Polish Starbucks

It's been nearly a week since my last post. I can't believe how the time escapes me here. I've been so busy it seems. A typical day consists of 4-6 hours in class, followed by touring the city (on my own or in a group), and then meeting at the Guinness pub around 7 for drinks and dinner with classmates. I've seen some awesome things in Wroclaw so far... the botanical gardens, the University of Wroclaw, Rynek square, a panoramic view of the city from atop a church spire, and the list goes on. I wouldn't consider Wroclaw to be a top tourist attraction filled city, but it's history is very unique and the architecture itself is enough to keep a visitor busy.

We've been fortunate in terms of weather. It's much cooler than usual for the month of May, but it's not horribly cold. The first few days were filled with rain and fog, but we've seen the sun the last couple of days. Other parts of Poland are experiencing intense rain and inclement weather. In fact, it's the worst flooding in the country since 1997. Twenty people have died already as a result. Much of Warsaw is flooded, and trains in and out of the city have been cancelled.

Speaking of cancellations, our trip to Auschwitz Monday was called off as a result of the rain/floods. The roads to Auschwitz are flooded and very dangerous. No bus would be willing to attempt the trip. John (my professor) has been working diligently to reschedule the Auschwitz trip for Friday. If weather doesn't get worse, we might actually get to go. Fingers crossed.
It's a strange feeling to be excited about seeing Auschwitz. I'm positive I'll cry. Or vomit. Or both. It's one of those things that I'm excited to see, but at the same time, I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle it when I actually stop to think about what went down in that very spot, just 60 or so years ago.

On a brighter note, the botanical gardens of Wroclaw were lovely. I've never taken so many pictures of flowers, nor have I ever had an interest in gardening. (My last and only green thumb experience was winning the 1988 Holland flower show. And I'm pretty sure that I didn't actually have a hand in growing that flower. Credit should probably be given to grandma.) Anyway, I'll have pictures posted soon from the botanical gardens and other adventures around Wroclaw.

I'm sitting at Starbucks now, just wasting a few minutes before I jump on the public transportation (bus 116) for class. I stop here most mornings before class, and I have to constantly remind myself that I'm in Poland. Unless you stop to eavesdrop on conversations (in Polish) or you look closely at the menu (partially in Polish), you wouldn't even know you're not in an American Starbucks. The set up is the same. The furniture. The menu. They have a display of coffee mugs for sale, as well as bags of coffee beans. The to-go cups are the same, including the sleeves for the cups. The actual food (and its packaging) are virtually the same. The exception is intstead of chicken salad and turkey & swiss sandwiches, they have smoked salmon and cucumber dill and other sandwiches that wouldn't be overly popular in the States. I think the coffee and lattes taste the same... perhaps a little better, simply because I'm in Europe. :)

Oh, I've noticed there's no Splenda here. Bummer. I also haven't seen a Half-&-Half option. In America, there's typically two types of milk, plus the Half-&-Half. Here, there are only two milk options. They are labeled in Polish. I think I've been having the skim one in my coffee, but I'm not entirely sure about that.

Well, I should probably get going if I want to catch my bus. More details on Polish culture to come. Oh, and wish me luck... We have a conference starting tomorrow that runs through Thursday. I have to present some current research and it will be my first international conference. Heck, it'll be my first conference, period. agh!