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I am back in the good ol' USA, having returned from all my adventures abroad on Friday, July 9th.  People have such cool stories to tell about the cool people who sit next to them on planes, and it never happened to me.  This time, however, I sat next to an interesting lady from Pennsylvania who was part of a group coming back from Slovakia, where they spent about 2 weeks learning Rusyn, her family's ancestral language.  We had a nice talk- turns out Polish and Slovakian food is very similar.  I guess that's not that surprising.
Unpacking all my things is always easier than packing them, and I love giving out the presents I got for my family and friends, as well as seeing all the souvenirs I got for myself.  Over my entire journey, I have collected about 15 shotglasses (one from every city) and 7 mugs (one from every major city), as well as other things I felt like buying wherever I was.
My days are no longer as exciting, at least in the sense that I don't get to visit a new city every few days and actually have responsibilities now.  I'm spending the bulk of my time working- this is my third summer in a developmental biology lab, where I study the development of the cardiac conduction system.  Another huge thing is that I'm studying for the MCAT- my test date is September 11th.  I already postponed my test date once when I realized that I didn't have enough time to study for the exam before leaving for Greece.  Now this is it- I'm going to study hard and get a good score!  Hopefully I can find time to take a mini-vacation/roadtrip somewhere cool in the US to ease the withdrawal from traveling.  :)

This past weekend, I went to stay with my cousin Gosia for a few days.  On Friday night, we went to the rynek (town square) in Tarnow.  During the day, it's pretty empty, but in the evening, it was full of people sitting in the beer gardens.  On Saturday, we went to Zakopane, a city in the mountains.  We walked down Krupowki and rode to the top of Gubalowka, a mountain.  It was a pretty short stay because there was a lot of traffic on the way there, and we were with small children.  On Sunday, we took the train to Krakow, a very old city that used to be the capital of Poland.  There we saw Florian's Gate, Wawel Castle with the dragon's cave, the Jagellonian University, and St. Mary's Church. 
I spent the rest of the week visiting family before my departure.  Tomorrow I'll be back in Chicago!  I'm happy to go home, but on the other hand I'd like to stay here longer.  Hopefully I can come back soon!

On the last full day of my trip, I visited Schonbrunn Palace.  The palace is nice, but the gardens are beautiful.  So many fountains and flowers!  After Schonbrunn, I went to Karlsplatz and saw the Karlskierche (Church), then I walked to the Opera House.  On the way, I got a kaiserkraner, which is a bratwurst filled with cheese in a bun.  It was delicious!  Next to the Opera House is the Hotel Sacher, with its famous Sachertorte.  Of course, I got a piece.  It's chocolate cake layered with apricot jam.  Yum!  I then strolled through the Vokesgarten, and then saw the Parliament and City Hall (Rathaus).  I ended my day in the Museums Quartier, where I went to an exhibition on British fashion.  I was super tired, so I went to the park and read.  An excellent end to an excellent trip.   The next morning at 7am (!) I caught the train to Katowice, then from Katowice to Tarnow. 
Now I only have 9 days left in Poland!  I've started my MCAT class, so now I have to study!  Hopefully I'll go to Krakow this weekend.