Poland

I have been desperately trying to catch up on my blogs, so I can post more ‘in real time’. Ideally, I think I’d like to blog every day, but then again, maybe not. HA!

I have to warn you, this is kind of a LONG ONE. We were in Poland for quite a while. Maybe 11 nights? I’m not sure. But we sure enjoyed it!

Poland has been amazing!! We first arrived in Krakow, and our Airbnb host was nice enough to offer to arrange a taxi to take us from the airport to the apartment. Little did we know we would get David. Oh my. His English was great, although with a funny ‘sing-song’ way of talking.  (Sounded like how an American would imitate an Italian. Like he learned English by watching American movies about Italians ‘just off the boat’). He was super friendly and energetic. He was so excitable, upon walking out of the airport, he told us ‘wait here, I will go fetch the car’ and he didn’t turn around before starting to walk, and literally fell over a concrete pillar. He laughed it off and kept going. What a start to our visit in Poland! HA!

David took us to our apartment (OK, actually not exactly, he dropped us at 4, we were supposed to be at 14, and, funny, we never corrected him. We used him and his service a few times in Krakow and they always met us at 4). Anyway, no biggie. Short walk. Our place in Poland was BIG and Beautiful! And, as those of you on Facebook already know, right on the square where the pierogi festival would be taking place. YAY!

In our usual routine, I unpacked (Lane does not – ever), and Lane chilled while I headed out to get a feel of the neighbourhood and pick up a few essentials.

As soon as I walked out the door, I LOVED it. A happy vibe. A small town feel. We were surrounded by bars, restaurants, shops. I got what I needed came back, and Lane was still chilling so I went in search of a drink :). Around the corner, I saw this bar set back with lots of greenery, so I walked in. I think I was the only ‘real’ customer. I had a beer (no idea which one I had, I just said give me something polish from the tap. ha). It was great. The staff were hanging around talking, ignoring me. A girl sat at the table next to me drinking a beer too. She seemed to know all the staff. After a while the conversation died down and people started doing some work so I engaged her in conversation, asking if she worked there. She said no, she works at the Homemade chocolate place near by. Oh, I saw that I said. She knows the staff because her boyfriend plays in a band there. Well, he wasn’t playing that night, but the next night. Pop music. Cool. The name of the place is Black Gallery, so with Lane’s love of all things black, I thought I could  convince him to go. I asked about minors in a bar. They said it’s fine, as long as he is with me. On his own, not so much. HA. (Drinking age in Poland is 18, BTW).

In my walking around, I saw this sign. Of course it was everywhere. Every time I saw it, I laughed thinking “If you drink too much, you might act like an…..”. HA!

That night, I went out for pierogi (a variety plate). And borscht.  And a beer sampler. HAPPY HAPPY DAY. It was glorious. ALL THE FOODS, ALL THE BEERS!!  I ordered some for take away for Lane. And here is where I felt ‘wanted’ as a tourist. The waiter didn’t just bring me an extra order of pierogi, he came back, and said he would like to order the take away when I am done my meal, if that is OK. OMG perfect! Thank you for speaking English, for caring if my take away is hot, and for taking the initiative. No offence to other nationalities, but we didn’t get much happy smiley, helpful people in Italy and France. There are exceptions of course, but I always felt like I was BOTHERING them. Of course, they are peak tourist locations in peak tourist cities, and we were there at peak tourist season, so no blame, just an observation.

Pierogi of ALL THE KINDS. Meat. Cheese. Potato. Sauerkraut with Mushroom. YUM!!

I had asked David to take us to the Salt Mine on the first full day. He was going to call us but didn’t so the next day I hadn’t heard and assumed we weren’t going. Turns out, someone showed up to take us, but they weren’t upset that we didn’t go. Lane wanted a chill day so I headed out for a Free Walking Tour. There were multiple kinds, I chose the Jewish Quarter/Ghetto, because I knew Lane wouldn’t want to do it, and I probably wouldn’t get there otherwise. I set out for the walk. It was a little further getting there than I thought (and, sadly, very hot again). But I found a shady ‘park path’ to walk, so it wasn’t too bad.

