Week Six: Alex's Visit

Last week, my fabulous step-brother Alex made the journey from Copenhagen, where he is studying engineering, to Warsaw to visit!

He arrived Monday night and left Friday morning, so we had a few days to do things around the city and to relax and catch up.

On Tuesday we went to lunch at an Italian place on Nowy Swiat, which is a main tourist street in the city, and then walked to the Palace of Culture and Science and rode the elevator to the terrace, which is on the thirtieth floor.  It's the tallest building in Warsaw and in Poland, and althought it was a bit of a cloudy day, there were great views of the city.  Normally those heights make me nervous but this was okay, probably because of the grating on the sides.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the mall and then headed to dinner, stopping for a beer along the way.  We ate dinner at a restaurant called Solec 44, which is a homey place with semi-fancy food options and a ton of board games to play while you wait for your food and eat.  Alex beat me at Labyrinth a few times while we waited and after we ate.  They also have a huge drink selection.  Alex and I both accidentally ordered shots, thinking we were getting flavored drinks.  Oops.  The burgers were good and we headed home, stopping for another beer on the way.

                                      

We also got to Skype with Mom and Stephen, who had a little too much fun with their Skype character options, but it was really great to see them.  I miss my family a lot.

Wednesday we took a tour of the Old Town.  We headed out a little early to grab breakfast.  Unfortunately, they forgot the ice in my smoothie (although Alex's was fine, thankfully), so it was a little like baby food, but the pastry was good.  Anyway.

The Orange Umbrella Tours are free and really informative.  I had been on one when I stayed at the Oki Doki and because we had a different tour guide this time, we stopped at different places and he told different stories.  It was great, although both of us forgot sunscreen so we were rocking the redneck look by the end of the tour that afternoon.

We headed from the Old Town over to Praga, the district across the Vistula River, to eat lunch at a milk bar called Zabkowski.  Milk bars are Polish cafeterias.   They date back to the end of the nineteenth century but became especially popular during the Communist era, when things were tough economically.  The cafeterias provided a means of feeding people cheaply and encouraging a sense of camraderie.  Originally milk bars did not serve many meat dishes, hence the milk part of the name, but now there are plenty of meat-stuffed pierogi and other kinds of meat.  Alex had chicken soup and meat pierogi and I had chicken soup and potato dumplings with mushroom sauce.  Afterward we stopped to see the bears at Park Praski, also in Praga, but they were taking a nap.

                                   

Alex at the milk bar.  If you notice, the guy in the back is having some trouble, although it all turned out fine. 

That night we had dinner at the pizza place just down the road from my apartment.  They let you set up big lawn chairs and a small table outside, and since the weather was nice, it was perfect to hang around and drink a beer while waiting on our food.  After dinner, we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some food for our park plans the next day.

                                               

Some help posted in the bathroom of the pizza place.  

Thursday is free day at Lazienki Park, the biggest park in Warsaw, so Alex and I made lunches, put on suncreen, and walked the mile or so from my apartment to the park, where there are lots of older buildings and palaces built by Polish royalty.  The name of the park translates to "Royal Baths."

                                         

        The Palace on the Water from across the pond.

Red head

Don't blink! 

The translation of the title means "stuffed."

A room in one of the houses with zodiac symbols. Sagittarius.

Scorpio

Fluffy on the fireplace. This house focused on Greek and Roman mythology.

Woof.

In front of the Palace on the Water

One of the female peacocks running around the park.

After a day at the park, we headed back home and then went to the city center.  We had dinner and beer at another place on Nowy Swiat and then headed home early so that we could sleep and be ready for Alex's early flight.  We walked to the bus stop at 4:30 the next morning.  It was so good to see Alex and I was really sad to see him go.

I spent the rest of the week and weekend doing things that needed to be done and take up more time than I remember, probably because I have never done them here and also because I walk everywhere.  I got a haircut, which was an interesting experience.  There are things that make me nervous about being a butch woman abroad, and my hair is one of them.  When I go to ask for the kind of haircut that I want, it's very possible that I'm immediately outing myself with no idea how the person will respond.

I googled and found a haircut place where the man was very nice and assumed that I wanted my hair for its "practicality."  "Ah!  You want hair like a man! You are a very practical young lady!"  I'll take it.  Here's a picture of the new haircut, which my brother said made me look military.

Every Sunday at 12pm and 4pm, there is a free concert by the Chopin memorial.  They have pianists from Warsaw and elsewhere play for an hour.  It was a beautiful day and tons of people were there.  It's one of those things that I wish that I had done sooner and that I can't wait to do again.

The crowd at the memorial. They set up a tent for the pianist.

I also went to the post office, went to the grocery store, and went to a new coffee shop, Kafka, that was billed as gay-friendly.  It's close to the KPH and was very busy, and it was a great way to spend an afternoon.

This week I'm particularly thankful for:

1. Alexander!
2. The guy who helped me to buy a bus ticket when the machine went wonky and then gave me his day pass to use when he got off the bus
3. The man who, when I asked him where the post office might be, tried to help even though he spoke no English and my minimal Polish is shameful and then came to find me down the street and walked me to the right place.  I'm still not sure how he figured out what I was asking but I am really grateful.
4. The man who cut my hair to look "like a man" and spoke to me about Johnny Cash and Elvis while doing so.