On The Road Again

I have to admit that this blog has had a few days delay getting written. Aneta and I started out from Gliwice to Warsaw at 4 am on Monday morning in the van we would be living in for the next 10 days. Aneta told me she loves audio books and had asked me to bring some in English so she could listen to them. I only had one and I did bring it to her but this didn't seem like the right time to listen to it. I asked Aneta if she would like me to be her audio book on this lo g trip and she jumped at the chance. I opened the iPad and began reading from The Paris Wife, about Ernest Hemingway's first marriage to Hadley Richardson. It is a fine book and one I had already finished but didn't mind reading over. I read aloud for the next 6.5 hours as we made our way through the terribly clogged traffic and road construction on the way to collect our travelers at the Warsaw airport.

We pulled in to Warsaw at around 10:30 am and headed straight for the Dedek Hotel. We made sure the rooms would be ready and worked out which guests would be staying in which rooms so we could avoid delays on check-in. Then we set the GPS and headed out for the Fredrick Chopin International Airport, timing our trip so we could decide whether or not we would have time to deliver each set of guests as they arrived and get back in time for the next arrivals. It took 18 minutes to get to the airport and another 18 minutes to Park! We hadn't eaten
anything and both of us were counting on being able to find breakfast near or at the airport.
That was an optimistic dream. We were able to find a plain croissant without benefit of butter or jam and a cup of coffee. It would just have to do because our first arrivals were expected at 11:50 and we didn't have any time to spare. We went to the arrivals exit from baggage claim and waited. Neither of us had met either of the women we were meeting and we didn't have a sign to hold up to alert them. We waited and watched and suddenly I spotted two women come through the portal looking quite lost and anxious. I called out, " Mary?" and then "Laurie?" and magically both heads turned toward my voice. I felt so smug! We hustled the ladies out to the curb while Aneta ran to get the van. They loaded and were off. I returned to the waiting area for arrivals from Toronto and Frankfurt and settled in. Then planes were scheduled to arrive 15 minutes apart but the board kept changing until they were expected at exactly the same time. That seemed too good to be true and it was. The planes landed 2 minutes apart and the last plane to land delivered it's passengers to me in a record 20 minutes. The first plane on the ground had our last arrival guest and she never came through the exit portal at all. We waited and waited and Aneta ran around trying to find out if shhe was on the plane, etc., etc. The airline officials told us we would have t wait an hour before they could or would give us any information. We were frustrated and our guests were bone tired fro their long travels. I was just about tok give up and Aneta had successfully bribed a security official to go inside and look for Annie when she popped through the portal looking tired and worn out. We exchanged quick hellos, a few hugs and handshakes around and moved everyone out to the curb for transport to the hotel.

Fot: Old Warsaw, Aneta

Once everyone was settled into their rooms and the luggage all delivered we hustled the. All back into the van for a trip into Warsaw. We headed for the Warsaw Uprising Museum ( along with about 50 field trips of high school kids it appeared), purchased our tickets and went in for a two hour tour. This is a fairly new museum and it is clearly going to be an icon of Polish history as the country tries in every way it knows how to recreate the history of Poland during the years of the Holocast as it really happened. This uprising against the Nazi's was the single biggest attempt to overthrow the Germans prior to the end of the war. It failed, but not for lack of trying. The Polish people consider the insurgents who fought to the death the true heroes of the war. This period of history was not allowed to be discussed or spoke. Of during the years of the Soviet Occupation of Poland following WWII. It is back in spades with the opening of this incredible museum. The exhibits are very touching and the story is compelling. We were all very moved by the tenacity of the Polish nationalists who fought the German Occupation of their homeland with their hands tied behind their backs, so to speak. The allies kept tabs on their progress from the comfort and safety of London and a radio set but never lifted a finger to help them.

Fot: One of the exhibits in the Uprising Museum, Aneta

One of our travelers was so mesmerized that she missed the appointed meeting time by a half hour and we had to hunt her down and route her out of the building after they turned off the lights! We reloaded the van and headed for the hotel and our dinner. Aneta had arranged a nice pre-ordered dinner of Pierogi, pork, salad and a nice apple strudel desert. Everyone ate until our sides hurt. A few of our group partook of some nice cool Polish beer and some nice red wine. I was bushed and made an early escape back to my room where I was looking forward to a nice peaceful nights sleep. Boy was I in for a surprise. My roommate, Annie, came in and went to bed. Before her head hit the pillow she was snoring so loudly it woke me up out of a sound sleep. It went on and on like someone was running a chainsaw in the room. I got up and made ear plugs out of cotton balls and taped them to my ears so they wouldn't fall out!