I had a little time before the tour, so, of course, I stopped to eat. A nice green salad and MEXICAN NALESNIKI! (crepe). OMG SO GOOD. I stuffed myself. HA

After that, I found the ‘Old Synagogue’ and joined the tour. The walking tour was VERY informative. I learned a lot about Jewish history and the reason why there was a high population of Jews in Poland. What kind of life they lead and how they thrived prior to WWII. Very cool. A few interesting examples are that the Jewish were welcomed (in the 1600’s?) because they brought goods to trade, and the people were educated. At that time in Krakow, which was rather ‘rural’, not too many people could read and write. Also, in order to support the Roman Catholic church (as government and church were so intertwined), Synagogues were not allowed to be ‘higher’ than the RC churches. One wealthy man got away with this Synagogue, though, as he bribed a Bishop to allow it to be taller. HA.  Aside from this restriction, though, Jews were treated very well in Krakow. They were ‘protected’. It was known that to hurt a Jew was the same as hurting a King. So, it was kind of a hate crime way before we defined hate crimes as we do today. Pretty cool.

The Jews thrived except for a few incidences. Apparently invasion by Sweden skirted Krakow proper (what is now Old Town) due to it’s wall/defenses, and instead focused on the Jewish Quarter. This cost lives and apparently money, as a ‘tax’ was levied on the Jews. Sadly, another tax was levied later, I think by the Polish government. Can you say double-whammy? The tax was the equivalent of 2 years income for the entire quarter. OUCH.

Later, the sector was hit by a kind of sickness or plague, that wiped out a large percentage of the population. All of this in the 16th century if memory serves.

You should read this history in Wiki, especially if you’re Polish. The first few paragraphs gives a good, brief, history. Further down you find the details. I’m going to quote some of it here, as well.

From Wiki: Poland became more tolerant just as the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, as well as from Austria, Hungary and Germany, thus stimulating Jewish immigration to the much more accessible Poland. Indeed, with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Poland became the recognized haven for exiles from Western Europe; and the resulting accession to the ranks of Polish Jewry made it the cultural and spiritual center of the Jewish people.

The most prosperous period for Polish Jews began following this new influx of Jews with the reign of Sigismund I the Old(1506–1548), (YAY SIG! ZIGGY! That’s my Dad and Grandad’s first name) –  who protected the Jews in his realm. His son, Sigismund II Augustus (1548–1572), mainly followed in the tolerant policy of his father and also granted autonomy to the Jews in the matter of communal administration and laid the foundation for the power of the Qahal, or autonomous Jewish community. This period led to the creation of a proverb about Poland being a “heaven for the Jews”. According to some sources, about three-quarters of all Jews lived in Poland by the middle of the 16th century

From WIKI:By 1764, there were about 750,000 Jews in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The worldwide Jewish population at that time was estimated at 1.2 million

From WIKI: Some Jewish historians have recounted that the word Poland is pronounced as Polania or Polin in Hebrew, and as transliterated into Hebrew, these names for Poland were interpreted as “good omens” because Polania can be broken down into three Hebrew words: po (“here”), lan (“dwells”), ya (“God“), and Polin into two words of: po (“here”) lin (“[you should] dwell”). The “message” was that Poland was meant to be a good place for the Jews. During the time from the rule of Sigismund I the Old until the Nazi Holocaust, Poland would be at the center of Jewish religious life. Many agreed with Rabbi David ben Shemu’el ha-Levi (Taz) that Poland was a place where “most of the time the gentiles do no harm; on the contrary they do right by Israel” (Divre David; 1689).^[52]

OK I’m not into history, but I found this interesting! As you can tell!

