Safe at last.

                                                                           Krakow!

     We finally made it to our airbnb! After about five hours of trekking on foot through Krakow with our two giant packs, four carry-ons and two back-packs, it's definitely a relief to be settled down.
     We had a lovely time in Stockholm, we walked about the city and enjoyed the colorful buildings and sunlight that lasted until 10 pm. The late light meant we had time for a long nap at our hotel before heading to the city, and still got to sit by the water and watch the sunset (at 9.) We had a little adventure a the end of our visit; we were mistaken about the time for the last bus heading from Stockholm to the airport where we could then catch a shuttle to out hotel, so we arrived at the station at about 11, and were told there were no buses left. That was a little alarming, but of course it all worked out because our competent navigators, Joseph and Rosalie, figured out how to get an "Uber" car and we had a cheerful drive back with a kind Swedish man named Michael. Much more fun than a bus!
     We caught our flight to Poland without much to report, except for being impressed by how quiet the airport in Sweden was. We've been trying to talk quieter and be "less animated," apparently loud conversation is a striking (and annoying?) characteristic of Americans... I don't know what I think about that. But that airport was definitely full and very quiet.

     In Poland we got some Polish money and Rosalie figured out which bus to get on, but we couldn't connect to wifi and our phones were all dead, and so thus began our Krakow adventure. We ended up getting off the bus when we came across the park where WYD is, but the bus stopped at each stop for about 7 seconds and then continued. With the crowded bus and our giant packs, only Rosalie managed to get off in that time and so we got separated for a bit. When we were reunited we began our search for airbnb. To make a long story short, we were hot, tired, hungry, thirsty, achy and at least I was pretty thrilled to be lost in Krakow. We eventually split up, Rosalie and Joseph found wifi and we finally made it to the right building, lucky enough to walk right through the heart of the city and see a ton of old beautiful buildings and happy people on the way. There were lots of WYD groups walking around and yelling things and generally celebrating, so we smiled and decided to ditch the idea that Polish people think you're laughing at them when you smile (that was another random fact we found on the internet,) and that if we were worried about being too loud the Italians had us beat. We found our airbnb, but there was nobody here to tell us which room or give us a key, so we looked and looked and wandered about, and eventually split up again, found wifi and at about 6:30 made it into our room. It is the nicest little spot, plenty big, and it's at the top of four or five story building. It has a slanty roof like an attic, (poor Joseph's head may be a bit bruised by the end of this,) and windows out the roof so if you stand on a chair you can look out the top and see part of the city.
     After our adventure we took a nap, and Rosalie went grocery shopping. We just got back from a delicious (and inexpensive) Polish dinner, about a ten minute walk away. We see no reason to eat anywhere else all week. After dinner our waiter brought us all cherry vodka or something, and Rosie and I (BECAUSE WE CAN DRINK HERE) thought it was delicious and fun but tasted a bit like benedril.
       The cars here park on the sidewalk, all the way or half on half off. It looks rather funny, but they just sort of drive onto the curb and stop on one side of a white line that is there for that purpose.
       Tomorrow will begin WYD exploration.
                                                           
                                                                    Our Polish Dinner. :)

Homemade lemonade with
oranges and cucumber. :)

Rosie's Duck yumminess plus flower

Cheers!