to hear what is on YOUR Christmas lists this year, so please, do tell!

Upon returning from Poland, I am just now beginning to experience what cold really means, AKA I'm screwed.  With a high of 50 degrees this whole week, and snow in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, winter is coming early to Paris this year, and I am not prepared.  While I have the necessary coats, gloves, hats, scarves, sweaters, etc, I lack the mindset.  I bundle up, preparing to go outside and be perfectly toasty, yet I still get hit with a massive cold front upon opening the door, and proceed to my destination in shivers.  The sad part is, it has only just begun.  Temperatures will get to about 30 degrees in the thick of it, and the sun will rarely make an appearance...something this California girl REALLY cannot handle.  What most of you probably do not know is, Paris RARELY gets snow, and I mean rarely.  The fact that snow is already here (supposedly) in November, is a bad, bad sign for me.  The only good that can come of this is the fact that for the first time in our lives, my family will have the opportunity to experience a white Christmas, so for this I am praying for the snow!

In nanny news, I am in love.  This week has been great with the kids, per usual, but the last two days especially just make me fall in love with these kids over and over again.  Yesterday was the first time where Lucien and I got to come home from school, just us two, and spend some quality time together.  Alice was having a sleepover at a friends house, so Lucien and I had plans to watch Home Alone (which we can't watch when Alice is home because she's afraid), eat popcorn, and have a chess competition (Lu recently taught me how to play chess, and although he kicks my butt every time, I am determined to beat him before the year is over).  Of course this plan didn't exactly work because of course he wanted his best friend Balthazar to come over and play and he doesn't speak English, meaning no movie.  However, after we took Balthazar home, we came back, cozied up, and popped in the movie, and he loved it!  Then we got to play our chess game and have some fun time playing whatever he wanted, without Alice interfering, which Lucien DEFINITELY needed.  Then when Nico and Val came home, they took Lucien out to dinner to his favorite gourmet pizza place around the corner.  Lucky for me, they knew I had plans to make dinner with Ally, so they took the liberty of ordering 2 extra pizzas for me to take to her house!  So so sweet of them :)  P.S. I just have to tell you about the pizzas, you will be shocked.  The pizza here is always thin crust, and ours had cheese, chorizo, some other sausage, and...an egg.  Yep, they just crack an egg right on the top of the pizza and put it in the oven.  It is the greatest invention in the world...heaven in my mouth.  So, whoever comes to visit me will get treated to this "chef" pizza!

So I went to Ally's last night for dinner of course, and Amanda came along too!  The three of us sat and talked and ate for about 4 hours or so before we finally realized what time it was.  I seriously love the friends I have made here and can't wait for all of our adventures together.  They are now coming over here tonight so we can actually cook a nice gourmet meal.  On the menu: grilled eggplant, stuffed tomatoes, and possibly salmon, or chicken, who knows!  They are coming over here because Val and Nico left early this morning to head to Toulouse in the south of France until tomorrow night.  Tonight is a huge celebration for one of their good friends' 40th birthdays, so about 4 couples rode the train together from Paris to Toulouse.  It's about a 5 hour train ride, and they packed more wine and food than clothing, so with it being 2 pm now, they should be just about...drunk.  So my job today was to get the kids to Grandma's house!  Lu and I had breakfast together, packed up some coloring books and reading books, picked up Alice at her friends house, and headed for the train station.  This particular train station is on the other side of Paris, so it was a 30 min ride there by metro with Alice asleep on my lap, then another 40 mins on the train to Chavenay, with Lu reading and Alice coloring (and then sleeping on my lap again).  They were so incredibly well behaved, quiet, and in such a wonderful, loving mood, it made me just want to stay in Chavenay with them for the weekend.  However, Grandma was there to pick them up, so I got right back on the train and headed back to Paris.  Now I have to go back tomorrow night and pick them up, let's hope they're in the same great, well-behaved mood!

Not much to report other than this!  My french is coming along nicely, however I did get marked down for answering some test questions in Spanish instead of French...oops!  Good news Dad and Grandpa, I'm not losing my Spanish!  I was actually rewarded twice this week by my teacher for answering questions correctly that she thought were pretty tough..go me!  A week from today is our much anticipated Thanksgiving dinner, which I am sooo excited for!  We have our turkey, our pumpkin, and all of our ingredients ready to prepare an amazing American/Canadian Thanksgiving for our families!  I want to hear about all of your plans for Thanksgiving too!  After that, I have my parents' arrival to finally look forward to!  They arrive in just less than 4 weeks from now and I am so excited!  My to-do list for their time here is about 2 pages long now, and growing, so we will not be bored!

