Britgirl Returns to Central America (Guatemala and Honduras)

Sunday !
Guatemala

So, here I am again in an internet cafe in a foreign land trying to figure out the keyboard and work out why my blog page won´t switch from Spanish to English

So far I have only been here two days and managed to destroy my phone (the charger or voltage make it blow a fuse and now it blinks madly and only once in a while lets me text)
....and my camera no longer works. It takes and saves pics to the memory card, but the display screen won´t work making it tough to do much else. I got it too close to molten lava I guess !! :)

Oh well.......At least Im in one piece
So..the story so far.
...........I arrived Friday night and got a collectivo bus straight from Guatemala City to Antigua.
Like most of my trips the highways between the cities leave much to be desired...switching from one lane to three often without road markings.
Antigua is stunning. An old Colonial city...the whole city is rough cobbled streets and pastel buildings.
On the first night out I meet this bloke from Manchester (Adam)He is embassador for couch surfing.net.( A cool website for people who travel by sleeping on others couches.!!)
This guy sold his house in uk and is travelling the world for five years by only sleeping on peoples couches so he can then write a book and prove it can be done (he can´t stay in hotels or hostels ANY night for the 5 years !!)
Turns out he is also a DJ so I got to shake my thang a little Antigua style :) (his is from UK so the tunes were to my liking at least)

Saturday I did some sightseeing of the city. Its so pretty and like my previous experiences last year in Guatemala I love the people. It makes me fall more in love with this country.
Then in the afternoon once karl joined me we did a Volcano hike.
AWESOME

We got a bus to the village at the bottom of Pacaya Volcano( couple hours drive)
From here, there are many robberies so we needed an armed guide (and he was armed with a chrome sub machine gun !!) to walk us the mile from there.
We were inundated with local kids trying to sell us walking sticks and 4 year old boys on horses shouting TAXI TAXI if we wanted to ride half way up on their skinny nags.

Has anyone seen TOURISTAS yet ?
I only ask because the bus driver was crazy like that and flung us around dirt road hairpin bends up the mountain. Then the Village, we needed the guard through, looked remarkably like the village they wandered through after they had crashed !!!!
Any robberies that have occured were guys with guns or machetes; but all the dudes carried machetes.... so its nerve wracking not to tell the good guys from the bad.
Needless to say I didn´t venture far from our guard !!! He was a bad ass looking bloke too, so I felt safe :)
Once through the scary area the guard left and we were ok to do the rest of the climb in safety (sure)
It was a tough hike.

One and a half hours of steep muddy slopes through forest followed by another hour up steep, steep Cinder cones. It was crazy; for every step up I slid down two. Needless to say it was tough going. I wish I had taken the kids up on their rides so I could have saved my energy for the volcanic part
It was SO worth it though !!!
We got right up to the lava. It was flowing and hotter than hell as we were less than a foot from it. My trouser bottoms singed and if you stood still too long the bottoms of your shoes started to stick
Unbelievable

After a while, the heavens opened and the biggest downpour started adding a magical feeling to the lava spitting and sizzling as the rain hit it !
We would be totally drenched from the rain..then go stand next to the Lava and be dry in seconds from the intense heat. wild
Then..lightning started and one bolt hit with the loudest crack I have ever heard(twenty feet away from us) so we dashed down that volcano as quick as possible (smeone had been killed by lightening just weeks earlier !)

Our friend (Adam) went so fast he fell and cut his hand open on the dried lava...OUCH
The bus back was miserable...we were drenched and cold at this point. It was pitch black and we were sliding all over the road from the storm. Im glad it was dark, but I remembered all too well how steep the ravines were either side !!!!

We left Antigua behnd this morning.
Right now we are in Panajachel, a hippy hangout by Lake Atitilan.
Its stunning...a deep lake formed in the crater between 3 Volcanoes. Panajachel is on the NE egde of the lake and full of backpackers and local Mayans
It was a 2 hour drive here and the guy from our hotel actually came to pick us up.
Instead of taking us the normal route along the PAN AMERICAN highway, he took us through the mountains and through indeginous mountain towns.

