Wow!  What a trip to Poland!  First, we had to get all our luggage onto the train.  We had 20 team suitcases plus everything each person brought along.  We had luggage stuffed in every compartment.  It was my first time to travel platscart (cheap train travel with no privacy) which has about 50 passengers in one car.  There are four bunks between each wall and two bunks along the aisle walkway by the windows.  There are no doors and everything is open.  So you are literally looking at people’s feet as you walk down the corridor.  There is a bathroom at each end and a hot water pot where we could get hot water for tea.  Luckily I brought a cup so I didn’t have to buy tea just so I could have a cup. ;-)  We arrived in Brest, Belarus around 5:35 a.m.  Then we waited about 30 minutes before going through customs for the electrishka (electric train) that take us into Poland.  We got on and rode for about 20-30 minutes and then waiting at least that long for them to check our documents and stamp our passports.  We got off and took all our luggage to a waiting bus.  Then…the waiting begain…Irvin is from Albania and needed a transit visa to travel through Belarus.  So…he was stuck in Belarus trying to get them to give him a visa on the spot.  The bus took us to a nearby shopping area and we got buy lunch and some snacks for the road.  Irvin arrived between noon and 1:00 and we were on our way to the Stasinda Hotel on narrow winding roads that made it nearly impossible to sleep.  The babies were fussy and at least one of the mommies did not feel well.  We finally arrived at the hotel around 9:00.  They fed us dinner and we all went to bed in our rooms with fantastic views of the mountains. J