So, I am a bit late on finishing things.

To continue my Poland saga:

Sunday was not much of a day. I overslept and missed out on the bad talks that morning. My heart wasn't broken. The poster session in the afternoon was probably more of a letdown than the talks because there were so few. There was a workshop on physics outreach. It turns out, OWU physics and astronomy has the right idea, which is less than surprising. Essentially, you go to students and either set things on fire or play with liquid nitrogen. Both of which, I play with as often as possible.

Monday was essentially a waste of a day. There was a 9-hour meeting that we had to go to because we were representing the United States. It was good to have a say in matters, but it was evidently clear that the International Association of Physics Students is pretty much the European Association of Physics Students. The fun part is that they base the amount of dues that each country has to pay on the Gross National Product. The United States gets the raw end of that deal...sending a handful of students each year and having to have to pay the most. Somehow, we managed to get that revised by drawing the attention to the European nature of the conference. After the meeting ended around midnight, I got a kebab. Tasty Polish food again.

Tuesday was the last official day of the conference. The British friend I made left Monday, and the American one left Tuesday afternoon. She and I walked around Krakow and explored where we hadn't been.

We walked through the center of Old Town and saw some pretty old buildings...pretty aesthetically and pretty old in age. We also saw this:

Krakow is quite beautiful. As I said, lots of pretty old buildings. This was one of the towers in Old Town. I just liked this picture in black and white for some reason.

Obviously, this is a clock tower. It looked ridiculously beautiful at night with the lights projecting on to it. I hate light pollution, but I love illumination of architecture. It's a hard toss-up.

There are a ton of cathedrals in Krakow. Naturally, they were the most beautifully constructed structures and stood out from the rest of the buildings. The rest of the buildings tended to be attached in a row along the street. The cathedrals were all set off from the rest of Krakow. There were some courtyards in the center of blocks that you had to get to by walking through some shifty passageways. I would have loved to explore a lot more. Back to cathedrals! This is the church dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul.

This is the view from Wawel Hill. It is the quintessential Krakow tourist sight.

I don't think this picture does the view any justice. It was just one of those scenes that you won't forget. Anyway, Wawel Hill is probably the highest point in Krakow, and it has a lovely view of the Wisla River...as you can see.

This is a view of the square on Wawel Hill. I should note that this is where Krakow had it's castle and such things. Hills are easily fortified, especially when there is a river on one side.

That night's party was hugely melancholy as it was the end of the conference. I talked to some nice guys from England for the vast majority of the night. There were lots of interesting conversations about astronomy techniques and the benefits of a conference of all physics students. There were many comments of how I (and at least one of the other Americans) should attend next year. Next year, the conference is in Croatia. What other reason will I ever have to go to there? I'm seriously considering that one.

The next day, I walked around the city with another English physicist that I had become acquainted with. She offered me the opportunity to spend the night in her hotel room instead of the dorm/hostel. I was extremely grateful. We stayed in a lovely three-star hotel very near the center of the city.

The next morning, I went to the bus stop by the hotel only to see the bus to the airport drive by without stopping. After returning to the hotel, I found out that the bus stop was "out of order". At about 6 a.m., I was not really understanding this one. I ended up taking a taxi to the airport. After that I left Poland.

I must say, it was an amazing experience that I am so lucky to have gotten for free. Networking is very important in physics; a lot of that was done, as well as having a very good time.

Soon to come: Nashville.

Side note: Blogger won't let me use accents over the o in Krakow or the l with the slash through it in Wisla. Frustration.

My Polish vocabulary is increasing rapidly. I know the words for "ice cream" and "waffle" now.

Since I've been busy with the conference and forming new physics acquaintances (some worthwhile, some not), I haven't had much time to update.

Thursday was the beginning of it all. I got to meet the third winner of the SPS. I'm quite excited that I got to meet her and her roommate that goes to Cambridge. They are both extremely nice and were willing to allow me to tag along on their venture into Krakow.

