Krakow - Minsk

I managed to get the 5 PM train to Warsaw, and was pleasantly surprised to share the train compartment with a Polish girl who spoke English. Incredibly, we talked for the entire three hour train trip. She mentioned a few things of note. Firstly, she hates the twins who are the PM and president of Poland, describing them as xenophobic. She also mentioned that many of her classes were in English at university, and that the majority of young people have to speak English. After arriving in Warsaw, I had a short wait at the train station, where I bought a kebab. The train to Minsk was not Polish, but Belarussian. I shared my compartment with three others, one Pole and two Belarussians. The Pole and one of the Belarussians spoke poor Spanish, so I actually used my Spanish a bit. One of the Belarussians, a young guy, spoke excellent English. They seemed mystified as to why I would visit Minsk. When I asked them what there was to do, they weren't able to advise of anything. I didn't sleep much until getting to the border as the light was left on in the compartment. The border took tow hours. The Polish officer took one look at my passport and gave it back. The Belarussian officer took everyone's passport out of the compartment, and after about forty-five minutes came back with them. After much grinding of the rails (due to the change in gauge between former Soviet countries and the rest of Europe), we were on our way. During the night, the Pole started snoring. Unfortunately, I could not find my earplugs, and instead listened to Philip Glass, which put me right out. At about 8 in the morning, we arrived in Minsk.