It was amazing...big towns where EVERYONE wears all the local Maya outfits, women carry pots and bundles on their heads, children strapped to backs etc
I felt like a caged curiosity in his car, for everywhere we went the locals stopped and stared at these two blonde heads.
It was quite an experiece.
The towns were big and dusty and all the houses were made of concrete and corrugated iron. The scenery beween the towns was spectacular also...steep mountain sides and winding (often unpaved) roads
Tomorrow we will see more of the lake (locals will take you out on their boats for just a few Quetzals)
For now I have just been exploring the town while Karl takes a quick siesta. Its been a busy few days and Im already exhausted.


Monday
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL MY US PALS

Home sweet home
...not really but Im back in Antigua which is starting to feel alot like coming home. I already know people here and bump into the same folk over and over again (its a small city)

Back to this morning......woke at 6am in Panajachel (lake) to the sound of a demented rooster crowing madly. I love nature and the sounds of it.....but I will tell you I felt really vindiacted later when I tucked into Rooster stew at a local restaurant ! :)

The Lake was stunning this morning with clear skies and calm waters.

There are taxi boats which go from town to town along the lake shores and so we spent the day zipping along visiting all the villages.

Each place has a slightly different language and type of clothing (all Mayan related) so it was really cool to experience a few different cultures within a small area.

We ran into Robert and Adam (couch surfboy) again on the lake which was such a coincidence as we didn´t know they were heading our way.
Then at 4pm it was back on a bus and back 2 hours to Antigua. Good practice as tomorrow we have to wake at 4am for a 6 hour bus ride down across the border and our first time into Honduras.
Wish us luck !!!


HONDURAS
COPAN RUINAS
Tuesday

So, don't ask how, but we managed to wake at 3 30 am (needless to say last night was an early one) for the mini bus to Copan Ruinas
Karl slept alot of the way, but it was so gorgeous I didn't want to miss any of the drive through the Guatemala mountains.
We were in notorious bandit country, as the mountain road signs kept reminding us ! But, truely, I was more worried about ending my life in a fiery wreck from the nail biting game of chicken our bus driver was playing with oncoming traffic
I had my ipod on most of the way, and thought if I was going to die on that Guatemalan mountain at least it was to the strains of Ferry Corsten !!

The border crossing itself was a cinch. We stopped at some hand operated ALTO sign. Disembarked the bus. Payed $5. Handed over our passports (no stamp.boo) Then back on the bus and we were officially in HONDURAS.

A new country finally for this Britgirl to explore

Our Bed and Breakfast (Casa de Cafe) is lovely, and I have already befriended the Pregnant gato which was mewling around our door earlier...me and Kitty hung out in the hammock some this afternoon!

Copan Ruinas is a really small mountain village where The Honduran men still tend to farming rather than tourism...they ride around town on horses, in cowboy hats. Meanwhile, the women have a similar (bright Mayan Coloured) dress to that in Guatemala, and tend to the *womanly* chores such as laundry in the river and cooking.
The one bank in town had 3 heavily armed (chrome shotgun) guards outside, as did the Beer delivery truck we saw pull up.
Dammmmmmmmmm..... but it seems a very quiet and peaceful place.

Nightlife is centered around the local bars and a couple of ex pat pubs that have sprung up so I can't imagine tonight will be wild either!!!!
The main reason for being in this town is to explore the Copan (Mayan) ruins which we will do tomorrow
Im finally picking up a little Spanish, thanks to no one speaking much Englaish on this trip and so I am forced out of my lazy gringo state to pick up the language more than previous trips (Belize is English speaking)
My vocab, at least, is improving so even if my conversations are all stilted and one worded... I am now being understood well. Ha ha ha

DAY 2 in COPAN
Last night my kitty friend had her babies...awwwwwww !!

Today was spent at the Copan ruins.
It was a just a short walk from the town.
Karl was over the moon at the intricate designs and such.



