Arbeit Macht Frei

Knowing how to party on vacation, I took a day tour of Austwitz. It was a very powerful experience, and I am grateful for the opportunity to go. By the end of the day, I was emotionally drained. When I got back to Krakow, I tried to read in the park. However, sitting there in the Planty with my book, all I could do was stare off into space contemplating the horror, and feeling thankful for my life and circumstances. Then I realized large very smushy spiders were crawling on me. Freaking out, I went to my tourist apartment and did a full body search, finding spiders under my shirt, and one in my underwear. I reiterate "freaking out." Perhaps a fitting end to the day?

The final sketch page has some misc. stuff... my frightening taxi experiences in Prague and Krakow, and the woman I saw in the Planty. She caught my eye because her neck was so fat. A second look showed her huge gut. But other than her fat neck and huge gut, she was not a large woman. I mean, she wasn't svelte or anything, but definitely disproportionately fat in the neck and gut areas.

Planty

By this stage of the trip, I'd spent ~ 2 weeks in Germany, 4 days in Czech Republic, and had transferred to Poland. I liked Krakow very much, but the travel was wearing on me, and you can see it in the moody sketches. On the left, "trappings" illustrating how I feel my life is boxed in by 4 key reasons. On the right is a lovely sketch I made of the Planty (green ring aroiund Krakow's medieval city center). The sketch was the inspiration for the setting of Michael's BF's lakeside cottage in CAVALCADE. The page is a TPB exclusive, so you won't see it until the book hits the shelves in December. If I'm lucky!