Fot: Dedek Restaurant, Linda

It helped enough that I finally got back to sleep but she kept up the chorus all night long.

Independance Day

Saturday morning dawned bright and warm. Aneta said it was better than the summer weather they have been having. I took advantage of the nice weather to walk to the hairdresser and get another nice "do" before our big trip. I was by myself and on my own for communication. The walk was pleasant and most everyone I met greeted me with dzien dobry "day good" literally. That is something I have learned abut this language - they put words in reverse order from what we do and they don't use many connectors, such as "a" "and" or "the". It is confusing and the language is so difficult for me that I felt very brave striking out on my own. I found the hairdresser just fine and she greeted me with a big smile and said my name by way of recognition. I only waited a minute or two until she was ready and led me to the shampoo bowl. Now this is interesting to me. There are at least four operators in this salon - all busy all the time - but just one shampoo bowl. The salon is located in what looks like it should be an auto parts warehouse. The lady who does my hair and the other operator I. The same room share a blowdryer. One unplugs iot and takes it to her station and plugs it in and uses it and then the other one comes and collects it and does the same in reverse. I am beginning to see how they keep costs under control and therefore keep their prices so low. They don't take appointments either. You just show up and wait for your operator.

When she was done and I was gorgeous again I decided to treat myself to a nice coffee at the restaurant across the street where Aneta and I had lunch a couple of days before. I knew the word for coffee and didn't thjink it would be too difficult to maneuver. U fortunately the restaurant wasn't open yet and I didn't want to hang around on the street corner so I just walked back to the apartment and made myself some nice French Press Kava at the flat.

Aneta and I spent the day doing laundry, ironing and packing for our trip. I learned something else interesting and that is that all the laundry gets dried outdoors on the patio and then everything but socks and underware are ironed before they are put away. Now there is a two year old in this house trying to learn toileting skills and not having terrific success. Everything that child wears in her multiple clothing changes each day has been ironed by her mother!

Ania took a spill a week ago and hurt her hip or her leg. She has been favoring it all week. Aneta finally decided to take her to the children's hospital in Katowice on Saturday night at around 6 pm to get it checked. I asked, "do the doctor's work on Satirday night?". She assured me they did and off they went. I asked Aneta to leave the keys so I could walk to the grocery store and wander up and down the isles to see what they carry and how I might be of some assistance with meals in the future by shopping for and preparing things I am familiar with.

Off I went again on my own and it was quite an adventure. I spent $44.33 and got a really nice European size pillow, an 8 gig SanDisk Flash drive, a very large package of wafer cookies, ketchup, three yogurts, an 8 pack of toilet tissue, a bag of granola, a large dark chocolate candy bar, a pack of Wrigleys Orbit gum, (snacks for the trip and a few items we needed at the flat)and tucked it all under my arm or hung it from my hands and walked the five blocks back home. I thought I had a lock on the communication process because I watched the teller ring up the items, knew in advance what the total would be and had the correct amount of money in my hand to turn over to her. Instead of giving me my change without exchanging words she asked me a question! Drat. I said, "I'm sorry, I don't speak Polish.". She stared at me a moment and then handed me my change. I beat a hasty retreat. Safely back in the apartment I settled down with The Paris Wife, a really terrific book I am reading on my iPad. Then my iPadstarted ringing! I got so excited I almost dropped it trying to open SKYPE to see who was calling me. It was my wonderful son and my four delightful grandchildren all lined up on chairs facing the computer so I could see them. What a treat. Aneta and Anoa came home while we were talking and Ania got so excited seeing the other children on the screen that she started making a great deal of noise. It was hard to hear until Aneta took her out of the room. Both Alicia and Meron pointed at her and waved. It was so cute. The boys-my adorable Dylan and Joshua-also waved and said hi to her. It was the highlight of Ania's day. We could see our beautiful Angie making lunch in the background in her lovely kitchen. I miss my grandchildren very much already and it was wonderful to see the whole group of the, together. They had been to Dylan's soccer game in the morning. Dylan and Joshua are now blue stripes in their Martial Arts program. They are very proud of this latest achievement. Dylan explained they are doing more kicking maneuvers now and he likes it a great deal. He is also playing soccer this year, something he told me in the summer he didn't think he would do because it would be too hard to do two sports well. I am glad he changed his mind as he is an excellent soccer player for his age. The boys told me they like their new school this year and they are excited that their parents are taking them on a Disney Cruise down the Mexican Riviera in February. The whole family is going and I think that is great. Get out of the cold and rain of the Pacific Northwest and see the sun for a few days.

Aneta is worn out tonight and decided to go to bed at 10:20. That is early for her. She is such a night owl. We have to go to bed early Sunday because we leave at 4 am Monday morning for the drive to Warsaw.

