Training to Gdynia

Today was all about traveling north to Gdynia. Gdynia is farther north of Gdansk on the Baltic Sea.
I got up at 8:00 and ran a couple of miles. From Soviet times, they built roads with wide walkways on either side of the streets for pedestrians. It makes a great place to run without knowing where you are. I started at the hotel near the CADILLAC dealer - who would have guessed that GM is selling Caddies to Poles? I run towards the center of Warsaw and return. It makes life easy...EXCEPT that I had one of those Soviet moments. I have heard of a movie that Russians watch on New Year's Eve about a bunch of guys who get drunk and decide to play a joke on one their more inebriated fellows. They put him on a train and send him to a different city. He doesn't notice. He gets off the train at what he thinks is his stop. He doesn't notice anything is wrong. He walks to his apartment building (they all look the same all over Russia from Soviet times). He doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary. He takes the elevator to his flat, goes in and crashes until the next morning....all in the wrong city that looks the same as all the other cities.
Well, there are two hotels in Warsaw that look exactly the same. When I came back from my run yesterday, I went to the wrong one. I didn't notice anything was different. I took the elevator up to my floor. I looked for my room, but couldn't find the right number in the right place. It was good I hadn't had anything to drink that morning. So, it finally dawned on me that I must be in the wrong place. But for a minute I was reliving that movie which is entitled, "The Irony of Fate". Some day I will actually get a copy and watch it. It probably isn't funny with subtitles anyway!

The breakfast room was empty of people this morning. The conference was over and they all must have gone back home to work on Monday (today). So we had the breakfast buffet to ourselves.

I packed and got ready to leave for the train station. We taxied to the station around noon. We bought sandwiches, snacks, and water at the station. The train was about 15 minutes late and we had a struggle getting all of our luggage in our compartment. One lady with less luggage found another empty compartment so that we could have room for all of our luggage. The train was slow and showed mostly farmland of northern Poland. It got dark at 4:00 and then I continued reading the next hundred pages of The Last Symbol. Monika's dad and boyfriend were waiting to help us with our luggage and to drive us to Monika's home. I rode wtih Vyshek (sp?) who spoke no English. He did speak a little Russian so we attempted to converse with a smattering of Russian. That didn't last very long, much to my dismay. Use it or lose it. I think I've lost much of what I had learned!

Monika lives on the outskirts of the town of Gdynia. She has a lovely little house where she lives with her 16 year old daughter, Magda and her 7-year-old son. Her father had prepared a dinner of turkey casserole with peaches - it was very good - potatoes, a ham and pasta salad, and homemade vodka in two varieties! We spent the evening watching a Polish-made film that received an Oscar nomination last year about the Katyn Forest Masssacre of Poles by the Soviets at the beginning of WW II. THE saddest story of the war possibly, because even after the war, the truth was buried - literally - and the Soviets tried to blame it on the Germans. Great film, excellent actors, very graphic ending of course. Film called "Katyn".

Monika was very pleased to show us the banner that she had made for our conference and the signs and posters that she will post outside the conference room. Civic Voices is proudly displayed with all the countries partaking in the program! Nice!

Warsaw is Wonderful!

It was a lovely day in Warsaw! I went for a run this morning before breakfast. The shower is wonderful, hot and I used it for an extended session! Breakfast in the hotel is buffet, but filled with veggies, cheeses, meats and other mystery things. They did have yogurt, and bread, and hard-boiled eggs that made it pretty good! Something like orange juice (like tang +) was availble and then I found the tea station which was in a different place than the coffee. All in all a good breakfast.

We spent about an hour and a half this morning getting Monika(Polish Coordinator of Civic Voices) to review just what she had planned at the conference. We hammered out all four days and it sounds like it will be a dynamic conference. She has already translated the guide (107 pages) and is very familiar with all of its parts. So as soon as we discussed the schedule it was easy to make sure that she include important parts that were important to me. She is very organized and I will fill you in as it happens.

We took the bus downtown (like I did in Russia in 07 - nicer busses, less people crammed on them). We walked in the main park in Warsaw where a sculpture of Chopin sitting under a willow tree is a central point of interest. The kings of Poland lived in the palaces and buildings on these grounds. We tried to catch a concert in one of the halls, but we were too late.

