TRAVEL ONWARDS

Monday 10th May.

This was a straight forward day, with the simple task of leaving Krakow and
getting to Wroclaw. I had decided to go by train as any bus timetables didn't
seem to appear in the Internet.

Target: Catch a train around 11:30am
Packed, breakfast, chat to staff, head off for the tram to station.
Find ticket office and the first window I tried had an English speaking seller.
She check my train details, said the Intercity had been replaced by a lesser
train but all other details the same. Price was cheaper than expected.
Time for espresso
Down ramp to the underpass to platforms. Ah the lift for platform 4 is working.
No need to carry bag up stairs.
Wait for train once asked which direction it is coming from. It arrives on time,
but the first class wagon is at the back and I am waiting at the front. Rush
along platform. This is a long train. So get into a second class wagon and walk
along the passageway and through the dining car. The first class wagon is
pretty full with several in each six seat compartment. I go into the final
compartment which had two men only.

Find compartment is HOT. The heating seems stuck on full. However they have the
window fully down and door open. I put a jacket over the gap between seats to
block hot air blasting up at me.

Five hours of this. However the old man by the window leaves part way through my
trip and I move to that seat an can now face direction of travel. Dirty windows
and I didn't take any photos.
Listened to walkman and read book about an Australian traveling in California.
Light reading.

Impressions out the window. Lovely woodland forests at times. Lots of farming,
no animals, some large fields of a yellow flowering plant. Looked rather pretty
certainly colourful.

Lots of railway marshaling yards mostly seemed disused. Some decaying railway
wagons parked in sidings. Stations have very long platforms. Mostly empty. Lots
of graffiti on walls alongside railway in towns and some on trains themselves.

Strangely in the last 40 minutes of my trip the hot air stopped.

Train was on a long journey across Poland and my five hours was only about half
its full trip.
Down stairs from platform at Wroclaw and out a temporary exit as big renovation
underway.
Hostel instructions are clear tram stop is in right place. Problem: hostel says
take tram 0L which I do but it goes in the wrong direction. Still I soon work
that out and get out and take the reverse tram 0P. Get back to station and stay
on and yes I get to the hostel tram stop. Already I have seen a bit of what is
quite a bug city.

Find hostel easily. It is on second floor but oh joy! It has an elevator. Great.
At reception bumped into and USA male who had also been at the Lublin hostel.
Single room is adequate and has window looking out onto the roadway. This turns
out to be rather noisy at night.
Old town square is five minutes walk away and headed off to check out meal
options. Looks a bit expensive, so had that famous Polish treat, KFC.
Continued walking around the central square which is large and isn't square then
back to hostel to Skype Robyn on Durham.