SUNDAY

Finished packing today and delivered Ania to her grandparents for the next two weeks. We were invited to dinner and had another delicious meal at Alicia's table. Father, Witek, seemed more relaxed about my presence this time and he played with Ania a good deal. We watched a little "Have Talent", which is the Polish version of America's Got Talent. I was underwhelmed
With most of the acts until a young woman sang who was absolutely out of this world. The judges thought so too. My guess is she will win the entire thing and we will hear a lot about her in the future. She sang in English so it was doubly pleasurable for me.

We left Ania and returned to the apartment. Aneta went off the pick up the van at 7 pm and isn't back yet. That was a change of plans from my last post. We got the van in Gliwice and are driving to Warsaw after all. It turned out that the van in Warsaw was just going to cost a good bit more and getting it deliverdd to the airport was complicated. It caused my poor girl much stress so I said, "just get the one from Gliwice and we will leave early in the morning and make the drive.". She was relieved. I think her motivation was trying
to save me a long ride in a car because I had so much back trouble after the ride from Warsaw to Gliwice when I arrived. I don't think it will make any difference. My back has been in spasms all day today anyway and I haven't ridden anywhere. I wish this issue would just go away but it doesn't seem to want

Next post will be from the road.

Nothing goes according to plan (2)

Sorry about the type in the last paragraph of the last post but I can't get my iPad to let me edit it. It was supposed to say that I do not think taking a two year old baby to Turkey o. A sightseeing junket is a good plan. That said, when I told Aneta my thoughts on the subject she had z bit of a meltdown. I know she had her heart set o going to Turkey but it just doesn't make sense under the circumstances. I suggested we revisit the idea of a road trip with Ania and Aneta thought we could drive to Croatia and take in the Dalmatian Coast. It sounds wonderful to me. We will travel through the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia and arrive in Croatia. We will take three days to get there but it is only 11 hours driving time.
I am personally much happier with this plan. We can stop when Ania has had her fill of riding in a car seat, let her out and let her run around and get her energy out. When we arrive in Croatia there will be many wonderful and interesting things to visit and see as well as swim and sun in the beautiful Adriatic Sea. To me this will be much better than a high rise tourist hotel in Turkey taking day long bus trips with a bunch of strangers to see the sights.
I so much prefer independent travel and as long as we are going to have the toddler with us I think this is a better solution.

I have no clue what the evening holds for me on this day but it'd it is worth talking about I will put it on the blog tomorrow. Aneta says to tell everyone "hi from her". She is anxious to meet the guests we are expecting on Monday in Warsaw.

Signing off for now.
Lindac

Nothing goes according to plan

First thing this morning Aneta received a call from the car company she has rented the van from for our trip with the Americans next week. Apparently his "guy" had an accident and he cannot deliver the van to Warsaw at the appointed time for us on Monday. She is really bummed about this as it upsets everything with just today and the weekend left to correct it all. We may have to take a van from Katowice, an hours drive east of Gliwice/Knurow and then drive all the way to Warsaw - a minimum of 5 hours if traffic is cooperative. We pick our first guests up at 11:50 am so that means leaving on Sunday and taking a hotel if we can't resolve this another way.

Aneta had made a nail appointment for me at 11 am this morning. She planned the excursion so she could take Ania to an indoor playground next door to the salon. We arrived on time but were told that the person whowas to do my manicure didn't show up for work this morning so I was just out of luck. Neither Aneta nor I liked the vibe in the salon. It m,seemed very negative. Aneta and Ania went to the playground and I wandered the street below looking in stores and so hops along the way. After an hour we started home and Aneta discovered another nail salon and whipped in to see if she could get me an appointment for Saturday. The technician said she could take me "right now" so I jumped out of the car and into her chair in a single leap. Aneta explained that I want A French Manicure and she said it was no problem. I sat down and closed my weary, bleary eyes and hoped my nose wouldn't drip when my hands were unavailable. When I opened my eyes again I was in shock. What had started out to be a perfectly normal French Manicure (white tips-clear polish) has segued into ten individual works of art. I really do need to learn how to add photos to this blog as these are indescribable! I have gold sparkles. I have bronze swirls. I have black feather like designs on my thumbs and black dots on other fingers. In fact, you can barely see the French tips in white for all the other delicate artwork on each finger. Then the bill, right? Let's see, four colors of paint, extra time, etc., etc., right? Oh, I forgot, that's in the US. Here this elaborate nail art cost me $6.63 and when I tipped 20%( the grand sum of 4 Zloty or $1.33) she tried to give it back to me! I think I'm in love. What could be next for me? Botox for $10 a treatment? A facelift for $100 bucks? Maybe Bright white veneers on my old yellowed teeth for a couple hundred Zloty? Who knows.

