Hello and welcome to this weeks instalment of “Where are Hannah and Mathew in the world!”
We’ve been out of New Zealand for over a week, and I’m starting to fall into a travel rhythm. I love this part of holidays, where days are no longer repetitive, but we’re making little routines and figuring out what sort of backpackers we are.
This week was full of best friends, good food, spontaneity and new experiences. We said goodbye to Krakow and hello to Italy as we touched down in Rome on Monday.
This is a long one, so buckle in and grab yourself a cup of tea (you’ll need it!).
- Wednesday 24th May
- Thursday 25th May
- Friday 26th May
- Saturday 27th May
- Sunday 28th May
- Monday 29th May
- Tuesday 30th May
- See you this time next week!
Wednesday 24th May
I have to say, walking 20,000 steps per day and having a tummy full of Polish food makes for the world’s best sleep. I’ve been sleeping like a babyyyyy.
We woke up this morning ready to celebrate more than one week away from home. Some would treat themselves to a drink, a party or cake for breakfast. We decided to celebrate in the form of a trip out of town to Wieliczka Salt Mine. Wild party animals.
Today was the worst weather day of our trip. We threw the curtains open and were immediately greeted with cold air, wind and rain (a stark contrast to shorts and t-shirt weather yesterday!!!), so we thought we’d escape most of the drizzle by going underground (genius, I know).
With bellies full of breakfast and bags packed with sandwiches and snacks, we started the day with a bus ride from Krakow to Wieliczka. The public transport system here is so good, easy to navigate, and our 30-minute bus ride only cost 6 łn ($2.35) per person.
After 30 minutes in the saddle, we arrived in Wieliczka way ahead of schedule for our 11:30am tour. We made the most of our extra hour by wandering around town. It’s an interesting place I’d recommend visiting, but there’s not as much to do as in the heart of Krakow.
At 11am, we checked our bags into the luggage hold and caught up with our group before heading into the Salt Mine. Now, when they say your tour starts with “a number of stairs”, they’re not joking. I don’t know if it was the feeling of descending into (almost) darkness or that the steps are a spiral staircase, but I’m pretty sure I have vertigo. We walked around, and around, and around until we were finally 55 floors underground.
Our tour of Wieliczka Salt Mine took us through a labyrinth of passages 135 meters underground. We saw beautiful salt lakes, salt crystal chandeliers, sculptures and the mind blowing St Kinga’s Chapel. We also learned about the history of the mine, like how salt was excavated to preserve food (and a barrel of it could have paid for a house!!). I enjoyed it, and it was so different from what you usually do in a new city.
Personally, I don’t think you can come to Krakow without doing a day trip to Wieliczka Salt Mine (or to Auschwitz-Birkenau, for that matter, but more on that tomorrow). It’s just one of those once-in-a-lifetime places that take your breath away. However, it wasn’t something that I had put on my itinerary, so shoutout to Johanna (and her lovely mum!!!) for the recommendation.
After our trip to Wieliczka, we returned home for another pre-dinner nap. Hi!! I’m writing this in real-time from my bed, waiting for the clock to strike 6pm, signalling it’s time to get ready for dinner. So, I’ll love you and leave you to get my backside into gear – I can hear food calling my name.
Lots of love – Hannah x
Thursday 25th May
Throughout my life, I’ve always loved learning about history. From Greek Mythology and the start of the Roman Empire to The Cold War and Vincent Van Gogh, I feel like a sponge and want to learn as much about the world as possible.
While at school, it was my favourite subject, and I spent a lot of time learning about World War I and II. The history of World War II is heinous and heartbreaking, but when I was booking our trip to Krakow, I knew that I was going to include a visit to the Auschwiz-Birkenau concentration camp. Auschwitz isn’t somewhere you ‘want’ to visit, but somewhere I think you should.
