Dec 30, PKP, it's a trip!

You really need to be flexible and have patience of a saint when traveling on PKP [Polish train network], especially when countrywide changes to the train schedule are taking place. Our original plan was to enjoy an open air concert and New Years Eve festivities on the market square in Warsaw, so Sebastian and I decided to meet up in Bielsko and take a morning train to the capital on Friday. I left Przemysl on Wednesday afternoon and made an overnight stop to see family in Rzeszow, naively thinking I can catch a train to Bielsko Thursday morning and make it there with two transfers by 5pm. That was a mistake by default. Every train was delayed, departure times and platforms did not match information from printed train schedules. internet listings, or speaker announcements. I almost broke down in tears from frustration and exhaustion while running like a maniac across all platforms in Katowice, hoping I could jump my train with a backpack the size of a 10yr old. I forgot I was hungry and that I really had to sprint for the bathroom. I forgot about the biting cold. I almost forgot my name. All I wanted was to get on that train.
I missed it by seconds.

Little did I know there would be a prize waiting for me in Bielsko at 8 pm, three hours passed my estimated arrival time. Sebastian was frozen to the bone but had a calmness to his face I haven’t seen in a long time. Perhaps he missed me, perhaps winter hikes in the mountains left their mark on him, or perhaps Grandma taught him a lesson of patience or two - with one hug I was all better.

Homemade bread and Pigwowka - remedy for winter blues and PKP. My cousin, an amazing mom of three, has recipes to top Martha Stewart’s. We stayed up way passed our curfew, reminiscing about wild berries the size of our heads we picked up while backpacking in Beskidy and high levels of Poprad river that seemed harmless at first and later flooded taking us by surprise. Our late teens came back in a flash. Sadly I don’t even have one photo of us taken this memorable night. We'll make up for it next time.