Krakow...Sardinia...and Pete & Amy :)

This past week was all pretty random and very much came together at the last minute. We found a good deal to Krakow, Poland so we jumped at the chance for that -and since we also had the entire following week off we made the most of it and took 6days of beach relaxing in Sardinia, Italy. We flew back just in time to meet Pete & Amy at the airport and spend two days in Zurich with them before they left for Croatia / Montenegro and Istanbul. Such fun!

First things first - KRAKOW.
What can I say about this city....so beautiful. Very eastern europe and not at all crowded with tourists. We basically just strolled around, took a carriage ride through the old town, and enjoyed the people watching...

Some views of the main square in Krakow:


We also visited the famous Welychka salt mines (Bruce, we thought you might like that we actually went to a salt mine :) which was a pretty cool tour. The caves were enormous and every single thing was carved from salt blocks (statues, entire churches etc.) In particular, we got to visit the largest underground church in the world (or something like that). Everything right down to the crystals on the chandeliers are made of salt...it was incredible! There was even a huge replica of the Last Supper carved from salt...you get the idea.

The underground church:
Entrance to one of the many underground lakes:

Krakow is also home of Auschwitz. The visit to the two concentration camps was extremely moving and very sad. We were walked through the barracks, work rooms, even the gas chambers and creamtorium. It is tough to really process all that information especially when standing in the exact spot that it all happened.
Nevertheless, we are glad we went.

Auschwitz:


From Krakow we flew to Milan, spent the night (which gave me a chance to finally see the famous church there, which somehow I had never seen):


From Milan, we were finally on our way to Sardinia. It was really an amazing island - it reminded me of Lake Tahoe (dry, pine trees, hot) on the inside but once we hit the coastal roads in our little rental it was all white sandy beaches and emerald water. We spent 5 wonderful days just realxing on the beach under an umbrella, swimming in the Med and eating yummy seafood :) Very highly recommended!

Andy strolling :)


Our favorite beach, Pula:


Us in front of Chia beach:


Andy having his third strawberry tequila popper:


Me in the town of Pula - getting bigger by the minute:


We flew back into Zurich just in time to meet Pete & Amy at the airport! Our visit was too short but lots of fun. We showed them Zurich, took them to a few of our favorite restaurants and even did a full day in Lucern complete with mini-golf and a visit with an old Swiss friend of Pete's. We were also able to throw Amy a little birthday party with a bunch of our friends! She was pretty popular - of course, the waitresses did give out free tequila shots for her birthday :)

Pete, Amy & Andy:


And one last photo...just so everyone can see how big this kid is getting (16 weeks) with my friend Kacey who is due in December:


Well that is all for now I suppose. Next up, we'll be flying home for a quick visit and Robin and Chris' wedding! Cannot wait :)