Onward and upward. Of course, during the tour and discussion of Jews in Poland, the topic of the movie ‘Schindler’s List’ was referenced and we visited Schindler’s Court, where a few scenes from the movie were filmed. Of course, the court was named (this) after the movie was filmed.

We visited the Jewish Ghetto, where Jews were forced to live, and were eventually kicked out in the time of Hitler and the German occupation of Poland. Some of the circumstances around this really surprised me. In many cases, people were gathered under the false accusation of not having proper working papers (because the need for the papers had just been created, and there wasn’t time/ability to GET the papers).

I am planning to read a book by this man, who owned a pharmacy on the square where the Jews were often gathered, and sorted, for death and the concentration camps. He was able to keep his pharmacy open by declaring ‘need’, and likely with some bribery. He served the Jewish community and documented what he saw.

The tour ended at the Schindler Factory.  A couple things the tour guide wanted to be sure we were aware of. The concentration camps were on German soil. German occupied soil within Poland. Goes without saying, I think, but an important distinction when talking about it, historically. A very very small percentage of the Polish people cooperated with Hitler, and those only under duress (for example those who worked in the concentration camps, who were likely under threat of death or death of their family). The ‘registered’ Jews of Poland are numbered very few, now, relatively speaking.  However, there are likely MANY people who are Jewish, but, having been adopted (as children) after WWII by Christian families, they may not even know, or recognise their heritage. Lastly, and probably most importantly, Schindler was only ONE of the many people who helped Jews during the Holocaust. He is an example of many, not THE one.

On the way home, I spotted this sign. It contains my maiden name, Rutkowski, so I took a picture of it. My friend Justyna translated. She says it’s an offer for music courses, level 1 and 2, and references a ‘famous’ music teacher, Rutkowski. Pretty cool!

Alright, onto other subjects (sorry that ran a little long). HA

That night, Lane and I went back to the Black Gallery for the live music. It was supposed to start at 7 (per the girlfriend). It actually started around 830. The band was really good. At first, we sat upstairs (at the top of the ‘tree’ – with all the grapevines, similar to Ravello/Amalfi, it felt like we were in a tree), then we moved down to be closer to the band. They were quite good, sang lots of songs we knew. Lane and i also met a lovely couple from Ireland. They were on a short holiday, just the two of them. They were very sweet, and we’re now friends on Facebook :).

Obviously, when the band wrapped up, we headed home. The next day we had a trip to the Salt Mines planned.

The salt mines were incredible. Literally we went down so many steps I couldn’t count, and this was the view down the middle of the staircase. Everything there was made of Salt. There are 30 chapels in the salt mine! Miners are rather religious people, for obvious reasons, and there is a chapel built, apparently, for all different reasons. Especially (but not only) for accidents in the mine. Below are some cool pics from the salt mines. We ended up as far down as 110 Meters! Thank goodness there was an elevator ‘up’.

This is a view down the centre of the stairs going down. it’s a LONG WAY DOWN!!

Looks like block but these are made of SALT! Looks like marble or granite. Weird.

Dwarves, in the salt mine

Entire chapel, above, made from salt.

These were in the big chapel, made to look like they had great depth but they really don’t. Only about 7cm deep

 

Hard to see because it was up high, but this is a nativity. Made of salt.

 

Pope John Paul II. Who visited the salt mines as a child. He intended to visit as the Pope but an illness prevented it.

That night, Lane and I went to dinner. Lane was wanting some potato pancakes. I think I had the (fried) pork chop, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut. All awesome. Lane sorta liked her potato pancakes, we had better ones the next day 🙂

The next day, we headed to Auschwitz and Birkenau, the concentration camps. Both Lane and i knew it would be a tough day, but we were determined to go, to honor those that suffered and died during the Holocaust. It is something that must be known, and must be remembered.

What we saw and learned and felt there was amazing. Overpowering and frightening and sad. Here are some pictures.