Good news!

Aneta just returned from collecting Ania from her grandparents and has made arrangements for a van to be waiting for us at the airport in Warsaw. This means we will have the extra expense of taking the train to Warsaw but we will avoid the long drive in the road construction.

Aneta is now off to the travel agency to book our trip to Turkey. We will visit the coastal area along the Mediterranean Sea near Cyprus. Maybe it is one of those deals where on a clear day you can see Greece. I can only hope. There is supposed to be an amazing amount of great sightseeing in the area.

Well, scratch that last paragraph. As I said, nothing goes according to plan today. Aneta has just learned that her I -law a will not be available to stay with Ania and she wants to take Ania to Turkey with us. IO do r think it is a good idea to take a 2 year old baby to Turkey on a sightseeing junket.

Sick Day

I woke up this morning with the worst cold I can remember having in many years. My head felt like it was in a vice and my nose was plugged tighter than a Dutch Dike. I made my way to the bathroom to make myself presentable when I heard lamentations and words of unmistakable distress - even in Polish - coming from the kitchen,e generously sprinkled with what sounded like "oh, Ania. Oh Ania.". I poked my head out to see what the trouble was and discover Aneta storing scrambled eggs at the stove and Ania looking down at the floor into a pool of something tinged with orange.

"Juice?" I asked.

"Eggs," came the terse reply. "Ania pulled the carton from the counter."

"Oh dear," I managed, "what can I do to help? Do you have a mop?"

Ania wailed and cried and pointed at the mess and I took over stirring the eggs while Aneta went for something to clean up the spill. As soon as Aneta left the room Ania grabbed me
with
Omj. both hands and pulled at me, trying to get me out of the kitchen. She screamed at me and wailed "i whaaa, I whaa," which is her way of saying she wants you to stop doing something or give her something, or let her do something herself. When It didn't work she became more and more agitated and Aneta had to physically lift her out of the kitchen as she tried to pull me along with her little hand. So, we lost half a dozen eggs to the kitchen floor and the day had barely begun.

After what turned out to be a delicious breakfast In spite of the mishap Aneta told me we would takle a walk and deliver Ania to her grandparents while we went to the Kosmetology to get our eyebrows waxed. Well, that is what I understood we were to be doing. The day was beautiful and we all left the apartment without a jacket. We hadn't gone but a half block before it became obvious the baby was going to need something with sleeves. Aneta returned to the apartment and grabbed a jacket for herself and a sweater for Ania.

We continued on our walk through the multitude of brightly colored,Soviet Era,cement block apartment buildings that are gradually being renovated with exterior features such as balconies with decorative railings and new windows that break up the gray monotony of the structures. The inhabitants have added flower boxes and other esthetically pleasing details in an attempt to remove any traces of their sad memories of the recent past. Three years ago when I visited all the buildings were still concrete gray, dirty and badly kept. Now they are nicely painted in bright cheerful colors, have flowers spilling from every opening, lovely manicured lawns and gardens surrounding each building and nice walking paths wending their way between the towers. When we came from among the buildings to a main street Aneta directed me to go to my right and turn left at the umbrellas and meet her at the Kosmetiky. She would go on with Ania
to deliver her to the grandparents flat.

So off I went into the great unknown. Soon I arrived at a set of large umbrellas sitting in front of a pizzeria and I confidently turned left. I disappeared into a forest of cement block apartment buildings heading for what Aneta told me was " in the last building". I walked and walked, my nose alternately running and sneezing, looking for the last building. As I crossed an intersection I happened to look up to my right and saw Aneta breeze past the opening two blocks away. I quickly turned right and headed out to the main thoroughfare where I had seen her go flying past. I turned the corner to my left and saw her scanning the sidewalk looking for me. I hurried to catch up to her and she gestured that we should cross the street. The Kosmetiky turned out to be up three flights of stairs,in a building I would never have identified as our destination under any circumstances! And the fun had only just begun.

