Polish Sausage

Today, I tried some actually Polish Sausage. My pops has been bugging me to try it. He said,"If you are in Poland, you need to try the Polish Sausage." I did and it did not taste any different than the Sausage in the states. Though it is not really different you should, if ever in Krakow, really try to experience one of the many outdoor grills set up for many of the festivals here in Krakow. The one that I ate at was called the Bayer Grill.

Kopiec Kosciuski Wax Museum

If you ever go to Kopiec Kosciuszki (Burial Mound), never opt in to take the Wax museum tour for 8 Zloty as it is not worth it. There are only about 12 wax statues and the tour is over. Save you money and go to the Cafe FM Panorama and get some coffee or ice cream. The mound is truly the highlight.

The only impressive wax statue was that of Pope John Paul II shown below. So if you want to pay 8 zloty to see this then go ahead.

Kopiec Kosciuszki

Today I took a taxi to Kopiec Kosciuszki which is a famous burial mound here in Krakow. I climbed to the top of the mound to get a great 360 degree view of Krakow. The weather was great and the skys were clear, which made it even better. Bad part is that I was not able to get a taxi to take me back to the hotel and had to take a bus and hoof it a ways to where I was able to get a taxi.

BTW, I saw othes stand ont he rock and followed suit. So if it was not appropriate, I apologize.

Mr. Gelato Closed

It is my bad fortune that I must notify those that have been traveling to Krakow, Poland with me that Mr. Gelato has closed. They in my opinion make the best Ice Cream I have had while here in Krakow. I must now set out to find a good replacement, which I think I might have found.

Arrived In Krakow, Poland

I have arrived in Krakow, Poland and was greeted for the first time from the Holiday Inn with handmae chocolates after my very long flight. Yes, the orange and green are chocolates. It pays to be a Priority Club Member.

Poland Bound

On my way out to Krakow, Poland today. I will keep everyone posted on how the flights go.

Have a great weekend.

No Carry-On Luggage at all.

I just received an email from a co-worker stating that LOT Airlines is not allowing any carry on luggage at all. So to be on the safe side, I decided to check Alitalia Airlines to see what restrictions they have so that I can pack accordingly. I called Alitalia Airlines and they do not permit any carry on luggage at all to the US. This is of course contradictory to the travel heading out of the US to other countries.

I have no problems with all the security steps taken, but they need to be more consistent globally so that travelers can be better prepared.

I normally travel with the basic, especially since my luggage has been lost numerous times.

Below is a listing of all the items I usually carry with me to and from the US and hopefully I will soon be able to return to bringing them soon.

Camera
Ipod
Pair of Pants
Shirt
Underwear
Socks
Neck Pillow
Eye Mask
Ear Plugs
Jacket
Souvenirs (on the return Flight)

Black Boxes

I found this article pretty interesting it seems the car industry has and is planning on adding "Black Boxes" to all the cars. These little "Black Boxes" similar to those found on planes will be able to track vehicle speed, acceleration, and deceleration, braking, steering and some air bag functions. In some cases data on vehicle roll angle, steering inputs, and passenger safety belt use will be recorded. Most of this, of course, is to be used in cases where you are involved in an accident.

The complete article can be found at Yahoo News.

Am I crazy?

Ok, so I have not been on the bike for many, many weeks and I have only been running for about 2 weeks and can only run 3 miles in one sitting. So why is it that I received and email for the Los Locos Duathlon and think I could do it. There are five weeks between now and the race, and I will, believe it or not, be in town.

If I do compete in Los Locos Duathlon, this will be the first event I have competed in over 2 years. I don't really care about placing. I just want to finish as I know I cannot compete against others in my age group, such as Zack Perry.

I will keep you posted on whether or not I will complete when I return from Krakow.

Food for Thought: Krakow, Poland

Below is a listing of all the restaurants I have eaten at while in Krakow, Poland. I stole this list from Brian (a co-worker) who has set a goal of 100 restaurants while in Krakow and he is actually pretty close to his goal. Of course, he has been there longer than I have and has more opportunities to go to different restaurants. This is why I have set a goal for 50 restaurants and possibly 75 after that.