Me......I just had fun playing and climbing everything. Maybe Im not such a culture Vulture but Copan suddenly became my very own jungle jim !!
Some parts were really cool like the ancient ball court which involved a Mayan ball game in which towns men would play with an 8 pound ball and the loser got sacrificed ! wow, now thats competative !!

Food has been wonderful so far and really cheap. We haven't been careful as to what we have eaten at all but have avoided the water...and so far so good
A Plato Typica each and a drink just $4 for both of us. Im getting used to the new currency...the Lempira and it seens to go a long way :)

My favourite (non alcoholic) drink has to be the smoothies and milkshakes they make with fresh fruit. Im sure its not something Im supposed to be downing in big quantities (isn't fruit often a no no) but they are sooooooo good


Kitty on a plate (no ts NOT food but a newborn kitten !!)


My only negative to speak of has been the side effects from the Mosquito meds..its given me bad nightmares most nights. I guess thats ok compared to the hallucinations I have been warned about. gulp !
Karl is taking a Siesta now whilst I catch up on the blog. Most days the heaven opens around 2 and torrential storms come in for an hour or so.
Here in Copan its uncomfortably hot. Antigua and the lake felt great (even chilly at night) but here the humidity is almost unbearable.
The storms help somewhat with that, but not enough

Tomorrow is another EARLY start. Our bus for the coast leaves at 5 am and takes 8 hours !!!!

sorry guys but a storm hit the mainland and knocked out internet so Im a little behind....

ROAD ACROSS HONDURAS

So the storm moved into Copan on Thursday night (tropical storm) and knocked out all the towns power. We had an early bus ride and the town was still in darkness as we were trying to pack to leave. It was crazy....the whole town was in darkness. We walked though town to the bus stop and that, of course, was also in darkness.

Oh well...adds to the excitement (Karl disagrees with me there) of what would otherwise be a long day on the roadOur bus was amazing. Cross country (international) Hedman Alas buses ROCK. We had security patting us down before boarding then someone even took our photo !! Wild. They had reclining seats, a movie, tolilet and snacks. Something to give the airlines a run for their money !

The bus ride was 8 hours and mostly the bus curtians were closed. It was meant to be a more dangerous stretch of road, so whether the cutains were to be sure the mountain folk couldn't see how many gringos were on board or for our own comfort I will never know. Maybe I don't want to know...Regardless, I didn't keep my cutain closed...and survived to tell the tale !

As we traveled South the landscape became more tropical and less mountainous. The locals wore more western clothes and looked more carribean rather than Mayan. Honduras certainly sems even poorer than Guatemala judging by the looks of some of the towns we passed through.The 8 hours ended in La Ceiba (Say-ba) and we killed some time there before heading to the port. By now, another storm was brewing and the race for the ferry to make it to Roatan was underway. Karl hates boats; so this made me extremly agitated :)

2 hours later we are island tourists instead of travelers. Most people here are just on vacation from europe or USA and we stop being the circus show (ie everyone staring at the two blondes walking by) Karl especially was quite the celebrity,on the mainland, with everyone wanting to be in a photo with him or just point and stare.Sucks now, to be one of the masses :)

FRIDAY

ROATAN ISLAND (Honduras)

Last night the storm arrived and carried on through the night; so by this morning all the internet was down (Im writing this late) as well as all the ATMS (whoops)

We also couldn't dive :( There was too much of an undercurrent for novice divers (the shops wouldn't risk taking us out) and yet the sky was clear blue and no waves on the shoreline

Story was that a major tropical storm was heading our way..though of course it may change direction. Basically no one really knew..and it seemed no one much cared ! If it hit- it hit and if not- GREAT.

Anyway as diving was out, we spent the day snorkelling at West bay which has reefs you can swim out to from the shoreline. It was quite amazing. The beaches were clean and white sand and the water really clear.

That night we hit the west end (where we are staying) and as the clouds rolled in some folk said to prepare for a major storm and some said it had long gone...who knows??? Without internet the world becomes a much smaller place and island folk are a rare breed anyway !!!!