Hope you are all splendid, I miss you!!  For now, I leave you with this:

Have a wonderful, family and fun-filled THANKSGIVING!!  Eat lots of yummy food too :)

"Non-stop to Warsaw....uhhhh....no.....KRAKOW!!"

Not very comforting words to hear from the Pilot as you're about to take off...Needless to say, we made it there and back, and had the most amazing time!

I will start off with my one and only complaint before I go on (and on and on and on) about how much I absolutely loved Krakow.  My shoes.  I bought a new pair of waterproof boots just before going to Poland, so I had about 1/2 to break them in before they broke me all weekend, and that they did.  After waking up at 4:30 am Saturday, flying to Krakow, and then conquering the city by foot, I was fully expecting to take off my boots that night to reveal bloody, mangled feet and toes.  THAT is how painful my shoes were.  Every step made me want to impale myself to numb the pain.  (I'm just trying to use a vivid description to put you in my shoes...if only figuratively).  Lucky for me, my feet are fine and now fully recovered, and my shoes are about halfway broken in now!  Just a few more excruciating days until they are perfect!

Now on to the good stuff!  After my year in Paris is up, you can find me in my new home of Krakow, Poland.  THAT is how much I loved this place.  From the architecture of the buildings, to the cleanliness, to the history, to the quiet and lazy afternoons, to the food, and best of all-to the Zloty!  The Zloty is Poland's currency.  1 USD is equal to 2.9 Zlotys, so in short, everything is pretty damn cheap.  So cheap in fact, that this entire weekend (flight, hostel, food, drinks, souvenirs, tours, etc.) cost me less than $200!!  That being said, anyone want to come visit for a weekend trip to Poland?  I still have the inside of the castle and the salt mines (and so much more) to discover!!

So now for the play-by-play.  It all started early on Saturday morning.  Well, Friday night to be exact.  Ellie and I spent the night at Ally's house to make getting to the airport on Saturday a little easier.  Our flight left at 6:20 am, meaning no metros or RERs would be working, so our only option was a taxi.  We had one ordered for 5 am, so our wake up call was at 4:30!  We made it up and out and to the airport all in perfect timing, giving us reason to think luck was on our side...until we realized we had been sitting on the plane for quite a while without moving.  That's when the pilot announced that we had an extra bag in the cargo area, so they had to empty the plane and figure out which bag didn't belong, and why it was there.  After nearly an hour, we were finally on our way, and I miraculously was able to sleep for part of the short 1.5 hour trip.  Just the cat nap I needed to propel me through the day!  After arriving at our hostel and checking in (only to find out we essentially had a huge studio apartment to ourselves) we set off to explore the city.  Our first stop was the main square, my favorite part of the city.  It was quiet, filled with flower vendors, had many various monuments, and was surrounded by gorgeous, brightly colored buildings.  A gorgeous outdoor covered marketplace ran through the center, with a museum above it.  A clock tower off to the side with a bronze statue of a head next to it.  A gorgeous cathedral sat cockeyed next to the marketplace, including a trumpet player who played a tune out of all 4 sides of the steeple every hour, on the hour, 24/7.  It was the little touches such as this that gave the city so much charm and character.

Next up was a little lunch date we were lucky enough to organize.  Ally's sister's boss has a nephew who lives in Krakow, so we were able to make contact with him and meet up with him and his wife for lunch!  They took us to a restaurant called "Dynia" aka pumpkin, which was a really nice organic-type restaurant...something that I would picture in SLO!  We ordered minced meat pierogi's, and "Russian" pierogi's, which are cottage cheese and potato.  They both sound quite awful, but they were truly delicious, I could have eaten another plate.  We also order a bowl of traditional Polish noodle soup, and a bowl of pumpkin soup...both so good!  After a wonderful meal with our new friends, Franek and Magda, we made our way back to the main square to meet up with a group for our "free tour" of Poland. 

