Jak Byka Kartofel

Last couple of days in Warsaw (other than another short stay pre-flight in about a week and a half). Yesterday was spent packing, going to Loving Hut for lunch (with a stop for a tiny bit of Malinova ice cream shop gelato-like ice cream/sorbet (apparently extra healthy from the sign about it and Italian-looking with the name 'Rosso'), and then heading to the airport. After picking up family and the car, we drove to our hotel - first hotel stay in Warsaw for me. :) After some relaxing, we went to Old Town and some of the city center. We had dinner at a restaurant in the rynek of Stare Miasto/Old Town (I had red borscht soup with a weird baked pancake with meat paste inside that I did not like and did not finish; I also had a salad with tuna, olives, tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumber). It was nice weather and we had a chance to go by the castle, some monuments and churches, and near the President's Palace. Today, after hotel breakfast, we went to the "state" office, where I learned that I was not fully prepared for gaining Polish dual citizenship unless I lived here a bit longer, in which case I would need my documents in English translated to Polish. I could go to do this procedure where my mother last lived in Poland (Legnica), but I would also need translated documents there. Otherwise, it might be best for me to do this at the consulate in NYC. Once we finished there, we packed up and fully moved out of my dorm, giving up my card, key, and bed linens when the room was checked over. We left one suitcase with the coat room for my program director to keep in his office while we travel around. Once we dropped off some luggage at the hotel, we left for Nowy Swiat Street and lunch at a milk bar (I had some bean soup - being called 'bean' does not mean 'meatless,' since it had pieces of pork or bacon - that was OK and a sampling of 'surowki,' which are basically different sides or pickled and/or shredded vegetables such as lettuce, carrots, cucumbers/pickles, and such that are normally used as sides in dishes. Most of them were good). We walked around a little before going to Lazienki Park; we saw (and heard) some pretty peacocks, the palace, and some monuments (Sobieski and Chopin). We then went to Nowe Miasto/New Town to a cafe before now relaxing at the hotel for a bit before going to dinner later. More to come (including a few pictures to be added soon)...

Tulips

Happy Mother's Day [in the US, but not for a couple of weeks here in Poland]! :-D I almost forgot after being tired the last couple of days...

Today, I finished some Polish work and I eventually went out to buy some groceries before then going on a walk to enjoy the nice (warm and sunny) weather. I went from one park near our dorm to another park where there is a large mound with a monument to the Warsaw Uprising on top (read about this place in my Do It In Warsaw! book]. The first park has the same name as a place in the Zakopane area (Morskie Oko). It was there that I saw a dog that resembled my former dog Maggie. :-P There were some nice views of the city from up the "kopiec" (mound). I also walked by a stand with strawberries and flowers; I really like tulips and the berries smelled so nice and sweet. I later walked on Swietokrzyska and Nowy Swiat Streets and the smaller streets that jut out from Nowy Swiat (stopping at a place for a banana-apple-pineapple smoothie). I ended up looking around inside one of my favorite bookstores, Traffic Club. After that, I walked a bit to Centrum before heading back to the dorm, where I will now be doing some homework, listening to music, watching TV or movies I missed, and plan to do laundry today or tomorrow. I hope the weather stays nice so I can catch up on visiting the parks I missed out on in the winter.

Today's photos on my Photobucket.

Lions & Tigers & Bears... Oh My

Today, I went to the zoo here in Warsaw. It was both beautiful and terrible: most of the animals were gorgeous (as was the weather), but I feel so bad to see them in their cages or exhibit areas and the fact that most of the animals are not natural inhabitants of this part of the world but live here anyway with some adjustments. I particularly enjoyed the bears (so lovely), seals (so playful), lions (man, their roars are loud), tigers (one had a supermodel strut), bison, lemurs, rhino, elephants, giraffes, and red panda. A few of the animals, probably from living in a zoo, are very friendly to people and come very close (especially the goats and bison). Some of the areas were smelly :) and the zoo is definitely worth a visit since there is so much to see (I think I saw every bit except a building that had a spider decoration on the outside, so I avoided that for a reason :) ). I really was glad to go, especially after reading a book about the family who maintained the zoo during WWII (there is even a small marker dedicated to the husband of that family to commemorate the years he was the zoo's director). It was neat learning new words since there were some animals that I did not really know their names in Polish or how to say their names. Some I already knew, so it was just a bit of review for me. After the park, I had a quick dinner at the vegetarian chain Green Way (cabbage soup, kasza/brown rice, shredded red cabbage, shredded carrots, shredded white cabbage/coleslaw, cooked vegetables with sauce) and picked up a few items at a grocery store before heading back to the dorm. Sadly, the weekend is almost over. I am now planning more of my Spring Break. Only two classes tomorrow (Polish and Jews in Poland) and then one the next day (history) (missing one - literature - to go on a field trip to a Jewish cemetery with another - Jews in Poland).

Today's pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/60142466@N03/sets/72157626295524705/

Did it Geoffrey's (AKA the BEST) way. ;)