After I labored up three long flights of stairs, with Aneta at my elbow saying, "it's just one
more," we entered a nice salon where Aneta was immediately whisked away for her treatment. I waited pretending to read a Polish Fashion Magazine and hoping no one would ask me a question.
After about a half hour Aneta emerged with her newly tinted eyelashes and eyebrows impeccably
groomed. I entered the enclosure and placed my body on the table as indicated. The aestheticians asked Aneta what I wanted and I demonstrated a lip wax and then said, " you know, what you had" meaning an eyebrow wax. That never happened. I was swathed in gauze, rubbed with lotion, endured a lip wax to which Aneta exclaimed, "not a sign," meaning she was amazed that I could take such torture so stoically. Then folds of gauze were carefully placed under my lower eyelashes and I was instructed to "close" my upper eyelids. I did so and the. realized that she was tinting my eyelashes! I've never had my eyelashes tinted but I thought, "what the heck, I'm here -might as well have the whole enchilada!". While the dyed set on my eyelashes she began plucking furiously at my eyebrows. I must say I was a bit alarmed as it felt like she was plucking me bare. The I felt a cool liquid being brushed across by brows and from what I could tell being very meticulously applied. I had no clue I was also getting my eyebrows tinted but that is what was happening. I was so surprised when I finally escape
the gauze and she told me I could look in the mirror if I wanted to. No eyebrow pencil and full, nicely shaped eyebrows for probably the first time in my life! I am so excited to have found this solution to my eyebrow problem. I can't say where I can see much difference in the eyelashes, however, I have almost none left to begin with so it was really almost a non-starter I'm afraid. Now comes time to pay the bill, right? I said I wanted to pay for Aneta also as she has been doing everything for me and I thought it would be a nice way to repay her kindness. The aesthetician told me the price was 46 Zloty. I looked stunned. When I regained my composure I said, "no, how much for both of us?".

"Forty-seven Zloty." came the definitive reply.

You do the math: divide by 3 and you get $15.66 for five services between two people and over an hour of the technician's time. A lip wax alone costs me between $20 and $35 at home depending on whether it is in Grant County or Bend/Portland.

So, feeling quite glamorous yet still struggling with my horrific head cold we headed off to the corner pizzeria for lunch. It was just too chilly to sit outside and the wind had kicked up a good bit besides so we went indoors to the most adorable little restaurant I have seen outside Tuscany. The pizza was absolutely Delicious. The crust was so thin it hardly felt like crust at all. The tomato sauce was served on the side as opposed to being slathered ,all over the pizza crust before cooking. We had chicken with onion and mushrooms and it was melt in your mouth good. The longer I sat there though the more ill I was becoming. We still had one stop to make next door at the travel agency where we intended to purchase tickets to Greece for the week of October 8th. Unfortunately the trip we had selected sold out between our Monday visit and our Thursday visit so we were back to square one. Aneta and the agent proposed several alternatives, none of which really pulled my chain. I want to see Greece and this looked like it was finally going to be my time. I was terribly disappointed. We finally settled on a trip to Turkey the week of October 12th but we had to check with Aneta's mom to see if it would fit with her plans so we put it on a 24 hour hold.

I finally told Aneta we needed to get me home to bed and she kindly obliged.

Loaded up on Sudafed, aspirin and Aneta's Ginger Tea I snuggled down for a nap. Aneta and Ania went to the swimming pool for Ania's lesson so the house was quiet and I took advantage of the time to get a bit of rest.

Later in the evening after Ania was down for the night Aneta played the rest of the story about Ernest Hemingway and his first love, starring Sandra Bullock, that we had begun a few days ago but didn't finish. It was a good movie and I was surprised I had not heard of it before.

I reloaded on mess, had another cup of Ginger tea and headed to bed.
See you tomorrow.
Linda

Change of plans and unexpected pleasures

My hair looks great but my back/hip problem is still keeping me awake at night. Aneta decided I needed to see a masseuse who came highly recommended. The trouble was Aneta didn't get good directions and we drove around Knurow for an hour looking unsuccessfully for the salon. Finally, after several swings up and down the boulevard, Aneta stopped and got directions. We found the salon but the person we were going to see was no longer there-as in not working there any longer! We did get a phone number and called her and finally after winding our way down backstreets and torn up alleys we found the salon in a lovely building well hidden from public view.

The masseuse was a beautiful young woman who chatted amiably throughout my therapeutic treatment. I have large red bruises on my thigh to prove this was therapeutic and not esthetic massage! It hurt and then felt wonderful but it didn't do a single bit of good for my hip pain at night. It was so late by the time we finished at the salon that the cinema was out again this week. I had acquired a head cold a couple of days ago and it was getting worse by the hour so we picked Ania up at her grandparents and headed home.

Before the massage Aneta's English student came and spent an hour learning pronunciation from
me. When she left she paid Aneta 40 Zloty for the lesson and Aneta promptly handed it to me. I refused to accept it of course but the gesture was nice. After the student left Aneta's friend, Ania, stopped in for a visit with her 8 month old son, Timon. This Ania is an HVAC
Engineer and speaks very good English so I actually felt like I had a decent visit for a change. Ania is one of Aneta's oldest friends and a beautiful and intelligent woman. It was a pleasure to get to know her a little bit.

My cold is much worse and I am easing in for an early night.