I couldn’t decide whether to write about my experience at Auschwiz-Birkenau as I think it is such a private, harrowing and delicate part of history that shouldn’t be taken lightly. But I’ve decided to include it in my weekly wrap-up. Although it was a difficult and sombre experience that has been hard to shake, but one that I think is incredibly important to have.
I don’t have any photos of our day in Oświęcim for obvious reasons (you’re allowed to, but it just didn’t feel right), but you can read about it below.
This morning we boarded a tour bus with Cracow City Tours (highly recommend!) and drove from Kraków Glowny to Oświęcim. You can take public transport to Oświęcim, but we decided to book a tour as a) I wouldn’t be able to do this day justice without a guide and b) it’s nice to have your transport to and from organised for you.
We met our guide, Vlady, who was terrific. He was so knowledgeable and kind, and I felt like I was being greeted as an old friend. Sometimes you come across people who ooze charism and are incredibly passionate about their work; he was one of them.
The drive out of Krakow took around 1 hour and 40 minutes. We drove through the countryside, past small towns and finally arrived in Oświęcim. Our tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau was broken up into two sections: a visit to Auschwitz I (their first concentration camp), and later we visited Auschwitz II (Birkenau), their second and much larger camp.
We walked through the gates of Auschwitz I and immediately saw ‘Arbeit macht frei’ carved into wrought iron. This translates to ‘Work will set you free’ – a horrific irony.
Much of Auschwitz I has been preserved and transformed into museum-like buildings, full of information and details of the atrocities that occurred here not 100 years ago.
Usually, when I read or learn about incomparable horrors, I feel numb, emotionless, almost as though what’s in front of me is too much for my brain to process. I thought I would feel this way here too, but instead, I was overcome with grief and disbelief as we walked around each building, seeing the piles of people’s clothes, belongings and mounds of human hair.
After visiting Auschwitz I, our guide took us to Auschwitz II, known as Birkenau. Birkenau stretches over 425 acres of bleak, barren landscape. While Auschwitz I is all about the details, Birkenau is where the scale of the horrors really starts to hit you.
There aren’t many buildings standing, as most were destroyed in 1945 when the Nazis tried to hide the evidence of Auschwitz from the approaching Soviet Army. But, we had an opportunity to walk around, accompanied by our guide, and try to understand what happened here.
I thought I knew the history of the Holocaust, but walking through the gates of Auschwitz made me realise that, actually, I don’t know anything at all. No history lesson, blog post or news article could have prepared me for how incredibly sad I felt walking around, listening to our tour guide explain the history of World War II from the Polish perspective. I realised that knowing the facts doesn’t mean that you know the story.
After our visit to Birkenau, we rejoined Cracow City Tours and boarded our bus back to Krakow. I can’t put into words the feeling of leaving Auschwitz, but I will say that I had an immense sense of sorrow and gratitude that I could leave it behind, but so many ordinary people who lead extraordinary lives were not granted the same privilege.
Our bus ride back to Krakow was lightened by a delightful English chap who looked the spitting image of iconic English comedian Ricky Gervais.
I’ve got to interrupt my chain of thought for a second to say that when I booked to come to Krakow, I had no idea that the streets would be HEAVING with British Stags. Clearly, it’s the new Ibiza – I’ve seen more ‘short back and sides’ haircuts this week than I have in my lifetime.
Mr Gervais clearly has good taste and spent much of our bus ride trying to chat up Johanna. However, I’m not surprised because I don’t think I’ve ever been abroad (or locally) with her without men falling at her feet. Maybe that’s the European charm.
With a laugh (or seven) shared at the expensive or the poor bloke, we went home to take five after our day before heading back out into Krakow Main Square for dinner. We’ve been restaurant hopping this holiday (although we probably haven’t eaten as much Polish food as we should), and this evening it was time to go to Trattoria Cyklop for homemade pasta.
It was deeeeelish (although Mathew and I split a salad and a pizza). The atmosphere was welcoming and cosy, and the servers were SO good on the dietary restriction front again. It was exactly what we needed after a big day.
