One of the most enjoyable parts of this trip (for me) is traveling to places I have absolutely no preconceived notions about. Poland is definitely one of those locales. Just as it was with Macedonia, Serbia, and Romania, I feel the same intangible sense of freedom being here. I can't quite put my finger on why, there is just something special about Eastern Europe! In any case, my blank image of Poland is beginning to fill with color.

We started our walk around town today with a big helping of ice cream. Oh hello waffle cup with fruit salad and three scoops of ice cream and a tower of whipped cream drizzled with berry sauce topped with a cookie for barely three euro!

One of the first things we noticed when we arrived in Kolobrzeg were these old communist apartment complexes. We're told the huge, blocky buildings are everywhere in Poland. I love the fact that they have the apartment name and block number written in mammoth letters on the side.

Signs here are, obviously, in Polish! Some are tangle of consonants, others not. This one was easy to decipher, and it made us smile.

Eastern European hairstyles are slightly more interesting than their western counterparts. So far, there is a marked increase in the number of women who have dyed their hair this specific hue of bright orangey-red.

The seaside town of Kolozbreg is quite pleasant. There is a quaint historical center, surrounded by shady green parks.

After we admired the dandelion-like fountain in the center of the park, we walked towards the main square, joining a crowd of onlookers amidst a sea of loud pop music.

Wondering what was going on, we squeezed through the throngs of people, heading to what looked like a stage. Sure enough, it was, and a young woman was performing a hip-hop dance on it.

When she was done, a young man got on stage and completely blew us away with his talented voice. I have no idea what he was singing, but it sounded incredible, and he could belt it out. It was about this time we were kicking ourselves for not remembering to bring the sound recorder:

After the singer, the other performances just didn't quite measure up. Still, it was fun to watch what we figured must be a talent show or competition. There were plenty of younger dancers…

…and high school aged performers as well.

After watching a few acts, we made our way back to the campsite to prepare for our departure tomorrow morning. When we were through, we celebrated the successful cleaning of our rain-fly (it was covered in sap) with a plate of tasty pirogies at the remarkably affordable campsite restaurant.