While I love traveling IN Europe, getting there is never very much fun. Other than the time on the airplane itself, which can be okay if you get the right seat, the rest of the flying experience is just a major hassle. One nice thing, however, is the in-flight maps that you can choose to view on the seat-back monitor, showing you altitude, speed, time at origin and destination, expected arrival times plus the map showing your progress. These are so cool – because of them and my (unfortunate) window seat on the flight back from Paris, I was able to see out the window and recognize the English Channel when we flew over it. For me, it’s all about the little things!

Saw an interesting thing in Old Town Krakow – they had lots of tours available to the public on supersized golf carts. I saw nothing similar in Warsaw so perhaps it’s a Krakow thing, but it was pretty cool. You could rent out this golf cart and the tour guide and take your own little private tour around town. They looked like they held about 4 people plus the driver… they were also advertising them as “green!”

One thing that the US has all over Europe is the availability of electricity. No, I’m not saying that Europe doesn’t have electricity anywhere it needs it, I’m simply saying that they are much more conservative with their use of electricity than we are in the states. For instance, on past trips to Europe, their “air conditioning” never even cooled the room or the hotel maid would turn it down (or off) when she cleaned your room for the day. Another twist, this time in Poland, was making me work for my electricity – the hair dryer at the hotel required you to hold down a button to make it work. So you would turn it on, choose your setting or speed but then had to still hold down a separate button on the back to get hot air, and of course the wattage was nowhere near what I’m used to here at home. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out the hair dryer the first time I needed it (primarily because of the necessity of holding down the additional button) and had to call the front desk for guidance. Ugh, so as much as I avoided feeling like a stupid American about the light thing, I ended up feeling like one by asking how to use the hairdryer! And that whole light thing is just another example of the difference in electricity between the states and Europe – you didn’t get electricity in your room without inserting the room key into the slot and so each time you left the room and took your key with you the room was left without any electricity, so there was no charging of the iPad while I was away! This whole thing about electricity is one of the things I definitely prefer about home, at least when I’m reminded of the differences elsewhere! (I forget quickly, just another reason to return to Europe more often – to be reminded of how lucky we are with electricity in the US!)

I’m also amazed at how enraptured Europe still seems to be (and some places in the US, too) with the wave. The wave is so “20 seconds ago,” seriously, it’s like so 80’s – or even earlier? Anyway, I hate the wave and when they did it at the game I stayed in my seat. I really just can’t participate in the wave – it violates my principles!

That’s all for now, but keep looking for posts throughout the week – I’m going to hold on to the vacation buzz as long as I can!