Linda

A Day Of Beauty

If I had more brains i would be able to post the occasional photo on the blog but as yet I haven't figured out how that works from the iPad. And when I do Aneta has determined that I have to post a photo of my new hair style acquired In 15 minutes flat at the salon of a hair stylist I visited three years ago prior to attending Aneta's wedding.

Fot: Linda - metamorphosis nr 1

She, the stylist that is, was quite flattered that the "American" had returned for another go in her chair after three long years. I was a blond when she met me and now my hair is it's natural snow white and dark brown mix. Aneta thinks I should make it blond again, and as I ponder that I realize she has only known me as a blond. We have been friends for 8 years and I have always been a blond so she is having a little trouble adapting to the aging Linda I think. We discussed colors and sort of decided that following our planned tour next week I would go blond again. The. As we were leaving the salon a woman waiting for her turn told Aneta to tell me that my hair was a nice color and I "don't need to put any paint on it". The way this woman styled it I now look like I have platinum blond hair anyway so maybe this will work out for me and I won't have to go back to dying it blond again. The hair dresser also told Aneta to tell me my hairdresser at home had given me a good haircut. "She only made few mistakes and I fixed them", as translated by Aneta.
My hair was a disaster when I arrived in Poland three years ago for the wedding and this woman saved me from humiliation at the three day wedding event. She gave me one of the best haircuts I've ever had and I was eager to return to her hands again. She did a nice job.

Aneta's student arrived for an hour of conversation with me and Aneta served a hot meat and cabbage dish for us to enjoy as we got acquainted. Rosetta ( English translation) is 18 and studying Envlish so she can pass the entrance exams for the University. She had a bad week due to the fact that she took and failed her driver's test. We had some good language practice and she learned a few new words and cleaned up some of her pronunciation. I think she will come again on Saturday. Aneta just left to take her to the bus and dropped on me that there will be a party on Saturday to which she has invited Marzena. I think I am too old for so much social life.

Now we await a visit from Aneta's friend, Ania, who was in the wedding party and whom I will be expected to remember but probably won't. Poor Aneta, she must think I am dense as a post when she says, "remember so and so, she was at the wedding?" and I give her a blank look. I did remember father Witek's sister Dorota ( Dorothy in English) and was greeted with the three cheek kisses and much enthusiasm when we met again.

When Ania, the friend, leaves Aneta will take me for a massage and then she and I are going to the cinema to see the latest Woody Allen movie. Aneta is a big Woody Allen fan. Apparently his peculiar love life didnt merit much press over here. I have sort of been off Woody Allen since he ran off with Mia Farrow's adopted daughter, Soon Yee, whom he raised from infancy. I just couldn't quite stomach that whole scenario.

Baby Ania is staying over night with her Boppa and Boppsha.

Later,
Linda

Continuing Pszczyna

On the way home through a cool forested area we were only elated by traffic for a few minutes. We emerged from the forest and made a rest stop at a petrol station/convenience store. Aneta ran in to check and make sure there were facilities and then told me I could go in. It cost one Zloty to use the toilet and payment is collected after you emerge. I went in and immediately after closing and locking three doors behind me that there was no toilet tissue in the stall. There was, however, a strand of three squares of bright pink toilet tissue on the floor. I grabbed it up and unlocked each door to return to the counter in the convenience store. The young man working there saw me approaching brandishing a strand of pink toilet tissue. He looked shocked and when I said, "niet, niet!" his face changed to instant comprehension and he bolted for the supply room to retrieve a roll of tissue for me. Fortunately the new roll was brown and therefor a bit less obvious as I carried it back to take care of business. When I reemerged I tried to give him my Zloty in payment and he waved me off with a sweep of the hand saying, "niet, neit.". I think the poor fellow was mortified that I had hauled toilet paper out to wave at him and he just wanted to get rid of me as quickly as possible. Aneta, on the other hand, was quite impressed at what she called my "creativity" and praised me for being able to get along by myself.

Dinner tonight was a delicious piece of chicken breast baked and topped with a slice of thin ham, Mozzarella cheese and sundried tomato, accompanied by "lazy Pierogi" prepared for us by Aneta's mother-in-law, Marianna. They appeared to be made from a fine cornmeal mixed with cheese and cooked like a flat bread, which was then sliced into small squares and triangles onto which you put sugar, sour cream or fruit compote. They don't have a lot of flavor but they do satisfy the appetite quite nicely.

Aneta prepared a concoction of herbal medications for my newly acquired head cold and sent me to bed at 9 pm.

