I have 2 weeks holiday, Susanne has 1. I went to Poland and Slovakia for a week, Susanne went to visit our new niece (Jule) in Bielefeld. She's very cute, and so is Jule
I took the train to Wroclaw, Poland, stayed a couple days, then took the train to Krakow. In Krakow I biked around, took the train to Auschwitz, then trained south to Zakopane at the foot of the Tatra mtns. They're like a small Alps. I then biked around them to Slovakia to a small town called Pisska Bela, then biked on to Poprad and a little bit up into the Tatras again. I missed Susanne too much, and caught a train back to Leipzig.

Poland and Slovakia are similar to Germany, except poorer, dirtier, and not as comfortable with foreigners. Most don't speak a second language, but it seems German is more common than others. Both are much cheaper to travel in than Germany, and the standards (train, hotels, food, shopping, etc.) are as or nearly as high.

You can check out photos at www.flickr.com/photos/wduplooy and videos at www.putfile.com/warrenduplooy

Bye.