Into our second month of travelling and no one has killed anyone yet! This morning, we took our time getting ready to leave, visiting with a young couple from Germany. The Hostel Helvetia has been Margaret's favourite so far because the receptionist was friendly, the sights and food markets were close, the kitchen wasn't busy, and everything was really clean and bright. And what she enjoyed most was how friendly it was. We visited with many different people and...

Cloudy, windy, warm, and perfect for walking; Warsaw called and we answered. The hostel had laundry service and a free breakfast, so we left full, after a great meal, and looking forward to smelling better on our return. First, we walked down Krakowski Przedwieceie Street - Margaret obsessed with doing her own walking tour using the hostel's Warsaw in Short. We walked to the Royal Castle and then we wandered back. The kids read out the historical significance...

Oh my goodness. First off, we woke up to pouring rain. Had we stayed in Berlin one extra night, we would have arrived in Malbork to find it totally booked, with the castle closed, and …RAIN!!!! Thank heavens, we skipped the zoo! We had to reserve a place on the train, so we got up early, had breakfast, and got to the station in plenty of time to reserve our seats. We thought we were totally cool. A first train went by and it left incredibly fast. The next train...

Barry got out of bed earlier than the rest of us and set out on a quest to discover more about the town. He returned in time for breakfast, but then he and Connor left on another reconnaissance while Tessa and Mom worked on the blog. An hour later, the boys returned with good news. We were changing accommodations. They negotiated a nicer room than we had for a minimal price increase, so we went across the street to the 400 zloty Hotel Grot, where we had incredib...

How much can a person write about a day-long train ride? When we awoke to rain in Berlin, we decided to skip a full visit to the zoo and, instead, head for Poland. Barry had tried to book a hostel and various 2 star hotels in advance, but no one responded to e-mails. So, we decided it was better to get there early and seek shelter at 7:30 p.m. rather than in the dark. The train ride was…interesting. We like riding the trains, so we hope this experience doesn't...