When in Rome!: Polandia!

When I was about to leave for Krakow, Poland, I thought to myself that I literally had no expectation of what I was going to experience. I learned about Poland and Eastern Europe in my AP Euro class sophomore year in high school, but non of it stuck to where I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. As we arrived in Krakow, it was FREEZING. I am talking about temperatures that are in the single digits kind of freezing. Thank goodness we had all brought layers and warm socks and clothes because the chill that we experienced when we stepped off the train nearly took your breath away. As we were walking from the train station to our hostel, I started to notice at how beautiful and quaint the city of Krakow really is! We had read online that the city is one of the most beautiful in Eastern Europe and that it has great history and everything, but we didn't expect it to be all that it was made out to be! The people were so overly friendly and were actually excited to have Americans visit, which is a rare thing to encounter with Europeans. The city center was picturesque and everywhere you turn there are cute shops and stores, all distinct and unique to Krakow. The city looked so beautiful covered in snow, and it had a magical, fairytale type feeling to it. It was wonderful!