Class of 2008
Major: ECE
Project Center: London, England
Interactive Qualifying Project: Investigating the use of overnight lighting in commercial shops and offices as part of a global effort to reduce carbon emissions and reverse global warming.
Tom Niemczycki
January 8, 2007
Tom and Laura at Royal Castle in Cracow, Poland
It’s been quite an adventure since I last wrote over a week ago. After landing in Warsaw, Poland, Laura and I took another plane to the city of Wroclaw, which is where I am originally from. The trip there went smoothly, but we were definitely exhausted once we arrived. Most of the first week in Europe was spent by getting over the jetlag. We could barely keep our eyes open by 8 in the evening or so, but it was difficult to sleep past 3 am. It became easier to sleep with each passing night, though.
While in Poland, we stayed with some of my family, but we did plenty of sightseeing too. Wroclaw is littered with historical churches, monuments, and museums. Since I enjoy playing the part of a tourist, I made it a point to see as much as possible in the week we had there. Much of the time we just walked around the city, which is friendly to pedestrians and offers great sights along its riverbanks. We visited several historical museums and enjoyed a worry-free vacation to prepare for the intensive project ahead.
One of the highlights of our trip to Poland was a day trip we took to the city of Cracow. The historic city has plenty to see including an old part of the city with a town square, which is common in large Polish cities. We took a train at 4:30 am so that we would arrive by 9 and have a full day for sightseeing, as it gets dark early in the winter. We walked up and down the streets lined with shops and restaurants as we made our way to the city’s ancient royal castle. There we toured the royal state rooms as well, treasury and armoury, as well as the royal cathedral and bell tower. It was exciting to see Cracow again, and even more so to introduce Laura to Polish history, as she had never visited the country before. At the end of the day, we still needed to get home, but our second train ride wasn’t quite as smooth as our first. The train was packed with travelers going to Wroclaw for New Year’s, and we ended up standing in the aisle for the entire trip. Though tired, we made it back safely. All in all, we agreed that we had a great day, despite the hassles of traveling.
My favorite part of our stay in Poland, however, was New Year’s Eve in Wroclaw. The city put on a massive concert and celebration in the town square that was televised nationally. Over 140,000 people were there by midnight. The city square is pretty big, but it was so packed you could barely move around. The concert stage itself was pretty amazing with pyrotechnics, giant screens, and lasers. It was a pretty good show, and at midnight the place went mad. Champagne bottles flew open and fireworks lit up the sky. It was neat because the fireworks went off directly overhead, and they seemed a lot closer than any I had ever seen before. They only lasted a few minutes, however, which was kind of disappointing. We still had a really good time nonetheless.
A few days later it was time to part with my family in Poland and continue on to London, though this trip wasn’t without its misadventure. One thing to note about Europe is that it is relatively cheap to travel by air within the continent. There are plenty of discount airlines that connect almost any two cities. The downside to traveling this way, however, is that you are allotted very little baggage, and by exceeding the limit you face pretty outrageous fines. Well, our airline misled us to believe we were allowed to have a 32 Kg suitcase when I called to confirm our reservation two days before the flight. When we arrived at the airport early on Friday morning, we were shocked to find out that we were only allowed 20 Kg. Having no other option, however, we ended up paying the $180 fee just to get our bags to London. Laura and I were both angry at the airline as our tickets were no longer the good deal we would have had originally. The rest of the two-hour flight went well, however, and we arrived in London without any problems.
The first thing we had to take care of after landing at London’s Gatwick airport was getting through customs. When we had arrived in Poland, we pretty much just showed our passports and kept walking; the UK is a bit more strict. I had no problem since I carry a Polish and American passport, so I can move easily throughout the European Union. Laura was asked a few more questions about where she was staying and for how long, but we both go through without any problems. We claimed our luggage and grabbed a quick bite to eat at the airport food court.
I had bought £100 while still in Poland to get started upon arrival in the UK. There’s a funny thing about British money, the pound, in that it’s very expensive. At the airport Burger King where we ate, I paid just over £8 for two value meals, which I thought wasn’t bad. I took a minute to think about it, though, and soon came to realize that we had actually just spent the equivalent of almost $20 on two BK meals. London is one of the world’s most expensive cities and the pound is the most expensive currency. This increase in the cost of living was twice the shock for us since we had just come from a country where everything actually cost about 1/3 the dollar equivalency to a place where it costs twice as much! I suppose that’s the one downside of doing a project here.
Nevertheless, we finished up our pricey meals, bought train tickets, and caught the next train to Victoria Station, in the heart of London. Gatwick airport is further out in the city, but the 45 minute ride in allowed us to see the truly grand expanse of the metropolis. London is really big; it just stretches seemingly without end. Even though it is so large in area, it is also incredibly dense, with buildings packed closely together. I enjoy being in cities, but I have never actually lived anywhere nearly this big. I was pretty excited to experience it first hand, though.
After we arrived at Victoria Station, the last part of our journey would be to take a taxi to IES, which is the residence hall where I will be living. British taxis are awesome. Apparently it’s a really big deal to be a London cabby, and one must know the city very well. Anyway, the taxis all look like classic cars, and they’re really neat. The seats are in the very back where the trunk would be so that you have room to pull your luggage in and keep it in front of you. In the front, there’s a digital meter that keeps track of your fare as you go to your destination. The ride only took about 10 minutes, and we paid £6. I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to tip the driver here, but I gave him a pound just in case.
We had arrived at what would be our home. The rest of the group from WPI would arrive on the next morning, which was Saturday. We had until then to relax after our travels. We definitely had a busy weekend in store.
Until next time,
Tom
In London