SATURDAY June 2nd ...on Roatan

Not sure what happened to the storm...some say its now in Florida (you guys reading this probably know better than me where the hell it went)

Yay....we get to dive !!!! Ocean connections agreed to take us out even though the undertow was still strong

It was pretty scary getting in and first going under, because the waves at the divesite were huge. However, once we started going down it was like another planet. The reef is stunning and as I have only dived at Athens park before this was quite remarkable in comparrison !!!! We got to see the reef (which is stunning in itself) as well as many different fish, rays, an eel and a barracuda.

It was a fairly shallow dive but at 45 feet stil the deepest I have been so far !

There was just me, Karl and our divemaster Kent and so we had alot of freedom to roam the coral at leasure and take everything in. It probably ranks up there with some of the coolest things Ive ever experienced !! (along with lava On Pacaya, petting nurse sharks in Belize,playing with tigers in Thailand etc !!)

posted some pics now but no underwater ones yet as will have to wait for cheap underwater camera to be developed :)
We have one more chance to dive tomorrow but it depends on the weather (and Karl -he got a tooth squeeze and cracked a tooth)

Sunday June 3rd. Roatan

Last night, for the first time since Antigua we drank enough to get pretty tipsy (Karl especially) It was great..ate at a lovely seafood place right on the water, drank mojitos and watched a lightening storm on the horizon. Karl was stumbling around afterwards and I fell asleep on the pier...thankfully waking up before a major storm moved in.

The restaurants here are good but nothing like the mainland where we ate at Comodores; which basically means someones kitchen. There's no real menu, so they just cook for you and you eat it in their garden or courtyard. Can't quite believe we haven't gotten sick yet. Anyway the places here on Roatan are much more geared to tourists (menus are even in english) and $$$ accepted all over instead of the honduran currency (lempira)

We didn't dive today because of Karls tooth so for the first (and probably last) time on this trip we took the whole day to eat, catch some sun, snorkel and in general just RELAX !!!Heaven !!!!

As much as I LOVED the diving I must say Im a HUGE fan on snorkeling. From West Bay you can swim out and hit some amazing reef. I took off for hours, just snorkeling by myself and seeing all kinds cool things. I even learned the trick (NOT meant to be done) of mildly hyperventalating first so when I dive under I can hold my breath much longer !!! (shhhhh)

We also joined a dive boat that took us to a shallow dive site which we could snokel at..it was stunning, and though the thrill of the dive was missing we could see as much as the divers could as the reef was just 5 feet down in places

Tomorrow, sadly, is our last full day and Im hoping to snorkel a more adventurous section of the reef (can't dive because of flight the following day) as well as do the canopy tour (zip line) thats here on the island !!! I have never done the zipline thing before so that should be fun at least.

Monday June 4th. Roatan

We got up really early today to head to Gumbalimba park (part nature preserve part adventure park) for some Zipline action

There were 12 platforms starting on the hillside above the trees all the way down-ending at the beach. It rocked. I wanted to do zipline just because I hadn't done it before but I didn't expect it to be so fast or cool. Fying through the trees (it goes quite fast as long as you don't use the brakes) along a cable. Our guides were total daredevils and as we were the only ones at the park got their total attention

They taught us to hang upside down from the cable so we flew through the trees that way and also got the cables bouncing so the line flung me about 15 feet up and down as well as zooming vertical (Karl didn't like this one at all !!!)

The park itself was cool with its own beach and jungle areas for the animals. I learnt that I LOVE Monkey la las (not monkeys at all but lizard things that run on their hind legs...cool) Also say realy Monkeys swinging from the trees including one spider monkey called Ricardo who was braver than most and came right down onto us.....actually the little shit even picked Karls pocket , but we had been warned and didn't have anything for him :)

Then in the afternoon spent the rest of the day snorkelling back out to the reef. (can you believe one and a half days of relaxing must be a record for us !!)

