Cruising around Krakow

I hope you're all ready for some image overload. Krakow was a beautiful city, and I took tons of amazing pictures there. I've narrowed the list down to some of my favorites, but it's still a lot of photos. Do not be misled, however. I was in Krakow for a conference, and I spent most of my time in class. These pictures were taken during lunch and dinner breaks. Most of my time was spent in the hotel conference room stuffing myself on delicious Polish snacks and way too much coffee while listening to presenters and trading advice and ideas. The conference was quite interesting. I took away a lot of useful information and also discarded some advice that did not apply to my situation. I think that most conferences go that way, though. Some ideas and activities really click well and prove useful, and then there are other ideas or activities that you would probably never use. I'm happy to have participated not only because I learned from my classes but because it gave me the opportunity to talk to my colleagues around Eastern Europe. The conference was for all of the Fulbright ETA's teaching in Eastern Europe, and I got to learn about their classrooms and what they have found useful as well as share my own stories and successes. While I disagreed with some of the management advice given, I walked away with a lot of ideas for activities and lessons that I hope will prove useful, especially with the ninth graders. I'm hoping to implement some of my new ideas in the spring. In the meantime, enjoy some beautiful pictures of Krakow!

The church in the center of Krakow

Same church, different angle

Love this building!

Central market where you can buy amber and pottery and other souvenirs

This used to be the town hall, but only the tower is still standing

On our way to visit Jagiellonian University, one of the oldest universities in Europe

Rocking my nerdy smile

Inside the courtyard of the university

I want one of these! You put a book on each little shelf thing, and then you can spin the wheel and access up to six books at one time. So cool!

Playing the artsy Chopin piano with my friend Laura

We found a cupcake store! So yummy!!

Krakow at night. Look at the way the light throws up a bat signal on the opposite building. :P