That AIN't chicken!!

More about chicken later..

Today was a very emotional day. I spent a large portion of today in the Warsaw Uprising Museum. It was an unreal experience. The main focus was Warsaw's insurgence against Nazi Germany, however it contained photos, videos, and artifacts covering all aspects of the Polish experience during WWII. For me, the most difficult exhibit was one about a 13 year old boy. He worked carrying messages for the Polish Home Army. He was shot and killed. There were photos of him dead in the street and lying in a coffin. His bloodstained, bullet ridden shirt was also on display. The most eerie photo was one of Hitler standing on a street corner in Warsaw, a street corner that I had stood on. It's an overwhelming experience to be where so much tragedy has occurred.

I also went to the Pawiak Prison. It was a tsarist prison since the 1800's, but was used as a political prison during WWII. It contained many photos of victims, items that had belonged to them, art and poems created by them, etc. It is amazing the photos that exist from that time that show executions, torture, and hangings.

I made my way to Krakow tonight. Here comes the chicken story. I was at the train station, needing to eat as I hadn't eaten since breakfast (there was nowhere to eat around where I was all day), so I decided to buy a sub/sandwich from a little kiosk. I looked at everything and had no idea what might be palatable to my semi-vegetarian tastes so I pulled out my Eastern European phrasebook and tried to search for any of the words on the labels. No luck. I searched for the word chicken in the phrasebook - aha - so I said the Polish word for chicken. The woman points at a couple things so I choose one. When I go to eat it on the train... UGH.. definitely not chicken. It was pork. And not particularily pretty pork. So I picked the meat out and had a sub with some kind of pickled stuff on it. MMMMmmm. Bleck!!!!!!!!!

By the way, the best story of the day...... when I tripped over some old man while trying to get out of my seat on the tram and ended up falling all the way into the seating area on the other side. Oh yeah.. and I hit my head. Did I feel like a fool!!! I am sure all the Polish people had a good laugh after I got off the tram. And now you will too.