WOW----Where do I start

Well, needless to say, Krakow was quite a trip. I will try to keep it somewhat brief, but it will be hard, as this is my favorite city. We left the Uno very early to get to the train on Monday night. We had to catch the train at Otrokovice at 12:48am. When we were riding on the bus, the bus patrol? got on to make sure everyone had tickets. It was funny, because he got on, showed his keychain to Heath, and then looked at us. We had no idea if he was trying to sell keychains or what?! We finally figured it out, but we also figured out that ALL the wierdos travel at night around here. When we got off at Otrokovice, "buttcrack" guy was showing us almost the entire crack, then he started peeing in the grass right outside the bus stop. Apparently, that is no biggie around here...YUCK!! At the train station, we also saw "Betsy Wetsie---the lady from the last bug ride who peed on herself. So, we all stayed in our little group away from all of the night people. We got on the train with no problem, and had very nice sleeper cars to ride in. Well, almost immediately after the train started moving, the conductor said that we had reservations for sleeper cars, but not tickets...WHAT!!!!!!! Apparently, that was all we bought. We called Marcella from ivfvacation.com, and had her tell us what he was saying. So, at the next long stop, Jeremy and Heath had to get off and get money to pay for the tickets. So our tickets that we thought were only $45 each, ended up being $75 each...still not too bad, but quite headache. We got to Krakow with no problem, but the train station is SOOOO much bigger than I remembered from 11 years ago. We were lucky that the bus station was right there, and that a LOT of Poles speak English. We easily got our bus tickets to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and got there at about 8:30am. We toured the entire thing, which is quite a bit to soak in quickly, before 1pm. It was extremely crowded compared to last time I was there. I definitely preferred to tour the concentration camp without all the people. It amazed me how people did not follow the rules or even the signs asking for silence in certain areas out of respect. It really made me mad...this is not just another photo-op!!!! Anyway, enough about that. We decided to spend the afternoon in Krakow's square, as it would be much happier that the morning trip. We visited the Wawel Castle, which has been there since before recorded history. Needless to say, the square did not disappoint. It was also much more crowded that last time I was there, but the cathedral was beautiful, the Cloth Hall was full of all kinds of goodies and souvenirs, and the outdoor cafes were intriguing. We bought great souvenirs here, took fabulous pictures, and just soaked up the culture. I had my first perogi in a little courtyard cafe off the square. It as interesting, but probably not my favorite thing I have had so far. Jeremy at keilbasa and roasted garlic potatoes in the square...his meal was the best by far. After dinner, we sat around and listened to a few great street musicians in the square before we had to leave for the train station. Trains are always interesting, as we thought we had our return tickets down pat too...but apparently the station that sold our tickets sold us seat tickets, but our train only has sleepers or couchettes available, so we had to upgrade again. Jeremy had to do 2 40 yard dashes to the ATM to get enough zlote to pay the conductor. The first run was for the number he wrote on the paper, but apparently that was only for one person, so he had to make another run. We all couldn't help but feel a little scalped about the entire situation, but what could we do...we have to get back to Zlin. All in all, the roundtrip tickets for sleeper cars there and couchettes back (over 6 hours each way) was about $125 a person...not too bad, but definitely more than we expected. Thankfully, everyone said that Krakow was their favorite city that we have visited yet. We got back to Zlin around 5:00 this morning, and went immediately to bed. Today is Joy's transfer, and we are hoping and praying for the best for her. We found out that one of our friends, from Alaska, that was here earlier got a BFN yesterday...that's a big, fat negative. That really brings everything back into perspective. Science can do everything right (her donor gave her 26 eggs with 6 grade 1 eggs...the best you can get), but it is ultimately up to God on whether or not it takes. We can only control so much. Today, we will find out more about our little eggs, so I will blog more later.