In which Emily spricht ein bisschen Deutsch!

21:36 -- Vienna, Austria

A few notes on the journey:

1. The very kind Polish flight attendant, when offering me dinner in Polish, recognized my face of total incomprehension and amended, "Chicken or beef?" This, I think, is indicative of the overall challenge I will have here. I said, "Neither," and explained I didn't eat meat. She looked at me, the look on her face dually expressing two thoughts: But you must eat! and How am I supposed to feed a person who doesn't eat real food? She kindly gave me the option where the meat could be easily separated out.

2. The Polish men I saw while in the Krakow airport have several things going for them: they are tall and broad-shouldered and in general very manly-looking. Also, they have impeccable cold-weather fashion, including long coats and scarves.

3. The female Polish flight attendants I encountered were universally beautiful, compact flight-attending machines who also happen to have impeccable cold-weather fashion (ankle-length, slender navy blue coats with LOTR-esque hoods!). I wanted to ask where they got their coats, but I resisted.

4. LOT (Polish airlines) has great coffee.

Note to self: visit Poland.