As a rule I am always willing to try something new, but always order French fries to be on the safe side. Krakow, Poland seems to have the best soups out there, so if you are ever there be sure to order a soup. You might even get your soup delivered in a nice bread bowl.

Some of the information might be the same as listed on Brian`s Page, but you might find some minor changes where I either disagreed or had some additional information

Total as of September 5th, 2006 = 41
$-Inexpensive $$-Moderate $$$-Moderate to Expensive $$$$-Expensive

Arlecchino Ristorante: Italian. VG food. $$
Bodega Marques Winiarnia: Spanish wine bar which serves mostly tapas. It is also a wine store. The tapas were good, but lacked traditional items. $$$$
Bayer Grill: Polish. Outdoor festival Grill with traditional foods. Very good. $
Bom Fogo in the Holiday Inn: International. Good food and if you do not want to leave the room the Chicken Sandwich is da bomb. $$$.
Brasserie: French and other. $$.
Cafe FM Panorama: Little cafe at the Kopiec Kosciuszki. Just had an Ice Cream here. $
Cafe Sukiennce: Deserts. Great little desert cafe located in the Cloth Hall. $
C.K. Dezerter: Polish. Great food. Very small restaurant. $$.
Chlopskie Jadlo: Peasant Polish. Very polish. Tried to even order a Coke and was told, This is a Polish restaurant. We do not serve Coke. $.
Cherubino Polish and Tuscan. Very good food. $$.
Da Pietro: Italian. Excellent Pizza. Less than stellar service. $$.
Del Papa Ristorante: Italian. Excellent food in a pretty interior. $$.
Europejska: Polish. Good and $$.
Fabryka Pizzy: Usual location for lunch. I usually get the Bomber which is like a Calzone with less sauce. I usually have to request extra. $
Foodology: Polish lunch place. They serve great fries and a mean Chicken de Voillaile with cheese. $.
Grill 15/16: International. Best Steak and grilled chicken in Krakow.$$$
Guliwer: Provencal. Excellent food in a pretty atmosphere. $$$.
Il Calzone: Italian. Good food but nothing ordinary. $$.
Ipanema: Brazilian. Not my best meal, but could have been due to my choice of menu item. $$.
Leonardo:Italian. Exc. food in a great cellar atmosphere. $$$
Lodziarnia: Desert. Located on Grodska is the perfect replacement for Mr. Gelato. $
Loza: Pasta and other dishes. Very good food. $$.
McDonald's: American. Believe it or not it is better than any McDonald's in the states. Everything is fresher and no heat lamps are used. $
Metropolitan: American. They have the best hot breakfast and burger in town. $$
Mr. Gelato: Ice Cream. Great place to grab a light dessert. Bad part is that they either closed or moved locations. $
Officyna: Emphasis on Italian but many other cuisines. Has live jazz music at 9 p.m. each night. Good and inexpensive with large portions. Behind Tri-Be-Ca. $$
Orient Ekspres: Cuisine from Paris to Instanbul. Very good food. $$$.
Paese: Corsican. Very nice interior and delicious food. $$$.
Pod Gwiazdami: Polish. the food was very good even thought he restaurant was very empty. $$
Pod Krzyzykiem: Polish. $$$$.
Pod Sloncem: Polish. Great cellar atmosphere and good food. $$.
Pod Roza: Polish-Italian. Great food. $$$$$.
Slodki Wentzl: Desert. Good alternative to Lodziarnia if you want to sit on the square. $
Someplace-Else at the Sheraton Hotel: American. Great Pepito Sandwich and Death by Chocolate. $$$$
Szara Restaurant: Various cuisines. Very upscale. Very good food. My favorite is the melon with prosciutto. $$$$
Szara Restaurant in Kazimierz: Various cuisines in a less formal setting than the original. Very good food. Outdoor eating. $$$$
Szlacheckie Jadlo: Polish. Home of the famous flaming sword main course. $$$.
The Olive in the Sheraton: International. Great Easter brunch. $$$$
Trattoria Soprano: Italian. Best lasagna Great interior design. Even better melon with prosciutto than Szara as of August 2006. $$$
TriBeCa Coffee: American bar food. Great in the winter for some hot chocolate. $
U Babci Maliny (Raspberry Grandma): Polish. The decor upstairs is Polish farmhouse and downstairs is Polish mansion. $

If you went to a restaurant with me and you do not see it listed, please let me know. If you have any suggestions also let me know as I would be willing to give it a shot.