Tonight is our final night on the town. The West end (like the rest of the island) is actually very empty (not that is was ever really busy...low season) but we are going to enjoy our last good seafood and wake early for the hellish flight we have tomorrow. What should be a 3 hour max flight is going to 16 hours of travel time with 3 connections. :( Our last flight goes from Miami to Dallas !!!?????????? WHY
So amigos...its time to say adios and I hope you enjoyed this blog. The fun memoried will last a lifetime, but hopefully not the mozzie bites and nightmares from the maleria meds :)

OVER AND OUT !

damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...I thought I had traveled alot. Obviously not enough !!!

Britgirl enters Eastern Europe via UK

Britgirl on Xmas Eve

Planes, trains and automobiles ( oh..and a bus thrown in for good measure!)
Just getting from Dallas to my home town on Christmas eve proves to be an adventure. Can public transport really make it that difficult for me ??!!
Lets start with the planes...
I understand we want "safety in the air" but is it really necessary to have some of the new, rather bizarre, rules in place. I am tempted to log on to a terrorist website and see if it really is possible to make dangerous firebombs out of cream filled chocolate because that's what the bastards at DFW took away from me :(
...along with the nyquil gel caps, hand lotion and bottle of water.
Luckily once into Duty free there's a sign saying its now safe to buy all those things, including liquor AND take it all aboard the plane with you.
I don't understand !!!!!!!?????
Someone message me with the logic behind all this.....
Thankfully the airport shops stocked adequate sleeping pills so the flight was a blur of dreams of firebombs make from pralines...

Now its time for trains..
Flying into Gatwick means the train journey home is not the most fun experience. With a rucksack full of cold weather clothes and further bags full of Xmas gifts (because I had been too lazy and tight to mail them ahead of time) the task becomes daunting.
First across the airport to the next terminal..then onboard the Gatwick express to Victoria, then down into the tube at Victoria (praying the escalators are working), across London on the tube (Xmas eve..crazy busy), then back above ground at Kingscross for a regular train up North to Lincolnshire
..Only wait !
British rail can't make it that simple for me. No way..Its Xmas eve, time to do rail work AND have strikes. So after paying the $100 (F***ing dollar/pound ratio) I'm told that ..
a) there's rail work between Grantham and Newark meaning we have to switch to a bus mid journey then BACK to the train
and
b) There are strikes so no trains OR buses between Retford and Gainsborough (the final leg of this marathon trip!)
Hence why, after all day experiencing the grand English transport system the journey ends with automobiles as my darling sister comes to rescue us from Retford.
And so...like a dodgy Disney movie, we make it just in time. Still Xmas eve (only much later now) and ready for the holidays !
No wonder Mary and Joseph stuck to a donkey on Christmas eve.. Hallaujah :)


XMAS in GAINSBOROUGH

No room at the inn for us either..my parents 1000 square feet bungalow just can't hold us all so whilst my sister, Niece and brother in law get couch/floor space there; we crash at Helenes each night and visit my parents by day.

My parents are pretty old fashioned and stuck in their ways; so having any change to their regular schedule seems to throw them into a panic and cause undue stress.

My dad is ex Navy and still thinks he is the party animal he once was....only he isn't and just one glass of wine has him tipsy. However, he won't ever admit it and so will get drunk fairly quick whilst spending all his time assuring us there's no way he is drunk because

"when i was in the navy I drank.....blah blah"

"you should have seen the drinks we had..blah blah"

"this is nothing compared to what i could down...blah blah"

etc etc etc until he eventually falls into a deep snoring slumber :)

This happens every year, only this year my brother-in-law was in town, and he is in the Army and he CAN drink. LOTS

...and my dad thinks he should be able to keep up, only there NO WAY. Karl learnt long ago it just wasn't worth trying to keep up on the drinking with any of my English friends and family !

