Well I'm on the train to Warsaw, stewing in my own body odor. I made the colossal mistake of forgetting to put on deoderant this morning before I left my hostel. It's a 25 minute walk to the train station, and with a 30 lb pack on my shoulders, I was drenched in sweat by the time I finally got to sit down on the train. At first, I thought it was someone else in my carriage, but nope it's me. Which sucks, because not only is my deoderant packed within the catacombs of my bag, but I also cannot wear the three shirts I have on again until I wash them properly.

It's a complete blizzard outside. They kept saying heavy snow, but I was skeptical - I thought it would just be flurries, and I definitely didn't think it would stick. Ha. Everything is completely white. It's actually really pretty, but I still have seven weeks left, and I don't know if I can deal with this weather for quite that long. I usually spend so much time outside exploring, but this weather makes me want to curl up with a cup of tea and a book.

I got to the train station about 30 minutes before my train left, and I went to sit in the waiting room, only to find it occupied by homeless men and about twenty pigeons. Seriously? How awkward.

I picked up a collection of adult short stories by Roald Dahl at my last hostel - he's such a fantastic writer. The stories are all quite odd and based in irony - kind of along the lines of "karmas a bitch". It's a good easy read, plus it's nice to be able to read one story at a time. It fits the nomadic nature of backpacking.

I'm so much more comfortable, as well as confident, traveling than I was before. I think I can start moving between destinations more frequently. Plus, I don't like being somewhere and not having anything to do because I've exhausted all options of interest. While I loved Krakow, I am extremely glad I'll be in a different city tonight. Once I get tired of someplace I tend to get homesick - yesterday it was all "I still have 7 weeks left! That's soooo long" and today, with the prospect of a new environment it's all "I only have seven weeks left?! Oh no!". This solo traveling ordeal kinda makes me feel bipolar.

We just passed this pine forest where a good deal of the trees were bent - some of the tops were touching the ground yet the trunks weren't cracked at all . . . very cool. Riley, if you're reading, that's mostly for you and your fascination with trees :)

Because I'm bored - a brief narration in the life of an Aussie:
"This morning I had some vegemite on toast for brekkie, while I caught the news on the telly. I donned my sunnies and my runners and headed out to meet my mate before uni. As I was leaving, I waved g'day to the garbo as he was picking up our rubbish."

Later today:

My first impression upon leaving the Warsaw train station today was in fact "huh, this place is a shithole." But I think it was mainly due to the sleeting, slushy mess that I walked into. This weather is absolutely unbelievable. I'm just not ready for it this early in the year. Anyway, after a change of clothes, liberal amounts of deoderant, and some research on Warsaw, I've found that the city has quite a bit to offer. Despite the weather, I'm looking forward to going out to explore the city tomorrow. Thankfully I didn't have to go back out today since two Aussies volunteered to go to the store to get food for a group stir fry.

This hostel is quite nice, except there's practically no one here. I guess I'll be running into that more now that it's getting later in the year. Thankfully the people that are here are cool. It's a very homey atmosphere - the workers are just sitting in the common room with us watching a football game, and they made us popcorn and gave us cookies. Or I guess I should say biscuits.

I'll have two full days here, which hopefully will be enough, and then I'm over to Wroclaw. I really need to stop booking so far ahead. I've already booked my hostel in Wroclaw, which annoys me, because what if I want to stay here longer? I need to learn to be more spur of the moment. I did wait until today to buy my train ticket, so I certainly am getting better.