Ryan Carmichael

On my way out of Sports Authority I saw some remote control car racing going on outside. I decided to see if my buddy Ryan Carmichael was out there racing his new RC car. And to my surprise he was out there. I was lucky to actually get to see him drive his car in a race. He placed 3rd in the race I was watching.

Maybe I will catch another race in the near future or at least when I return from my next Krakow trip.

To see some photos got to Ryan Carmichael Blog.

3rd Grade

We all know 3rd grade was tough back in the day, but could you pass it again.

Go to the link below to see if you could pass the 3rd grade the 2nd time around.

3rd Grade Test

I got a 38/48 the first time around and 48/48 the second time around. I know all the states, but the clock can really mess you up if you pay too much attention to it.

Corn on the Cob Popcorn

I have been meaning to post this for a while now.

While in Krakow, Poland on my last trip I saw a funny little packet. It was a corn Cob vacuum sealed in plastic. After looking at it further, you pop the Cob in the microwave.

To read more about it or to buy some, go to bigredpopcorn.com

Lowe's Store #1526

Normally I have nothing but good things to say about Lowe's, as I frequent there regularly to purchase tools to fill the tool box. Today is not one of those days.

Today I took a well deserved vacation day and went to Lowe's with my mom to purchase a new kitchen light, similar to the one linked at Lowes.com. The one we purchased was one with 2 plastic pieces instead of the one pictured. We got home and I took the old unit(would not light up) down and opened the box to the new one to find that not everything was in order. The box was missing the 4 bulbs that were supposed to be in the box, one of the plastic covers, and the other cover was cracked. As you can guess, I was not happy.

After packing the unit back up I drove back to Lowe's Store #1526 to find that they did not have anymore of Lowes.com, so I opted to get an American fluorescent Light. While there my moms asked that I pick up a new light for the kitchen table. I did so and headed home.

When home I installed the American fluorescent Light and noticed a difference instantly. It is 10 times brighter than the light we had in there previously. After the light #1 was installed I proceeded to work on light #2.

I took down the old light and opened the box to the new light that would soon be sitting over the kitchen table only to find that the light I purchased was not in the box. It seems that it was either packaged incorrectly or someone else returned the box with the wrong light in it. I called Lowe's to let them know about my disappointment and spoke to Samantha the Manager on duty that assisted me with the prior return and was asked to come back to the store.

I arrived at the store with the incorrect light and proceeded to the return desk where I was told to go. When I arrived the people there did not seem to understand what was happening. So instead of getting me out of there right away, they kept me there while they tried to research the problem. They almost acted as if I did something wrong and treated me as if I was trying to pull a switch on them. Not sure why I would have done a switch as both units were the same price. After 30-45 minutes I was released to go, but overheard the manager state that she was going to research this further.

This time everything worked great again being 10 times brighter that the original.

Suggestion to those purchasing anything that is a Lowe's branded item, have the sales rep open the box and verify that all the items are included in the box. This will truly save you return trips to Lowe's.

3 Miles and Counting

If you read one of my previous post, you will know that I have set a goal to be able to run 5 miles. Well, last night a successfully completed 3 miles. Not sure how my speed compares to the average runner, but I am running approximately a 10-12 minute mile on the treadmill.

Running on the treadmill is fine but it can get a little boring. I have been running with my Ipod and that seems to help a bit.

Once I am feeling pretty good with the 5 miles, I might even attempt my first 5k. If I am lucky there might even be one in Krakow, Poland that I can run in while I am there.

Where to go, where to go?

