It's very late. Maybe three? Later? I don't really know.
I finished cleaning the apartment an hour or two ago. I'm left wondering if this is really a good time to figure out how to run that darn washer/dryer, or whether I should not wash or dry anything when it is so late and I have a flight to catch tomorrow.
Whirley thoughts. Must let go, must let go...
I can't let go. It's been a quick three (was it four?) days, but the shortness of my time here is irrelevant, no? It's how you spend your time that matters. I feel I spent it in ways that would make a speed demon proud.
No one fully understands why it is that I come here for such a short time (ha! if you want to worry about the shortness of my trips, talk to me again in January 2017! Now there's a short (but important!) trip to spin about!). If you understand the push/pull factor, you'll know that I just cannot stay away for long.
But let's get to the basics: How does this day begin? With a look toward the living room. I smile big when I see the twinkling lights that Karolina strung for me last night. And the mistletoe! Snowdrop would be very happy here right now!
Breakfast.
I start out being late. I'm to meet my sister down at the bank near her home and I'm late. I care about this -- really I do! -- and yet I cannot rush here like I do back home. Even with my crazy short travel schedules, I see my time in Warsaw as having an easier pace. And so I'm late.
After the bank technicalities (yesterday I opened an account, today I closed one), we do some shopping. You'd think this is a ho hum activity, but it's in filling a list of groceries or shoes or gifts (all three are at play for me today) that you get to know what the locals are up against. So we shop.
(I say to my sister: doesn't he look like a typical Polish male? I do now know what it is about him, but I could have picked him out from a crowd of hundred: his guy is so very Polish.)
Shops. So many shops to investigate!
(Hey, my grandma made these! Did yours? Really? I loved the ones mine made! For those who haven't a clue as to what this is -- it's poppyseed cake!)
It is, at the time of writing, nearly 4 a.m. so I am going to rush through the remaining photos. Even though the pics are of the most lovely neighborhoods of Warsaw. For example, the Old Town.
There is a skating rink on the Old Town Square. I find this interesting. They used to have a Christmas Market here in past years but someone decided (correctly, I think) that the market interfered with the visual splendidness of the Square and, too, that the city should promote fitness over consumption. So there is now an ice skating rink.
I am so tempted to rent skates and just let myself go!
No. I will be sane. I have things to do and I'm leaving Poland tomorrow. There is a time and place for insanity. It's not here. It's not now.
On my walk home today, I encounter my friend who is also my neighbor. Perhaps this is my biggest signal of belonging: I go about my business, yet boom! There's a friend, going about her own affairs. And yet our paths intersect. And one thing leads to another and now I have a house full of people again...
.... except I really do not know how to work the appliances just yet ... oh, don't fret, I'll help you! Friends to the rescue!
And now here we are, relaxed and happy all over again.
If it wasn't for the fact that sunrise comes late here in December, I'd say it is nearly dawn. I need to go to sleep so that I can get up soon. My next post will be from Paris. I love Paris, but I never forget that Paris is like a vacation. Warsaw is like home.
I finished cleaning the apartment an hour or two ago. I'm left wondering if this is really a good time to figure out how to run that darn washer/dryer, or whether I should not wash or dry anything when it is so late and I have a flight to catch tomorrow.
Whirley thoughts. Must let go, must let go...
I can't let go. It's been a quick three (was it four?) days, but the shortness of my time here is irrelevant, no? It's how you spend your time that matters. I feel I spent it in ways that would make a speed demon proud.
No one fully understands why it is that I come here for such a short time (ha! if you want to worry about the shortness of my trips, talk to me again in January 2017! Now there's a short (but important!) trip to spin about!). If you understand the push/pull factor, you'll know that I just cannot stay away for long.
But let's get to the basics: How does this day begin? With a look toward the living room. I smile big when I see the twinkling lights that Karolina strung for me last night. And the mistletoe! Snowdrop would be very happy here right now!
Breakfast.
I start out being late. I'm to meet my sister down at the bank near her home and I'm late. I care about this -- really I do! -- and yet I cannot rush here like I do back home. Even with my crazy short travel schedules, I see my time in Warsaw as having an easier pace. And so I'm late.
After the bank technicalities (yesterday I opened an account, today I closed one), we do some shopping. You'd think this is a ho hum activity, but it's in filling a list of groceries or shoes or gifts (all three are at play for me today) that you get to know what the locals are up against. So we shop.
(I say to my sister: doesn't he look like a typical Polish male? I do now know what it is about him, but I could have picked him out from a crowd of hundred: his guy is so very Polish.)
Shops. So many shops to investigate!
(Hey, my grandma made these! Did yours? Really? I loved the ones mine made! For those who haven't a clue as to what this is -- it's poppyseed cake!)
It is, at the time of writing, nearly 4 a.m. so I am going to rush through the remaining photos. Even though the pics are of the most lovely neighborhoods of Warsaw. For example, the Old Town.
There is a skating rink on the Old Town Square. I find this interesting. They used to have a Christmas Market here in past years but someone decided (correctly, I think) that the market interfered with the visual splendidness of the Square and, too, that the city should promote fitness over consumption. So there is now an ice skating rink.
I am so tempted to rent skates and just let myself go!
No. I will be sane. I have things to do and I'm leaving Poland tomorrow. There is a time and place for insanity. It's not here. It's not now.
On my walk home today, I encounter my friend who is also my neighbor. Perhaps this is my biggest signal of belonging: I go about my business, yet boom! There's a friend, going about her own affairs. And yet our paths intersect. And one thing leads to another and now I have a house full of people again...
.... except I really do not know how to work the appliances just yet ... oh, don't fret, I'll help you! Friends to the rescue!
And now here we are, relaxed and happy all over again.
If it wasn't for the fact that sunrise comes late here in December, I'd say it is nearly dawn. I need to go to sleep so that I can get up soon. My next post will be from Paris. I love Paris, but I never forget that Paris is like a vacation. Warsaw is like home.
The oh-so-Polish guy. I'd have picked him out in a heartbeat, too. Partly it's the hat. Partly it's the little man-purse he's got. But beyond that, it's just in his face. He reminds me of my father-in-law -- wonder if he is as resourceful. Of course he is -- he's a Pole. Wonder if he's as stubborn? Very likely -- he's a Polish man. All that being said, there's just something about his posture, his face, that screams it, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteK and I play a game like that when we're out and about. We see some clearly Eastern European family ahead of us in Target or some place and start trying to figure out the nationality before we get close enough to hear the language.