The architecture here is pretty exciting. It's subtle and obviously very eastern European. I'm enjoying the change from the architecture I typically identify as European.

This is just a typical street in Krakow. Alright, so it's not "typical"...this is in the city center which is known for it's more touristic approach to Polish life.


Friday was the fun of my presentation. Here's my debut as a lecturer at an international physics conference...even though the conference may really just be a week-long party for physics students...

Let's just hope those that see this on my résumé don't know that last tidbit. Anyway, I took my talk very seriously...unlike some others that don't know that talks at conferences should be on original research.

That night was the "National Party", which involved us all bringing food and drink from our countries for everyone to sample. It was fun to see everyone so excited to share their cultures. There was a lot of country pride going on. It was quite the fun night.

The fun had Friday night was harshly contrasted by the sadness of Saturday. This was Auschwitz-Birkenau visit day. I took a bunch of pictures, but I honestly don't know if I ever really want to look at them again. I'll put two up to just begin to show the expanse of the place. I won't, however, mention much about it. It was intensely sad, and the words of another cannot even begin to describe the emotions one gets when walking through the halls of these buildings.

I have a tendency to get upset at intensely sad places, so I wasn't surprised when I just was overwhelmed and didn't want to go to Birkenau after having spent several hours in Auschwitz. Alas, it was part of the trip.

Auschwitz was small compared to Birkenau. This picture doesn't even begin to show the size. It went on as far as the eye could see in most directions.

Saturday night was then a night to go into Krakow. The other American, her English roommate, and I went into town and saw Polish nightlife. They love the tragically bad American and English pop here. I don't think we heard a song all night in the club that wasn't in English.

And now, it's time for some sleep. A recap of Sunday-present will be up soon. Hopefully, I can get some good pictures in.

The first meal provided by the conference was mystery sausage. I can't wait to see what's next.

Along with this wonderfully free trip are free excursions. One of the choices was the Wieliczka Salt Mine, which I've seen time and time again on the Discovery and Travel Channels. Unfortunately, this trip was already full when I registered for the conference. For that trip I am going to Auschwitz. I have been reminded several times already that this will be a deeply emotional experience and that I should be mentally prepared for it.

Because I couldn't go to the salt mine with the tour group, I went today.

First, let me say that the fact that I know no Polish is really a hurdle---a really high hurdle. I had to get on a bus and go to another town to get to this place. I went alone. It was an interesting experience. Somehow or other I managed to get to the salt mine. I then got to stand in a ridiculously long line (over an hour) to get an English-speaking tour ticket. I could have skipped most of the line and jumped on a French tour, but I was worried I wouldn't understand too much. When I got into the tour, I quickly found out that I was seemingly the only American and there were a handful of British thrown in, but the vast majority were actually Polish who spoke English and didn't want to stand in the ridiculously long Polish line. Clever. Anyway, I somehow made it back to Krakow. I don't question this.

Here's some salt growing on rock salt. I like crystals. This is a cauliflower growth pattern for obvious reasons.

This museum was absolutely ridiculous. It was so over-the-top tacky; I loved it.

Aside from just the salt deposits there were lots of salt carvings from over the years.

My favorite statues include a plethora of gnomes.

I have another FANTASTIC picture of the gnomes that you just have to bear witness to in my presence because I want to see reactions. I wish I had a video of the display because it was priceless. Unfortunately, I didn't think that fast.

However, I did think fast enough at a mechanical model. I apologize for the camera angle because I was covertly trying to take the video without being blatantly obvious...as it's ridiculous. This is what I'm talking about with the tacky (as well as life-sized models of miners that were just so awful I laughed a bit harder than appropriate when I saw them).

The main draw to this place are the salt chapels. This is the most famous. It's the chapel devoted to Saint Kinga. She's all over Polish legend, but apparently was a real princess. Pope John Paul II also made her a saint. Because of that, the fact that he visited the mine three times (none while Pope), and he was Polish, there is also a statue of him in the back of the chapel. Apparently, they have services every Sunday morning in the salt chapel, as well as concerts and weddings. Nifty.