Now we’re off to bed – lots of love!
Friday 26th May
After a sombre and challenging day yesterday, we cleared our Friday of any plans and had a lazy morning in bed. I caught up on some work, and Mathew watched three hours of TikTok. After preaching he was ‘wasting too much time’ on his phone, he got FOMO last night and re-downloaded the dreaded app. Clearly, he’s trying to make up for lost time.
With our days plans cleared, we left Mathew to man the fort in search of quality girl time and a shopping mall. We’re not two weeks into our travels, and I’ve already decided I want some linen trousers. I will take a stab in the dark and guess that’s so I have more options than jeans, jeans or more jeans. But it probably has something to do with the fact that the fashion is SO different here.
Living in New Zealand, I’m used to rolling out of the house in anything comfy and have never really given fashion or trending styles a second thought. If you know me, you know I live in activewear and the same pair of denim shorts all year round (which, by the way, I’ve learnt are officially out of fashion – sue me).
But in Europe, everyone puts so much thought into their outfits. Everything from their pristine white shirts to perfectly crease-free. Even their colours are coordinated, timeless and never more than three at a time.
However, as we wandered aimlessly around the mall, I couldn’t help but think how much damage I could have done to my bank account if we were in New Zealand; our travel budget is lucky I can exercise some degree of self-control.
After getting our fill of retail therapy, we hit the supermarket. Although I’m a girl that loves carbs, if I don’t eat a vegetable soon, I’m pretty sure I will get scurvy. So, bag (frozen green beans and salad mix) secured, we trundled home to make the world’s most giant bowl of micro-nutrients and get ready for dinner.
This evening we decided to forgo the restaurants in favour of Krakow’s Main Square Market. It’s a permanent Christmas Market with the most delicious range of Polish food. They’ve got everything from pierogi to parówki cielęce (a Polish hot dog) and, my favourite, Chimney Cakes. I’m not usually a cake person, and I don’t like doughnuts or churros (I know, wow), but there’s just something about those little morsels of dough covered in cinnamon sugar that I LOVE.
Mathew tried the world’s largest hot dog (I’m not kidding, it was massive), while Johanna opted for a bowl of traditional Polish goulash. Both looked and smelt incredible.
I don’t know what it is about aimlessly wandering around with no agenda, but I love it. Our trip here has really made me rethink the rest of our travel plans and what sort of itineraries we should have. I know I should probably want to fit as much into the day as possible (seeing as it costs so much to get here from New Zealand), but slow, unplanned days seem to make sense for us. I’m so happy I could cry!
Saturday 27th May
This was my favourite day of our Krakow trip (Mathews chiming in and saying it was his fav too!).
Our Saturday started as usual, with breakfast and coffee at our apartment. Johanna, Mathew and I have reached an unspoken agreement where she doesn’t talk to us until we’ve had a coffee, and we don’t speak to her until she’s finished her breakfast. Call us anti-social, but I don’t honestly believe anyone is a fully-function human until those two things have been achieved.
Once out of our shells, we ventured into town to visit Kazimierz, the former Jewish District of Krakow. I’ve heard that Kazimierz is incredible, with a lively student and artist population. However, as we visited on a Saturday, most shops, cafes and synagogues were closed due to the Jewish Sabbath. Still, it was lovely to wander around the markets, get lost amongst the streets and enjoy the FAB weather Krakow is having at the moment. Seriously, we’ve been so lucky.
Somewhere between 8am and noon, Johanna and I landed on the bright idea of commemorating our trip with matching tattoos. Now, usually I’m not one to make an impulse decision, especially one that’s everlasting and PERMANENT on your body. But, we’ve been friends for yonks. And I think if our friendship can survive 8 years (7 of which were long distance), high school, travelling and a global pandemic, we’re not at any risk of losing each other.
