NYE

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“New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.” 

- Hamilton Wright Mabie

2011, you were a beast!

In many ways 2011 was a full circle year. Many of the things I had once planned for or dreamt up came to fruition. It's kind of odd now to look back and actually realize all of the things I've done. Kind of amazing.

Stoked for 2012. So incredibly excited.

Christmas

The newest edition to our Christmas tree. A little bit of Sverige.

Merry Christmas, everyone. May you love, and feel loved.

Stories from the Arctic: Dog vs. Machine

200 km North of the Arctic Circle.

Lapland, Sweden.

One of the best places I've visited. For serious.

Dog sledding, and snow mobiling. 

Almost driving into a tree...

Cold hands, cold feet, cold noses.

Sipping coffee in plastic cups, sitting in a Saami tent.

Sunset at 11am.

Kids waddling around in snow onesies.

Cute husky puppies.

Not a bad first day.

Orienteering

Exchange

One of many goodbye fikas

“We came from different directions, our paths happened to cross, our eyes met for an instant, then we moved off in different directions once more.” 

— Haruki Murakami (1Q84)

Exchange is an interesting business, an exercise in meeting new people as much as being in new places. It's been a rather downer few days as I say goodbye to the friends I've made here. And it's interesting, isn't it, the people you meet when you're away? Sometimes you make a one-time acquaintance, and sometimes you find a friend who lives an ocean away. Life is never quite the same.

Oh yeah, I was living

I want to learn the hard way
I want to find my own way
and when I find it, I can say
Oh yeah, I was living.

Birthday pancakes

Homemade birthday pancakes topped with cinnamon/brown sugar apples and fresh whipped cream with the korridormate! 

Doesn't she also have a stellar cookie monster costume?

Where Do My Bluebird Fly?

A little bit, a lot, in love with this.

And yes, Swedish sunsets are spectacular.

Krakow eats

1. The Polish Plate for 11 people, consisting of every type of meat, perogie, and sausage you desire

2. The great Zapiekanka, a kind of open faced sandwich sold everywhere, but which we bought in the Jewish Quarter

On Sunday, we ended up hanging out with a group of English guys staying in the room beside ours. Krakow was SO much fun. Great, vibrant city and an amazing group of friends. 

• "I speak the Queen's English"
• The vodka wielding waitress "More? More!"
• Sarah and I running down the streets of Krakow, jumping onto lamp posts while yelling "Parkour!!" and then Sam gets fed up of us ragging on his favourite activity and flips off the side of a building.
• Sasha. Enough said.
• The saddest Sunday dance floor
• Dancing the jive in the middle of the city square
• The Polish girl who brought both her parents to meet one of the English guys - who she just met the day before. Crazy alert.
• The bartender who let us win at foosball.. and then destroyed us during the final match. He later points to the standings, and he is #1 in the bar. 
• The drunk, angry Polish guy who kept yelling Polish slurs and pointing at one of the guys. Actually a little scary!
• "You stepped on my hat toque!"
• "Killer swans"
• "It's because we come from the New World"

Krakow, drinks: here

Krakow, design: here

Krakow design

Krakow is a really cool place - I really loved it. It felt very trendy and hip, with lots of art, lots of creativity floating around (especially in the Jewish Quarter, where we spent most of our time). Their coffee shop/bar scene is pretty spectacular, too. Hipster alert!

The craziest church ever. It made no sense, inside or out. It was like they just kept adding parts of the building, in the style that was popular at that specific time. A cacophony of design, if you will. The inside of the churches here are extremely elaborate, to the point where it just freaks me out.

It was my first time in Poland, and Eastern Europe and I had a great time! What I first noticed about Krakow is how stately the buildings are, and how dark the city gets at night. There's just not a lot of artificial light around - at least, not the amount I'm used to. It makes even the biggest street seem like a shady back alley. The night life is vibrant, and people are always milling about but it's just dim!

For more posts...

Krakow, drinks: here

Krakow, eats: here

Krakow drinks

Polish hot chocolate is rich, sweet and very, very thick. Served with a healthy dollop of fresh whipped cream, you can drink it plain, or with fruit, or with coffee. I think I've tried every combination. Surprisingly, it's offered at almost all bars, any time of night.

Finka is a trendy vodka bar in the Jewish Quarter that also makes unique coffee drinks in the afternoon ("We drink vodka at night"). They infuse their own vodka with everything from vanilla to black pepper! A really interesting taste/smell experience! We loved it so much that we went back here the night before we left (3am wake up call = all nighter) but Monday night seemed to be when alcoholics/gentlemen and their paid lady friends roam the streets. We were surrounded by so much drama, little side stories ranging from a fellow who looked like a cartoon villain, to the drunken businessmen, to the guy who followed us from Singer bar (which has tables that house old school Singer sewing machines!), to the man who claimed to be Polish police but could only speak English. "My girlfriend will pay for my beer, she's coming here - no, she's not. She's sleeping." 

We ended up catching a taxi instead of walking the 20 mins back to the hostel/old town thanks to the help of our trusty bartender - who seemed like he hated his life that night. Well worth the $3 it cost us.

For more posts...

Krakow, design: here

Krakow, eats: here