These "free tours" are offered in many different European cities, and they really are free, no strings attached!  The tour guides are trained, doing this as a way to gain experience, and they work solely off of tips.  We decided to go on the "Jewish tour" of Krakow because we were primarily there for the history and the background of WWII.  We set off, walking probably a good mile at least, until we reached the Jewish quarter of Krakow.  The "Broadway" as they call it was filled with restaurants, historic buildings, and synagogues-including the oldest one in Poland!  The primary sites to see in the Jewish quarter were the incredible number of beautiful synagogues there were, with the occasional bar thrown in for fun.  We saw areas that were used in the filming of the movie Schindler's List, including those that were correctly portrayed in the movie, as well as very incorrectly portrayed, but still interesting.  From here, we walked a bit further to the site of an old WWII Jewish ghetto.  We stood in an area called "Jewish Hero Square" and heard a handful of stories that occurred there, primarily the story of how it became a monument.  This is the square where the Nazi's would order Jewish families to meet with all of their personal belongings, telling them they were being moved to a different home.  Once they were at this meeting point, they had to leave all of their personal effects behind, including furniture, suitcases, etc, and march to the nearby concentration camps.  Once the square was emptied of people, it was filled with furniture everywhere you looked, so the monument now consists of chairs sporadically placed around the area to symbolize the furniture left behind.  She also pointed at the corner building, which used to be a pharmacy, and told us stories of how the pharmacist used to help save the Jews on their way to the square.  After these we continued on to view buildings from the actual ghetto, which were completely covered in what seemed like soot, and were horribly rundown.  We also saw the last remaining part of the ghetto walls, with a monument there as well.  Our last stop was quite a ways away in a very industrial area: Schindler's Factory.  For those of you who know history, or have seen the movie, you know the story of Oskar Schindler.  For those of you who don't, long story short, he was an SS soldier who opened this factory and employed Jews to save them.  He had permission to retrieve people from concentration camps, because they were still working for him, an SS soldier, for next to no pay.  What the other soldiers didn't know was that he was giving them good treatment and eventually saving them from ultimately death, which was inevitable for the majority of people whom he saved.  There was nothing very special about this site, except the fact that now I can say I have seen it, in reality it was just any normal building, which has been refurbished and converted to a museum, as with most of Krakow.

After the tour ended, we decided to make our way to the castle with some friends we met during the tour.  Apparently there was an "infamous" fire-breathing dragon guarding the castle that we just had to see.  Waaaa Waaaa Waaaaaaa what a dud.  It did breathe fire, real fire, every couple of minutes, but the dragon itself was minuscule.  We were all expecting quite a big dragon, but this one was about one story tall, sort of a letdown.  After such a long day, we decided it was time for dinner and an early bed time, so we found a little Italian restaurant and settled in for a nice meal.  Wrong.  I ordered a Polish beer with special raspberry syrup in it (since I'm not really a beer fan) and sadly, it was the best part of my meal.  My much anticipated salmon and dill pasta was absolutely awful, I couldn't even make myself finish it it was so bad.  So, when in Poland, don't do Italian.

Sunday started off fairly early again, as we had a big, emotionally draining day ahead of us: Auschwitz.  All 3 of us were both excited and scared for this day, because we knew what was in store.  Lucky for us, we were able to book the tour through our hostel, so a van picked us up at 9 am and we were on our way to a town an hour outside of Krakow.  After receiving our headphones and finding our tour guide, we made our way through the front gates of Auschwitz, where we were greeted with the infamous "ARBEIT MACHT FREI"---"Work Makes One Free".  It was at this moment when the chills running through my body made me realize: I'm here.  I have waited for this day since I read "Number the Stars" in 4th grade.  It's here.  I want to go home. 

We were led between the buildings, through the courtyards where the 10 hour roll calls took place, and into a few of the buildings.  The majority of the buildings have been converted into museums, which kind of threw me off in a way, because part of me was expecting the majority of the camp to be in it's original, untouched form.  We saw maps and documents and pictures and re-learned a summary of the happenings leading up to WWII.  We saw old uniforms and mug shots of prisoners.  We saw rooms filled to the brim with confiscated luggage, shoes, glasses, prosthetic limbs, and hair that had been shaved from their heads.  It was a lot to handle all at once, and everything hit home when I saw the hair piled to the ceiling, it was unbelievable.  Part of me, however, was still a little disappointed because it still wasn't what I imagined.  This is when we enter Block 11, also known as the Death Block.  This building is filled with punishment rooms, death rooms, and waiting rooms, essentially.  The punishment rooms included a room with limited oxygen and light where prisoners were kept for days at a time.  Another room was the standing room, with cells smaller than the size of a shower, in which 4 prisoners had to remain standing in all night.  There was a death by starvation room.  The rest were "washrooms" where the prisoners were told to undress for a shower, but then led to the middle of the outdoor courtyard and shot.  This was what I expected, and now that it was real for me, I couldn't handle it.  At the time it was so much to take in that I just looked, let out a sigh, and continued walking.  It is only now as I write this that I am letting myself get caught up in the reality of it all and really realizing the horrific things they went through, and having an actual picture to go with the mental picture makes it all too real for me.  I figured the worst was over, but I was surely mistaken.  Our next stop was a visit inside the only remaining gas chamber and crematorium.  I will refrain from making commentary on this part, as it was just too disturbing of an experience.  By now we had finished our tour of Auschwitz I and were heading off to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, which I had heard was even more untouched and chilling than the first.

