While waiting for our plane (to... Krakow, Poland! New country pin for our wall map!) ...we
watched a RyanAir passenger get charged 60 Euros for a bag that was
oversize by about 4 inches. Bummer for that backpacker. Before the trip, I forced
the boys to get out the tape measurer and triple-check the size of our
bags. I heard horror stories, and I was not going to be
one of them. [Secret tips if you think it's going to be close: after
security and before the gate, wear 2-3 layers of your bulkiest clothes,
hats, scarves, etc., boys - wear cargo pants and stuff the pockets with
odd-sized things like toiletries and electronics, girls - if you're
desperate, fake a pregnancy...seriously, I've seen it done successfully.
Or if you're preparing in advance, bring a vest with giant pockets to
store things. These tips could save you at least 4 inches...and the nightmare of
paying a fee 4x the price of your original plane ticket.]
Poor RyanAir gets a lot of bad reviews... but honestly, we have flown about 10 times on this airline and never had a problem. 1: You get what you pay for...it's a "budget" airline for a reason. The cost of our flights have ranged from 7 Euros - 50 Euros (when the alternative flights were 4-5 times the price). And 2: They tell you ALL the rules upfront and send you multiple emails to remind you. For example you MUST check-in online at least 2 hours before your flight, you MUST print and bring your boarding pass, and everything MUST fit inside your ONE carry-on bag (even newspapers, cameras, purses, etc.) or they WILL charge you a fee of 60-75 Euros depending on the location and violation. Yes, the fees are outrageous. Yes, we heard stories of large families breaking all these rules and paying over 1,000 Euros... but it comes down to this: They are not evil. Just follow directions and you will have a pleasant experience! Simple as that.
After arriving in Poland, we were picked up at the airport by our Couch Surfer host, Anna. She took us to a yummy, traditional polish restaurant! I had meat pierogi, Husband had deer, and Dave had wild boar. We also tried beet soup, sour soup, mushrooms and a delicious lemon meringue dessert. It was quite the feast! Anna and her son Hubert, explained all about the Polish government, education, and health care...which is horrible! They are forced to pay for public healthcare which is very low quality and takes MONTHS to get the treatment you need tomorrow, and if people choose to go private (which you must do if you want trustworthy, timely care), then they have to pay for it on top of what they already pay for public, so essentially they're paying twice. So messed up. They also talked about how most Polish people dislike Germany and Russia... and understandably so. They were oppressed by these countries for many years. Their land and liberty was stolen from them. We were reminded how lucky we are to live in America!
The city of Krakow was pretty, but we didn't have very much time to explore it. Plus... it was raining. Blah. So we just visited the town square and ate my favorite dinner of yummy Kebab (sort of like a gyro in a pita, tortilla or bun... and oh-so-delicious).
Poor RyanAir gets a lot of bad reviews... but honestly, we have flown about 10 times on this airline and never had a problem. 1: You get what you pay for...it's a "budget" airline for a reason. The cost of our flights have ranged from 7 Euros - 50 Euros (when the alternative flights were 4-5 times the price). And 2: They tell you ALL the rules upfront and send you multiple emails to remind you. For example you MUST check-in online at least 2 hours before your flight, you MUST print and bring your boarding pass, and everything MUST fit inside your ONE carry-on bag (even newspapers, cameras, purses, etc.) or they WILL charge you a fee of 60-75 Euros depending on the location and violation. Yes, the fees are outrageous. Yes, we heard stories of large families breaking all these rules and paying over 1,000 Euros... but it comes down to this: They are not evil. Just follow directions and you will have a pleasant experience! Simple as that.
After arriving in Poland, we were picked up at the airport by our Couch Surfer host, Anna. She took us to a yummy, traditional polish restaurant! I had meat pierogi, Husband had deer, and Dave had wild boar. We also tried beet soup, sour soup, mushrooms and a delicious lemon meringue dessert. It was quite the feast! Anna and her son Hubert, explained all about the Polish government, education, and health care...which is horrible! They are forced to pay for public healthcare which is very low quality and takes MONTHS to get the treatment you need tomorrow, and if people choose to go private (which you must do if you want trustworthy, timely care), then they have to pay for it on top of what they already pay for public, so essentially they're paying twice. So messed up. They also talked about how most Polish people dislike Germany and Russia... and understandably so. They were oppressed by these countries for many years. Their land and liberty was stolen from them. We were reminded how lucky we are to live in America!
The city of Krakow was pretty, but we didn't have very much time to explore it. Plus... it was raining. Blah. So we just visited the town square and ate my favorite dinner of yummy Kebab (sort of like a gyro in a pita, tortilla or bun... and oh-so-delicious).
Poland was another great Couch Surfing experience. I always learn so
much from the people. I feel like as an American I have been kept in a
"bubble." They knew so much about our government, education, healthcare... and I couldn't even name their prime minister. I
think I need to read more worldwide news!
Anyways, if the "local
experience" of Couch Surfing doesn't appeal to you... maybe the
financial benefit will. We saved at least 250-300 Euros by staying with
strangers. I would totally recommend it to everyone... at least try it once in your life!
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