Many people don’t realise (have you noticed the English spelling coming out? I have to imagine it’s because I’m in Europe. My spell check doesn’t like the American version of words. Like ‘realize’ comes up as a mis-spelling, so you have to deal with the auto-correct, HA). Anyway, many people don’t realise that Auschwitz was actually quite small compared to Birkenau. Birkenau was where most non-Jewish prisoners were sent, to work. For the most part, in the selection process, all Jews were killed. Non-Jews were selected for work or death, depending if they were judged to be capable of working.

After the concentration camp experience, we headed home a bit somber, of course.

That night, I needed a bit of a distraction, so I headed out for a beer at the pub next door. I ended up meeting the coolest group of guys – of course- on a stag party from England. It was a toss up for a few minutes. I was too old, really, to hang with the bachelor crowd (though, welcomed), and a bit young to be hanging with the groom’s Dad and his friends, but I ended up hanging with the older generation. They were hilarious and fun and very ‘safe’. HA. What a blast. We lost the young guys for a while. Got a bit rowdy (they did, not ME) at a pub and actually got scolded. Eventually the young guys found us again, for a final pint or two and then we headed home. The last few beers were at a restaurant/bar near the middle of the square, and I took these pictures on the way to the bathroom. Yes, The tower was where the bathroom was, and the rest are pictures from below. Only in Europe do you take pictures of beautiful architecture on the way to the bathroom. HA!

 

Another cool thing I noticed in Poland (and again in Copenhagen and this may be a practice in Germany and Italy as well, only it was too hot there) – when sitting outside at a bar or restaurant in the evening, when it turns chilly, if they aren’t already there, the waiters/waitresses will offer you a blanket. To drape around your shoulders or put on your lap. In my experience they are practically new, quite clean and it was awesome how it made being outside comfortable, longer!

Our last day in Krakow, FIRST we had pierogi’s. The Pierogi festival had started and I was feeling a little rough from being out so late the night before, so I hit the festival, literally asked the one vendor ‘I will have one of each, plus 5 extra ruskie (potato)’ (for Lane). Took them home and had them with a Radler. Great hangover helper. YAY.

You should have seen the look on the face of the guy when I asked for one of each of these pierogi’s. HA! Yes, I ate them all. They were awesome.

That night, we decided to walk around to find something different to eat. I mean, even I can only eat SO MANY PIEROGIS. We ended up at a cool Japanese restaurant. I had my favourite, Yellowtail with jalapeño, and then some Pad Thai. Lane had beef and noodles. SO GOOD. And there were cute little boats floating around the bar. HA! Eventually the sushi chef’s put some sushi on it, but by then we were full.

You can see the little boat, just barely, in this pic

In this pic, above, you can see an example of using Philadelphia in a menu item to describe the ingredient ‘cream cheese’. I thought this was hilarious. We saw it in Bulgaria too. And Philadelphia is sold in stores too. Not called cream cheese, though, as far as I can tell. Just Philadelphia. HA.

The next day, I managed to convince Lane to take her skateboard to the park. There is a circular park around Old Town Krakow, which is where the wall once stood around the original town of Krakow. It’s a beautiful park. We went around to Wawel castle, chilled a bit on a half-fallen tree, and just generally had a relaxing day.

After the park, we had a couple beers and decided to die Lane’s hair blue again. Just the underside. This was quite an undertaking for me. Keeping in mind I was trying NOT to make a mess. I didn’t have any towels, really, that could get blue dye on them, and our other facilities were limited. Well, it was interesting, but fun, and I think successful. HA. Blue Hair! BTW, Lane expressed that this was the ultimate ‘test of trust’ between a mom and a teen. I guess I passed. HA. For today.

That night, we went to a GREAT restaurant for dinner. I think I had read it was the only one in Old Town that locals would go to. THIS is where we had EPIC potato pancakes. I also had borscht and ushki. And an insane chocolate crepe. It was so good I swore we would come back the next day because I had other things on the menu to try.