Hell, my niece can drink more than Karl ! So Xmas dinner starts out with wine and Alcoho-pops. We have the traditional table of food and all the trimmings as well as Xmas Crackers and party poppers. By the end of dinner my dad is heading for a "lie down to rest his eyes", my mum is Shhhhhh ing everyone as she tries to watch the queens speech, Lisa (niece) is tipsy and slurring her words, my sister is chastising John, me and dad for giving Lisa more Alcoho-pops and John is mortal (drunk) and has changed the cute Xmas carols to "Paris to Berlin" at which everyone starts dancing !!!

Christmas at home......arhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The rest of the week goes by at much the same pace. Each morning we all swear no more drink and each evening we are all wasted.

I get to hang out with Helenes each evening and though its less party than usual (she has a 7 week old baby girl now) I find the hanging out and catching up nice and resful after the madhouse that is my parents. Her new baby is gorgeous and she is a brilliant mummy :)

Boxing day is big in England (day after Xmas) and as is the tradition we go over to my cousins and all get drunk (of course) whilst playing silly interactive DVD games. Every time a question comes up with any relation at all to America Im expected to get it right which is ridiculous as its usually something like "which American movie star won an Oscar two years running" or some crap I have no idea about and everyone in the room groans...

"Oh ...Louise will get this one that's not fair"

...and so another Xmas comes to an end. I feel 5 pounds heavier due to being force fed all week and doing nothing more energetic than going to see a film !

Time to make the return trip back down to London and across to Eastern Europe (POLAND)

WARSAW

We flew a cheapie flight from Heathrow to Warsaw. British Airways rock...free alcohol shouldn't make or break a flight but a cheapskate likes me appreciates those things :)

Warsaw was pretty much destroyed in the war. It had been rebuilt from scratch to look the same as before and the old town square is really pretty. on the whole though, Warsaw is a modern city and wasn't my favourite..other than the fact that on arrival it started to snow. YAYYYYY

Our party group at this point was me, Karl, Steven (Karls cousin) and Sarah

KRAKOW for NEW YEARS EVE

I love the old style European trains with the long corridor down one side and separate carriages/compartments for passengers. I feel like Im on some film set from an Agatha Christie who dun it.

3 hours later and we are in Krakow, which I immediately fall in love with. Its stunning. The whole city (old town) is ringed by the castle walls and all the streets are cobbled and quaint. Its a fairly small city with a labyrinth of narrow maze like streets full of shops, bars, museums and clubs ! Its like a fairytale city with legends of dragons :) and kings and castles.

Before long the Polish staple-Pierogi-has become my favourite food. Its like a giant ravioli stuffed with anything you can imagine. My favourite was the Pierogi Ruskie which was cheese and onion and I had that at least once a day :)

Our next dilemma was to find Anita who was somewhere in Krakow. On arrival she found her phone didn't work (along with her credit card) and so we were in touch only via very sporadic emails whenever she ventured into an internet cafe. By evening we still hadn't managed to touch base and so headed to find a drink and bite to eat.

On checking out the menu at one pub some English bloke, leaving the pub (drunk,of course) yells "The drinks are bloody strong in there" he proceeds to tell us they don't have food so we exchange pleasentaries and start to walk away. next thing I hear "Louise. Louise"

There's Anita also coming out the pub...and she's with the English bloke and his friends. Small world !!!

We catch up over drinks amazed at how we had managed to bump into each other so randomly. She is staying with this merry band of Brits and so we all wander back to their place and proceed to get slaughtered on cheap Polish Vodka. Feeling wasted and ill after what seesm like hours of drinking we leave-only to realize its 8pm !!! It sure gets dark early in Eastern Europe !!!

