The first few Poland pictures

I'm back from my PET CT scan, Will has started on our residency paperwork (it's much more relaxed with 90 days now, instead of the 45 we had years ago), and today is the last day of quarantine, unless they extend it again. So, I'll start to tell about our trip to Poland:

We flew to Kraków on a Tuesday. Some friends of ours happened to be on the plane with us, and their little girl was thrilled to see our girls. She entertained everyone on the plane with her joy in her first flight, too. When we arrived, we said goodbye to those friends, and our Kraków friend met us and drove us to the apartment we had rented for the week. He had a whole bag of food for our dinner and breakfast. We ate and went to bed. That night, between some very loud neighbours and not-so-good sleeping arrangements, we didn't sleep much, but we survived.

Bogdan drew this view.

The next morning Will and I went to Starbucks (!), then the Ukrainian consulate to apply for our visas. Our kids stayed by themselves at the apartment. (They don't need visas.) The consulate was packed with people. They accepted our documents, but weren't sure about our insurance. It's the insurance we buy every year for residency; still, the man behind the desk said that he would need to ask about it. We went out to pay at their bank, then back to the consulate to show that we had paid. All that took a while. Then we were supposed to come back again at 2:30. So, we walked to the apartment, ate lunch, and rested a little. When it was time to return to the consulate, we all went. We planned to pick up our visas, then walk on to our friends' house. The consulate decided that our insurance wasn't enough. It's good for living in Ukraine, but not for entering Ukraine and for the 90 days after entrance that the visas would be good for. So, Will went off to buy more insurance. The man warned him that it might be hard, because most places don't want to sell to non-residents, but he gave him several options to try and told him that he would wait for him to come back, even though the consulate was closed to visitors. The rest of us walked on, saw ducks in a creek, and enjoyed time with our friends. When Will was done, Jon picked him up, and we all had dinner together. 

Drawing, first thing in the morning

To record the fact that she was practicing

First picture of the ducks in the creek

That night we arranged everything better for sleep, and our new neighbours were quiet, so we were much happier. There aren't many photos from that first day, but get ready for lots from the rest of our time in Poland....