The next day, we packed up, ready for our flight to Gdansk. We still had several hours to kill so we left our bags in the storage room, and FIRST went back to the Pierogi Festival. This time, I wanted to try these ‘baked’ looking pierogi. I don’t think they were fried. But they weren’t noodle-like. More like tiny calzones. Again, I had ‘one of each’ and some potato for Lane. YUM!!  And, of course, a beer. HA.

After that, we went to the 2 wax museums, which Lane had spotted a couple days ago. They were fun! Then we wandered and found a nice place with wifi, had a beer, wandered some more. Lane had a ‘taste of home’ with a Subway sandwich. I had THIS! Mushroom soup, meat pierogi, AND a spinach crepe. I made Lane pretend like she was eating some so I wouldn’t be embarrassed .It was literally enough food for almost 3 people. I didn’t quite finish it all, but I wanted to. It was SOO GOOD. The crepe was my least favourite. I think it was the cheesy sauce. Too much for me. Anyway, ALL THE FOODS!

And, this is proof that beer is as cheap as water in Poland. The mineral water is the same price as beer! HA!

After that, we headed back to the room, got our bags and waited for our ride. Same company, Davids. Unfortunately, 15 minutes after the scheduled time they still weren’t there, so we grabbed a taxi instead and were off to the airport.

In the Krakow airport, we went up this. It’s a pretty steep incline but not stairs, a ramp. Hmmm. Have never seen that before. HA

Arriving in Gdansk wasn’t quite as entertaining as Krakow (remember David falling over) but it was pretty good. Our Airbnb host Radek met us there. He said he would be holding a sign with my name, but I guess because I told him Lane had blond and blue hair, he figured a sign wasn’t needed. He spotted us right away. HA!

Radek was great. I had to ask him to stop for food on the way home because, unlike me, Lane had not had that HUGE lunch and she was starving. It was now almost 10 pm and he had to make a special stop because the places closest to our flat would be closed. We picked out some pasta and a few other essentials. Those of you who follow on Facebook know that I had some trouble identifying the butter in the little store. My gesturing of buttering bread with butter worked and the man working there gave us what we needed. I think he was a little surprised that we bought so much stuff. HA. Milk. Pasta. Butter. Bananas. Wine. Crackers. Yogurt. Eggs. Bread. ALL THE FOODS. No seriously, it’s almost like we buy the same stuff everywhere. HA.

Speaking of everywhere. We have stayed in about 10 or 11 Airbnb’s at this point, I SWEAR THESE SAME IKEA KNIVES have been in at least 8 of those places. no kidding. Ironically for me, they are super sharp, most of the time. Because i brought my knife sharpener in a full-on-Doris-move. HA.

We arrived in our apartment and I will be honest, in the dark the area looked a little sketchy. In the morning it seemed a little better, and when I headed over to the store, it got even better.

 

That night we took a taxi to Sopot for dinner and that was like coming home. Like the Ocean City boardwalk, but with bars. HA. Seriously it was really fun. We had dinner at a seafood place. Seafood Station. Mine was incredible. ????? app and crab legs for dinner. Lane’s steak was so-so. Ah well. After that, I followed my friend Justyna’s advice and bought a piece of Amber jewelry.  And Lane got cotton candy. Again. This was a MEDIUM! Can you imagine what the large looked like? We also got this light up flying/fling thing that you shoot into the sky. It goes up about 60-70feet then comes down like a helicopter. Very fun. We enjoyed that for quite a while. We came across another live band/duo. Like a Polish ‘Melanie and Tony’ from down in the OC area. Very nice.

 

Not as much in Krakow, but in the Gdansk and Sopot area, waffles are the big thing. Pretty much every place that sells ice cream also sells waffles.  With any number of toppings. Usually whipped cream and chocolate or another sauce. Or fresh fruit. Or Jimmies/Sprinkles. I had a couple while I was there. Mostly with fruit and whipped cream They are DELISH. I plan to have more in Amsterdam, where I think they are also a thing.