By New yrs Eve we have once again lost touch with Anita. The town square is starting to fill with people, the stages are setting up and the fireworks being laid out. We found the local Alcohole (yes they do spell it this way which was constant amusement to me) store and stocked up on bottles for our pockets :)

For those that joined us in Amsterdam last yea the experience was very similar. Thousands of people in the town square, dodgy vodka in our bags, bizarre European singers making appearances; whilst we got slowly wasted. People are in trees, up on the porta-potty roof, climbing buildings, dancing. its a great scene. The fireworks at midnight were awesome and only a few were shot into the crowd this time

After midnight there is little need to leave the square and we are all well toasted. Steven is dancing to "sex bomb ...sex bomb..I just wanna be your sex bomb "....don't ask but its apparently popular in Poland and the fact that Steven is dancing at all, nevertheless to "sex bomb" leads me to believe he is on another planet at this point !!! This is reinforced by his yells of TAK each time a firework goes off (Tak means YES and is the only Polish word remembered at this point). I am at this point trying to join the crowd atop the portable bathrooms but in my inebriated state I make a pathetic climber and end up with Three Polish folk trying to drag me up to the top. I give in when my arms start to click !!

Suddenly

"LOUISE..LOUISE"

No way.....There's Anita again !! Random. She had tried to make the square but it was too crowed for her to get in so here she was after midnight with men. Not English this time but Australian, 4 cute, horny Australians who are as wasted as we are. No one is sober enough to make it into a club or bar...infact we aimlessly wander the square, streets, meeting people, taking photos for hours until Steven and Sarah stumble back to the hotel, I stumble into a local Kebab shop and Anita vanishes again

Needless to say new years day was one of recovery :)

AUSCHWITZ and BIRKENEU

After recovering for a day and finally finding Anita again we took a local train to Oschiewin which though doesn't mean much to you is the town the Germans renamed Auschwitz.

No one was under any impression that this would be a fun trip, but to see the atrocities forced on people (Jews, homosexuals, gypsies etc) seemed necessary since we were in Poland.

However, i for one was not quite prepared for the shock at seeing those places first hand. Everyone was wandering around crying or teary eyes. There's no way you couldn't be there and not be hit by the magnitude that envelopes you.

Auschwitz is smaller and more of a museum now with the bunkers containing photos and memorabilia. I wasn't prepared for the emotions at seeing whole rooms filled with Shoes, bags and worse of all hair. I have never experienced anything as shocking as that.

I got to stand in one of the only remaining gas chambers left (Nazis destroyed much of the evidence) and to enter that was a horrible feeling..knowing that the prisoners entered thinking they were going to be showered and moments later all be gassed and dead. Horrific beyond words. One last word on Auschwitz..I admit to being a camera whore but on seeing some of the non european tourists taking their photos smiling next to the death wall (the wall which many Jews were shot to death) it left me feeing ashamed to be a tourist. ITS BAD TASTE...don't do it !!!

Birkeneu was across town and such a huge camp. Acres and acres of desolate camp with many of the bunkers still remaining that housed the prisoners. The feeling here was much more eerie than Auschwitz mainly due to the scale and the desolate nature of the place. The railroad tracks still run into the camp itself. The other thing we all noticed was the lack of birds. It was deathly quiet and still here. Not one bird was in the trees yet outside the gate perimeter plenty could be seen, as though they sense the amount of death that happened here.

The train journey back to Krakow was a somber one as we were all lost in thought at the awful things we had seen that day.

And that night...what better way to forget our sorrows than Pierogi and vodka :)

ZAKOPANE

After more sightseeing, shopping museums..(please no more museums-does no one listen when I tell them I hate museums !!) I was getting bothered by the lack of snow

As Anita had left for London after a fun nights clubbing I decided it was time to find some. If the snow didn't come to Louise..she was going to it !!!.

A rather bemused Karl, Steven and Sarah who, rather than fight my random ideas, found themselves the next day on board a bus to the mountains. Zakopane is south of Krakow near the slovac border nestled in the mountains.

Leaving Krakow we could see the mountians in the distance lookinf terribly green but 2 hours later we are rolling through snow laden small villages. Zakopane turns out to be STUNNING..yay..me !!!

