Off to Poland

I used to work for T.G.I. Friday's and they sent me to Gdańsk, in northern Poland, for a month to open a restaurant in 1998. That was the last, and only, time I was in Poland. And I loved it!! It was just awesome. But I just haven't had the chance to get back to Poland until now. Only this time I'm off to Kraków.

You can get to Kraków by train but from Brno it takes 7 to 12 hours and requires you to change trains 4 or 5 times. Too much hassle.

You can drive there in about 3 or 4 hours but I don't have a car. Plus, since I'm on a long-term visa, my American license isn't valid here. I need to get a Czech license if I want to rent a car. But that also means I need to learn how to drive in ice and snow. No time for that now.

I found a deal on Airberlin that will work. Tonight I'm going to take the train from Brno to Vienna. Then I have a 7 AM flight from Vienna to Berlin and then a connecting flight from Berlin to Kraków. Apparently, no one here flies to Kraków so my friends think I'm nuts. But I'm sure going to do it. I bet I will feel like a DHL package being routed all over Europe but oh well.

I have tours planned to go see Auschwitz and the Wieliczka Salt Mine. I plan to check out Old Town and I'm sure there will be a Christmas market going on.

I also plan to have some Żubrówka - the best vodka ever. Żubrówka, Buffalo Grass vodka, is an herb-flavored vodka that is distilled from rye. The best way to drink it is with apple juice. It is so dang good!!

There is a single blade of buffalo grass in every bottle. Back in '98 you could not bring Żubrówka back to the USA because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had a problem with the blade of grass. You can be sure I will bring a few bottles back to Brno.