Everything in there is made of salt...floor, walls, alter, statues, chandeliers, etc. Yes, those chandeliers are made of salt crystals...obviously with light bulbs.

That about sums up the salt mine. It was ridiculously amusing for me. The bus trip back involved some amusing English tourists.

I got back to the dorm to find out that a small detail had been left out at my registration yesterday. I was to return the key to the front desk before I left. One would think that this would be an important detail to share. This means that the two other Americans that I won the award with that were supposed to room with me couldn't get into the room. I got a very condescending lecture from the registration people until I stated that they didn't tell me that and then I got no apology. Not surprising. Presently, I have no roommates, but I moderately fear returning tomorrow to find that I have a roommate.

What remained of the day was dinner and the Welcome Party. The Welcome Party was entertaining as we got coupons for drinks that said "Enjoy your beer! :)"

At long last, a recap of Paris! I'm in Poland!

There is no possible way that I could capture everything about my stay in Paris here, but I will include a few pictures. If you want to see more, ask me when I'm home.

I'm doing this now from Poland because I'm disturbingly jet lagged and just need to keep myself awake, but moving doesn't seem to be an option at present.

This is part of the garden right behind the Louvre, Jardin des Tuileries.

I spent a lot of time in Paris in gardens. They were the perfect places to watch people, relax, and eat---a few of my favorite things.

This is the inside of an old train station. It's now Musée d'Orsay, which is more modern than the Louvre, but not modern modern art. Think objets d'art and impressionists.




Here we have yet another garden: Place des Vosges. I really liked walking around the neighborhood that this is in. It's in La Marais, and is quite and beautiful. I liked the Mouffetard area for the same reason, but that wasn't as close to my hotel room.

It took me three tries to finally get into Saint Chapelle. The first time I was too late. The second time the line was atrocious. The third time it was raining and the line was small as a reflection of that.

It was worth the wait to be surrounded by light like this. I went on a cloudy day, as I said, it was raining, which allows for the stained glass to be read. I would have liked to stop by again on a sunny day and be bathed in colored light.

I climbed to the top of Notre Dame and the hill that Sacre Coeur is on (twice). This is the view from the former. Climbing the 422 steps was painful since there weren't any places to sit down like at Sacre Coeur. I survived. Somehow.

Now, behold! The quintessential Eiffel Tower picture. I enjoyed using my sepia and black and white filters on this monument. There was no climbing of the Eiffel Tower this time. The lines were long, it was expensive, and I've done it before.







THE CATACOMBS! I've been waiting a long time to see all of these bones. I wanted to see these the first time I came to Paris, but my group was lame.

Anyway, lots and lots of bones. The anticipation to see the bones mounts as one walks forever around the former quarry and then walls and walls of bones.

Finally, my favorite Parisian garden:
Jardin du Luxembourg. It's a bit on the touristy side, but it has wonderful places to sit and watch people. There are lovely flowers and statues all over. I quite enjoyed my time there.

That is Paris. Now I am in Krakow. It took me three flights to get over here. I got one hour of sleep. I am too exhausted to go out and roam around the city, but I can't go to sleep since it's about 3 p.m. here. I walked around the city for an hour to get from the train station to the dorms, so it's not as though I've seen nothing of Krakow. Because I was pulling around a suitcase and had three maps in my hands, I haven't gotten any pictures as of yet. It's not a good idea for me to go out right now because nothing is really making sense. I've been up for about a whole day at this point. I got a single hour of sleep on the plane because there were too many screaming babies.

So far my impressions of the four people I have met that are associated with this physics conference are that they don't care to be nice and meet others. Maybe I'm not the only one jet lagged? One guy criticized how the United States sends different people over every year. I don't see why that's a problem. I guess he doesn't want to make new friends. Hopefully, things go better than those encounters.

Now the rest of the day will involve working on my speech and settling in to this awful room. It's only bad because four rooms of two or three people each have to share two sinks, one toilet, and one shower. Brilliant.