Old City - Stare Miasto

We went to my grandma’s office because they were having a small Christmas gathering. It was a lot of fun, laughter and food. We had some vodka as well, people started singing Christmas carols. More laughter. A great time!

We then went to an old part of town. The city put up lights all over the place. It was nicely lit up. Took some pictures of it all. Really pretty!

Palac Kultury - a gift build by the Russian 1955

Sw. Krzyza

Grob Nieznanego Zolnierza - grave of the unknown solider

Fontanna na Krakowskim Przedmiesciu

Zamek Krolewski - King's Castle

The next day we went to the health club again and workout some more. I did a small workout.

• 5 minutes running
• 25 pull ups
• 5 minutes running
• 50 push ups
• 5 minutes running
• 50 sit ups/crunches
• 5 minutes running
• stretched out A LOT

When I got home I was so tired that I took an hour nap. After that we went back to where we had gone the night before, but this time during the day so that I could take more pictures of the buildings. We went to the “Stare Miasto” (Old City). It’s where the King’s Castle is and a bunch of old buildings. So pretty, I wish I could have seen it back in the day, when King’s used to live there.

Barbakan

Zamek Królewski

Zamek Królewski

Pomnik Małego Powstańca

Kamienica na Starym Miescie

Recipe - Nalesniki (really thin pancakes)

• 2 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 2 1/4 cups of water
• pinch of salt

Flour

Flour and eggs

Add milk and water

Mix well

• Put oil on the frying pan, but not a lot. You have to figure out how much you need to pour of the batter so that the whole frying pan has a thin layer of the batter. The first one will not be perfect!
  

Pour batter onto frying pan

Let one side fry some until you can make it slide around by moving the frying pan

Flip it over and fry the other side - doesn't take more than 2 to 3 minutes to make one

Set them out on a plate

These ones have meat in them, but you can put nutella, jam, white polish cheese (still trying to find the name of it)

For the meat:

• Boil chicken with a one or two carrots
  
• use a mincing machine for the chicken and carrots
  
• add salt and pepper for taste
• fry it up on a frying pan

More about Poland

Monday morning we woke up at 6am and got ready to go to the health club. my grandma has been going at least two to three times a week. So, to not break her routine I went with her. Besides the fact that I need to get a good ass kicking.

Rob had given be a workout to do, but I couldn't do it because my knee was really hurting while doing squats. I decided to instead do some other things:

• On the oliptical machine I ran 5km in just under 11 minutes
• Did a workout set about 3 or 4 times where I did the following

1. 10 pull ups
2. 15 leg lifts
3. 10 push ups
4. 15 backward sit ups

• I did a bunch of abs on different machines
• I jumped roped for about 5 to 10 minutes
• I finished up with a pull up pyramid starting at 1 going to 10 and back down to 1

Man I feel wrecked. I also stretched out some and will do more stretching throughout the day.

My grandma and I

My grandma and I went shopping yet again, at another mall. We didn't get much. But we did a lot of walking and once we left the mall we did some sight seeing. Saw some old buildings and a few churches, all really pretty. Also saw the hospital where my mom was born. And we passed by the zoo. We headed back home after that and made some food.

Sw. Floriana Church

Czterech Spiacych Trzech Walczacych (4 asleep 3 fighting)

Old buildings

Cerkiew Prawoslawna

Grandpas house

I went to my grandpas today. I hung out there for the whole day. I also asked him a few questions about my family tree, since my grandma didn't know the answer to all my questions. He helped me fill in some few empty spots but I still have a few left.

Grandpa

My grandpa has a lot of sport channels, so we were watching the Winter Games. There was a polish ski jumper that got third place, Adam Malysz. There were two more polish guys that made it in the top 10. We also watched the cross country skiinga nd swimming. A new american swimmer won two gold metals while I was watching, but has won many more at the event.

My grandpa and his wife

And then we ate some more. And they kept handing me food, almost every 5 minutes I was asked if I wanted food. It was hard to keep saying no, finally I just said that I can't eat that much because I'm trying to stay in shape for a future climbing competition, which is true.

My grandpa and I

My grandpa was interested in climbing and how the competitions work. He, like everyone, asked if it was based on how fast you climb up the wall. I told him that there was a speed climbing event, but that there was also sport climbing and bouldering. I started to explain it all but he just wasn't understanding it.

Zuzia, my grandpa's dog

He gave me a scenario, what if three people all get to the top of all the climbs in the competition. How do you figure out who wins. So I said that it barely ever happens that two people climb all the climbs, but if they do I think that there is a super final. He didn't like that answer, and we talked and argued about it for about an hour. EPIC!

I have decided that when I get older, about 65 or so, I will travel. I will either buy a caravan and travel around the US, and hit up all the national parks, all the national land marks, everything or move to Europe and just travel around to all the famous places and tourist sports in Europe. Better yet, I'll do both. I got start saving up for this now!

Lots of eating not enough working out

Leaving my grandma's apartment, we are welcomed by even more snow. We were heading yet again to do some shopping.

Cars parked infront of my grandma's apartment

We took the metro to get to where we needed to go. We were going to the last stop on the metro called kabaty. Right outside the metro stop there is a big store, similar to Walmart, but it's named Tesco.

Metro station by my grandma's place

My grandma for some reason can't stand stores like that so it was kind of epic because she wanted to leave really fast and made it hard to get around. It's big but it's not as big as Walmart, so it is very crowded so it was hard to follow my grandma (who didn't have a cart and was walking really fast) and I had a cart.