Aneta has gone to collect a student to whom she gives English lessons so that the girl can talk to me for an hour in place of her lesson today. I will sign off for this post and catch up later this evening.
Linda

Pszczyna

Today the sun was out and everything looked bright for a great day trip to Pszczyna to see the Palace of the German Princess Daisy. We were moving right along when suddenly traffic came to a dead stop. Arrgh, as Charlie Brown would say, we spent an hour stuck behind traffic in road construction. When we arrived, parked and made our way through the beautiful park to the Palace we discovered that we were one half hour too late to purchase admission for the last showing. We were so bummed. All that time, all that driving, all that disappointment.

Fot: Pszczyna Palace, Aneta

We tried tor retrieve something of the day and wandered around the town square taking pictures of the beautiful old buildings with their minaretes, steeples and watch towers. We finally decided on a sidewalk cafe for lunch, secured a high chair for Ania and ordered a nice beet root soup with a Krokiet, a pastry roll of ground pork deep fried. It is quite tasty, actually. I also had a lovely Kava Agnes, which is coffee with freshly whipped cream and dark chocolate shavings atop. Absolutely delicious. Ania had a plate of French fries and managed to eat every single one. They call them "chips" here. For a two year old she was remarkably agreeable on this day. The entire bill for three of us for lunch, with drinks came to just under the equivalent of $17 and my coffee accounted for a full 1/3rd of the bill.

Continuing our exploration of the town square we secured a nice ice cream cone to eat as we wandered. We discovered a plaza with children's rides and treated Ania to a ride on the fire engine. The ride was fine but getting her off the fire engine was another matter entirely!

Exhibit A!

Sunday morning I was up early to prepare breakfast for six people, which turned out to be eight people in the end. This was billed as an American breakfast and Aneta and Witek invited their curious friends. I tried to explain that Apple, Amaretto and Cream Cheese Omelets are not a typical American breakfast but they weren't buying it. I'm not that swift at omelets anyway and I was handicapped by the following in my Polish kitchen:
1) no omelet pan - just a steep sided frying pan.
2) no measuring cups or measuring spoons.
3) cooking with gas, with which I am totally unfamiliar.
4) apartment size stove and oven -very small
5) one pan only and trying to keep individual omelets warm in the tiny oven so everyone could be served at once.

Fortunately it all worked out splendidly and everyone, except Conrad, the 11-year-old son of one couple, cleaned up their plates. Two of the women were named Agnieska-blessedly shortened to Agnes but still confusing. One man was "Meeho" which I finally figured out was "Michael" in English. He was well spoken and spoke good English. Chris was there with his financee - one of the Agneiska's- a pretty girl who is studying to be an accountant. He clearly adores her but I am less certain of her feelings for him. Polish people in general seem to be a bit less emotive than American's and it is a little bit difficult to read them. Once they get to know you and are comfortable with you (usually after a couple of shots of Vodka!) they become quite expressive. Unfortunately we weren't serving Vodka for breakfast.

As soon as the breakfast crowd cleared out we jumped in the car and headed over to Aneta's parents house for Sunday dinner. We had a lovely beef with mushroom sauce, potatos, fresh tomato salad and fresh mixed green salad. Now, I know I told you the custom is to eat one thing at a time - well apparently that is just in Witek's family because everything was passed around in turn at this dinner party. It almost felt like home! However, Aneta's father was deeply engrossed in a Formula one race on TV and it blared loudly throughout our meal so conversation was limited to the leaning ear of the person next to you and no other. When the race ended Mr. Weclawek left the table and disappeared. I had no idea what had happened to him and wondered if he was upset by my presence. Not so, it turned out, he had gone to their place in the country to prepare to welcome me and a multitude of other guests who had been
invited to meet "the American". No one said a word to me and I had no clue there was yet more to this day! After an hour of watching the 9/11 coverage on CNBC in English, Aneta announced that it was time to go to the garden. The "garden" is what they call their country cottage. I had been there once before during the series of "after parties" during the wedding weekend three years ago, but never during the day. It is a lovely place, although quite humble by American standards. There is a very large deck, a long covered grape arbor that you walk beneath to get to the cottage, and a large garden-yard. The cottage has a single downstairs room, a tiny tea cup of a kitchen and an equally small bathroom. Apparently there is a sleeping room upstairs over the sleeping room but I didn't hazard attempting the ladder to see it.

When we arrived Aneta's father, Witek,(yes, the same name as her husband, greeted me with a deep bow, a big smile, a kiss on the back of my hand and three kisses on my cheeks! He told Aneta to tell me he had to come ahead to set things up so he could greet me properly! Go figure. He speaks zero English and makes no attempt, but he played 50's and 60's rock and roll, in English, in my honor. I'm sure the rest of the guests wished the selections had been something more traditional and to their liking. "Father Witek" had invited some of his employees, also Aneta's co-workers as she works for her father, Aneta's in-laws - who had had to endure an entire afternoon and evening with me the day before - his cousin and her husband (she spoke some English and has a son living in London) and various other unconnected guests. We were treated to tea ( hervata, remember) or Kava and plum tort made fresh by one of the guests and Alicia, Aneta's mother. The food was delicious all day long!

