Krakow

Today's objective was clear, find bagels for Jordan, preferably with cream cheese and lox (he can't find them in Ukraine). So we looked for a while, while making a handful of stops in Krakow's Old Jewish Quarter, Kazimierz. We found the Old Synagogue, the Jarden Jewish Bookstore, a photo exhibition titled Yiddishland at an old temple. But the task was clear, find bagels! So we pressed on in the harsh, but gorgeous snow storm. After getting directions from a few people, we thought we were close, but...nope. No bagels! So we gave up and found a hip little bar/restaurant that specializes in honey-flavored dishes. JB got some kind of Polish egg scramble, and I got a salmon omlelette (neither of us opted for honey influenced meals, btw).

After the hearty brunch, and few cups of black coffee, we headed back into the snow, and the city, with no real plan or intention. We just wandered around, stopping at a castle here, a music shop there, etc.

We finally made it back to our hostel and watched a movie, The Meaning of Life, with a young Australian couple who were nothing but sweet and sincere. Having only known us for 20-minutes, the female half told Jordan how proud she was of him for volunteering over two-years of his life for the Peace Corps. I agreed.

For dinner we found a delicious Italian place where we feasted on caprese salad, red wine, pizza, and cheesecake. Then we remembered at the end of our meal that the one thing we set out to do today, find bagels, we managed not to accomplish. But we both agreed that we couldn't have imagined spending the day in a better way.

Tomorrow we'll have a much different dynamic, as we are planning on making a day of Auschwitz and Berkenow...