So, walk-in tattoos were on the table. In true ‘make the most of SEO style’ (can you tell I work in digital marketing?), we typed “walk-in tattoos near me” into Google Maps and pointed our fingers at the first search result. Apparently we lucked out because the local parlour was full of SUPER friendly staff and they said they could fit us in at 2:30pm.
So our aimless-wander turned into an Olympic-style speed walk as we raced head back into the Old Town to scribble down our tattoo designs (did I mention we decided we wanted to draw them ourselves? call me Picasso) and drop Mathew home.
2:30pm rolls around, and we’re legging it back to Kazimierz, clutching scrap pieces of paper, on our way to get the best of our hand-drawn doodles permanently etched onto our skin.
Upon arriving, it seems the vibe in the tattoo studio has taken a somewhat alternative turn. Not only are we about to get inked by the most eclectic man I’ve ever encountered (who, by the way, seems to hate New Zealand but love the idea of us trying a plethora of different drugs) and are immediately greeted by the smell of burning incense and bongo drums. Yep, you heard that correctly. Bongo drums.
The tattoo studio is beautiful; artwork covered the walls from ceiling to floor, and every artist greets us like an old friend. But our session felt like a fever dream from start to finish, and we both agreed that had we not had the tattoos to prove it, we might not have believed it happened.
Still, I can’t take the smile off my face. They’re small and almost unnoticeable but so sweet, and I genuinely feel like we’re joined at the hip (or wrist) for life now!
That evening was all about celebrating. I’m not sure what the occasion was (probably just life, friendship and our second to last night in Krakow), but drinks are on the table. We spotted some great looking bars on our trip through Kazimierz earlier that day so we ventured back across town for pre-dinner drinks.
If you know me, you know I used to drink a lot and now very, very rarely. But this trip has reignited my love for mojitos. Maybe it’s the feeling of being on holiday, or how much more delicious they taste sitting on a European patio in the sun but I can’t get enough of them. It also seems to have sparked a newfound love for Mathew; long island iced tea.
Voka, rum, tequila, gin and triple sec? He might as well drink pure ethanol. The first one was hilarious, the second was a joke but by his third I’m wondering if my 5ft 5 body will be able to carry his drunken backside home fireman style. At least he’s doing the Kiwi drinking culture proud.
We head bakc to The Spaghetti for dinner (an inauthentic Italian restaurant in the heart of Krakow). Yes, I know, we should be eating Polish food. But this place is so good and great for people watching (or judging, based on the number of English stag dos about). We should venture outside our comfort zones and try something different, but the three of us are creatures of habit. You know what they say? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Post dinner and drinks seems an opportune time for Johanna (bilingual and so good at English you’d never know she wasn’t a native speaker) to teach us (one and a half languages between us at best) German (one of the most complex languages ever). My knowledge of German doesn’t stretch any further than “Guten Tag” and that one Tiktok view comparing German, English, Spanish and French, so you can imagine how the lesson went.
Spoiler alert: Mum doesn’t have to worry about us moving to Germany any time soon.
Sunday 28th May
Our last morning, and I’ve woken up feeling sad to leave tomorrow. I’ve loved this place (yeah, I know, you get it, I can shut up now) and could stay here longer. But the weather is good, and seeing as the forecast is thunderstorms for Rome (our next destination), there’s no time to mope about – we don’t want to waste any of the sun!
With bags full of water and sandwiches, we head out across town to Krakus Mound. I’ve read that it’s a nice little viewpoint and park a little way out of the city, but I’ve underestimated the walk there and 45 minutes into the trip, I’m wondering if Mathew’s navigational skills are really as good as I think they are.
I should never have doubted him because just a few minutes later, what looks like the Polish version of Mount Eden comes into view, and it makes me miss home! Mathew and I spent a lot of time up Mount Eden before we started going out, so it feels nostalgic to be somewhere that looks so similar!!
We unpack our sandwiches for a picnic with a view (it is stunning) and watch the locals go about their Sunday afternoons. I love people-watching, and this spot is picture-perfect (I’ll let the photos speak for themselves).