 

The next day I was told by our host I could walk to the beach. Without checking distances, and leaving Lane home to ‘chill’, I headed out. about 45 minutes and 2+ miles later, I had some blisters from walking in my  Birkenstocks. Do NOT trust a European when they say something is walkable CHECK THE DISTANCE!! HA.

 

I saw these beautiful gardens on the way to the beach. The Cannas remind me of Dad, of course. 🙂

I also saw this street sign, which I thought was adorable.

Anyway, the beach was interesting to see. It wasn’t a real warm day and the water there is about 67. I was just hoping to catch some sun and chill n read my book. Sadly, it started raining 10 minutes after I got there. Mass exodus, just like in OC. At least, though, the long walk forced me to learn the tram system. Having watched the same tram pass by me about 20 times during my walk (bus 3 I think it was), now I knew what tram to take home. HA. I found the station, managed to buy the right ticket, I THINK (it said 1 hour, so I figure that means I can travel in any direction on any tram, within an hour). And I took the tram back. PERFECT. So much better than the long walk.

I also learned on my long walk that the neighbourhood is quite nice. It also includes a produce stand, AND a bakery, within a half block of our place. I enter the bakery thinking ‘baguette’, but alas no such thing. Instead I buy Lane some bezy. Finally called bezy after it being called meringues all through Italy. And a few mysterious pastries, one looked like spinach in phyllo. I literally just point to order. I speak almost no Polish, and she speaks no English but we manage. HA. At the produce stand, similar only I have to literally hold out a hand full of coins and let her take what is appropriate. Because I don’t know the Polish numbers and she doesn’t know the English ones. Sometimes, when this happens, the clerk will print it out, but this wasn’t that kind of place. No biggie, She took what she needed. We both laughed. 🙂

That night I couldn’t resist going back to Sopot. I just loved it. unfortunately, it was raining pretty heavily. Once again we took an Uber, thank goodness for Uber. We walked around a bit, did some shopping (we both needed a couple new things. so SICK of the stuff we packed, HA), and then settled into a traditional Polish place with a specialty in beer. Nope, not an accident. The waitress said ‘let me know if you would like some recommendations’. YES PLEASE! I went with the Goose, the house specially, with plum sauce, and dumplings. Lane, also a recommendation, shocking, steak. They were both incredible. As was the beer sampler I had. Even with an Uber home I couldn’t finish them. They were like 4 full size, 12 oz beers! I was thinking 4 LITTLE ONES. Ah well. They were awesome and the meal was so cheap. Maybe $40 all in. I love Poland.

Above is the Goose with plum sauce. YUM

Lane’s steak, potato and grilled veggies. Also YUM

This was the restaurant.

Poland was big for us, for laundry. We had a real washer, real detergent, and lots of hangers. HA. I was a laundry fiend! I think I did 6 loads in the 3 nights we were in this apartment. We had clothes hanging everywhere. It had been a while since we had a real washer. HA. A lot of the next day was spent doing laundry and chilling, along with a workout. TRX of course.

The next day, we packed up and headed just a few miles away (via Uber of course) to our new place in Gdansk still, but on the beach. This was the last minute add-on, since we decided to chill a bit longer in Poland vs. going to Stockholm.

Well, even the driver remarked that our new place was quite expensive to buy and was in a gated community. Not that it needed to be, it was a beautiful area, and we were literally 50 M from the beach. And next to the beach was a beautiful pathway, one for walking and one for biking. AND the property bordered on a HUGE park of trees and small dirt paths, interspersed with larger walkways and bikeways.

I went out for a walk as soon as we got there and saw a place to rent a bike (so I rented one). I rode up to Sopot, checked out some other fun things and headed back to see Lane.

We headed out to have dinner at a place our host recommended and it was beautiful and awesome. I had halibut, at the waiters suggestion, which was served over half of a roasted eggplant. Crazy good. Lane had steak, which he said was very good. Again, drinks and dessert and still it was only about $40. wow.