We visited the museum dedicated to the Warsaw uprising during WW II in August of 1944. It is a wonderful museum with excellent displays and English descriptions of everything. Propaganda films made by the Poles during the uprising were shown - very helpful in understanding just what happened and where it happened exactly. Of course, the Germans finally cracked down and then a year later, the Russians defeated the Germans and took over Warsaw and Poland. Sad history. We had coffee, soup, and apple cake at the cafe in the museum. I just partook of a mocha coffee.

After the museum, we once again headed to the Christmas Market in the old square. I exchanged some money and bought some Christmas presents! We sampled some baked goodies being cooked. I took a video of a musical group playing Polish folk tunes- they reminded me of the pictures of my dad in the Ooompah band with Austrian garb. We caught dinner at a restaurant away from the square - too crowded near the square. I had beef steak, french fries, and a salad. Red wine and water was good. After dinner we went back to our favorite little cafe for hot drinks and desserts. This time I ordered Cinnamon flavored black tea and a dessert called Chocolate Temptation - chocolate, vanilla, and coffee-whiskey flavored ice creams with various toppings and whipped cream - luscious!

The same cab driver as the night before took us to a lot of points of interest. So much to see, so little time. When I arrived back to my room at the hotel, my room key would not work again. So we had to go back to the desk and have them re-scan it.

Tomorrow, we head to the train station at noon and head to Gadinia, a suburb of Gdansk. The train ride will take 6 hours to get to Gadinia. Monika lives there and her father is cooking dinner for us. Her mother makes homemade vodka and we look forward to that! I think we will be staying at her home for the night.

At 52 degrees latitude, Warsaw gets light around 7:00 am. By 4:00 in the afternoon it is already getting dark. We will be traveling north which means that there will be even less light. It is dark in Poland, but not because of previous invaders and Soviet communist ways. Warsaw is a hustling, bustling, positive place! A lot of energy is seen everyhwere you look!

Out and about in Warsaw

Memories of my last trip to Warsaw are flooding my brain as we walked downtown this evening. We ate typical Polish cuisine at a restaurant called Zgoda. Pork hand (ham) with mustard and horseradish, tongue with sauce, duck with sauce. All had some sort of potatoes with dinner. We had two soups: borscht and egg + sausage. There was a salad bar with typical Polish salads and cucumber and pickled dishes. Vodka was served as well! We walked down to the old part of the city with its beautiful classical styled buildings and churches. We shopped at the old square where vendors sold everything from jewelry and crafts to breads and sweets and honey. The temperature was chilly, probably bordering on freezing with a light breeze. We stopped in a coffee shop and finished the evening with coffee and hot chocolate (more like hot fudge with whipped cream with cinnamon - yum!) Our taxi driver went out of his way (higher fare?) to give us a tour of interesting sights of Warsaw after dark. Dark comes early at this latitude. Sleep will come quickly as jet lagged brain is ready for any rest at all. Tomorrow to the Uprising museum, parks, and palaces of Warsaw!

Flying to Warsaw, Poland

A Friday night flight from Dulles International was very UNcrowded on the day after Thanksgiving. Our flight was full, but fairly comfortable. We stopped over in Frankfurt, Germany and had a two hour lay over before continuing on to Warsaw. The 737 was about 3/4 full and I had three seats to myself.
Larry and I arrived in Warsaw, collected our bags, and met Monika, the head of the teachers' union here in Poland, tied in to Solidarity. We haven't discussed our conference yet, but it sounds like it is well organized.

We took a "Happy Cab" taxi (American made Dodge van)to our hotel which was holding another conference. The hotel staff was a bit overwhelmed and two of our three room keys and assignments were botched. We changed rooms and got several chances to ride the elevators which are better than some Russian elevators but not as good as western. A door had to be opened, like a room door, to enter. When you get to your floor, if you don't push the door open manually, the elevator simply goes back down. I am now an expert in operating hotel elevators in Poland!

Tonight's plans include a "Polish" restaurant (imagine!) and a stroll through downtown markets! Shopping! Anything we can do to improve the economic crisis!

So far, Warsaw is wonderful! Just like I remember three years ago, Poland is a great country full of friendly and lively people who are ready to help and be of assistance to Americans far away from home. Looking forward to sleeping and beating the jet lag situation! Until tomorrow...