When father Witek brought out the Vodka it was time for husband Witek to round up his little family and "the American" and head home. I was grateful as I was completely exhausted. Husband Witek had to return to his Fire Administrator's school by 9 pm so we hurried off saying our good-byes in English and Polish. -- "good-bye, Jin dobrey! Thank-you, Jin couia!". Even Alex the dog,looked confused.

Ania and Aneta have both come down with colds. Aneta took Ania to the doctor this morning and then dropped her off at her grandfather's for the day. Aneta went to work today and I slept until 11 am! I couldn't believe it but I was so exhausted from this big weekend of being on exhibit that I probably could have slept all day!

You know, I am not very comfortable in social groups. I never know what to say and I'm always afraid I will do something stupid. The only good thing about these social groups is that most of the guests wouldn't know if I said something stupid and, being an American, they seem to give me a lot of latitude. Anyway my farewell from father Witek was a warm repeat of the greeting, fueled, I'm sure, by a couple of shots of Vodka!

I'm going for a walk now and see the neighborhood outside a car for the first time.
Linda

Shopping in Gliwice

The day began with an interesting breakfast of toasted kaiser roll topped with ham, cheese, tomato and dill pickle. It was actually quite good. There Was A nice stout coffee chaser and all the dill pickles you could eat.

Aneta's recipe for dill pickles is very interesting. It has salt, water, garlic and dill seed but no vinegar or pickling spices. She makes it in a crokery urn that sits out on the kitchen counter. No packing the cukes in jars, no worrying about whether or not the lids sealed properly -nothing but pickles floating in brine. They are delicious.

Ania was in a real mood today. She pitched a fit at breakfast that was a real hum dinger. She is definitely in the terrible twos and spoiled rotten to boot. She is mad at me most of the time because I pretend not to know what she wants when she screams "aah waaa" and points for me to pick up her spoon she has just pitched to the floor. Taking a page out of my daughter-in-laws parenting book I find myself saying, "use your words, Ania, use your words.". She screams at me in frustration but today she used three words, Boppa, TaTa, and Bye-bye - all to communicate with me. She is teachable but stubborn as a bull dog on the end of a tug-'o- war rope.

She went to her Boppa's house today and Aneta went to work. She dropped me off at the new shopping center where I wandered aimlessly for three hours. The fashions here are beautiful and they have many of the same stores as you find in major shoppings plazas across America. I found an iSpot for Apple Products and almost scored z keyboard for my iPad but was talked out of it by the clerk who told me the iPad two wouldn't stand up in the dock because it is thinner. Of course they didn't have the one for the iPad two so I continue to struggle with this virtual keyboard.

I felt very independent shopping by myself with no language helper. In one store a young woman graciously asked me in Polish if she could help me find anything. I said, "I'm sorry, I don't speak Polish."

She responded in flawless English, "Oh, well then, may I help you find anything?". Then she flashed me a big warm smile.

At the Chopin Cafe I read the signs describing flavors of semi-soft ice cream (Gelato in Italy)and, having decided I had Correctly interpreted one sign to say, "sweet cream" I asked if it was sweet cream. The clerk said, "no."

I said, "what flavor is it ,then?"

She said, "humm - milk flavor."

So I ordered a scoop and it was indeed sweet cream - my absolute favorite and delicious to boot!

A scoop of ice cream was about the size of an American meatball - hardly enough to get a good taste! No wonder everyone here is so slim and trim.

Aneta picked me up and we ran a couple of errands for her work delivering shock absorbers from one side of town to the other. Then we picked Ania up and returned to the flat, where I thought I might get a nap. No such luck. Right after we arrived Aneta's in-laws arrived for a visit. We were eating lunch: freshly baked white bread with - guess what - ham, tomatoes and dill pickles! We had tea, some nice French pastries Aneta picked up at the mall, and tried to have a conversation in Polish and English. Very difficult. I wish I could pick outs individual words in the Polish language but I can't. My language translator is great for laughs but doesn't help much with conversation or translation. For example it threw Ania's "spelling" on the floor instead of her "spoon" and it is even more ridiculous in translating Polish into English.

We got a surprise visit home from Witek tonight and the evening has been spent dealing with Ania's latest injury (she fell and hurt her leg), bathing Ania and now they are trying to get her to bed. She had a long and tiring day and missed her nap, which didn't improve her mood any.

I think we are all looking forward to bed tonight!

Linda