Post-picnic, we trudge back into town, unable to procrastinate packing up any longer. Although our flight isn’t till 11am tomorrow, we’ve decided to get up at the crack of dawn and make our way to catch a train to the airport. Do we need to be at the airport three hours before our flight? No. Would being at the airport THAT early make my Dads skin crawl? Yes. However, we’re flying with RyanAir for the first time, and I’ve heard some serious horror stories, so I think it’s best to be safe than sorry.
Bags packed, room cleared, and apartment spick and span can only mean one thing, it’s time for our daily routine nap before heading out for dinner. Tonight we’re revisiting U Babci Mainly, an authentic Polish restaurant in the Old Town. We’ve already been here once before but loved it. Delish food, they’re great with dietary restrictions and have cheap beer. Win-win.
Bellies full to bursting point with chicken cutlets, potatoes, pierogi and goulash, we engage our second stomach for dessert. If you think you don’t have room for dessert after dinner, you’re lying. My Dad always says he’ll “Have it with a cup of tea later”, but really I just think he’s being polite. Tonight we’re having, you guessed it, more drinks and people watching and one final chimney cake (I’ve eaten so many I’m surprised I don’t look like one).
As I write this little snippet, I’m sitting on the stone steps of Krakow Old Town, watching the sun go down, surrounded by two of my favourite people on the planet. It still feels surreal to have spent so long planning our trips and living them in real-time. I thought it would be good, but this has blown my expectations out of the water. If the rest of our trips are like this one, I will be lost for words (which, might I add, I don’t think I’ve ever been in my whole life lol). And I’d like to believe that if 15-year-old me could see me now, she would be very proud.
Monday 29th May
Remember what I said last week about how it should be illegal to wake up early? My point still stands. Between us, we have enough flying anxiety to put the aviation industry out of business. Apparently, that means getting up at 6am for our midday flight. Go figure.
There’s no time for caffeine, but thank god Johanna has prioritised breakfast over sleep, so at least 1 out of 3 is in a reasonable mood. Mathew and I feel like we’re trudging through mud as we stuff our clothes over our heads and feet into walking boots, gearing up for our half an hour’s walk to the train station. Sorry, the travel budget doesn’t stretch to a return airport transfer.
However, our moods are quickly brightened as we marvel at other travellers (cough cough Johanna) traipsing their suitcases over the cobbled stone streets. We were tossing up suitcases vs backpacks when packing our things in New Zealand and landed on bags having more pros than cons. And good god, now I know why.
I shouldn’t laugh.
Once at the airport, we said farewell to Johanna and Krakow and boarded our flight to Rome. I want to avoid saying something cheesy like, “I fell in love with this city”, but it’s true. I’ve loved the last week; everything from the culture and people to the food and how safe walking around the streets feels. Krakow has skyrocketed its way into my top three favourite places ever!
It did also help that we had the world’s best travel companion, and I got to spend a week with two of my favourite people on the planet. You know how sometimes you have those friends you don’t always see. But when you do, it’s like no time has passed? That’s how I feel about Johanna. I hadn’t seen her in five years before this trip, but I felt like nothing had changed as soon as we saw each other. I feel SO lucky to have that.
I’m sad to see her go (and WISH she was coming with us!), but we’ve made plans to meet up again in just 3-4 months, so watch this space (who knows, maybe I’ll be fluent in German by the end of the year? Ha not even Duolingo Premium could save me).
Despite everything I’ve heard about budget air carriers, our flight to Rome with RyanAir was reasonably hassle-free (thank god for priority check-in), minus the part where we circled the Italian skies, avoiding thunderstorms and waiting for the pilot to decide he could safely land the plane. Upon landing, almost every passenger clapped for the crew (and we just about died from second-hand embarrassment), and we made our way out of the arrivals terminal.
I was under the impression that travelling to Rome in “spring” would mean the city was cooler, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It’s scorchio here – 28 degrees with blisteringly hot sun. My idea of heaven!
