My last day in Krakow.

Things I will miss about the city:

The trumpet man:
I feel like I have done everything that I wanted to do in Krakow except one thing: meet the trumpet man on top of St. Mary's Church. You can climb to the top of the church tower and see him play, but the day I went to do it, they had already closed for the season. A reason to come back to Krakow. But really, the lovely sounds of the trumpet at every hour always made my heart skip a beat.

St Mary's Church at night. They were shooting a movie, hence the lights.

The restaurants:
Going to restaurants in Krakow is something like going on a treasure hunt. Many of the restaurants are hidden from the street. Often times, you have to walk down a random hallway, some flights of stairs and you never know what will be on the other side. There is no better feeling than walking down a sketchy, random alleyway only to discover an enchanting, secluded restaurant that is better than you ever expected. I really enjoyed discovering new places--and eating all the pierogi that I wished!

Dining with Steffi and others at Smaki Swiata. We were eating potato pancakes in a meat sauce topped with cheese and sour cream. Mmmmm.

The nuns:
Never in my life have I seen so many nuns in one place. Sure, I would see priests, too, but it was the nuns, sometimes sporting black fleece jackets over their black dresses, that delighted me the most. I could see them walking around town, speaking with each other, shopping, taking the tram. While I would never choose their lifestyle, I am fascinated by their faith, their decision to devote their lives to one thing. I am a woman who cannot make up her mind, and here are people who know exactly what they want to do with their lives. Are they happy? Do they have any regrets? Watching these women mill about the city would make my imagination explode with questions.

And the things I won't miss:

The napkins:
When you visit any restaurant in Krakow, you discover this one fact. Poland has a napkin problem. Practically every restaurant uses the same kind of napkin, and so this napkin company must be making a boatload of money. They really shouldn't be. Their napkins blow. To use a Polish napkin is like wiping your hands on a small piece of paper. Imagine that feeling. If you think that might feel unpleasant, than you are correct. Now imagine how clean your hands will be after wiping them on a piece of paper. If you are thinking not so clean, than again, you are correct. And to make matters worse, all of these so-called napkins are placed into a type of dispenser where they are folded in half, thus making it nearly impossible to take one out without having twenty coming out with it. They are terrible things, these napkins.

Krakow, we have a problem.

The mini drinks:
I hardly drink soda in the United States, but here in Poland, I have been drinking soda all the time. Perhaps because it is easy to order in a restaurant and also because you always know what it is going to taste like and it reminds me of home. Soda in restaurants is served in a little bottle which is then poured into a glass, and this is the standard in most of Europe. Pretty classy, by the looks of it, but the problem is, there is never enough to drink. I run out of drink in the middle of every meal. My fellow students would laugh at me--sometimes they don't even order drinks with their meals--and then roll their eyes and say, "Oh, you American with your free refills."

It's the same deal with bottled water. And if you are ever in Poland, make sure that you clarify that you want water without gas. If you don't mention it (like I did once), they give you water with gas. It's completely gross.

Little drinks make Yvonne thirsty.

The pigeons:
Does anyone really like pigeons? There are a million of them here. And none became my friend. I won't miss them.