The Olivia Countdown

Back in Kraków and the clock was ticking. We had only five more days before Olivia headed back to the U.S....

The Gardens at Wawel Castle

Olivia on Grodzka

I couldn't find an apartment for July, so the day we got back from Ireland, Olivia and I moved-in with my friend, Nico. There was an awkward hour where we were sitting in the mall with my stuff, waiting until his roommate finished moving out so we could move-in. The next day we collected my life from William's apt because he was going to be traveling for a month and then we made a bucket list for Olivia's last few days in Kraków, which of course included A LOT of food.  We had the best szarlotka (apple pie) in Kraków at Cafe Bona, breakfast at the french cafe, śledzia (pickled herring), the best pierogi at the Ukranian bar, the best żurek at U Babci Maliny, plum cake at plac wszystkich świętych, gofry (waffles), honey beer, pear vodka and of course, żubrówka (bison grass vodka that has a coconuty aftertaste). We kept up our appetites by taking long walks and pretty much every day we spent a couple hours catching some rays on the Wisła.  

Piotr cooking 

Piotr's Hungarian Concoction

Whipping up some breakfast

Nico's kind of became a hostel those few days. Piotr also didn't have a place to stay for a few days so he also crashed at Nico's. It actually ended up being a lot of fun. We all cooked together, hungout during the day and partied at night. Olivia and I introduced the boys to American dishes like pancakes, hash browns, spinach dip, salsa, etc. One night Piotr made a Hungarian dish and we accompanied it with Hungarian wine and palinka which we had bought in Budapest. Unfortunately, we started cooking way too late and everyone was starving long before the food was ready. We were literally all sitting around staring into space, except for Nico's friend, Kuba, who always has tons of energy and talks a lot. He was holding up the whole team until we finally sat down at the table. 

SO hungry

Feigning energy

 finally we can eat!

After dinner, it was time to PARTY! Olivia hadn't yet been to Frantic, a club in the city center and it happened to be lady's night, so we got gussied up and had a few extra shots of palinka before hitting the dancefloor. 

party mode - ON

palinka!

on the dance floor

shakin it

Olivia's last day in Kraków was the 4th of July, so of course we had to celebrate! We put on our red, white and blue and headed to the Wisła for a little fun in the sun. We even whipped up a few fruity cocktails to enjoy down by the water. 

Showing off their red-white-and-blue

Happy 4th!

After melting in the sun we headed to the Ukranian bar where we met up with Nico's friend, Piotrek, for some Ukranian beer and handmade pierogi. We didn't eat too many pierogi because we still had to go for the best kiełbasa (polish sausage) in Kraków one last time. It's sold six nights a week on a street corner from 8pm-3am. The guys set up a grill right on the curb and cook the kiełbasa right in front of you. Then there's a high table that everyone stands around to eat. Every time we go there we meet some characters, most of which have had one too many....

Ukranian bar

I got to ride the bike home

Mugging it, after kiełbasa

The next morning, Olivia and I got up early and had some coffee and cake at a local cafe for breakfast and then stopped for ice cream at 11am, just because. While I was taking Olivia's picture, this guy walked up to us, grabs my camera and insists on taking a pic of the two of us together. So we let him. He then asked us where he could find sunglasses. I pointed to the rack about five feet from his elbow. He thanked us, laughed, and went on his merry way.

He took a pretty good pic!

 On the way to the airport, Olivia and I sat in foreboding silence. A few times we talked about something nonsensical, but it was really pointless to say anything. We had grown so used to being together for that month, the thought of her leaving was like a storm cloud on the horizon. At the airport we checked her in and then stood in a bear hug long enough for tears to flow. I didn't know when I'd see her again, and as I watched her walk towards the terminal, I already began to miss her.