We’re staying in a shared Air Bnb during our time here, and the lovely chap renting us a room said that, unfortunately, we couldn’t check in till 5pm because he’d taken our key to work with him. Go figure.
With some time to kill, we settled into our first Italian cafe and ordered what might be Mathew’s new favourite drink (move over long island ice tea), a caffè freddo. I was expecting your stock standard, run-of-the-mill iced coffee, but got this creamy frozen treat instead. As my Mum would say, “Boom yeah!”
Re-caffeinated, we checked into our accommodation and raced back out the door for an evening of Italian food and grocery shopping. Are we romantic or what! If you’ve read my other diary entries, you’ll know by now that I LOVE pizza (I mean, really love it), so I was excited to try the real deal here in Rome. We just about had a heart attack looking at the price of food in Italy after coming from Poland, so we settled on a low-budget pizzeria in San Lorenzo. It was good, but not as good as I was expecting. Then again, what can you expect for 6€ a pop?
I might have to try another justtttttttt to make sure.
Tuesday 30th May
This morning we got up bright and early and walked to see the Trevi Foundation before the crowds moved in, and we felt like sardines squished into a little tin can. Okay, I lied when I said it was ‘bright’ and early. The sun had barely risen, and Mathew was rudely awoken by my alarm going off full bore. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do, right?
Being in shared accommodation and waking up at the butt-crack of dawn meant there was no opportunity for breakfast and coffee, so we raced ourselves out of the house in record time (22 minutes from alarm to footsteps down the street, might I add) in search of Romes top-hotspots.
I’ve been to the Trevi Fountain once before on a Topdeck Tour in September 2018. The nature of our tour meant that we didn’t get into Rome till midday and not till the Trevi Fountain until 2pm. I vowed that day to never, ever do that again (if you know, you know). And my god, I can tell you that the 6am alarm was worth it. We got to the fountain before the crowds arrived and spent a lovely morning having our picnic sandwich (budget core, am I right) in one of Rome’s most beautiful areas.
I honestly don’t know if I was more impressed by the insane craftsmanship and architecture of the fountain or with how dressed up everyone was. I’ve never felt underdressed on the pavement, but today was shaping up to be a day of firsts. Girls lined up for photos in silk dresses, pulling outfit changes and high heels out of tote bags and posing for professional photographers. I was in AWE.
You’ve got to respect their hustle. I love to see other Instagram girlies in the wild. If you’re into social media, taking photos is so much fun.
After the Trevi Fountain, we made our way to the Parthenon. I was SHOCKED to find we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. The Parthenon (much like the Acropolis, I suspect) is just one of those places you’ve got to see to believe how monumentally amazing it is. With our need for ancient history satisfied, we beelined for Villa Borghese. Although I’ve been told the museum is amazing, I’m not a great art lover.
Instead, we opted to wander around the gardens. On our walk, we passed so many people cycling, walking their dogs and making their way to work, and it made me think how crazy it is that some people commute past ancient history every day. I suppose growing up in a relatively new city makes you appreciate the very (very) old structures a little bit more.
By noon we had clocked up 23,000 steps apiece, and with legs starting to ache, we headed back for a sit down (again, how good is slow travel!). I’m doing some freelance work remotely whilst we’re away, and having some downtime each day has allowed me to really get stuck into that (and write to you – hi!). What was supposed to be a two-hour sit-down turned into a lazy afternoon avoiding the torrential rain, and by 6pm, it was time for dinner.
Pizza again (shock horror), but tonight we’re blowing the budget and ordering two meals rather than sharing one. Go on, live a little.
See you this time next week!
Thanks for tuning in for a recap of our second week of travels! Join me this time next week for a recap of Week Three. We’ll still be in Italy but are getting ready to do a little tour of the country, AND Mathew and I are celebrating our three-year anniversary – it’ll be one for the books! See you then x
Notes to Home 