Poland

I dedicated a week to Poland.  They've done enough to secure a week from me!

Solo for the first half and then met up w/ Mike and fam for the second half.  Fun to see Warsaw, but Krakow was the real treat.  Also ventured south to Zakopane and encountered some unexpected snow.  Did not have waterproof shoes, pants or jacket, but battled through a hike that got fairly sketchy and held up the victory trophy at the end (aka one of the top 10 bowls of soup of my life).

Then met up with the crew for a journey from Krakow to a farm town outside of Jaslo, two hours southeast.  7 people in a two bedroom farmhouse with one of the sweetest Polish grandmothers you will ever meet.  She did not speak a word of English, but we seemed to communicate fine.  Food is a helpful communication vehicle :)

I was there for the double 80th birthday party and learned a lot about Polish birthday celebrations.  Learning #1: Lunch is the big meal of the day while dinner is lighter.  Big celebrations feature a sit down meal that actually spans lunch and dinner, with tons of food in the middle.  ~8 consecutive hours at the same table eating an ungodly amount of food.

Learning #2: Glassware provided is a glass for juice or water and a shot glass.  No wine glass, no cocktail glass and one champagne toast (then the champagne glasses disappear).  Bottles of vodka are placed on each table and shots proceed throughout the entire 8 hour dinner, Grandmas participating. I took one shot off after about 12 and one of the Polish uncles who literally speaks no English caught me and shouted for everyone at the 25 person dinner to hear:  "Marc!  Are you man?  Hello lady!!"  Laughter errupts.  LOL.

Interesting fact:  Joseph Stalin was only 5'4!