We pulled up to Birkenau and were greeted by the infamous watch tower with the railroad tracks leading through it.  Here's another history side-note: Birkenau was the largest of all the death camps during WWII.  It was responsible for the killing of nearly 1,000,000 people alone.  With hundreds of bunkers for the prisoners, as well as 4 gas chambers/crematoriums, it was a very expansive camp suitable for hundreds of thousands of prisoners.  Unfortunately, just before the liberation, the Nazi's had suspected it was coming, so they set fire to the camp and blew up the 4 cement gas chambers/crematoriums.  Because of this, only a few buildings still remain, with hundreds of brick chimney's standing in the center of where the bunkers once stood.  We were able to view the inside of 2 of the bunkers.  The first was a washroom, where half of it was for bathing, the other half for toilets (picture below).  Prisoners were only allowed to use the toilets in the morning before work and at night after work, in between that time they could be killed or severely punished for relieving themselves in any way.  The second bunker was one of many sleeping quarters.  The walls were lined with bunk beds stacked 3 high, where often up to 6 people would share a bed.  The only source of heat for these un-insulated buildings was a small fireplace in the center of the bunker.  We viewed an original cargo rail car that was used to transport prisoners.  We saw the remains of the bombed gas chambers/crematoriums.  And finally we went up into the watch tower to see an aerial view of the incredible area this camp took up. 

Birkenau was definitely a more realistic experience because nearly all of it was left untouched.  It was opened up as a museum just 2 years after it was liberated, by a concentration camp survivor at that.  The one thing that kind of ruined Birkenau for me was another tour group that was there.  Upwards of 1,000 Israeli students were visiting the same day, all wearing matching white sweatshirts bearing the Star of David, waving HUGE Israeli flags everywhere, and completely surrounded by bodyguards.  The disregard these students had for other visitors of the camp really made me the most upset, because it showed that they didn't truly understand the gravity of the situation there at one point.  They were also accompanied by at least 1 or 2 concentration camp survivors who came along to tell their personal stories from behind those walls.  How amazing would it have been to hear those stories firsthand. 

After our tour ended, we loaded up in the car to head home and try and enjoy our last night in Poland.  At the time we were rather unphased by the day's occurrences, but after talking to Ellie and Ally now, it is clear it has just taken a few days to sink in, because it has been a constant thought in the back of our heads ever since.  We rested a bit in our room, then set out to find some dinner.  We decided to go to the same restaurant where we went for lunch the day before, because it was just THAT good.  One our way there, we stopped at the outdoor market in the main square to do some souvenir shopping and, what do you know, fate smacked me in the head yet again.  As I am standing there looking over someone's shoulder at a chess set for Lucien, I begin to recognize the voice of that someone.  I lean over only to realize that it is one of my sorority sister from Chi Omega!  Yep, yet again, I run into someone from home in the most random of places, who would have thought!  It was a nice little treat, to say the least.  We finally made it to "our" restaurant, where we proceeded to indulge.  As I mentioned earlier, the exchange rate was amazing, and we had some leftover Zlotys to burn before we flew home in the morning, so this dinner was the ultimate indulgence.  Starting out with an elder lilac collins cocktail and some pierogi's for appetizer, we proceeded to the main course of roasted chicken with sauteed pears accompanied by 2 glasses of white wine, then finished with an amazing apple pie with vanilla sauce.  A feast fit for a queen, all for just the equivalent of $17!!  In Paris, that $17 will buy you EITHER the cocktail or the chicken, not both plus some!  After dinner we met up with our friends Franek and Magda again and went to a little jazz bar where we sipped on some mulled wine and had a big discussion about Polish politics the Jew/Pole relationship currently.  Very interesting. 

The next day, with our $.39 jumbo bagels in tow, we made our way to the airport, where our amazing weekend came to an end.  An expected forecast of rain and snow and freezing temperatures turned out to be sun, mid 60's, and more sun!  Just an extra little perk that made the weekend so great...especially when we returned to freezing, raining Paris.  Needless to say, this is an insanely long blog, but I hope you enjoyed it and weren't too freaked out by it, so I am leaving you with some pictures to recuperate!  I am being very reserved in my picture posting from Auschwitz just out of respect, but when I get home in a year, or so, I would love to share all my pictures and the stories that go with them!

St. Mary's Cathedral in the main square.

Ellie, Ally, and I

Schindler's Factory

The castle

Me and Cami, my Chi Omega sister!

Ally and I at dinner

mmmmm spinach pierogi's!!

Entrance to Auschwitz I

Courtyard where the roll call took place

Caution sign in front of the electric fence, with a watch tower in the background

The only remaining gas chamber/crematorium.

The "toilets" in the washroom

Bunks lining the walls of the bunker, which occasionally housed over 1,000 people.

Auschwitz II-Birkenau

View from the watch tower of the endless chimney's.