two backpacks and a diaper bag

Sunday, March 25th. Warsaw-Krakow. We called an uber at 10:40 but after a few cancellations and vehicle changes, the assigned car did not arrive until 11:10. Good thing we left early.

We arrived at Warszawa Centralna at 11:25. There was a marathon going on so some streets were closed and we had to follow a detour.

Once inside the station, we found our train information on the screen and made our way to Platform 3. On our ticket, there was a listing for number 4. We thought it was the sector number. It turned out to be the carriage number instead. We had been standing under sector 4 waiting for the train but when the train arrived, we had to walk about 200 meters down the platform to get to our carriage. No big deal. Arthur was awake in his car seat the whole time and he was not crying.

When the train finally arrived at 11:40, we made our way to our carriage. There was a gap between the platform and the train and we had to go up two steps of stairs as well. So I took the car seat out of the stroller and carried it up the train while Sean folded the stroller and carried that up the train. We boarded last so that we could take our time getting our bags in order. As soon as we boarded, we placed the stroller and the two backpacks in the luggage compartment and we found our way to our seats. We had the two seats on the left and an aisle seat on the right facing forward.

Half an hour into the journey, Arthur got tired and sleepy. Sean first took Arthur to walk around the carriage. After a while, he decided to put Arthur to sleep using the car seat trick. It worked. He was so tired.

About 15 minutes later, the conductor checked our tickets. We showed him the electronic ticket and my passport. Those were all he required. Then he offered to move us to a private compartment in carriage number 2. He said it was free and the compartment is meant for family traveling with young children. He said we didn’t have to take up the offer but that we could first take a look at the option and decide later.

Arthur had just gone to sleep and I was hesitant to move him but I went to go see the compartment anyway. It looked nice. It would be quite a walk, but at least we would have some privacy to feed him. It would also help the other passengers, I guess, when Arthur decides to cry.

So I took my backpack and all our jackets while Sean carried the diaper bag and the car seat (with Arthur inside) and we made our way to carriage #2. I placed my bag once again in the luggage compartment next to our private seats and Sean placed Arthur on one of the seats and the diaper bag in the other seat. He then went back to our original carriage to grab his backpack and the stroller.

Ten minutes later, we were offered another free round of coffee, tea, or water. I took the tea. It came with a lemon packet. Thought I should try it.

I made a lemon tea, basically.

Arthur woke up not long after we moved seats. At this point, he had only gotten two very short naps, about 30 minutes each.

10 minutes before we arrived at the station, we put Arthur back to sleep. He woke up again on our way to the Airbnb though.

Once we got off the train, we decided to walk to the Airbnb. It was only going to be a 15-minute walk. Arthur woke up on our way there, and I had to take him out of the car seat for a moment before putting him back in. He was agreeable all the way until we got to our destination. Then he started screaming.

So I carried him while Sean pushed the stroller as we met the Airbnb owner’s friend to help us check in to the apartment.

It was a nice apartment. Unfortunately, the apartment did not have a dishwasher, an oven, and a dryer, as described on the listing. We asked the owner and they apologized. For us, it was fine not having a dishwasher and an oven, but the dryer was expected. When I looked for Airbnbs for all the cities, I made sure to filter out those that did not have washer and dryer. As proven from the past few weeks, a dryer had been essential for us traveling with a baby. We told the owner to update the listing and she said she would.

For now, we would make do with what we have in the apartment.

We decided to head back to the train station to do grocery shopping. Galleria Krakowska next to the train station has a huge Carrefour. When we left the apartment, Arthur was not asleep, but on the way, he fell asleep. We only brought the stroller with us, not the car seat, because the temperature was not as cold as in the places we’ve been in previously. We didn’t think we needed the car seat/stroller cocoon. When we got to the carrefour, though, Arthur woke up. Perhaps because he was feeling warm. I took him out of the car seat, took off his jacket top, and placed him back in the stroller.

We got the essentials for our stay in Krakow, and we got Arthur new sets of wet wipes. We had already bought a pack of Pampers when we were in Vilnius but we were now in need of new wet wipes for him.

Arthur did not mind staying in the stroller throughout the shopping experience. On the way back, however, he did not want to be placed in the stroller. So I carried him all the way back home.

We ended the night with a home-cooked meal. When we finally put Arthur down to sleep, he slept for 5 minutes, but then woke up crying. He just cried and cried and cried. At the top of his lungs. We had to turn on the lights and talk to him in order to calm him down.

I think he was just too tired. He essentially had four 30-minute nap during the day. It wasn’t much. He looked soooo tired by 7 pm but he refused to sleep and when he realized he was being put to sleep, he would cry so much.

He finally slept around 8:45… and he continued sleeping until about 2:30. Almost 6 hours!!! Yay. I woke up to feed him and change his diapers feeling so refreshed. He went back to sleep again around 3 and then woke up again at 4, 5, and 7. I felt more refreshed at 2:30 than at 7 when I finally got up. I was still thankful for the longest sleep I got so far in this trip.