On arrival in town its snowing hard with lots upon the ground. the town itself is sooo pretty like a snowland postcard with pointy house and ski style restaurants serving hot mulled wine and lots of dead animals. In town there were tourist style pictures to be taken with santa, the Xmas witch a stuffed bear ??!!! Fairground rides zoomed through the snowy skies. Tacky, tourist snowland...Hoorahhhhhh :)

We took the funicular to the mountain top and found more cabins, bars and restaurants along with horses and sleighs, dog sleds and so on. We really hadn't planned on skiing or dressed for waterproof weather but I found a great sledging spot. A huge hill where all the kids were whizzing down on cheap plastic sledges.

Of course I had to play...so i bought one and joined the fun. I was alone in my snowplay :(

Where were those playful spririts when I needed them to play with me???

But still I had a blast..up the hill then down again on my uncontrollable plastic $2 circle. I made the climb and sledge down around 12 times until the throbbing in my hand and thighs from various "wipeouts" made me end my playtime. I gave up my wonderful plastic circle to some little Polish kid who was thrilled to be getting a free one.

As darkness fell and the Xmas lights came on and the night markets set up, I loved my winter wonderland even more. Over dinner i amused my fellow travelers with the videos taken and told them they had missed out big time. the apple size contusion growing on my hand told them otherwise.

ZAKOPANE-KRAKOW-WARSAW-LONDON

So Poland was coming to an end but instead of the usual tears and tantrums (me) at leaving I was ok because ahead of us we still had a day and night in London. So (3 more dishes of Pierogi later) we bussed it back to Krakow, then took train to Warsaw for our final night. As our Uk flight was early and we hadn't been too thrilled at Warsaw we timed to it arrive at the airport hotel later in the evening therefore maximizing our time in Zakopane and Krakow on route.

On arrival at the hotel Sarah thinks its only fitting to have a Scotch drinkfest to end the holiday in style and so we hit the hotel bar. A few drinks later and we are all getting nice and tipsy. Theres an 18th party going on upstairs and Im amused at all the pretty dresses and random Dj tunes drifting our way.

Our flight is it 5am and when it comes time to end the night..me, never one to end a vacation in a dignified manner do indeed stamp my feet and demand we have more drinks at the bar. And so it comes to pass that on our last night in Poland that im alone downstairs drinking, emailing, enjoying the Dj and eventually crashing out on the lobby chairs......Because thats how BRITGIRL rolls !!

FULL CIRCLE BACK TO LONDON

The early nature of the next mornings flight (not my MIA- hungover state) had us running as the doors were closing to catch the plane. we did make it and somehow discovered we had been upgraded to business class...yay from British airways !

A short flight but nontherless interesting to do it from business class standpoint. i would have enjoyed it more had i not been feeling rough as a dogs arse !

I found this funny though...on arrival in London the gangplank thingy was broken and so they announced we would have to catch a bus back to the terminal. It was raining out and so Business class (us) got to exit some magic stairs attatched to the broken gangplank whilst the rest of the cattle car had to stand and wait. we were led to the waiting bus...and once we were on board , only then did they release the rest of the plane ! Ah...how the other half lives !

And so..back in London with the city of 9 million stretching out before us. karl had to have more history..ugh.....I was historied out !!! So I suggested the Tower of London which at least was interesting with all the torture chambers and dungeons :)

A quick bite to eat before entering the tower and BAMMMMM...who shows up at the same crappy small cafe ??? ANITA of course !!! Wow...that really is kinda freaky now :)

In true English style it POURS with rain all day long and even the good old Indian curry didn't warm our chilled bones. Have I told you lately I love London, because I really do think its one of the most wonderful cities ever. Except for being hideously expensive its my favourite place to be. Why did I leave again ??

Anita has already begged me to marry her so she can get a green card and move there...she loved it too.Yay

...and so flying back to Dallas was not a happy moment. though we did get upgraded to business yet again (first time ever on international flight) and got to spend the whole 10 hour flight being force fed and getting trashed on the free drinks that the business traveler does get on AA.

As this is a full circle blog, and Im back pondering the craziness of flight rules and regulations can someone PLEASE tell me why sharp objects need to be left behind yet the business class traveler get given real knives, forks, and glass bottles ??!!!!! The last I heard the terrorists did indeed sit towards the front you guys !