The next day, Lane and I both rented bikes and I asked the guy if we could keep them until the following night. No problem. As it was, he had let me rent the day before and this day with no identification. Usually they take your ID (license, whatever) and hold it until you bring it back. He only asked where i was from, America I said. He said OK. See you later. HA! he was a lot more friendly when I brought Lane along. ‘This your son?’ ‘yes’ ‘how old?’ ’12’. I have a daughter, 15, looks the same age. Yes, he looks older than his actual age. He rides bikes with you? Yes, I said. He responsded “My daughter is thin, nice figure, but she doesn’t like to move won’t get off her ass”. HA we both laughed at how teens are stuck to their screens. Off we went. We rode about an hour and a half though small, sometimes barely perceptible, paths in the woods. occasionally crossing the paved paths for bikers and walkers. The terrain was perfect. Hilly enough to be challenging at times, but flat and hard surface to ride on. It was really great. We were in the shade it was cool, the only down side was if you stopped – mosquitos! We had had rain recently so I guess they were out in force. We finally stopped at a clearing with some parks and playgrounds. Got some water, then headed back on the larger paved bike path, which eventually merged with our beach-front bike path. We headed home for a bit. Then back out to check out some motorised transportation. We ended up not renting the Segway, or the motorised scooter, or the ‘extreme’ off-road, motorised skateboard that goes 40kmh. We decided we were happy with our bikes. HA.

OK so if you can’t tell from my face, I’m a little surprised they named a park in Gdansk after Ronald Reagan?

In Poland, as well as later in Copenhagen, we saw outdoor fitness equipment. Usually in parks of some kind. It varies from standard pull-up bar kind of stuff, to these machines, which, I didn’t try but appear to use your body weight to do exercises like weight machines at the gym. Pretty cool

On the way home we stopped for pizza and beer on the beach. Then home for some chill time.

I think it was when we got home that day, or at some point, we met a nice kitty. Lane named him Smokey. He was clearly a resident, and was hanging out in the garden/courtyard of the building we were staying in. He was VERY friendly. And very much reminded us of Bubba. He had some similar markings, was grey obviously, but had a slightly more squished face, a bit like a Persian

That night I went to dinner by myself. First I stopped at the seafood place that our host suggested but the line was long, it looked like counter service (order and then pick up later), and the line wasn’t moving. So I went to the next place he suggested. I’m so glad I did because there was live music there! YAY! they played a ton of songs I knew, some I had forgotten about. I had a pork chop dinner – best ever. 2 beers. I ordered Lane some take-away pierogis, and met some guys from YET ANOTHER stag party. This one from Norway. HA. Nice guys but we didn’t talk long. The band ended and I needed to get the food home to Lane. SO GLAD I caught that band. It really made my day.

The next day, was our last day in Poland. Lane was still in the mood to take it easy, so I called and booked myself a massage. Until then, I did some booking, planning, and blogging. The massage was awesome. And it was a short bike ride from our place. They managed to fit me in for an hour, even though when I called they said they only had 30 minutes. WHOO HOO! This is funny, though, I had to wear a hair net, and disposable underwear. Strange, but whatever. HA.

After that I headed home, did some packing, and we returned our bikes and grabbed another dinner along the beach. Lane said her steak was almost as good as Izakayas! that’s saying something! HA!

Off to bed, for an early (2am!!) wake up for a 6 am flight. Yes. one hour to get ready n pack. 45 minutes to the airport. Be there 2 hours ahead. UGG. It’s all good though. It’s not a vacation, it’s an adventure. HA!

The next morning, I got notice our driver had arrived. I texted him to go left once he was in the gate. Well, just in case I decided to walk out of the complex. There were 2 cars there. Just as we pulled up, one of them left. That would be our driver. UGG. Fortunately, the other driver there was available, not sure why, but we ordered him on Uber and off we went.

Copenhagen, here we come!