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.