a veg life

23 December 2015 Krakow, Poland 22,986 steps (9.75 miles) This morning we were up early--like, way early. I think Rick woke up around 4am and doodled around on the iPad until I woke up around 7. We ate some leftover bread and the pickles from Sissi Cafe, and ventured out to grab a cup of coffee before our shuttle bus would arrive. The early morning light in the city center was beautiful.  We found a cafe that was open and stopped for lattes and a slice of quiche.  Around 9am, a mini van picked us up for our tour to Auschwitz and the  Wieliczka Salt Mine. We transferred to a larger van, and were shown a documentary en route to the camp. I got a bit car sick (the coffee's doing, I think), but we eventually arrived at the Auschwitz I.  There are three complexes that make up what we know as Auschwitz-Birkenau --Auschwitz I, the original camp which was built for Polish prisoners of war; Auschwitz II, the combined extermination and concentration camp;...

22 December 2015 Krakow, Poland Hello from Poland! We are off on our latest adventure, exploring more of Europe during our winter break. It's been a long day, but a great one.  We were able to stop in Chicago for a few days to see family and friends, so our flight to Krakow (via Berlin) left from O'Hare. We booked flights on American, but ended up flying on AirBerlin. Off-peak fares on American only cost 20,000 points one way, which is a steal (and reason enough to sign up for an American credit card)! Somehow, we lucked out and ended up with the extra legroom economy seats--we weren't in the same row, but someone was really excited to be in the exit row.  Neither of us got much sleep on the first flight--we landed in Berlin around 6am local time. When the border control agent saw my passport, he asked me, "Are you the owner of a Barclaycard?" and I informed him, yes, yes I am :) He couldn't believe it.  We weren't able to get to a lo...