I will be returning to Krakow, Poland in 2 weeks and have one weekend to do what I want. I do not want to spend too much money on travel, so it will have to be somewhere rather close. I also do not want to spend most of my day traveling.

Does anyone have any suggestions of places I should visit outside of Krakow, Poland??

Who loves you and who do you love?

It's time to start running. I hit the treadmill again yesterday and did a cool 2 miles. My goal is to work my way up to 5 miles. I am hoping to be able to hit this goal by the first week in September. Once I get to that point, I need to try and change from treadmill running to outdoor running.

Any suggestion on how to better transition from the treadmill to the road and still get the same type of results as I know they are not the same.

Scorcher

I will start off by telling you that the temperature upstairs in the house was 79 degrees. The temperature was set at 74 and that alone tells you that it was hot outside. Not only was the crib hot, but it was over 101 outside.

Worst part about it was that I was at a work function on one of the Mississippi Boats from 2:00-4:30pm. It was a nice event, but it was way too hot to be on a River Boat. The air conditioning was weak, so weak that it was almost cooler outside than inside. I think I drank over 7 bottles of water.

After being on this River Boat Cruise, I have decided to never go on another River Boat Cruise in the summer. I had fun and all but I am still feeling the affects of from the sun 3 1/2 hours later.

Great read with "Marley and Me"

A few months ago, my brother-in-law recommended "Marley and Me" by John Grogan. At first I was like whatever, but figured I would at least give it a try. Well on my last trip to Krakow, Poland I had the chance to give it a try. On my way out at the Memphis Airport I stopped into the book store and saw"Marley and Me" all over the place and picked up my copy. I knew I would not read it on the plane, but made a promise to myself to read at least 50 pages per day. I finally finished the book and it was a great read. Of course, this coming from someone that does not read that much.

"Marley and Me" is a great book if you have ever had a pet or still have a pet.

I recommend you pick up a copy. Go to Harper Collins for a list of online retailers that stock the book.

I have returned.

I am back in Memphis, TN, but not for long as I return to Krakow, Poland August 24th. I am already working on planning things to do for when I head to Krakow, Poland to keep from going nuts in the hotel.

When I first arrive, I plan on finding some tours that I have not yet done. I know that will be tough as I have done almost every tour that is possible to do in Krakow. Good news is that the hotel now offers scooter rentals for a small fee and I plan on doing this.

Elvis is not dead, he is in Krakow, Poland

As today seems to be a blog posting day, here is another one for the masses. Today while walking around the square and watching the Tour de Krakow I saw this puppet master and his Elvis puppet. The guy was actually very good and seem to be advertising a theatre here in Krakow. Below are a few shots of the Elvis puppet in action.

Running In Krakow

I know I mentioned that I was going to start running a few months ago, and I have not had a chance. Well, this trip to Krakow, Poland, I started my running. I ran about 1-2 miles on Monday, 2.5 miles on the treadmill and 1 on the oliptical trainer on Tuesday, and about 1 mile today.

All in all the running doesn't hurt, so I will give continue to give it a go.

Me riding.

If you remember a few post back, I was really wanting a Classic Pennyfarthing Replica Bicycle. Well today, while being a spectator at the Tour de Krakow (not sure what the name of the race actually was) I saw a group of guys dressed in old time apparel with the bicycles. I asked if I could get on one of them as there were lots of people doing this. So for your enjoyment, below is a photo of me on the bicycle.

Tour de Krakow

After work today I took my usual route back to the hotel. Todays journey was somewhat different than previous days. Today there was a bicycle race going on smack dab in the middle of the Krakow main Square. I was lucky to have caught the start of what seemed to be the Cat 1-2 race.

The race took place around the main square and was a criterium on cobblestones. Not many wrecks, but there was one. Luckily for te guy he did not get battered that much.

I am glad I was able to catch this event. Below are a few shots of the race today.

Parents are even cruel in Krakow

Unfortunately, parents are crule all over the world. While in Krakow, Poland I noticed this kid through my camera lens and decided to take the photo. He has a nice flowing rat tail. Rat tails are no longer in style.