Tesco

We ended buy a good amount of stuff, but we had to take the Metro back home, meaning we had to carry all of the stuff back home. We also bought a Christmas tree, off the side of th road. There are so many random places where people are selling freshly cut Christmas trees. We got a pretty small one, but it's big enough for us. It'a about three feet tall.

Grandma

I've been here two days and havn't worked out. I've done some abs and have been stretching every night, but I need to do more. So i'm going to start tonight.

Rob sent me a few work outs to do, since I don't have a pull up bar, I changed one of the them up a little bit. I did 15 minutes of Cindy's which are usually:

• 5 pull ups
• 10 push ups
• 15 air squats

You do as many sets as you can in that time limit
Instead, I did the following:

• 10 push ups
• 15 air squats
• 20 crunches

I feel so out of shape - I don't know how I will survive!

First days in Poland

not much has changed here in poland
everything looks the same and feels the same
there are a few more building up
a new car wash built by my grandma's place

it is pretty cold out through
this morning it was -10C so about 14F
the wind was blowing a little making it a bit colder
but we still headed into town
my grandma loves to buy me stuff so i let her
she got be an awesome warm black jacket

i'm still a little bit jet legged
so i'll probablly be going to bed early today as well
i forgot to take my camera with me today
but i'll take it with tomorrow and take some pics to put on here
i haven't been able to figure out the wireless here yet,
i don't think my grandma has it,
so maybe i'll ask the neighbors and see if i could get their password

Off to the homeland!

I'm flying out to chicago in the morning and then off to poland later that night!

so excited to be spending the holidays in poland - i get to see family i haven't seen in over two years!

Few days before poland

I've had and will have really busy days before I fly out to Poland

Today for example i worked the regular 12pm to 8pm shift at TBA, and at 8pm the lock in boyscout group came in with 31 people!! lots of people, but it was a great time,

luckily Theresa and Lu came around 10:30pm and let me go home

I have to work tomorrow as well

Later Sunday evening I'll be finishing up my education final exam project and studying for my last final that is on Tuesday

Monday i work at TBA as well

I'll have to take Oreo to Jimmy's parents on Tuesday as well, because someone has to watch him while we are both gone

Once in Poland I will be able to relax and not think about anything but having fun with my grandma and just hang out and do NOTHING!

It's break time from reality and I'm looking forward to it!

This weeks cross fit workout...

Monday:

We did something a little bit different...

We split the thrusters up,

meaing:

we paired up with someone that can use the same weights as us,

we would first do

12 shoulder push presses

then we would switch and the partner would do the same thing

then we would do

12 weighted squats

the partner would do the same thing

this was counted as one set

we did four sets

to finish up we did pulls up to death

you do:

1 pull up for the 1st min

2 pull ups for the 2nd min

3 pull ups for the 3rd min

and so on, until you can't do anymore pull ups

wednesday:

we are doing 75 Angies
those are:
75 pull ups
75 push ups
75 sit ups
75 air squats

you time it so see how fast you can complete all of those
you have to finish the pull ups before you do the push up and so on... till you are done!
i'll be soo sore tomorrow!

Triple Crown

The weather was not as good as it could have been
Within the first 30 minutes of the comp I was close to giving up
I feel off my warm up!
I went over to the Wave and watched a few people try it
I went ahead and chalked up the top out after trying it one time and falling
After that, I got psyched and attempted the Mechanic
I sent it first go which got me back on track and motivated to keep going despite the rain

The main thing that I had to do for most of the problems was get to the top and chalk it up so that the top out was safe - i think it was something that many climbers forgot about but luckily no serious injuries occurred

From what i heard, a hold towards the top of Spanky broke making the top a bit simpler than before, luckily the one that broke it didn't get injured - but i think he might of injured someone that was spotting him (don't quote me, it's just what i heard)

I had one more problem to do when a judge walked by and said that they were ending the competition earlier due to the unsafe conditions that the rain has produced - i quickly wrapped up my score card and went to turn it in

We drove back down in the buses to Urban Rocks where the awards we going to be held. A group of us went to the Terminal to eat dinner and then we headed back to the gym for awards. Before awards they did a crash pad stacking contest and the a speed climbing competition - which i competed in.

I LOVE SPEED CLIMBING - so much fun!

Awards started closely after.

We all need to thank the guys that put this event together. They bring so many climbers together, which makes the events so much fun. You see many old friends and make new ones. They always raise money for the SCC and help us preserve southern climbing destinations.

THANK YOU!

check out this write up in Rock and Ice

Cross fit Wednesday (12/1)

Rob was not able to come to the gym today

but he texted me the work out for the kids and I to do

All the kids did it, and I (along with Courtney) only did part of it due to the Triple Crown competition on Saturday

The full workout was:

15mins of Cindy's

In order:

• 5 pull ups
• 10 push ups
• 15 air squats

The point is to do as many as you can in the 15 min time period given

Courtney and I only did it for 10 mins and she did 10 sets and I did 8,

next time we will do the whole set

Following that we had to do pull-ups to death

This means:

Every minute you do one more pull up

1 min - 1 pull up

2 min - 2 pull ups

3 min - 3 pull ups

and so on, until either

1. you cannot do the right amount of pulls because you fail
2. you run out of time to finish up your pull ups

Courtney and I didn't do this part of the exercises because we had been climbing for about 3 to 4 hours in the gym alright, and we didn't want to get sore for the Triple Crown Competition

The kids though did to their pull ups