Regényes vándorutam: Musical Masuria and the bucket list

Last week with Elena, we continued our bucket list. We visited the new Jewish museum and in my opinion this museum is one of the best museums. It has some interactive parts and the rooms refer to the era which they present. The only problem is that it’s too much and one visitation is not enough.

Then we I had my last “exam” which was indeed a small conversation with a lovely teacher. We invited her for a piece of cake after the exam and we talked about many interesting things. At night Alba, the Spanish girl had a goodbye party and she left. She made a delicious pineapple cake and we went with her to the tram station and she started her trip to Europe. She was one of the fists who left Warsaw from our Erasmus group and we were a bit sad. But I hope (no, I know) we manage to organize a reunion and we will meet again.

Next day with Elena I went to Wilanów palace (it took a long time because of the buses) and we went inside the palace and again we admired the rose garden. After that we tried to go inside the Palace on the water in Łazienki park, but there was a private party (and they forgot to invite us) so we couldn’t get inside (again). Instead of the palace we went to the Botanic garden and enjoyed the special plants and flowers. On Friday we went to our faculty coordinator and then we had a late breakfast at Manekin restaurant. This place is well-known about its special pancakes. In the evening we celebrated Ionut’s birthday. He had a surprise party although first he thought something happened with his girlfriend and then he ran to her room where we had been waiting for him. Cristina, his girlfriend made a lot of sweets and we had a great party together.

On Saturday we (Elena, Tine and me) travelled to Masuria by Polskibus.
It was my first (and last) trip by Polskibus, which is one of the cheapest transport here and almost everybody has travelled with these buses yet except me. Now I did and in Olsztyn we changed to another bus to go to our destiny, Mragowo. There was an accident so our bus had to change the way but finally we arrived our town. Mragowo is a little town in Masuria next to a lake. Our accommodation was in a hotel but the three of us were the only guests. The building was nice but at night was a bit scary how empty and dark were the corridors and stairs. During the first day we explored the town and we had a walk next to the lake.

On the next day we went to the other side of the lake and rent a paddle boat. The water was calm and we could enjoy for a moment the sun as well. Then it started to rain but it stopped soon. I have to tell you that during our trip it was always a big chance for raining, so we were always happy if it was sunny. After the water bicycle it started to rain heavily and soon we became totally wet. We escaped into a pizzeria and then we went to the hotel to dry ourselves. Later we took a walk to another, smaller lake but it started to rain again. However, this small lake was beautiful and we saw two amazing rainbows. At night we watched a movie as we did every night.

On Monday we went to Mikołajki. It’s a bigger town with a beautiful lake. We decided to walk to another lake but after a while there were no way and we were walking in the fields. Then we met a man with his grandfather and they told us we have to go back to the town and from a bigger road we can reach our destination. The young man showed our way and we were talking in English and Polish (well not me, only Tine and Elena-Polish is not my language). Then we continued our tour and finally we reached the lake and the viewing tower. We saw a lot of swans and a moose, too. After that we went to another lake and viewing tower and we spoke with a lovely Polish couple and a Polish man as well. On that day we had a lot of great experiences and we walked a lot and fortunately the weather was OK. The nature was wonderful but we were tired. At the bus stop we realized that there were no buses going back to Mragowo so we decided to hitchhike. A Polish business man stopped and he took us to our town. We were lucky and now I have a small experience in this field.

On Tuesday we said goodbye to Mragowo and we explored Olsztyn and the castle where Copernic had lived and worked. Unfortunately we missed the bus and we had to travel back to Warsaw by train. But we travelled with new modern trains and it was interesting.

On the following day we went to our Erasmus coordinator who gave us our final documents. What a surprise, on my paper the sending institution was the Sofia University. In the evening we said goodbye to Diana who went back her home on the next day. On that day finally Elena and I managed to get inside the Palace on the water and we admired a lot of amazing rooms. Then I met with my mentor and we drank cocktails. Today we visited the amazing garden of the library and we went to the Planetarium where a special concert was.

Now the last weekend is coming as well as the end of the Erasmus. On the one hand I’m sad and I’d like to stay more but on the other hand I want to go home. I knew that one time the Erasmus life would end but it’s a strange feeling. “Every date will come at once.” So I have to move on but I will never forget my Erasmus and my friends. I will bring these experiences with me and I hope Erasmus got me something and thanks to it I became a better a person. (Not only me!) And this is the most important thing.