Making the most of my Erasmus+

How to make the most of one's Erasmus+

Right now I am doing an Erasmus+ exchange in Gdansk, Poland and I have decided that I am going to travel a lot! The best thing is that I made sure my lectures schedule makes it possible for me to travel 4 out of 7 days a week! Amazing, isn't it? So while I am in love in my new home city, I did hear people saying I should definetly visit Krakow while I am in Poland! So here I was, booking hostels and bus tickets and only on my second week in Gdansk, I am already traveling to explore this incredible country!

I must say, 10 hours bus drive from Gdansk to Krakow is a lot! At some point I started wondering how would I survive, but I had free wi-fi, great view of the nature and plenty of sun.

The moment I set foot in Krakow, I felt overwhelmed by the amound of people in the city, it was bustling with life. I quickly made my way to the hostel, left my luggage, grabbed my camera and purse and went to the nearest vegan place to eat, because I was starving! And yes, I am a vegan, but Krakow is very vegan-friendly, so I had no problems getting something to eat.

So I went to a vegan burger restaurant and ordered my meal. But what I find very peculiar is that no matter where I went, people usually ordered burgers. I still think this is very strange, and while I understand it is quick hand food, especially for tourist, I was and still am at loss that so many Poles do order so too.

Anyway, here I was already with full stomach ready to explore this great city of Krakow. And it is beautiful! I love gothic and red brick architecture, which is abundant in Poland. Just aimlessly wandering the streets, after visiting the tourist essential as the Old Town and the Jewish quater, which of course are busting with tourists. What I did was walk along the Visla river, there is a nice little park behind the Wawel Castle and the night lights on the opposite bank are very beautiful. There is also a dragon waiting to spit fire at you, so you have to be careful and not get too frightened. I confess, I didn't know there was one, but I heard the sound of fire and briskly walked over to check it out. Too bad it was aready nighttime, and I couldn't really take a picture of it, but at least I got to see it, so I am glad.

On my second day in Krakow I did something every tourist does when they get to Krakow and that is catch a train to Wieliczka Salt Mines. For less than 1 euro and 20 minutes ride, I found myself in front of a very long line waiting to buy entry tickets to the mines. A little over an hour later I, together with at least 30 more people, was making my way down to reach the first level of 64 meters underground to start a guided tour through the mines. I have never seen anything like this before! Every sculpture, engraving, chandelier made of salt! Never ever had I been more astonished by what nature is capable of producing, and the salt in the mines is around 13 million years old. I can't imagine that, it seems so surreal! But walking inside, getting to see and to touch, I understood why people were coming here and willing to wait in the cold to enter. It was worth it every single cent and every minute out in the cold.

Unfortunately I stayed ony two days in Krakow, as on the third one I had to travel back to Gdansk to get ready for university. But I think the time I spend in Krakow was worth the ten hours bus drive back. I got to see amazing architecture, eat delicious food, visit nice coffee and sweets shops and enter a salt mine. Being an Erasmus student has its perks, you get to be abroad, study somewhere else, meet new people and travel. But you don't always need to visit every tourist attraction. You can just walk aimlessly, look around, sit somewhere to drink tea or coffee, have a nice dessert and just enjoy life, maybe even buy a book and start reading it (there are English book stores in Krakow, I bought a book from one that was on the way to the Jewish quater). Sometimes, you just need some time alone and what's better than escape somewhere else and spend some time with yourself and your own thoughts, and a different city could be very inspirational as well!

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