POLAND: the hidden gem.

I thought I would write this blog to make feel better when the lectures at school are frustrating me by talking in polish or the weather is constantly trying to ruin my mood or my body is rejecting the cold weather and trying to kill me - slowly. But then i left the blog in my drafts for 6 months 3 years! The story ends well- the weather got better in Poland, I got well again, school was easier than i thought and spring hit. The rest is below. So because its been 3 years, i can now reflect and i have a lot to add to this blog. So lets begin:

Things I love about Krakow:

• Hot chocolate vending machines in winter! Everywhere. I pretty much lived off these during the months of minus temperatures. On the way to class, in a break from class, on the way home. ALWAYS! And the drinks are only 1.50zl which is 50 cents!!!

• How cheap everything is! Cafe Italian style hot chocolates at only 3 zloty ($1). Alcohol!! Groceries!!! Alcohol!!! eating out and not to mention, Alcohol!! Vodka was even free in the clubs on Wednesdays for woman.

• Winter is much much better with snow. Snow is so god damn beautiful. Like, srsly. Stop it. And (fun fact) it actually warms the air temperature because of air pockets, thermal mass blah blah blah but just welcome it with open arms alright?

• Spring will slap you in the face. It sounded funny when our teacher said 'spring is next week'. I thought it was just due to english being his second language because spring doesn't just come one week but BAM! One week it was one metre snow and minus temperatures then it was 25 degrees and sunny. Then there was only about 1 week of spring and BAM! - its summer. So it basically just goes straight from winter to summer. Its really nice but makes for some awkward moments when your sweating at the bus stop in trousers because you thought it would be cold.

• There are so many parks!! I didn't appreciate this in winter because outside is not where you want to be but in summer i do  :)

• Going out is SO cheap. Especially if you're a student. There is always free entry somewhere and there are lots of facebook pages you can sign up to to find out where all the free drinks or cheap drinks are on the night you want to go out. And yes i said 'FREE'!! A club called Coco always has free drinks for women on Wednesday nights :) so if your going to Krakow, go there!!

• The 'green belt' around Krakow is amazing in the summer. So vibrant with people and one of the best things to do is to ride around it on a bike. It use to be the mote surrounding the old city as part of the fortification, but since its now redundant, the city has turned into it a 150m ring of park enclosed the 'old town'. There are also old 'watch tower' mounds all around the city in the outer ring. They were built so the soldiers could stand on them and see attackers coming from far away towards the city but now they are just big random hills where many people go for barbecues and to gaze out over the city.

• The Old Town. So beautiful, so much history. Krakow has suffered through many invasions and many different occupancies. This Old Town has stood the test of time and invasion and has managed to not get destroyed, much like a lot of others. Perhaps its because the occupants invaded and then saw how beautiful it was and simply couldn't destroy it? There is so much different architecture from all different time periods and countries that have 'stopped by'. You don't have to like history to feel the richness of this place. Its almost as if you've walked onto a Game of Thrones set and more than just history buffs would think that's cool.

Krakow is such a hidden gem in general. Its technically in East Europe, which means the 'east' word alone wards off a lot of tourists. Poland's society has developed a negative reputation for safety amongst some which i personally think is false. There are dangers just like any other city and suburbs you just stay away from, but overall its a vibrant, fun, friendly, crazy city. Nightlife is great, its cheap, its incredibly beautiful and its cultured. However, there is a clause that comes with the cheap price tag and that is - i don't think i would live there permanently. We still get paid better and of system in Australia is more middle class targeted. But if you are thinking of travelling to Poland. Do it. Just do it.